Always Brush After Snacks: New Chocolate Tooth Paste Hits Shelves

For all the hopeless Choco-Holics in the world, comes this news item:

If you have been trying to think of a way to get more delicious chocolate in your diet, a new product has hit the market that promises a healthy way to do just that...a toothpaste made from chocolate!

According to research, a substance contained in cocoa beans can actually improve the condition of your teeth and gums. (And your Mom always claimed eating too much chocolate sweets would rot your teeth out!) The new toothpaste called Theodent has recently hit the market that contains the chocolately essence called theobromine, which is believed to strengthen teeth and actually regenerate tooth enamel, which can be stripped from teeth by eating too much sugar or foods containing natural acids. 

The oh-so-yummy toothpaste was initially invented by Dr. Tetsu Nakamoto at research done in his New Orleans laboratory in the late-1980s. After decades of clinical trials, the doctor was awarded a patent for his ingredient, called Rennou. The company marketing the paste claims that Theodent is a non-toxic alternative to the current spate of fluoride toothpastes on the market today. Fluoride, which has been proven to prevent the formation of cavities and tooth decay, can also be potentially toxic if accidentally swallowed in large quantities.

Theodent comes in a minty-chocolate flavor for adults and chocolate for kids, which may be an enticement to get children who are not terribly fond of brushing to start taking better care of their teeth. The product is quite a bit more expensive than regular toothpaste: a 3.4 ounce tube retails for approximately $10 and is available at retailer Whole Foods or at the company's official  website.

Green Slime: Did Mysterious Ooze Found in UK Park Come from Meteor Shower?

Since life in today's world is becoming more like a science fiction disaster movie with each passing day, this story will perhaps not be of surprise...

Scientists in the UK are now trying to determine if an icky "green slime" substance found in abundance in a park has originated from an other-worldly source, mainly from the meteors that have been bombarding the earth over the past week!

The unidentified jelly-like substance has been discovered at the RSPB Ham Wall Nature reserve in Somerset, England. According to ancient folklore, the substance known colloquially as "astral jelly" is deposited after an intense meteor shower. The ooze turned up at the park only a few days after a massive meteor exploded in the atmosphere over Chelyabinsk in central Russia. The explosion injured several thousand people and destroyed buildings and shattered windows and nerves across a wide area. A smaller explosion took place less than twenty-four hours later over Cuba.

Tony Whitehead, a spokesman for the UK wildlife protection charity RSPB, says: "Although we don't know what it actually is, similar substances have been described previously. In records dating back to the 14th Century it's known variously as star jelly, astral jelly or astromyxin. In folklore it is said to be deposited in the wake of meteor showers."

Scientists are currently doing tests on the substance to determine what exactly it is and where on earth (or not of earth) it originated. In the meantime, they are advising the public to stay away from the substance should they encounter it, warning that until tests are done, it should be considered dangerous.

Once again, science fiction films seem to be coming to life! From classic movies such as The Blob, Night of the Living Dead and Day of the Triffids, the folklore that bad things seem to follow the arrival of meteor showers or the passing of a comet has endured over the centuries, perhaps for a very important reason...

Thousands of Dolphins Seen Swimming Off San Diego Coast

Photograph courtesy of Antonio Ramirez

A day after a meteor explodes with incredible force over Russia, a highly rare and unusual sight was witnessed off the San Diego coast when a cruise ship encountered a massive pod of swimming dolphins.

Capt. Joe Dutra of Hornblower Cruises said he saw a “super mega-pod” of common dolphins Thursday around noon while he was conducting his daily tour off the California coast. Dutra says the pod of aquatic mammals had to extend for more than 7 miles long and at least 5 miles wide. He estimates that there were at least 100,000 dolphins swimming in unison.

Captain Dutra says the boat followed the pod of dolphins for more than an hour, as the tourists and crew members were in complete and utter fascination at the spell-binding spectacle. Dutra had never witnessed a similar event in all of his years on the sea, calling the incident “honestly truly beyond belief". 

Dutra, who has boated for several decades, said he felt highly fortunate to enjoy such a rare phenomenon.

“You had to be there to experience it,” he said.  “It was truly spectacular.”

Note: Could this be yet more reactive behaviors being exhibited by animals all around the world due to extreme geological and climatic changes taking place on our planet?  Dolphins are highly intelligent and sensitive creatures and would detect problems long before a human would...

More Brains! Hackers Broadcast "Zombie Apocalypse" Warning on Montana TV

Residents of Montana must have thought they were in a real-life Z-grade zombie flick after hackers managed to sneak in a Zombie Apocalypse Warning over the airwaves of a local television station!

