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Tech NewsNeanderthals Ate Each Other and Used Their Bones as Tools
For over a century, paleoanthropologists have been fascinated by a gory question: were Neanderthals cannibals? In recent years, we’ve found remains that suggest cannibalism did exist in various parts of southern Europe but new remains found in northern Europe add further evidence to the “yes” answer and tell us more about why cannibalism was practiced. … Continued
By Angela Chen -
Tech News
Why Female Praying Mantises Devour Their Partners During Sex
Female praying mantises have a habit of killing and eating their partners during sex, which sucks for the male. Or does it? A fascinating new study shows this sacrifice is actually giving the males a distinct reproductive advantage. Sexual cannibalism among praying mantises is well documented, but scientists have debated the reasons for it. A … Continued
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io9I Could Watch Kristen Wiig Perform Hannibal Lecter Monologues For Hours
This is so weird and hilarious: as part of W Magazine’s “Casting Call” video series, Kristen Wiig, Jane Fonda, Mya Taylor, Carey Mulligan, and Greta Gerwig read one of Hannibal Lecter’s pointed monologues from The Silence of the Lambs. Fonda is a boss no matter what, but Wiig kind of steals the show, as you … Continued
By Cheryl Eddy -
Tech NewsThe Real Story of Alfred Packer, the Wild West Cannibal Who Became An Unlikely Folk Hero
Alfred G. Packer first made headlines in 1873, when he returned from a harrowing journey through the Colorado Rockies … alone. What happened to his five traveling companions became the stuff of legend, as author Harold Schechter explores in the new Man-Eater: The Life and Legend of an American Cannibal. Detailed and carefully researched, Man-Eater … Continued
By Cheryl Eddy -
Tech News
The Heart-Eating Hippie Who Admitted “I Am a Cannibal” When He Was Arrested
“I have a problem. I’m a cannibal.” These matter-of-fact words, uttered by 22-year-old “Satan cultist” Stanley Dean Baker, chilled the California Highway Patrol officer who arrested him in July 1970. And it wasn’t long before that horrifying statement was proven to be completely true. The particulars of Baker’s crime, which was discovered just as the … Continued
By Cheryl Eddy -
io9
Guppies: When You Want a Pet Cannibal but Aren’t Ready for a Hamster
A friend of mine decided to get a group of children in her care a fish tank and guppies as a “class pet.” The guppies were soon joined by baby guppies. The babies disappeared, one by one. Turns out, guppies are known for this shit. How does a species advance, let alone thrive, when it … Continued
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Tech News
The Disturbing Case of Cannibalistic Serial Killer Albert Fish
Remember those dark nights from your childhood when you were afraid of the boogeyman? He never did leap out of your closet, but that doesn’t mean all monsters are make-believe. Meet Albert Fish: a real-life nightmare, who preyed upon children as if they were food. This turn-of-the-century cannibal was born in Washington D.C. on May … Continued
Steven Casale - The Lineup -
Tech News
The Superstitious Murderer Who Turned Her Victims Into Cake And Soap
If you search Leonarda Cianciulli on the website for Rome’s Museo Criminologico, you’ll see that her nickname was “la Saponificatrice di Correggio.” What’s so sinister about a soap maker? Well, because she crafted it out of at least one of her murder victims … and then gifted the bars to her friends. That’s right: victims. … Continued
By Cheryl Eddy -
io9Television
Hannibal Is Back For Season Three, And It’s As Bloody Gorgeous As Ever
Hannibal is back for its third season, its carnage-drenched season two finale still lingering in viewers’ minds. The premiere’s title, “Antipasto,” suggests we’re about to see a pre-meal taste of what’s to come, and indeed many familiar characters (the ones who are still alive, anyway) don’t yet appear. Spoilers follow. We open at night as … Continued
By Cheryl Eddy -
io9
These Crickets Eat Their Own Kind — And Here’s How They Pick Their Meals
Mormon crickets occasionally swarm across the Midwest in droves. They keep moving across vast distances, for two reasons – they’re looking for food, and they don’t want to look like food to each other. Here’s how to keep being eaten by cannibals, if you’re a cricket. In 2006, researchers looking into the swarming behavior of … Continued
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io9
Grim Discovery Confirms Cannibalism Among Early Britons
A recent analysis of human-chewed remains has provided some of the most compelling evidence to date that ice age Britons engaged in cannibalistic practices. Scientists from the Natural History Museum, University College London, with the help of specialists from several Spanish universities, have discovered the presence of human tooth-marks on human bones recovered from Gough’s … Continued
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io9
Scarred Skull Confirms Combat And Cannibalism Among Tyrannosaurs
Paleontologists have painted a grim picture of the short and brutal life endured by a Daspletosaurus, a member of the tyrannosaur family. Damage inflicted to this specimen’s skull affirms the suggestion that that these fearsome carnivores engaged in inter-species combat — and even cannibalism. Top illustration: Tuomas Koivurinne. The idea that tyrannosaurs were cannibals isn’t … Continued
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io9Movies
Nicolas Winding Refn’s Neon Demon Actually About Cannibal Supermodels?
