Strangest Dental Remedies

What's the weirdest thing you've heard of?

When I tried using charcoal on my teeth for the first time, I thought I looked really weird, to say the least. Now it's pretty commonplace; I've even seen charcoal in toothpaste at the store. Then my kid and I were reading about ancient dental remedies and the things they filled teeth with made me gag. Just how did we start to do these weird things, anyway?

It got me wondering what other weird things people do to their teeth, and I came across this list which includes things like using pumice and vinegar (ancient Egypt), human urine (ewwww!) and sage with salt to help make smiles whiter. I'm sure there are plenty of other remedies that aren't listed, and I want to know about them!

What are the strangest things you've heard about people doing to their teeth? Share your findings in the chat!

Klat Categories: 
Culture

Post-Lightning Tree

It's mesmerizing

Lightning strikes aren't completely uncommon, but they're rare enough that most of us haven't really paid attention to the effects they have on trees. Maybe we've seen a broken one every now and then, or even a charred tree, but have you seen one with fire glowing in the inside? 

While it's sad to watch this tree burn from the inside out, it's also rather mesmerizing. It looks like another world because it's contained so completely. Have you ever seen anything like it? You almost can't look away, can you?

Have you seen any other incredible forces of nature this week? Share them in the chat.

Klat Categories: 
Weather
Science

Socks Have Emu Calming Abilities

Also, perhaps cops should use socks more often!

This week in weird news, an emu was on the loose causing damage in a Massachusetts community when police stepped in to take action... with a sock. The emu was someone's pet, of course, and she said she didn't know how it got out, but it certainly led everyone on a wild... emu chase. Once the bird was out, it was also pretty cranky, which made it even harder to catch! 

Luckily some of the police had interesting ideas to capture the bird, such as using emu calls on a phone to lure it in and to place a sock on its head to calm it. These were pretty impressive tactics and we could only hope that more officers use their creativity like this rather than shooting first and asking questions later, which has happened to not just many dogs but even human beings every year.

Have you heard any weird news stories latey? Share them in the chat.

Klat Categories: 
Animals
Birds

Caves Dug By Sloths!

These are incredible.

It's not news, as it's a couple of years old, but a story about giant ground sloths digging out a massive tunnel in South America is making its rounds around the Internet again and it's just incredibly impressive. Researchers didn't know what had made the tunnel before finding the claw marks in it, which indicated that they may have been dug by giant ground sloths.

This is so incredible. We can picture giant ground sloths but to see something they made still in existance! We have a small museum with a model of a life-sized Megatherium where we can visit and imagine what it was like, but to walk through tunnels that it made... doesn't that just blow your mind?

What other incredible things do you know that animals have made? Share them in the chat.

Klat Categories: 
Animals

How Strong Is Your Freak Out?

And do you even like to scare or be scared?

The season of scaring is upon us, and like many people, I like to scare and be scared, but only mildly. If something really terrified me I think I'd have to take a break! Over the years I've learned to not do pranks during Halloween or April Fool's that might upset others. I was raised with an aunt who loved to do these things so it's special to me, but others have bad experiences and we should always respect that. 

That said, if you enjoy freaking people out who also like it, I'd love to hear your favorite tips and ways to do it! My teen has friends who enjoy just jumping up and scaring people, which is fine, but I like to go a bit further than that. One time I wrote a roommate a letter from a prisoner she'd been corresponding with, asking for marriage, and she did NOT apreciate it. That's how I learned my lesson! But I still love to use a lot of fake blood on Halloween, dress up and really freak people out. My best costumes so far have probably been Carrie and Pennywise, both from the Stephen King universe!

How do you freak people out? Share your tips in the chat!

Klat Categories: 
Hobbies
Holidays

Area 51 People Could Storm Something Important

Like refugee camps, maybe?

There weren't very many people "storming" Area 51, which led to some hilarious memes about thousands of people RSVPing to a party and only a handful showing. We all know how that feels (and it's ridiculous, so stop RSVPing if you're not going already, and get rid of the maybe option, Facebook!). Even so, as much interest as the "event" attracted, and as many people actually did travel to Area 51, it makes you wonder how many people we could get to "storm" actual important things happening in the world.