The warning came in the middle of a broadcast of The Steve Wilko Show (appropriately enough, although it would have been extra cool during an episode of The Walking Dead). After the standard Emergency Broadcast Alert buzzer, a computer generated voice declared that "“the bodies of the dead are rising from their graves and attacking the living” in several Montana counties.

“Do not attempt to approach or apprehend these bodies as they are considered extremely dangerous,” the warning continued, calling on local citizens to “follow the messages on screen that will be updated as information becomes available.” 

Station KRTV immediately pulled the bogus warning and apologized to viewers, on air as well as on-line:
“This message did not originate from KRTV, and there is no emergency,” the station said in an official statement. “Our engineers are investigating to determine what happened and if it affected other media outlets.”

 I wonder how many citizens ran to grab their guns upon hearing the alert?

Nightmare Earth: Bizarre Phenomenon Creates "Spider Rain" in Brazil

 

Warning....this story is not for the squeamish or faint of heart!

A purely strange phenomenon that took place in Brazil this week is quickly going viral across the Internet. It appears that it decided to "rain spiders" in the town of  Santa Antonio de Plantina in Parana, Brazil! Video from the scene shows thousands of the icky arachnids, floating in the air above a group of houses and telephone poles, as if they were coming down in the most nightmarish rain storm possible! The spiders are actually floating along a large net of webs they have created.

Screen caps and photographs of the spine-tingling spectacle can barely do the scene justice. The man taking the video, 20-year-old web designer Erick Reis,  keeps repeating "It's raining spiders," in Portuguese over and over again. You can hear the shrieks and nervous laughter of other witnesses taking in the Apocalyptic event. (Was "raining spiders" one of the Ten Plagues of Egypt?)

Brazilian news site G1 is reporting that the spider is of the species  Anelosimus eximius, a "social" spider native to parts of Central and South America. A local biologist characterized the behavior as "normal". Yes, seeing how the locals observing the scene couldn't believe what they were witnessing and I'm sure their eyes bugged out of their heads, this is definitely "normal, every day behavior"! 

If you have a fear of spiders or any other creepy-crawlies, do yourself a favor and Do Not watch the following video!

My theory: The spiders are exhibiting reactive behaviors to potentially great changes in their environment, as they can sense the slightest alterations, unlike people.

Too Close for Comfort: Large Asteroid Will Miss Earth...Just Barely

A significant asteroid will give Earth a buzz this week, and will come a little too close for comfort!

The asteroid, given the moniker 2012 DA14, measures some fifty yards (forty meters) in diameter and is traveling at the super-fast speed of 26,000 miles per hour, according to information provided by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). The enormous space rock will pass within a mere 17,200 miles (27,680 km) of the surface of the Earth at approximately 2:30 pm EST on February 15, 2013.

The distance, although considerable, actually will place the asteroid closer to our planet than the geosynchronous weather and communications satellites orbiting high above Earth, which are in orbit at 22,000 miles (35,800 km).

NASA assured the public that there is absolutely no chance of 2012 DA14 impacting the Earth, although its passage will be one for the record books. "This is a record-setting close approach," said Don Yeomans of NASA's Near Earth Object Program at JPL. "Since regular sky surveys began in the 1990s, we've never seen an object this big get so close to Earth."

NASA also assures that the object will not strike the International Space Station or any of the many satellites orbiting the Earth. Although the object might not seem to be substantial, it would still pack quite a punch if it were to impact our planet.  According to Yeomans, an object of similar size created the mile wide Meteor Crater in Arizona about 50,000 years ago and an space object estimated to have been about the size of 2012 DA14 exploded with incredible force high above sparsely populated Tunguska, Russia in 1908, leveling hundreds of square miles of forest.

[Addendum: NASA is claiming that the meteor explosions over Chelyabinsk, Russia, as well as a smaller eruption over Cuba on the same day as the flyby of 2012 DA14 is strictly "coincidental". Hmmm.... That doesn't sound at all believable. Also, could the Russian meteor event have been picked up by the Webbot Project as well as by remote viewers from the Farsight Project?]

Webbot Project Sees Scary Future for Humanity

Om Nom Nom Nom Om: Cookie Monster Steals Bronze Sculpture, Demands Cookie Ransom

Beloved Sesame Street Muppet the Cookie Monster recently committed a brazen act of crime in the German town of Hanover by stealing a century-old bronze cookie sculpture from outside one of the country's largest cookie and treat manufacturers!

The sculpture went missing last month from the Bahlsen food company which makes and distributes the successful Liebnitz brand of cookies and other delectably sweet goodies. Flash forward a few weeks, when a "ransom note" arrived at the offices of the local newspaper, the Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung, complete with a photograph of the Cookie Monster with the cookie in his/her mouth, stating that the cookie was indeed safe and would only be returned if certain demands were met.

The initial letter demanded, among other things, that the company provide yummy goodies to all the rooms at a local children's hospital if it ever wanted to see the prized golden cookie again. The head of corporation, Werner Michael Bahlsen, immediately offered 52,000 packs of cookies (called "biscuits" in Europe) to different organizations upon the emblem's safe return, but Bahlsen also stated that the company would not meet the thief's demands and that it "refused to be blackmailed" or give in to extortion.

This gave the Cookie Monster Thief a change of heart, as a second letter arrived this week, stating the precious sculpture would be returned: "Because Werni [Werner Michael Bahlsen] loves the biscuit as much as I do and now always cries and misses the biscuit so badly, I'm giving it back to him!!!"

No word on whether the sculpture has been returned to its rightful owners as of now, but hopefully some sick children in Germany are enjoying some sweet treats due to the Cookie Monster's civil disobedience protest! Should we look for more such protests to hit Sesame Street in the coming months? Time shall tell...

Update...apparently the Cookie Monster was good on his word. The bronze sculpture was recently recovered at a local university, hanging from the neck of a horse sculpture with a red ribbon!

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/2013/02/04/4048606/cookie-monster-sends-2nd-note.html#storylink=cpy

Powerful Earthquake Causes Killer Tsunami in the Solomon Islands

A tsunami has hit the South Pacific  nation of the Solomon Islands after a powerful earthquake measuring 8.0 on the Richter scale struck the nearby Santa Cruz Islands.

The quake struck early Tuesday at a very shallow depth of only five km (three miles) and was located 340 km (211 miles) east of Kira Kira in the Solomons, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii said. Initially, tsunami alerts and warnings were issued for a wide swathe of the South Pacific following the major temblor, with the countries of Australia, New Zealand and Indonesia also placed under the alert as a precautionary measure.

News sources from the Solomon's are stating that a tsunami measuring approximately .09 meters struck the island shortly after the earthquake occurred. The tsunami has devastated the town of Lata, where hundreds of homes were washed away. At present, five deaths have been reported, but many people are still listed as missing. Essential services such as water and electricity have been cut to the islands due to the earthquake and tsunami.

Officials with the government have stated that there is news of several ships with significant crews being swept out to sea by the destructive surge of the tsunami. Powerful aftershocks continue to be recorded following the earthquake, and areas of Lata township are still partially underwater as the surge waters have been slow to recede.

Today's catastrophe comes only six years after the devastating earthquake and tsunami combination that hit the region in 2007. The 8.1 earthquake triggered a significantly larger tsunami which measured at least ten feet. That event left 52 people dead and thousands of citizens homeless.

Prêt-à-Porter: Parisienne Women Can Now LEGALLY Wear Pants

Famed French designer Coco Chanel was way before her time...

 

It might have come a century too late, but finally the women of fashion forward Paris can legally wear pants!

It seems an antiquated law written during the time of the French Revolution in the late 1700s that forbade the women of  Paris to wear pants was left in the books. The law was eventually amended in 1892 and again 1909...but that was only to make it legal for woman to wear trousers if they were "holding the handlebars of a bicycle or the reigns of a horse".

Apparently, trailblazers such as iconic French fashion designer Coco Chanel and screen goddess Marlene Dietrich (who lived in an apartment on Avenue Montaigne in Paris until her death in 1992) were even more daring for the age in which they lived, considering their penchant for men's trousers and outfits, which was technically illegal!

The obscure and outdated law was officially repealed on Friday by Najat Vallaud-Belkacem, the French minister of women's rights. "This law is incompatible with the principles of equality between men and women which is laid out in the Constitution and in France's European commitments,"  Vallaud-Belkacem said in an official statement.

Now the women of Paris can wear their trousers...out and proud!

Alley Cat: "Bride Of Wildenstein" Billionaire Avoids NYC Eviction

"Yes, Grumpy Cat was the look I was going for..."

Billionaire divorcée  Jocelyn Wildenstein (AKA "The Bride of Wildenstein" AKA The "Catwoman") has avoided having her well-heeled derriere and butchered face tossed out onto the cold streets of New York City after she apparently came to terms with her landlady, who had filed a petition to have her evicted.

