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One 'Bloody Sunday' in 1905, peaceful protesters were brutally gunned down by the Imperial Guards of Russia's final Emperor, Nicholas II, triggering the dramatic descent of Russia's economic and military power.

Public tolerance of Russian autocracy had exhausted, resulting in Siberian civil war.

With the Red Army in pursuit, Admiral Alexander Kolchak heisted the Czar's treasure and made a desperate escape for the hills in a 100 tonne locomotive.

Triumph, however, was short lived, as the train derailed and plummeted into the world's deepest fresh water body, Siberia's Lake Baikal, carrying 1,600 tonnes of gold worth billions of dollars, never to be seen again.


Long have explorers searched the area for the treasure, and when ammunition boxes and railway wagons were found last year, dating to the civil war, many an adventurers' eyebrow was raised in interest.
Gold bullions

One group of fairly affluent eyebrows, belonging to the Science Academy, recently took the plunge in mini submarines, where they made an eye-popping discovery - thousands of shiny objects resembling gold bullions, sitting 400 metres below the lake's surface.

The fragile lake basin proved too ticklish to grab the loot, however the academy believe they have pinpointed its exact location. And with the mission incomplete, hope has flung into the hearts of those with less fortunate eyebrows. The game, as they say, is a foot.

One brave attempt has since been made.


Boisterously quoting Aragorn from The Two Towers, "there is always hope", 53 year old bankrupt Siberian truck driver Hank Volkoff dived headlong towards the lake's bottom. Armed with plastic bags, a can of compressed nitrogen, a rusty metal claw and a torch, Hank tied several small boulders to his feet before taking the quixotic plunge.

He was never seen again.

There are rumours, however, of a benighted wealthy Russian, prancing about the forest with the bends, arousing wild animals with the sounds of clinking metal.


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Despair in The Land of The Immortals

September 1st 2010 11:23
The islands of Japan have long held a reputation for the world's greatest life expectancy, with the average citizen likely to hit 86 years, and many expected to live past 100.

In fact, the ancient Chinese have dubbed Japan the "land of the immortals" for many years, due to its seemingly ageless lifestyle.

The secret? - Rather than fantastic sex and abundant tropical holidays, Japan's robust population has come about, unsurprisingly, through good old boring diet and exercise.

However, all does not seem well in the land of the ageless, for underneath the fish, rice, vegetables and miso soup, Japan appears to be becoming depressed, sloppy and down right desperate.

Its economy has contracted 14-15% in the last quarter, and China, the rising beast in the monetary abyss, has just muscled out Japan in economic prosperity. Meanwhile, typically cautious Japanese bureaucrats are turning into space cadets, or so it seems.
Old man

A recent population re-assessment has revealed 271 of Japan's 'ageless' centenarians are reported missing, while 25 of these continued to receive public pensions. Furthermore, 800 pension recipients older than 85 are reported as 'whereabouts unknown', and out of 59 pensioners who made the unearthly 110 mark, five were reported already dead.

While it appears Japan's civil servants are suffering from economic anguish, members of the public seem down right desperate. As recently, a Tokyo woman believed to be alive at 104, was found dead, stuffed into her son's backpack where she lay for more than ten years.

These 're-assessments' were initially triggered after a man, believed to be 111 years old, was found dead in a Tokyo apartment where he had been rotting for the last 30 years. Shortly after, the man's daughter and granddaughter were arrested for pocketing his pension, which had amounted to roughly $120,000 Au since his death.

Meanwhile, thousands of cases of centenarians have been neglected, with public anxiety and bureaucratic embarrassment perpetuated by an ageing population with a declining birth rate. The solution?

Dr Dudley Puffin, from the Avant-garde Archipelago Association (AAA), believes the answer is simple - a rapid increase in junk food and sex. A decrease in dietary standards, he explains, will gradually expel any notion of an ageing population, while an increase in sex will add "much needed sunshine to a terribly withered garden".

Whilst the report has outraged Japanese officials, its announcement has lowered public anxiety by a staggering 63%. However, the reliability of the figure remains uncertain.



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From a country that thrived without beer until 1989, to one voted fourth happiest in the world by Business Week in 2009, Iceland, it appears, is a land full of love.

In an undeniable display of hamlet affection, Icelandic knitters have combined to forge a 17-kilometre scarf, connecting the regional villages of Ólafsfjörður and Siglufjörður in warm celebration of a new tunnel opening between the towns.

The enterprise was launched by visionary Icelandic yarn spinner, Frída Björk Gylfadóttir, who became inspired by her grandmother's 1950's hat shop.

After moving to the country, Gylfadóttir was engulfed by a "new and greater energy", which propelled her into arguably the most notorious knitting frenzy the world has seen to date.

As word spread of the event, over 500 regional knitters eagerly joined the campaign, with knitting enthusiasts ranging from all ages, the youngest being a ten year old boy, to the oldest - a 94 year old great grandmother.
Icelandic sheep

Once this lavishly lanky garment is complete, regional snippers are set to portion it into smaller lengths before sending it off to various charities.

The wool, Gylfadóttir explains, has come from producer Ístex, at a discounted rate, as well as from the arctic knitters who are proficient in using scrap yarn.

Countries such as Sweden, Norway, Estonia, Germany, Denmark and the US have also given financial contributions to the cause.

While the success of Frída and her Icelandic knitters has been attributed to a strong sense of community love, others thank the nation's relatively short history with alcohol. For roughly 2000 kilometres to the south-east, other well known knitting organisations appear to be floundering in an alcoholic stupor.

Craig Carruthers, from the established English knitting society, I Knit London (IKL), is encouraging knitters to practice their craft in its fully licensed bar for a "drunken experience". And with the group hosting activities such as "bingo themed" treasure hunts, it appears that saving the world with love, via knitting, is best done sober.



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The dirty German Messel Pit - home to one of the world's most splendid fossil collections, is at it again, this time producing startling new evidence of a devilish ant possessing fungus, from deep within an ancient German forest.

The parasitic fungus, still alive today, lives mid way between the canopy and forest floor, where it once attached itself to carpenter ants as they sauntered home to their forest canopy families.

This fiendish green blanket is known as Ophiocordyceps unilateralis, and is believed to have grown inside the ants before releasing powerful alkaloids that took control of their behaviour.
Cynobacteria

Harvard scientists found the evidence on 48-million-year old leaves, which revealed "death grip" jaw markings made by the possessed arthropods. Research leader, Dr David Hughes, says graveyards of 20 or 30 ants on specific leaves suggest the fungus thrived at a particular height, where conditions were peachy.

The impression would have been one of 'ant zombies', where the insects staggered around in a robotic stupor before clamping down ferociously on the leaves like crazed pit bulls. Others simply fell to their deaths below before sprouting fungus spores from their heads, resembling saggy wild African tea bags.

Dr Hughes says he is startled by the force of the ant bites, which left distinct markings on the leaves. He adds he is fascinated over the ability of the parasitic fungus to take complete control of the host before killing it, as it's "the first example of behavioural manipulation".

Scientists are still unsure how the fungus controlled the ants, although Jack Bucket, from the Society of Ancient Fungus Entities (SAFE), gives a clue. He says this vast forest rogue operates on an entirely different time scale, as what was likely a moment of fungal venting over inadequate shade conditions has translated into a 48-million-year ordeal that has utterly devastated the ant.













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One dark and violent morning in the early days of 2009, the most powerful force to hit France in years came storming down upon the edge of the Atlantic.

Winds of up to 200 km/ph tore through the nebulous dawn, leaving 26 people dead, forests and power lines crushed, buildings and roads annihilated, and the people of Rowan (a tiny fishing port) utterly flabbergasted.

For not ten miles out to sea, a mysteriously conceived blob ascended from the depths, blasting its way onto the surface. The locals have since named this land mass (which measures 250 acres across at low tide) "l'île mystérieuse" - or 'the mysterious island' - aptly named after a novel by Jules Verne.

Mysterious indeed, as this island has arisen rather close to the famed lost Island of Cordouan, a place once home to the English 'Black Prince', who lived there before it sank during the Hundred Years War in the 14th and 15th centuries.
storm

The Black Prince was a renown formidable warrior, who donned in black and mercilessly crushed all in his path - a sort of dark knight. Has he risen from the sea in the form of an island to slap France in the chops one last time? Or is this just one behemoth of a geological disturbance?

19th century French Historian, Jules Michelet, gives a clue. He has called the area "a sea of contradictions", as depths in the southern end of the gulf suddenly plummet into a fathomless abyss. However, historical records simply state the continual erosion of Cordouan's limestone led to its disappearance.

In any case, Cordouan or not, this 'mysterious island' is currently not listed on any map, nor does it have any bona fide name. In short, it does not officially exist. Scientists, however, are radically attempting to alter this, as the island has attracted an array of vertebrate and plant life which they believe is in dire need of protection.

This scientific urgency is fuelled by the activity of bombastic parachuting thrill seekers, who use the island's lack of legitimacy in order to land, as well as howling, boot scooting ravers who use it for intense go-go dancer type parties. The circus like behaviour the island appears to have spawned has also led to increased interest from mysterious advocacy groups.

Dr Stanley Sherbet, from the Underwater Transmogrification Society (UTS), claims the Black Prince has indeed returned, and is intent on 'finishing the job' by sending all who seek his shores into an unbridled pleasure seeking rampage.
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From deep within the recesses of adventure and lunacy, former British army captain Ed Stafford has braved numerous toxic perils to become the first known man to walk the entire length of the Amazon River.

Armed with an internet satellite phone for entertainment, Stafford spent his comfortable nights watching episodes of 'The Office' in between affairs with 5.5-metre-long caimans, titanic anacondas and "50,000 mosquito bites


[ Click here to read more ]
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One of the world's most frenzied transport hubs has displayed astonishing disrespect to the elderly by slapping a $40,000 plus fee on a prehistoric fish trying to re-enter Egypt.

Fossilised remains of the world's only complete Basilosaurus skeleton, dating to the Eocene period, are currently stranded at Cairo International Airport (CIA) following the customs dispute


[ Click here to read more ]
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Perverse Plastic Party

July 30th 2010 04:58
Plastic homes, plastic food, plastic pets, plastic entertainment - well not quite, but plastic appreciation, or its continual manufacture in today's society, is undeniable, even manic.

Even in the magical art form of music, plastic is rife, with human's bellowing either its praise or damnation from back street balconies, dark recording studios, or showers


[ Click here to read more ]
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On the edge of a diminishing rainforest world, hundreds of impassioned Amazonian tribesmen have stormed a hydroelectric power plant in Brazil.

Adorned in full war paint and armed with bows and arrows, 300 Indigenous protesters from six different tribes seized the Dardanelos power plant, along with 100 of its workers


[ Click here to read more ]
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In the darkest corners of deep space, scientists have discovered the most gargantuan galactic fireball ever known to mankind.

The star, known as R136a1, is a staggering 265 times heavier than the sun and millions of times brighter


[ Click here to read more ]
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In an audacious move to express what he terms the "horrors" of America, Italian artist Max Papeschi has concocted an image with a Mickey Mouse head on a nude female body laying in front of the swastika symbol.

The picture, which stretches up to a story high, is on display in the western Polish city of Poznan, sitting just meters from a synagogue


[ Click here to read more ]
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Black

In an astonishing display of synthetic madness, scientists have taken it upon themselves to create the blackest piece of material ever known to man.

[ Click here to read more ]
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Rabbit

In an erotic radioactive mammalian investigation, four Japanese scientists have placed mobile phones in close proximity to several rabbit's genitalia, to gauge whether this has a direct influence over the animal's primal urges.

[ Click here to read more ]
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Apple

Colossal technology company, Foxconn, the principal manufacture of Apple products, has seen an 11th person commit suicide at their southern Chinese factory in the last year.

[ Click here to read more ]
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Andy Tope's Blogs

I have no other blogs :(
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