The Most Bizarre Things Sent into Space

Humans have been conducting space missions for so long, it seems like anything that could be launched has already made the trip. Dogs and monkeys are small potatoes; now even everyday people like you and me could one day orbit Earth, thanks to billionaire Richard Branson and his proposed civilian spaceship. (Well, everyday people who have hundreds of thousands of dollars for a ticket.)

Seems strange to send a bunch of rich tourists lacking aeronautical education or experience into space, but it turns out there've been far crazier things and people included in our space travel tales.


Cheese




Recently, a hunk of cheddar was placed in a capsule, put into a weather balloon, and launched into the sky by West Country Farmhouse Cheesemakers members. The "Cheddarnaut" was the first cheese sent on a mission; it crash landed intact just a few days later. No word yet on how the trip affected its deliciousness.


Star Trek Alumni




Some people want their ashes kept with their families or sprinkled in a familiar, beloved place. Gene Roddenberry, the creator of Star Trek, preferred to have his sent into space. In 1992, part of his ashes were taken onboard the space shuttle Columbia, and then more of him made a trip on Pegasus XL in 1997. The rest of his and his wife's ashes are scheduled to make a final space trip in 2012. He may have inspired another Star Trek member to do the same. In 2007, James "Scotty" Doohan's ashes were rocket-launched in New Mexico.


Drunk Astronauts




On the heels of the messy Lisa Nowak scandal (the diaper-clad astronaut who drove from Houston to Orlando hell-bent on kidnapping and murdering), a panel was set up to evaluate astronauts' physical and mental wellbeing. The panel found that on at least two occasions, astronauts flew while intoxicated, even when doctors and peers said it was to a dangerous extent. Astronauts were also reported to drink copious amounts of alcohol before taking off. To be fair, if you were being launched into outer space, wouldn't you need to calm your nerves?


Spiders




Lots of creatures big and small have been in space, but only a few of them could spin ornate webs while in orbit. Anita and Arabella were the names of two garden spiders sent on a mission in 1973. Neither survived the trip, but they did prove that spiders can build webs without gravity.


Sweet Potatoes




In 2008, China sent Shenzhou VI into the air with sweet potato seeds on it. Once it got back from the mission, the seeds were planted on Southern Hainan Island and sprouted purple sweet potatoes, which were named Purple Orchid IIIs. This wasn't the last time sweet potatoes made their way into the stars. In 2009, sweet potato cuttings were taken onboard and were able to produce potatoes, which showed that sweet potatoes can grow in microgravity.


Paper Airplane




This hasn't happened yet, but it's in the works. Currently, the Japan Origami Airplane Association is working with researchers from the University of Tokyo to create a paper airplane that can go from the International Space Station to Earth without being destroyed. One professor at the university has said he'd like a hopeful message written on the airplane, probably to make the day of whatever confused person stumbles upon a slightly charred, space dust-covered paper airplane.

Now that they've sent aged cheddar and Star Trek veterans into space, and they're working on sending toys we made as children, what's next on the list for space exploration? Time will only tell, but if they're as strange as Scotty's ashes or mutated, purple space potatoes, I can't wait to hear about it.



Source: http://www.epicweird.com/the-most-bizarre-things-sent-into-space

10 Actors Way Older Than Their Characters

There's an early scene in 2007's Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, where 42-year-old John C. Reilly says, "I reckon it's time for Dewey Cox to move on." "But y-you're only 14," says Dewey's mom. When thirty-four-year-old Kristen Wiig, as Edith, asks if she can join him Dewey says, "Of course you can, Edith. You're my girlfriend." "Did you hear that?" says Edith. "I'm Dewey's 12 year-old girlfriend!"
As Homer Simpson says, "It's funny 'cause it's true." Movie-makers love to cast actors old enough to have teen children in absurdly youthful roles. Here are ten examples:

10

Leslie Caron

26 years old as Gigi (15) in 1958's Gigi

"Thank heaven for little girls," sings 70-year-old Maurice Chevalier in his role as Honoré. Creepy. Gigi's pretty songs and costumes disguise the unsavory fact that the still-a-kid character is being trained to be a courtesan, which Merriam-Webster defines as "a prostitute with a courtly, wealthy or upper-class clientele." Audrey Hepburn, 22, played Gigi in the 1951 Broadway play.

9

Emma Thompson

36 – as Elinor Dashwood (19) in 1995's Sense and Sensibility

Also: Greer Garson (35) as Elizabeth Bennet (20) in 1940's Pride and Prejudice.
Jane Austen's bright young women don't talk like modern ingenues, so movie-makers often put those sublime words in older mouths. A bigger objection to Garson may be her looks; Darcy initially dismisses Elizabeth as "not pretty enough," something never said about the gorgeous Garson. Thompson, who wrote the Sense and Sensibility screenplay, was sixteen years older than Kate Winslet, who played the 17-year-old Marianne Dashwood.

