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Thousands of Blackbirds Fall From Sky Dead
Dan East writes "In a fashion worthy of a King or Hitchcock novel, blackbirds began to fall from the sky dead in Arkansas yesterday. Somewhere between 4,000 and 5,000 birds rained down on the small town of Beeb, Arkansas, with no visible trauma. Officials are making wild guesses as to what happened — lightning strike, high-altitude hail, or perhaps trauma from the sound of New Year's fireworks killed them."
FlashForward predicted this!
That is all.
Dog is my co-pilot.
More likely they died of shock when they flew over a CAFO.. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concentrated_Animal_Feeding_Operations
Evil people are out to get you.
Hail, lightning, fireworks would have caused said unfound trauma.
Theory: caught in a hellacious wild updraft. Lifted into highest levels of the atmosphere where they suffered insufficient oxygen and/or insufficient pressure -- vessels and or lungs burst.
"Stratigraphically the origin of agriculture and thermonuclear destruction will appear essentially simultaneous" -- Lee
on CNN
Are the events from the show Flashforward coming true?!
through being trapped in storm-associated updrafts. These can rapidly reach high altitudes and cold temperatures (http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/594363/thunderstorm/49573/Updrafts-and-downdrafts).
Maybe the birds realized they were in Arkansas and figured suicide was really the only way out.
Monstar L
My friend descended from a Siberian tribe. His grandmother died in Siberia because she happened to go out wearing just two or three layers less than you "should". See, it's cold enough over there in my friend's ancestral village that the windows are plastic. Glass would shatter. And despite this, sometimes you want convenience. Like if you're American and you want to get milk, you're tempted to use the SUV to drive two blocks away and save five minutes of walking. Well, she saved five minutes changing out of two or three layers of clothing and suffered from it, due to a tragic weather event. OVer there, the Siberians get these tiny tornadoes that only last a few seconds. They're invisible. But inside of them, the temperature isn't just eighteen below zero, it's like thirty-eight below zero. And the wind is reintroducing that temperature of air at a rate of sometimes around a hundred miles an hour, but confined in a very tight vortex of only three or four feet across due to the nature of convecting currents and their abilities to maintain micro systems, something not very well understood. Being in that tiny cold whirlwind for even a few seconds can cause really horrible physical traumas. She was struck dead by hypothermia by an invisible weather phenomenon, struck dead by a tornado as big around as her sucking down temperatures from the upper atmosphere that were cold enough to lower her core temperature down below dead in only seconds. This sort of thing is a reality, and we can assume that there is plenty under the sun that science doesn't quite comprehend. If this doesn't turn out to be a low-pressure or mega-updraft incident of some kind, then I think we can all safely assume it is a pathogenic or local effect. A bacteria or virus. A radioactive or electromagnetic pulse. At any rate it's anomalous and anybody studying it with interest is probably more intelligent than the average scientists who, based largely on risk assessed values of research grant award futures versus college loan payment rates, side squarely with what is pre-established and therefore never learn anything new and fail to ever address the slightest anomaly whether it challenges their worldview or not.
"Stratigraphically the origin of agriculture and thermonuclear destruction will appear essentially simultaneous" -- Lee
The fish that died around there in the same time period were only one species, too.
"Stratigraphically the origin of agriculture and thermonuclear destruction will appear essentially simultaneous" -- Lee
Chicken Little has been vindicated at last!
religious folks gonna love this one. :|
One of the coolest sites, ever: zombo.com
They're pining for the fjords!
Given the fanciful explanations being put forward, I thought I'd add these possibilities which are just as likely:
- Blackbird mob war (explains the trauma too!) ....Variation: A new super race of pigeon decided to whack the competition
- Suicide protest over the abandonment of puppies and kittens over Christmas
- Someone below was constipated for a week after eating some curry and after going off to die on his own in the wilderness managed to pass wind just in time to prevent death from toxic shock. Unfortunately the birds copped the brunt of it.
