Entries in North Carolina (2)

Thursday
21Jan2010

Man Flies Up To 15,000 Ft In Balloon Chair

Jonathan Trappe is a man who had a dream. His dream was to take his office chair where no other office chair had been before... the skies over North Carolina. Jonathan strapped 55 helium balloons to his seat, then soared to just under 15,000 feet. Wearing ski clothing and using an oxygen mask to breath, he endured temperatures down to 5˚F during his flight. He spent two years preparing for his voyage, which included getting his FAA license to fly helium and hot air balloons. What else did it take to accomplish this feat of stupidity bravery? Jonathan spent almost $72,000 to make his 3 hour, 60 mile adventure happen. After the flight he returned his office chair to its daily location, his desk.

via Daily Mail

Wednesday
01Jul2009

Disgusting North Carolina Sewer Creature

 

This video is from a snake cam in a North Carolina sewer. It shows us a gross looking flesh mass that looks like a creature straight out of Alien. The inquiring minds at Deep-Sea News sent the video over to freshwater bryozoa expert and officer of International Bryozoology Association, Dr. Timothy Wood. Here is his take on the extra-terrestrial looking beast:

"Thanks for the video – I had not see it before. No, these are not bryozoans! They are clumps of annelid worms, almost certainly tubificids (Naididae, probably genus Tubifex). Normally these occur in soil and sediment, especially at the bottom and edges of polluted streams. In the photo they have apparently entered a pipeline somehow, and in the absence of soil they are coiling around each other. The contractions you see are the result of a single worm contracting and then stimulating all the others to do the same almost simultaneously, so it looks like a single big muscle contracting. Interesting video."

Here is a slightly less gross video showing the Tubifex worms in better detail.

via Gizmodo