8

Barbra Streisand

41 – as Yentl (17) in 1983's Yentl

Also: Whoopi Goldberg (29) as Celie (14) in 1985's The Color Purple.
What was the bigger stretch? Streisand's character pretending to be a boy so she could study the Talmud, or Streisand pretending to be seventeen? "She was too old for Yentl!" says a character in 1997's In & Out. It's hard to buy Goldberg as a 14-teen-year-old at the beginning of The Color Purple, but her character had already been serially raped by her stepfather, resulting in two children. That sort of thing can age a girl.

7

Stockard Channing

33 – as Betty Rizzo (17) in 1978's Grease

They didn't always act like it, but those Rydell High kids were a mature bunch. Olivia Newton-John (Sandy) was 30, Didi Conn (Frenchie) and Jeff Conaway (Kenickie) were 27, and John Travolta (Danny Zuko) was a relative infant at 24. Rosie O'Donnell was 32 when debuted as Rizzo in a 1994 Broadway revival of Grease.

6

Audrey Hepburn

32 – as Holly Golightly (18) in 1961's Breakfast at Tiffany's

Also: Audrey Hepburn (35) Eliza Doolittle (18 or 20) in 1964's My Fair Lady.
The waif-like Hepburn made a career of playing callow characters, including Natasha Rostov in 1956's War and Peace; Natasha was 13 when she first appears in Tolstoy's masterpiece. Tiffany's author, Truman Capote, reportedly wanted Marilyn Monroe, also thirty-five, to play Holly. Wendy Hiller was 25 when she played Eliza, described by author George Bernard Shaw as "perhaps eighteen, perhaps twenty," in 1938's Pygmalion.

5

Maria Falconetti

35 – as Joan (19) in 1928's The Passion of Joan of Arc

Also: Ingrid Bergman (33) as Joan (17) in 1948's Joan of Arc.
The movie poster for The Passion described Falconetti as "The World's Most Outstanding Screen Artist," which she'd have to be to pass as nineteen. On the other hand, the film was based on the trial, torture and execution of Joan, which could've made her look old for her age. Bergman started out as the younger liberator of Orleans in the Hollywood film. Six years later, at 39, she played Joan again in then-husband Roberto Rossellini's Giovanna d'Arco al rogo.

4

Julie Harris

26 – as Frankie Addams (12) in 1952's A Member of The Wedding

Lots of 20-something actresses get cast as teens, but Harris got cast as a pre-teen tomboy in the film based on Carson McCullers' 160-page novella. She co-starred with 10-year-old Brandon De Wilde of Shane fame, who played 6-year-old John Henry. For consistency's sake, all the actors playing adults should have been at least seventy.

3

John Mills

38 – as Pip (20) in 1946's Great Expectations.

What's the biggest shock in movies? When the creature bursts out of John Hurt's stomach in Alien, or when Tony Wager's boy Pip transforms into John Mills' young-man Pip, halfway through Great Expectations? At 38, Mills plays a 20-year-old, while looking every bit of 45. Alec Guinness, 32, portrayed Pip's buddy, Herbert Pocket, and appeared young enough to pass as Mills' son.

2

Dolores Cassinelli

35 – as Pocahontas (11) in 1923's Jamestown.

The concocted romance in 1995's Pocahontas seems a little creepy, when you realize the girl was really only 11 or so when (and if) she saved John Smith's life. After Cassinelli's silent-screen performance, Pocahontas actresses got a little younger: Jody Lawrance was 23 in 1953's Captain John Smith and Pocahontas, Gloria Talbot was 24 in 1955's TV movie, America's First Great Lady, and Sandrine Holt was 22 in 1995's Pocahontas the Legend.

1

Leslie Howard

43 – as Romeo (15 or 16)

Also: Norma Shearer (35) as Juliet (13) in 1936's Romeo and Juliet.
In Shakespeare's romantic tragedy, Juliet is "not yet fourteen," meaning that Shearer could have given birth to her own character at age twenty-two and Romeo at nineteen or twenty. Hey, when you're married to the producer (Irving Thalberg), you get whatever roles you want. Howard's penchant for portraying much younger men resurfaced when, at 46, he played 28-year-old Ashley Wilkes in Gone With The Wind.


Source: http://listverse.com/2011/04/15/10-actors-way-older-than-their-characters/

10 Celebrities Who Had Their Gender Changed

I can't really blame them for not feeling comfortable in their own skin and to be honest … we all saw this coming somewhere along the road.

1. Justin Bieber

2. Justin Bieber

3. Justin Bieber

4. Justin Bieber

5. Justin Bieber

6. Justin Bieber

7. Justin Bieber

8. Justin Bieber

9. Justin Bieber

10. Justin Bieber

Source: http://zaludnica.com/10-celebrities-who-had-their-gender-changed/

Real Life Vampire Serial Killers

When thinking of a vampire, what comes in your mind? A black dressed individual who can become bat when he wishes? Well it is not about that. There are number of vampires found in history but they can't turn into bats stuff. The common thing about them is their wildness and thirst for blood. Very carefully selected is a list of top ten vampires serial killers in the following, you might enjoy:

Fritz Haarmann

Fritz Harrmann was a German serial killer and was believed to be responsible for at least 27 murders but was convicted of 24. Before these murders, he had a criminal background for assault, petty theft and burglary. He chose young victims between the age of 10-22 years. He sold their belongings and also reported to sell their flesh in black market. He was sentenced to death by guillotine on April 15, 1925.

