What I Learned On The Internet: Lifesaving severed arms, stuck trucks, and planned intergalactic explosions

We're blogging in space...

It's been a while since my last educational post of fascinating facts found on the internet, but I promise this will not disappoint. We have quite the lineup today full of...well...don't really want to spoil the surprises so let's just get started.

The Sandpit

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First up, a really great video of NYC but processed to look like a miniature.  Using over 35,000 still photos, Sam O'Hare then combined them all to make this stunning video.  Be sure to check out how he did it.


The Sandpit from Sam O'Hare on Vimeo.

West Hartford Man Tried To Cut Off His Own Arm

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So here's a weird one.  First of all, dude got his arm caught in the furnace...details of exactly how are sketchy, but, yeah, he was stuck there for 2 days. TWO WHOLE DAYS!  Arm stuck in furnace.  Like...whoa.  That's crazy enough as it is. BUT, it gets worse.  Coming in and out of consciousness, he realized that his arm was infected and seeing as how he couldn't exactly make his way to a doctor or anything unless he wanted to carry a freakin' furnace along with him, he did what any sane person would obviously do - he cut off his arm.  Excuse my language but HOLY SHIT! HE CUT. OFF. HIS. ARM! WTF!!

I cringe at the thought of pulling splinters out of my hand and this guy is nonchalantly chopping his own arm off.  Jeebus!  And I'm guessing he didn't exactly have a hot knife sitting around for the job either:

"...using whatever tools were within reach, he started cutting. He managed to cut through most of his arm, except for some fat..."

Oh god.  Yeah I have trouble cutting the fat too...ON A STEAK.  This guy has some serious, eh-hem, guts.

Money quote from his doctor:

"Said Shapiro, "It's inspiring to see someone take their life into their own hands, quite literally."'

Wow.

Camera survives ocean trip to Florida

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Slightly less traumatic story - the journey of a lost camera. So Paul Shultz finds a waterproof camera bouncing off some rocks on a beach in Key West.  He picks it up wondering who's it is, flips through the pictures and sees some underwater shots.  He then proceeds to upload the photos to Scubaboard.com where it is determined the pics are from of the shores of Aruba...1,100 miles from Key West!  Presumably, this camera has travelled that whole way.  A bit more investigation and the owner of the camera is located in Aruba and is sent to the grateful photographer!  Check out the link for the whole story.

Spacecraft Explodes Upon Re-Entry

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Japanese spacecraft Hayabusa returned from a mission that involved collecting samples from a comet far, far away.  The vehicle was designed to drop it's pay load upon entering Earth's atmosphere with the spacecraft itself fulfilling it's destiny with a beautiful explosion in the night sky.  Check out the video:

Local Edition x 2

In honour of the World Cup, the Hamilton Spectator does a demographic breakdown of the city by competing team.

And I think this next picture says it all: