Published by the National Geographic Society
Copyright © 2012 National Geographic Society
All rights reserved. Reproduction of the whole or any part of the contents without written permission from the publisher is prohibited.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
National Geographic tales of the weird: unbelievable true stories / edited by David Braun.
p. cm.
eISBN: 978-1-4262-0966-6
1. Curiosities and wonders. I. Braun, David. II. National Geographic Society (U.S.)
AG243.N38 2012
031.02–dc23
2012024608
The National Geographic Society is one of the world’s largest nonprofit scientific and educational organizations. Founded in 1888 to “increase and diffuse geographic knowledge,” the Society’s mission is to inspire people to care about the planet. It reaches more than 400 million people worldwide each month through its official journal, National Geographic, and other magazines; National Geographic Channel; television documentaries; music; radio; films; books; DVDs; maps; exhibitions; live events; school publishing programs; interactive media; and merchandise. National Geographic has funded more than 10,000 scientific research, conservation and exploration projects and supports an education program promoting geographic literacy.
For more information, visit www.nationalgeographic.com.
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Cover design by Jonathan Halling
12//QGF-CML/1
v3.1
Contents
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Introduction
Contributors
Acknowledgments
CHAPTER 1: Ancient Rites & Sacred Places
Maya “Doomsday” Calendar Explained
Millions of Puppy Mummies
Lifelike Chinese “Wet Mummy”
Celtic Princess Tomb Yields Gold, Amber Riches
Ancient Sorcerer’s “Wake” First Feast for the Dead?
Ancient Chinese Chariot Fleet
New Death Ritual Found in Himalaya
Entrance to Maya Underworld Found in Mexico?
Tomb of the Otters Filled With Stone Age Human Bones
Headless Romans in England Came From “Exotic” Locales?
CHAPTER 2: The Body Human
Superhuman Hearing Possible?
Women Can Sniff Out Men Without Knowing—and Vice Versa
Is Your Brain Asleep While You’re Awake?
Oldest Known Heart Disease Found in Egyptian Mummy
Rejection Really Hurts, Brain Scans Show
Cocaine Addiction Uses Same Brain Paths as Salt Cravings
Different Nose Parts for Stinky, Sweet
Sleep Cherry-Picks Memories, Boosts Cleverness
Drug Could Make Aging Brains More Youthful?
Your Hair Reveals Whether You’re a Morning Person
Mutated DNA Causes No-Fingerprint Disease
Making Music Bolsters the Brain’s Abilities
The 2,500-Year-Old Brain
Eating Crocodile Helped Boost Early Human Brains?
Astronauts’ Fingernails Falling Off
Ball Lightning May Be a Hallucination
Secrets of Synesthesia
Secrets of Sleeping Soundly
CHAPTER 3: Creature Features
Five Weirdest New Animals
Crocodile Attacks Unsuspecting Elephant
Spiky Rat Plant Poison Turns Hair Deadly
Vampire Bats Have Vein Sensors
Goats Scale Dam Walls
Nature’s Four Worst Mothers
Longest Polar Bear Swim Recorded
Alligators Surprisingly Loyal to Old Flames
How Do Giant Pandas Survive?
“Vampire” Frog Found in Vietnam
These Stripes Say Stay Away!
Elephant Makes a Stool—First Aha! Moment for Species!
Biggest Crocodile Ever Caught?
Hibernating Bears Keep Weirdly Warm
CHAPTER 4: Creepy Crawlies
Wasps Can Recognize Faces Study Says
Bumblebee Seeks Warm Flowers for Heavy Pollination
Virus Brainwashes Caterpillars
“Zombie” Ants Found With New Mind-Control Fungi
Cricket Has World’s Biggest Testicles (But Puny Output)
New “Devil Worm” Is Deepest-Living Animal
Fire Ants Swarm Form Life Raft
Snails Survive Being Eaten by Birds
Five Weirdest Bugs
Spider “Resurrections” Take Scientists by Surprise
All in the Family
Cockroach Brains May Hold New Antibiotics?