Okay, we’ll admit it. We did not expect the plot for Nicolas Winding Refn’s female-lead horror movie Neon Demon to be centered around cannibal supermodels. You’ve got our attention now, Refn. Earlier this month the cast for Neon Demon was announced, and it’s a great group including Christina Hendricks, Elle Fanning, Abbey Lee, Jena Malone, … Continued
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io9
Khmer Rouge Survivor Says Guards Drank Wine Mixed With Human Organs
Testifying before a Khmer Rouge tribunal, a man who spent three years as a teen confined to Cambodia’s notoriously brutal Kraing Ta Chan Security Centre in the 1970s recalled “torture, mass killings, and cadres drinking wine infused with human organs.” Cambodia Daily has the (quite literally) gory details: Meas Sokha, imprisoned after members of his … Continued
By Cheryl Eddy -
io9
Genetic Analysis Shows That Fin-Eating Fish Are Complete Assholes
Some freshwater fish in sub-Saharan Africa have evolved this nasty habit where they bite off and eat the fins of other fish. DNA barcoding now shows these things are nastier and far more indiscriminate than we thought. This behavior is exceptionally rare, but ichthyologists have a name for it: “pterygophagy.” These fish have evolved highly … Continued
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io9
How Does Evolution Explain Human Cannibalism?
Most people only resort to cannibalism in extreme situations — and we usually view them as victims of temporary insanity. Starvation, we say, has “stripped them of their humanity.” But a closer look at these stories shows that cannibalism follows behavior patterns that are consistent with evolutionary theory. “Cannibalism” is a controversial, loaded term. It’s … Continued
By Mark Strauss -
ScienceHealth
Is Cannibalism Unhealthy or Just Awful?
If, say, a human ate another human in an apocalyptic scenario, would it be unhealthy? Or gross? Or just generally awful? It would, in fact, be all kinds of bad. Allows us to explain how. Unhealthy For the Devourer Depending on what parts are eaten (the most infected include the brain, spinal cord, bone marrow … Continued
Melissa - TodayIFoundOut.com -
io9The Grisly Truth About Tiny Hamsters And What They Really Eat
As Jason Bittel explains in somewhat distressing detail over at Slate, the truth about hamsters and burritos is that hamsters, contrary to what viral videos would have you believe, do not eat little burritos, tiny cakes, or mini pizzas. They eat each other. Here’s the video in question, on the off chance you’ve been avoiding … Continued
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Tech News
Your Next Artisanal Salami Could Be Part Kanye
The line between celebrity worship and cannibalism thinned ever so slightly this week. Meet BiteLabs.org, a website purportedly dedicated to growing artisanal meat from celebrity tissue samples. Because we could all use a little more Vitamin Bieber. Set up more like an art project than a legitimate (and presumably delicious) commercial enterprise, the site seems … Continued