Refugee camps obviously come to mind, as do everything from politicians refusing to act on climate change to gun control to everything else killing our kids and our futures. I mean, I'm spitballing here, but with so many things that actually make sense to care about and "storm," wouldn't it make so much more sense to pay attention to those instead of possible alien autopsies? The freaky thing about this news isn't anything new or exciting: it's just what people will spend their time and energy on. 

Have you read any freaky news this week? Share it in the chat.

Klat Categories: 
News

Jewelry To Prevent Face Recognition

Check these out!

Our world is becoming less and less private, and I for one am disturbed by it. I don't mind sharing photos with people I love, but between people believing they can just record anything (they pretty much can) without even asking to being not only photographed anywhere public to being recognized by recognition software and automatically tagged, it's a disturbing time to live, especially if your paranoia can get in the way of your mental health like mine sometimes can.

I'm in love with the jewelry being made to prevent recognition from happening. Not only is it futuristic and cool, like something Queen Amidala of Star Wars might wear, but it may be even better at maintaining your privacy than growing facial hair. 

Have you seen any other cool ways to deter facial recognition? If so, what are they? 

Klat Categories: 
Lifestyle
Society

Climate Change Makes Farming "Weird"

Surely there's a better adjective for this...

As farmers, politicians and officials label this past year's farming as "weird" due to global warming, you have to wonder if there's a better word to describe the water crisis, the algal toxin, and the 40% of crops not planted in some areas due to both. Terrifying, maybe? Doom-inducing? These might sound like extreme words but our reality is only going to get bleaker as our politicians stand still on the climate crisis that will affect us all, and by the time they realize they can't eat money it will be too late.

Obviously rich nations should be addressing the problem they created, and the rest of the world is suffering alongside them as they remain inactive--in many cases, suffering far worse effects. Lesser developed nation leaders are pleading with more developed country politicians for some action to save peoples' lives during this crisis and as their words fall on deaf ears, we face the most freaky phenomenon of all: the realization that we're all doomed because of these few rich guys who refuse to act. So let's kick them out, shall we? It's not just our lives that depend on it, but those of the people and animals of the entire planet. Keep the pressure up on those in office to act, but certainly don't expect any who haven't done so already to start just to get your vote.

What's the freakiest effect of climate change you've witnessed so far? Share it in the chat.

 

Klat Categories: 
Environment

Freaky Amazon Goods

Some of these would be great for Halloween...

Have you ever wanted to make it look like your big toe was floating? How about a fish puking up your egg yolk to separate it for cooking? If these sound intriguing, you need to check out this freaky list of weird finds on Amazon. Some of these things are really functional, like instant underwear that you can add water to and grow, or a hair-trimming comb. Others appear really too weird to be as functional as they appear.

There's a steel bar of soap that washes you not with suds, but with negative ions, for example. Is the science sound with this one? A pancake batter dipper and a self-stirring mug also seem rather unecessary. Still, many items on the list are interesting enough to sell out on Amazon and often.

What is your favorite freaky find for sale recently? Share it in the chat!

Klat Categories: 
Shopping

Weirdest Weather in the World

What's the strangest thing you've encountered?

If you had to pinpoint the weirdest weather events on Earth, which would you say are the most out of this world? Raining frogs is the strangest in my opinion, but I haven't even heard of some of the world's weirdest weather phenomena until today. 

"Blood rain," which actually comes from red algae, is one such phenomena that would certainly give most of us pause if we saw it! People who experienced it first hand definitely thought it was far more nefarious, as did some who've witnessed frog, bird and fish rains, which scientists believe occur when a wind gust picks them up. We don't know for sure what causes them, though, so you could still be on your guard.

Then there are bugnados and blob rain, which have their own horrific consequences! Take a peek at these different types of weather and tell us if you've experienced any of them. Which one is the most disturbing? Tell us about it in the chat!

Klat Categories: 
Science
Weather

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