Ladybug Incubators Enslaved by Wasps
Male Spiders Massage Their Mates
Alien Wasps Abduct Ants, Drop Them to Get Food
CHAPTER 5: Explaining the Unexplained
Titanic Discovered During Secret Cold War Navy Mission
Bigfoot Discovery Declared a Hoax
Chupacabra Science: How Evolution Made a Monster
Exclusive Area 51 Pictures: Secret Plane Crash Revealed
Kraken Sea Monster Account “Bizarre and Miraculous”
King Tut Mysteries Solved: Disabled, Malarial, and Inbred
“Vampire” Skull Found in Italy
Amelia Earhart Spit Samples to Help Lick Mystery?
Great Pyramid Mystery to Be Solved by Hidden Room?
The Freemasons: 8 Myths Decoded
Crop Circles Explained! Frauds, Artists, Scientists, and Aliens
7 Moon Landing Hoax Myths - Busted
Loch Ness Sea Monster Fossil a Fake, Say Scientists
CHAPTER 6: Feathered Friends
Highest Flying Bird Found
Body Odor Attracting Predators to Birds
Half-Male, Half-Female Chicken
Sexually Showy Male Birds Finish Early
Why Do Birds Fall From the Sky?
Bird With “Human” Eyes Knows What You’re Looking At
Bird “Sings” Through Feathers
Birds Can “See” Earth’s Magnetic Field
Chubby Snipe Snaps Nonstop Record
Elusive “Smiling” Bird Captured on Film
Superfast Muscle Power Found in Songbirds’ Throats
Crows Have Human-Like Intelligence, Author Says
Why Transylvanian Chickens Have Naked Necks
CHAPTER 7: The Final Frontier
What Created Earth’s Oceans? Comet Offers New Clue
New Planet May Be Among Most Earthlike, Weather Permitting
Sun Headed into Hibernation, Solar Studies Predict
Star Caught Eating Another Star, X-Ray Flare Shows
Saturn Moon Coated in Fresh Powder
Star Found Shooting Water “Bullets”
Uranus Has a Bright New Spot, Picture Shows
Planets Being Pulverized Near Giant Black Holes?
Youngest Planet Picture: Gas Giant Seen in Throes of Creation
“Diamond” Planet Found, May Be Stripped Star
Seven Supernovae Found in Single Galaxy—A First
Meteors Delivered Gold to Baby Earth
Darkest Planet Found
Should Pluto Be a Planet?
“Vampire” Stars Found in the Heart of Our Galaxy—A First
CHAPTER 8: Human History
Oldest Known Mattress Found
Dead Sea Scrolls Mystery Solved?
Legendary Swords’ Sharpness, Strength From Nanotubes, Study Says
Lost City Revealed Under Centuries of Jungle Growth
The Seven New Wonders of the World
120 Ancient Roman Shoes Found in U.K.
Maya Collapse Caused by Man-Made Climate Change?
Mysterious Inscribed Slate Discovered at Jamestown
“Lost” Fortresses of Sahara Revealed by Satellites
Spawn of Medieval “Black Death” Bug Still Roam the Earth
Oldest Readable Writing in Europe
Blackbeard’s Ship Yields Ornamental Sword
King Solomon’s Wall Found, Proof of Bible Tale?
Vikings Navigated With Translucent Crystals?
Jewelry Shows De Soto Deeper in U.S. Than Originally Thought
CHAPTER 9: Natural Phenomena
Oldest Living Tree Found in Sweden
The Truth About Daylight Saving Time
UFO-Like Clouds Linked to Military Maneuvers?