It seems Wildenstein (who spent millions of dollars on cosmetic surgery to look like one of her beloved pet cats) was considerably behind in her rent at her extremely lavish apartment at the iconic 845 UN Plaza tower in Manhattan. According to her landlady Fima Shusterman, Wildenstein was more than $73,000 behind in her rent on the palatial apartment when she filed eviction papers this past December.

Jocelyn, who was once a normal-looking Swiss beauty, rose to fame when her marriage to billionaire art dealer Alec Wildenstein fell apart after she discovered her husband in bed with a 19-year-old Russian lingerie model. The enraged philandering hubby pulled a gun on Jocelyn, which ended with him going to jail and a costly divorce. Jocelyn went on to receive a record-breaking $2.5 billion divorce settlement.

The 72-year old socialite certainly should have the money to cover her rent, so hopefully she won't end up living in the streets like one of the cats she so desperately wants to resemble...

As North Korea Prepares for War, Parents Turn to Eating Their Children for Survival

As Pyongyang prepares for nuclear war with the United States, dire reports are sneaking out of North Korea that desperate parents are turning to cannibalism of their own children to survive the current famine sweeping across the infamously oppressive nation.

The Sunday Times is reporting that at least one North Korean father was recently executed by firing squad after it was revealed he had murdered and eaten two of his children during the current food shortage, which started last year and has left as many as 10,000 people dead from starvation and disease.

“While [the man's] wife was away on business he killed his eldest daughter and because his son saw what he had done, he killed his son as well," an anonymous informant told Asia Press. When his wife returned home, he offered her "fresh meat", which immediately made her suspicious, as meat is extremely difficult to obtain in the famine-ravaged rogue nation. The anguished mother also saw the remnants of her children's corpses decomposing outside of their home.

The Telegraph reported that at least three people have been put to death for resorting to cannibalism in the past year. Informants also are reporting horrific stories of a man arrested for digging up and eating his dead grandchild, and "a man who went mad with hunger" and boiled his child for dinner.

Rumors persist that during the height of the North Korean famine in the late-1990s, citizens bought, sold and traded human flesh in open air markets, as no other food was available for consumption. 

News of the current food crisis comes as the North Korean government and its unsteady leader Kim Jong Un continue to saber rattle, threatening to continue with their long-range nuclear missile program capable of striking South Korea, Japan and even the United States.

Mushroom Clouds: Kashmir Warns Residents to Prepare for Nuclear War

 Officials in the Indian-controlled nation of Kashmir are warning citizens to build bomb-proof basements, collect two weeks' worth of food and water and be prepared for a possible nuclear war.

The officials did not answer calls from international press inquiring why they were suddenly concerned about a nuclear attack in the region, repeatedly fought over by nuclear-armed rivals India and Pakistan. However, a series of deadly skirmishes along the cease-fire line in recent weeks has heightened tensions between the two countries, which both have a substantial nuclear weapons arsenal.

 

Kashmir authorities published the shocking advisory Monday in the Greater Kashmir newspaper. Concerned residents immediately began to inundate the newspaper office and local government offices with calls after the report went public. 

 

The report advised residents to build toilet-equipped basements large enough to house the entire family for at least two weeks. If there is no basement, residents should construct bunkers in their front yards, the notice advised. The bunkers should be well-stocked with candles, battery-operated lights and radios along with non-perishable food items and water that is regularly replaced to ensure it is fresh, the advisory stated.

During an attack, it advises drivers to get out of their cars toward the blast to save themselves from being crushed by their soon-to-be tumbling vehicles. It also warns residents to keep contaminated people out of their shelters, as they will expose any survivors to potentially lethal amounts of radioactive particles.

The advisory didn't just focus on a nuclear attack, as it also provided information on what to do during a chemical or biological warfare attack as well.

The Would-Be Assassin: Bulgarian Politician Survives Shooting Attempt on Live TV

A campaigning Bulgarian politician is lucky to be alive after a harrowing assassination attempt on his life that was broadcast on live television!

Ahmed Dogan, 58, who has been the leader of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms for almost twenty-five years, was delivering a speech in Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria, when a man jumped up from the audience and ambushed him. The man—identified as twenty-five-year old from the Black Sea town of Burgas and a member of opposition political party to the MRF—quickly pulled out a gun as he jumped on stage and aimed directly at Dogan's head.