Tsutomu Miyazaki

Tsutomu Miyazaki killed four small girls during 1988-1989 in Tokyo's Saitama Prefecture. He was named as The Little Girl Killer and The Otaku Killer and Dracula. He used to kill little girls and drank their blood. This  "cannibal nerd" also terrorized the families of the victims by sending letters and post cards and even sometimes calling at their houses. He was sentenced to death but his name is still very terrorizing among Japanese people.

Philip Onyancha

Philip Onyancha killed almost 17 persons, all women or children. He also drank the blood of his victims. He claimed that he killed them under the influence of evil spirits who made him thirsty for the blood. He also said that women are the easiest victims when the urge comes. He claimed that his target was 100 people but he managed only 17. There are still 83 to go.

Nico Claux

Working as a mortician, Nico Claux was charged for murder and grave robbing. His apartment contained unidentified skeletons and blood stolen from blood banks. He claimed to eat strips of flesh cut from corpses he had access to. He was sentenced to serve 10 years in jail and was released after seven years.

Marcelo de Andrade

Marcelo de Andrade, living in Rio de Janeiro's Rocinha Slum, had been a victim of sexual and physical abuse since childhood. During the course of nine months he had killed 14 people who were all young boys. He raped the victims and then drank their blood. He said that he chose young boys because the priest said that children who die before 13 automatically go to heaven so he was giving them favor by sending them to heaven. Now-a-days he is under treatment in an asylum.

Andrei Chikatilo

Andrei Chikatilo was found guilty of 53 murders. He mutilated the eyes of his victim and also completely or partially removed their sexual organs. He chose adolescent boys and girls, raped them, cannibalized them, and drank their blood. During his trail, he kept on screaming and shouting. He also stated himself to be the "mistake of nature" and "a mad beast".

James P. Riva

At the age of 23, James killed his grandmother who was handicapped. He shot her with gold-painted bullets while she was sitting in her wheel-chair. Then he stabbed her many times in heart and drank the blood oozing out of her wounds. Then he set her house on fire to remove evidences. He claimed that he is a 700-years-old vampire and needed to drink her blood. He also said that his grandmother was also a vampire who fed on him at nights. He was charged for second degree murder, arson, assault and battery and was sentenced to live in prison.

Mauricio Lopez

Mauricio Lopez discovered that his niece, Mariella Mendez, is having affair with her brother-in-law, Macario Cruz. He got furious and stabbed him in heart and liver in the presence of Mendez and her children. He is now facing a trial with charges of second degree murder, aggravated assault and aggravated battery with deadly weapon.

Daniel and Manuela Ruda

The German couple, Daniel and Manuela, murdered a co-worker by stabbing him 66 times, then hitting him with a hammer and drank his blood. They said that they had acted on Satan's order and that the guy was so funny to be the best jester for Satan's court. They behaved in threatening way during the trial. Daniel was sent in prison for 15 and his wife for 13 years.

Richard Chase

Born on May 23, 1950, in Santa Clara County, California, Richard Chase had killed six people in the time span of one month. He was also called as "Vampire of Sacramento". He used to cannibalize the dead bodies and drank their blood. He was even found to be engaged in necrophilia with his last victim. He started having signs of psychological problems since his early age and was found obsessed with body fluids. Once he got blood poisoned because he injected rabbit's blood in his body. On May 8, 1979, he was sentenced to death in gas chamber. He was found dead in his cell on December 26, 1980. He had committed suicide with doctor's prescribed anti-depressant which he had been saving for long.

 

Source: http://toptens.in/2011/04/14/real-life-vampire-serial-killers/

Wow...Amazing Aerodrome In Gibraltar

Story about really unique and strange aerodrome in Gibraltar, Brittish overseas territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance of the Mediterranean. As you can see the airport is located in the middle of the city. Really impressive look. Any way Gibraltar is home to almost 30,000 Gibraltarians and other nationalities.
This aerodrome maye looks interesting and funny, but there is a otherside of these story. This aerodrome is not so practical. The Rock itself is only a quarter of a mile to the south and “poses a unique challenge to pilots”, says the MOD. In certain weather conditions, aircraft are not allowed to land due to severe turbulence generated around the Rock. What makes the situation more acute are the buildings that have gone up near the runway, something not allowed in normal circumstances. Not only have buildings gone up, but there is a penchant to have more of the same.










The danger of bird strikes is another consideration. Where features attractive to birds are included in a proposed development…it is essential that the hazard to aviation posed by these birds be addressed, say the rules. Buildings may be used by birds depending on the design and availability of food. Pigeons and seagulls, common in Gibraltar, are mentioned.



Source: http://www.epicweird.com/amazing-aerodrome-in-gibraltar