Sunday, February 27, 2011

The Corpse Queen

The Coronation
Inês de Castro was crowned queen of Portugal about two years after her death.

During the 1300s the King was unhappy with his son, Dom Pedro, and Inês's affair, so he had Inês executed.

But when Dom Pedro was later crowned King of Portugal, he claimed he had wedded Inês before her death, and that she was the lawful queen.

According to legend he exhumed her body, put her on the throne, and forced the entire court to swear their allegiance by kissing her hand. Apparently people did. I think I would have just moved away from Portugal.

Saturday, February 26, 2011

Zombie Ants

Stalk growing from dead ant's head
Zombie ants are walking the Earth. Actually, they have been for millions of years.

Ophiocordyceps unilateralis is a fungus that infects ants, hijacks the body, and uses it to find an ideal spot to spread spores. The parasite fungus can infect and kill off entire colonies of ant.

Ants have adapted though. When they see a friend behaving strangely or staggering, they avoid an ant zombie apocalypse by carrying the infected one away from the colony.

Pretty wicked, huh?

Friday, February 25, 2011

Raining Blood

Spiders falling from the sky in Salta Province, Argentina 2007
No, I'm not talking about Slayer. Blood rain is a rare phenomenon where it looks like blood is falling from the sky.

And that's not all. Throughout history all kinds of crazy things have rained down from the sky. Fish, frogs, jellyfish, spiders, blood, guts...the list goes on.

Probably one of the most disturbing accounts (IMO) is the Kentucky Meat Shower that took place in 1876. When meat started falling from the sky, two locals tasted  it. The morons gentlemen decided it tasted like mutton or venison. 

So, picture it. You're sitting outside when meat starts falling all around you. Do you eat it? Comment and let me know!