Lighten up?

From Joe King: Unfortunately the gravity shift is a hoax:


Jan. 4, 2014: “˜Planetary Alignment Decreases Gravity” Allowing People to Float is an Old Hoax
by Jack Phillips
Epoch Times
December 30, 2013

hoax_screenshot-200A rumor from the News-Hound.net blog is claiming there”s a “zero-G day” at 9:47 a.m. on January 4, 2014, that will decrease gravity allowing people to float for five minutes due to an “extraordinary astronomical event.” But it”s not real as it was a hoax perpetrated by astronomer Sir Patrick Moore four decades ago.

“At exactly 9:47 am, the planet Pluto will pass directly behind Jupiter, in relation to the Earth. This rare alignment will mean that the combined gravitational force of the two planets would exert a stronger tidal pull, temporarily counteracting the Earth”s own gravity and making people weigh less. Moore calls this the Jovian-Plutonian Gravitational Effect,” reads the blog that has hundreds of thousands of “likes” and shares on Facebook, saying that the “theory” was attributed to astronomer Sir Patrick Moore.

However, the whole thing was a hoax created several decades ago by Moore but websites and blogs kept passing it along every year, saying it will happen a few days after New Year”s Day.

Moore, who was the BBC Radio 2 astronomer, said the event would happen as part of an April Fools Day prank in 1976.

Continue reading “Lighten up?”

Elf Advocates and Environmentalists Join Forces

From Ellie:


Iceland’s hidden elves delay road projects
by Jenna Gottlieb
World News NBCnews.com
December 22, 2013

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REYKJAVIK, Iceland (AP) “” In this land of fire and ice, where the fog-shrouded lava fields offer a spooky landscape in which anything might lurk, stories abound of the “hidden folk” “” thousands of elves, making their homes in Iceland”s wilderness.

So perhaps it was only a matter of time before 21st-century elves got political representation.

Elf advocates have joined forces with environmentalists to urge the Icelandic Road and Coastal Commission and local authorities to abandon a highway project building a direct route from to the tip of the Alftanes peninsula, where the president has a home, to the Reykjavik suburb of Gardabaer. They fear disturbing elf habitat and claim the area is particularly important because it contains an elf church.

Continue reading “Elf Advocates and Environmentalists Join Forces”

The Fiddle File #7

fiddler-75Editor’s Note: Ask The Fiddler is a lifestyle advice column that aims to remedy more chaos and confusion than it creates. Questions may be submitted to us here at Art of the Prank, and good luck.


The Fiddle File #7

Here we go with another madcap roundup of hoaxes, scams and damn fool idiocy making the rounds these days. Take heed. Some of these fiddles may soon be showing up on your computer, phone or even up close and personal. Check it out:

Washington State: I read the news today, oh boy. Fake article posted about son”s alleged suicide.

China: Do these eggs taste kind of funny to you? I mean, not funny ha-ha, funny yuck.

Vancouver BC: The on-line date you haven”t met yet has hit you up for $500,000 in loans. Talk about screwed without a kiss.

Washington DC: Sorry to hear you slipped on a banana peel. By the way, that”s a felony.

Watch the video

Louisiana: You jokingly yell to your sleeping friend that the car is on fire and about to explode. His panic reaction leads to a near-death experience.

Continue reading “The Fiddle File #7”

Sobering Up on the Python Story

From Joe King: Apparently the python-swallows-drunk tale has appeared in various permutations here there and everywhere


“˜Python Eats Drunk Man in India” Most Likely a Hoax; Media Outlets Fooled
by Jack Phillips
Epoch Times
November 28, 2013

An article titled “Python Eats Drunk Man in India” is a hoax, according to a report.

python-india-425

David Emery with About.com wrote that the photo, which shows a python with a large object inside of it as people stand nearby, has been around for at least two years.

“Depending on which version of the story you read, the overstuffed python above swallowed a drunk guy in India, an unknown woman in South Africa, an unknown man in Qujing, China, a person of unknown gender in Indonesia, or a 4-year-old child in Malaysia,” he wrote. Continue reading “Sobering Up on the Python Story”

Size Matters When it Comes to Squid

How Big Is A Colossal Squid Really?
by Dr. M
October 22, 2013

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Recently, Quarks to Quasar”s on Facebook published an illustration of how massive a Colossal Squid can reach. The Facebook post was liked by 3,300 people and shared 1,150 times (they have 351k followers). I am excited that the Colossal Squid is loved by this many people. One problem. The illustration is wrong. Really wrong. Although the Colossal Squid can reach, well, colossal proportions, the length of this big squid is grossly exaggerated in the above illustration. Continue reading “Size Matters When it Comes to Squid”