Giant Sinkholes Pierce Guatemala
Yellowstone Has Bulged as Magma Pocket Swells
Brand-New Cloud
Solved! The Case of the Giant Crystals
Giant, Mucuslike Sea Blobs on the Rise, Pose Danger
“Bodies” Fill Underwater Sculpture Park
Moss Has Cloned Itself for 50,000 Years, Study Says
World’s Biggest Cave Found in Vietnam
New “Porta Potti” Flower Discovered
CHAPTER 10: Prehistoric Life
T. Rex, Other Dinosaurs Had Heads Full of Air
Massive “Sea Monster” Skull Revealed
Biggest Snake Discovered, Was Longer Than a Bus
Oldest Animal Discovered, Aquatic African Ancestor
Ancient “Saber-Toothed Squirrel” Found
Prehistoric Bird Had Wings Like Nunchucks
“Thunder Thighs” Dinosaur Thrashed Predators to Death?
Giant Bugs Once Roamed the Earth
Brainy Birds Out-Thought Doomed Dinosaurs?
Prehistoric “Shield”-Headed Croc Found
Largest Flying Bird Could Barely Get off Ground, Fossils Show
Oldest Fossil Brain Found in Kansas
Did Love Make Neanderthals Extinct?
“Nasty” Little Predator From Dinosaur Dawn Found
Venomous Dinosaur Discovered
Giant “Roly-Poly” Rabbit Fossil Found
CHAPTER 11: Underwater Weirdness
Rare “Cyclops” Shark Found
Fish With “Hands” Found to Be New Species
Wild Fish Uses Tool, Cockle Put to Clever Use
Piranhas Bark, Three Fierce Vocalizations Deciphered
Squid Males Evolved Shot-in-the-Dark Mating Strategy
Great White Shark Jumps on Boat, Stressing Everyone
Giant “Amoebas” Found in Deepest Place on Earth
Sawfish Snout Has Sixth Sense, Splits Prey in Half
“Bizarre” Octopuses Carry Coconuts as Instant Shelters
Lobster Caught “Half Cooked” in Maine
Weird Fish With Transparent Head
Strange Sea Species Found off Greenland
Grizzly Bear-Size Catfish Caught in Thailand
New Jellyfish Attacks Other Jellies
Small Squid Have Bigger Sperm
Census Scopes Out Strange New Sea Species
405-Year-Old Clam Called Longest-Lived Animal
Illustrations Credits
(Photo Credit col.1)
INTRODUCTION
You Can’t Make This Stuff Up!
And to think it all began with a two-headed snake. A Spanish farmer captured one in 2002, and scientists were eager to study it. National Geographic Daily News published a story about the strange reptile on our website, and our readers went wild. More than a million people clicked on that weird tale, and then they came back for more and more stories.
Ten years and 8,000 stories later, more than 200 million individuals have clicked on our stories about strange and wonderful things. The two-headed snake was the first of many of the astounding National Geographic stories that lit up the Internet during the last decade. Our fans just can’t get enough of tales about albino Cyclops sharks, fish with hands, zombie ants with mind-controlling fungi, top-secret photographs of Area 51, and the truth behind the Maya “Doomsday” calendar.
As the founding editor of National Geographic News, I have watched our community of fans grow from hundreds to millions to hundreds of millions. It’s been a delight to publish stories that are as much fun to produce as they are to read. There isn’t a day that goes by when the editors of National Geographic News do not find stories about new species, amazing animal secrets, the wonders of deep space—all weird discoveries that change our thinking about who we are and where we came from, the great enigmas of the universe.
Did comets make life on Earth possible? Will superhuman hearing soon be possible? Can stars “eat” other stars? Where was the world’s oldest mattress found? These are only some of the hundreds of questions explored in our stories. The answers can be profound (and even disturbing), and they almost always lead to new questions.
National Geographic Tales of the Weird is our first reader filled with all kinds of these unbelievable true stories. National Geographic Books editor Amy Briggs and I have selected some of the highlights of the first ten years of National Geographic News—the stories that were most popular with the National Geographic global audience as well as some of our personal favorites. From “Creepy Crawlies” to “Human History,” each chapter is stuffed full of our strangest, oddest, and most truly fascinating stories.
As I picked each tale, I had to constantly remind myself that you can’t make this stuff up. We are living in the real age of discovery, and I have observed that the world is more marvelous and mysterious than anything we can imagine. All we’re doing is sharing this with millions of readers. It’s got to be one of the best jobs in the world.
—David Braun
Editor in Chief, National Geographic Daily News
news.nationalgeographic.com
The stories you’re about to read were crafted by the talented journalists at National Geographic Daily News, a top-notch crew devoted to ferreting out the weird and wonderful facts about our world.
Carolyn Barry
David Braun
Anne Casselman
Ted Chamberlain
Charles Choi
Chris Combs
Christine Dell’Amore
Blake de Pastino
Willie Drye
Fritz Faerber
Brian Handwerk
Mason Inman
Victoria Jaggard
Sebastian John
Matt Kaplan
Rachel Kaufman
Lucas Laursen
Richard A. Lovett
Stefan Lovgren
Sean Markey
Hillary Mayell
Mati Milstein
Anne Minard
Dave Mosher
Paula Neely
Scott Norris
James Owen
Diana Parsell
Heather Pringle
John Roach
Ker Than
Traci Watson
Acknowledgments
Our thanks to the team at National Geographic Books who made this weird collection come together.
Amy Briggs, Senior Editor
Dee Wong, Researcher and Writer
Melissa Farris, Art Director
Ruthie Thompson, Designer
Rob Waymouth, Illustrations Editor
Marshall Kiker, Associate Managing Editor
Judith Klein, Production Editor
Lisa A. Walker, Production Manager
Galen Young, Rights Clearance Specialist
Katie Olsen, Design Assistant
CHAPTER 1
Ancient Rites and Sacred Places
(Photo Credit 1.1)
For centuries, human civilizations have been grappling with some very big spiritual issues: What happens when we die? How will the w
orld end? Will I need my chariot in the afterlife? Strange and wonderful archaeological discoveries—from the puppy mummies of ancient Egypt to the entrance to the Maya underworld in Mexico—are revealing the many fascinating ways that cultures all over the world developed sacred rituals and practices.
THE END OF THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT?
Maya “Doomsday”
Calendar Explained
It’s remotely possible the world will end in December 2012. But don’t credit the ancient Maya calendar for predicting it, say experts on the Mesoamerican culture.
(Photo Credit 1.2)
It’s true that the so-called long-count calendar—which spans roughly 5,125 years starting in 3114 B.C.—reaches the end of a cycle on December 21, 2012. That day brings to a close the 13th Bak’tun, an almost 400-year period in the Maya long-count calendar.
But rather than moving to the next Bak’tun, the calendar will reset at the end of the 13th cycle, akin to the way a 1960s automobile would click over at mile 99,999.9 and reset to zero.
FAILED PROPHECIES
70: Ancient Romans believe the end is near with the eruption of Mount Vesuvius.
1666: The Great Fire of London, along with the biblical denouncement of the number 666, contributes to Londoners’ belief that this is their final year.
1910: The appearance of Halley’s comet stirs up apocalyptic fears among Europeans and Americans, who believe gases in the comet’s tail will end life on Earth.
1914: Since its founding in the 1870s, Jehovah’s Witnesses predicted the end of the world in 1914. When it didn’t come, the religion’s followers began predicting that the end is coming “shortly.”
March 1997: Heaven’s Gate members commit suicide when comet Hale-Bopp is closest to Earth because they believe a UFO riding the comet will save them from the Apocalypse.
January 1, 2000: A 1984 trade publication predicts that computers will be crippled by a “Y2K” bug and cause mass chaos.
May 5, 2000: Richard Noone predicts that the planetary alignment of Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn with the sun and the moon will cause another ice age to occur.
September 2009: Critics of the Large Hadron Collider, the world’s largest atom smasher, believe that it will create a black hole that destroys Earth.
“We, of course, know that really means a hundred thousand [miles] and not zero,” said William Saturno, an expert on Maya archaeology at Boston University and National Geographic explorer.