- Terrorist Blackbird not caught at the Blackbird airport in time because those pesky Blackbirds loved their freedom too much and refused to be irradiated and groped before they travel
- Y2K11 didn't just hit iPads and iPhones. Those poor Blackbirds shouldn't have bought their pacemakers from Apple and believed the "It just works" hype
- An alien witch temporarily transformed them from Blackbirds into Lemmings. When they hit the ground they changed back
These posts express my own personal views, not those of my employer
Blackbirds? Didn't the military retire those years ago?
Quantum mechanics is proof beyond any reasonable criterion that science can be brought around to a good idea no matter how weird it is. It just takes time and evidence, and so it should be.
Anyone else catch that?
How do we know the fall didn't kill them.
Perhaps they all fell from the sky alive, but it was impact with the earth that got them? You people too quick to jump to conclusions - all of you!
. .
It can't be a pathogen - there's no way that it would kill such a large amount of birds at exactly the same time. Instead it would have acted over hours/days following a normal distribution, and the area of dead birds would be far greater and not fairly evenly spread over a narrow area.
While my medical degree makes me an expert in humans, not birds, it's reasonable to assume that this bird population is suffering due to 1) the bird overpopulation mentioned by local residents in the news reports and 2) the colder than normal weather. I cannot speculate as to the cause other than ruling out silly things (pathogens, aliens, etc), but I think the birds were on the limit of survival, and some localized event happened that pushed a small group in a certain area a little too hard, causing them to die suddenly.
Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
I'm not saying you're wrong, but a link or some further evidence of micro-tornadoes would surely be in order.
I imagine someone coming across the frozen tundra and the corpse on it could easily reach a similar conclusion, even though the person may have died from some type of sudden onset failure like a brain aneurysm. Having been in northern climates, I'm having a bit of trouble swallowing these invisible micro tornadoes because much of the surface is covered with loose material like powder snow, dust, and exposed dry, decayed vegetation.
brandelf -t FreeBSD
if it was fireworks, the birds would be dying in other locations around the US and at other times, such as 4th of July.
This incident took place in a one square mile near the city.
Why would someone ever *choose* to live in such an environment? *shivers*
Nobody said it was a choice. In most of the world, you live and die where you were born.
True. What blows my mind is that once upon a time, some adventurous soul left their home to make a better life and found it in Siberia. I can only imagine they were fleeing a war.
Repent, the end is nigh, Elton John and his husband had a child on Christmas day and women dress without modesty in Liechtenstein, therefore we are all DOOOOOOOMED. Especially the fish and the birds in Arkansas, who were all gay and very keen on felching.
GP sounds like a nice troll. Unless you replace air with 1000-fold more dense material it is impossible to cool a person to hypothermia in few seconds, no matter what is temperature and wind speed are. A human can spend comfortably tens of minutes at temperatures well below 200K even naked (or swimsuit) and this is used to heal pains in rheumatoid arthritis. And as one who lives in north, I can imagine the amount of snow taken air with wind over 30 m/s. Invisible in your dreams.
I think falling hundreds of feet out of the sky would cause trauma.
I experienced something like this on a glacier, a kind of 'dust devil' hit our party, except it wasn't invisible as you say, there was enough fresh powder around to make it clear and we had nowhere to go. It got VERY cold fast and the winds may have been 100kph briefly as well as white-out conditions. I don't know if the wind chill alone made it so cold, but as most of the group had most of our cold weather gear off despite just below freezing temperatures (reflective snow/ice in bright sunlight makes you actually kind hot).. we came pretty damn close to having a serious problem. I would assume that like katabatic winds, such a anti-tornado forming over ice would be powered by descending cold dry air, not ascending warm moist air, and would prefer clearer drier conditions to storm conditions.
This would explain the temperature drop and I imagine anyone or any animal exposed could be in a life threatening situation. I did read that there were tornadoes in the Beebe, Arkansas area on new years eve and this was the leading theory? The blackbirds just got hypothermia, nicely fitting the lack of obvious trauma.
If blackbirds in my part of the world are anything to go by, they don't flock much, at least not in large numbers like other birds. So several thousand blackbirds falling out of the sky in the same area is just strange to me, but blackbirds elsewhere could behave differently?