The would-be assassin immediately pulled the trigger, but miraculously the gun misfired, giving the politician an opportunity to escape. Dogan managed to knock the firearm out of the man's hand as it fell to the stage floor. Security officers promptly rushed the stage, pushing the assassin to the ground as body guards and fellow politicians formed a protective shield around Dogan, who was unharmed in the heart-stopping incident.

Cameras panned to the failed assassin, who was left bloodied and battered as security guards and staff members delivered blows and hard kicks to the young man as he lay helpless on the stage floor. He is then taken from the conference hall.

"Ahmed Dogan is in good health. Everything is under control,"  Movement for Rights and Freedoms official Ceyhan Ibryamov told journalists after the disturbing melee.

Scrap Paper: First Library without Books to Open in Texas

The world's very first library without books is scheduled to open in San Antonio, Texas, later on this year.

Apparently, physical, hardbound books are sooo last century, as the new BiblioTech Library will only "house" digital copies of your favorite titles that library-goers will be able to view in the library's sparkling new facility. The library will have 100 e-readers available for circulation and to "borrow", 50 e-readers designed for young children, 50 computer stations, 25 laptops and 25 tablets for customers. Customers can also bring along their own tablets, Nooks or Kindles and can download books directly to their own devices. 

The library will be partnering with e-book publishers to give clients access to more than 10,000 titles by the end of 2013, with expectations to add at least as many new titles each year. Nelson Wolff, who designed the new facility after reading a biography on Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, says "If you want to get an idea of what [the new library] looks like, go into an Apple store." 

 "You will be able to check out a book, read it on-site. It will be a learning environment -- you'll be able to learn about technology itself as well as access a tremendous amount of information," Wolff stated in an interview with local San Antonio media. 

For bibliophiles who complain there is nothing compared to opening the pages of a new book and diving in, Wolff assures "We all know the world is changing. I am an avid book reader. I read hardcover books, I have a collection of 1,000 first editions. Books are important to me," Wolff told ABC News. "But the world is changing and this is the best, most effective way to bring services to our community."

Land Ho! New Island Size of 25 Football Fields Emerges in North Sea

A new land mass has suddenly "emerged" from the North Sea, off the coast of Germany and Denmark. The new island has been christened Bird Island and has grown to the length of over twenty-five football fields over the course of the past several years, ecologists are saying.

The island is now home to almost fifty species of plants and wildlife is also flocking to the burgeoning ecosystem. The landmass, which is comprised mostly of sandbanks and grasses native to the region, gradually emerged from the stormy waters of the North Sea over the past few years. Biologists say that seeds blown on the often hurricane-force winds on the sea carried various seeds to the new island from across Europe, and the new flora is now flourishing on the island.

The German government want to protect the new land mass and will limit public access to the area. Scientists warn that the island is subject to the often brutal forces of the North Sea, and the grasses growing on the island do not yet have the root system necessary to bind the sand dunes that make up the island together, which leaves the island very vulnerable to tidal erosion and heavy flooding.

[Addendum: This does meet the fulfillment language in the Webbot Project's (Web Bot Project) "New Land Rising" linguistic meme and temporal marker for the onset of major global events.]

Related links to this story:

Webbot Project Sees Scary Future 

Webbot Hit as Mass of Volcanic Rocks Larger Than Belgium Emerge Off New Zealand Coast 

Forget Tiger's Blood...Panda Blood Could Be New Superdrug

 

Charlie Sheen may be convinced that Tiger Blood is the secret to "winning" in life, but a group of scientists in China believe that Panda blood may be far better!

It seems the blood of the way-too-cute to be real giant stuffed animals native to China have a powerful antibiotic component in their blood that can shoot down infection-causing bacteria in far less time than traditional antibiotic medications currently in use. In fact, in laboratory tests, the special ingredient in the Panda blood killed the often-deadly bacteria in only one hour, as opposed to six hours with current medications being used as a treatment.

The major problem is that the Giant Panda is one of the most endangered species on the planet: There are less than 1600 of the cuddly beasts in the wild. The animals are also not exactly known for their love of romance and are notoriously lousy at breeding to produce more offspring. Breeding programs in China have been successful at keeping the species alive and reproducing, but the scientists in charge of the research program have been able to decode the genetic sequence in the blood responsible for the bacteria-killing and are working on reproducing the agent in the lab. That way, we won't have to endure countless videos of the cutie-pie symbols of China being poked and prodded for their blood and making us feel guilty because our immune systems suck.

The scientists are hopeful they can isolate and reproduce the agent soon, providing the world with an alternative antiobiotic that will hopefully be a new-weapon against drug-resistant super-bug infections.