After logging in slashdot still does not take you back to the page you were on. It's been that way for 20 years.
I think falling hundreds of feet out of the sky would cause trauma.
Falling hundreds of feet could not cause trauma to the birds. The sudden stop at the end, however, will do the trick.
Tequila: It's not just for breakfast anymore!
Mocro-tornadoes are quite real, and relatively common where I live. But, of course, there being dust and sometimes clouds, they are normaly visible. The wind within them comes from slightly hight places, so it is colder than surface (here it means you can get 20C air while the external temperature is near 30C - how the hell can I make the degree symbol appear on a /. post?). I can imagine them being invisible in a cold and dry environment, becoming visible just after they touch the soil.
That said, there is another answer here about the likehood of dry air killing somebody in seconds. I'd add that it is quite hard to belive in invisible tornadoes whithin wet air, as it would at least condensate a lot of water.
Rethinking email
Maybe the birds had become angry at some nearby pigs and began launching themselves from catapults.
Alfred Hitchcock did not write novels.
You are welcome on my lawn.
Meh, I've found that with several of King's books. I'd be reading along and it's going well and then _The End_
WTF? But what happened with... and... but...
I'm actually kinda offended that he was mentioned in the same breath as Alfred Hitchcock.
[John]
Shit better not happen!
Not that I really expect any sort of editorial checking from Slashdot anymore, but the name of the town is Beebee. I should know, I grew up just south of there, and I was in the area over Christmas visiting my family. We left the day before this happened. There were strong thunderstorms the day we left, so that might have been the cause.
The question is, did they hit the pigs?
"When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
This is quite wrong. Humans are omnivores, as are a number of other primates including Capuchins. Tarsiers are obligate carnivores (that is, they *only* eat meat). Chimpanzees even eat other primates.
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Let me blow your mind some more. I visited Siberia when the iron curtain was still drawn down. Common people living in Siberia (Irkutsk, Bratsk) were much happier and enjoyed more amenities such as good food and leisure activities than moskovites. If anything, Irkutsk almost felt like a Swiss village. I understand things have changed for the worse since then.
Flourescent (adj): smelling like ground wheat.
People following a vegetarian diet must eat protein foods that have complementary proteins so that the essential amino acids missing from one protein food can be supplied by another.
What are some examples of complementary proteins?
# Beans and tortillas
# Peanut butter sandwich
# Macaroni and cheese
# Tofu with rice
# Hummus with pita bread
# Chickpeas and rice
Do people following a vegetarian diet need to eat complementary proteins at every meal?
It was once believed that complementary proteins had to be consumed at every meal. We now know that intentional combining at each meal isn't necessary.
Source: http://altmedicine.about.com/cs/dietarytherapy/a/Vegetarian.htm
From my own experience as lacto-ovo veggie for 10 years, lentils provide just as much or more proteins as meat, and eating varied provides you enough of everything. It's not that hard, unless you're the fiery / hunter type who craves food and meat especially. Medically, lacto-ovo vegetarian diet is superior and easy, as long as you don't restrict yourself to pasta, rice or just a few foods, but eat a varied diet.
If you're eating meat, you should question how your bowels look and smell, how much meat is stuck inside there undigested and foul. This is why, when people go veggie, they often smell worse for a good while, until their bodies are cleaned out. You can do bowel cleansing, which every person should do every other year anyways.
Vegan diet (no animal byproducts too) on the other hand. Well, those who follow it seem gray and sickly to me. I don't think it is optimal.
So we may not have to slaughter all those cows after all. Indeed, cows are reveered as holy in India for their usefulness, and many groups of people in that country have been vegetarian for thousands of years.
http://www.debunkingskeptics.com/
You have essentially made the “might makes right” argument. If you want to argue: we should kill because we can kill, then I hope you are prepared to defend yourself against those who would want for your life and property. Lucky for you, modern civilization protects both.
Modern civilization protects no one from other humans (except maybe humans from other countries). It punishes misbehavior when caught. Very few people in danger are protected. Modern civilization does protect us from dangers like predators, prey animals (deer and moose seem to think we're predators and respond by fighting), temperature extremes.
Lastly, humans, like other primates, are herbivores. Only complete dolts suggest we need meat three times daily, or even once weekly (let alone milk, which is intended for infants). Where are our claws? Fangs? You have no built-in mechanisms with which to hunt, kill, render, or even digest the animals you intend to eat without modern tools (which came very late in our evolution).
Built in mechanism: Our legs. Ever beat an opponent in a sport by just out-lasting him? Didn't it feel exhilarating? Before we could use rocks tied to sticks to kill things, we would throw a club at them, then chase them slowly for miles until they passed out from exhaustion, then we'd walk up and club them by hand. All that running takes a lot of calories, and ancient man wasn't in a pasta-making mood.
Regarding digestion, you do realize that humans _can_ metabolize raw meat/fat, but only in small doses? Cooking meat came before modern man (because cooking meat reduces the energy required to digest it, that energy can be applied to the brain).
For anecdotal evidence to this point, look around at the disgustingly obese people all around you.
Anecdotal evidence: I eat mostly meat with some vegis/fruits and occasional grains. I am below 25 BMI, but I bet your anemic vegetarian wireframe doesn't have enough fat to last a drought. Vegetarian lifestyle can't subsist without farming and preservation - modern tools. Ancient humans (pre-farming) would die out during the first winter or drought if they were herbivores.
This is intellectual masturbation.
"Fact."
You probably share more genes with alot of Indians and Africans than with your unrelated neighbour.
All facts and statistics are always abused to suit our own prejudices and preconceptions, even when not intended to, especially then.
If you can't eat vegetarian, you have probably not had the correct vegetarian meal. Many who "go veggie" have absolutely no clue what kinds of food you must eat.
Also, you must take the time for the body to clean itself out. You may feel sick for days, weeks or even months, and then you'll be fine. Drinking alot of water between meals etc helps.
Educate yourself instead. If you personally can't stand it after having tried the real thing, that's fine. Personally, I would have had a hard time if not for friends who went veggie with me over a period of a few years. With friends however, it was fun and empowering. I know not everyone is so lucky.
It seems to me a bit intellectualish to try it yourself for a short time, with no friends and no support. Like learning martial arts from a book. It's not the real thing. If you want an informed opinion about it, you should of course interview a trusted practitioner instead of building your own houses of cards.
http://www.debunkingskeptics.com/
Whoa contrail did it huh. Have you ever noticed during certain kinds of weather cold clear low humidity that the contrail from planes last longer. Could it have something to do with temperature dew point and other atmospheric conditions?
No of course not. Its the black hole at the center of the earth sending our fairy farts and fucking with our birds and fish in Arkansas. that's it that's the ticket
I've seen it before too, though not on such a large scale, in SW Missouri. In my case it was a flock of mourning dove. Dove are migratory and need a warmer climate. If cold air moves in quickly, like it did in Arkansas over the weekend, the birds can freeze to death quite suddenly. Red winged blackbirds are migratory too. They just cannot take those sudden temperature dips, especially when they are as sharp as those over the weekend.
I think the fish kill is just coincidental. I do not think the two incidents are related.
Proverbs 21:19
You cannot stand in -99 to -100 degree Fahrenheit comfortably for tens of minutes.
I can see it being possible, but not comfortably. Frostbite can happen within minutes.
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I'd go further and state that most of the obese people around you (including myself) got that way from eating processed grains and sugars - bread and soda, namely.
I'd lose a shit-ton of weight if I moved to a primarily meat diet.
Also, men are not herbivores. We are omnivores. We don't need fangs and claws because we are tool-users. My claws are rifles and my fangs are a stove. 100 generations ago, my ancestors' claws were spears and their fangs were a cooking fire.
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Erm, apparently there was physical trauma (see here and here). They're still guessing, but leaning towards stress from fireworks, although lightening or hail haven't been ruled out.
This is far from the first time anything like this has been recorded.
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