Carbonate minerals have been found on the red planet by Nasa's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Says the project scientist on MRO, Richard Zurek, "If you preserve carbonates on the surface then you know carbon-bearing compounds can survive in some environments on the planet, [...] That means there are some places we can go and look for evidence for past life - if it ever existed." More and more people have been taking their cell phones to the grave. At a University of Michigan lab, artificial human bone marrow was created in a test tube! The marrow can continuously make red and white blood cells which could lead to "simpler pharmaceutical drug testing, closer study of immune system defects and a continuous supply of blood for transfusions." A woman from Connecticut was recently awarded with $198,000 when she sued her dentist for giving her "HORSE TEETH" when he'd promised her a "big, beautiful Hollywood celebrity smile," instead! We're looking for the photos! When Reddington Christian Church decided to set up a spotlight representing the star of Bethlehem as part of their nativity scene, a several people mistook it as a UFO! Sightings of a purple squirrel have been reported at a school in Hampshire! I'm guessing ...

A cat named Cooper from Seattle spent one day a week over the course of a year with a camera around his neck to document his neighborhood excursions. His caretakers Deirdre and Michael Cross, photographers and filmmakers themselves, were interested to find such beauty in the photographs that Cooper's camera took- 1 picture every two minutes. Cooper's pictures will be featured on Animals Planet's series Cat's 101 on Saturday.  Click here to see a gallery of Cooper's shots. _______________________________________________________________________ It should come as no shock that with the rising popularity of plastic surgery it would soon become possible and perhaps even commonplace over the years for the more affluent, to have it done on the dead. Nowadays, people who want to look good for their funeral (which they will attend, in their open casket)- can look forward to being beautified before hand by botox and collagen! _______________________________________________________________________ A Chinese boy survived having an arrow shot through his eye last week and is now being treated for shock. The boy lucked out as the arrow narrowly missed the brain and hit the back of his skull rather than coming out the back. _______________________________________________________________________ Even Visa CEOs lose their credit cards every now and ...

Each week we send our Queen of the Weird, Claire Lumiere, into the wilderness of the Internets to find the weirdest reports from the Underground, CounterCulture and the Paranormal mileau! If you have news that you feel demands the attention of the SittingNow community then drop us an email at wwn@sittingnow.co.uk   I’m going to give Kim a shout out for finding this one: A jogger named Michelle in Arizona last Thursday jogged for a mile with a rabid fox clamped to her arm! She said she knew something was immediately wrong when she saw it make eye contact and walked toward her. The brave Michelle managed to pry the fox off her arm and throw it into the trunk before driving to the hospital.   In name changing news, a 19 year old English fellow, originally George from Glastonbury, has decided that Captain Fantastic Faster Than Superman Spiderman Batman Wolverine Hulk And The Flash Combined is more fitting. Captain FFTSSBWHATFC says he changed it online for a $20 fee and as a result, his grandmother is so outraged she refuses to speak to him.   Wired.com reports that in the first analysis of genetic diversity in a modern agricultural commodity has shown results ...

Each week we send our Queen of the Weird, Claire Lumiere, into the wilderness of the Internets to find the weirdest reports from the Underground, CounterCulture and the Paranormal mileau! If you have news that you feel demands the attention of the SittingNow community then drop us an email at wwn@sittingnow.co.uk    The BBC reports that a large study on near-death experiences is soon to be carried out on cardiac arrest survivors. The study, coordinated by Southampton University will take about three years and is going to investigate whether people without brain activity or heartbeat can have ìout of body experiences.î Head of the study, Doctor Sam Parnia, says, "If you can demonstrate that consciousness continues after the brain switches off, it allows for the possibility that the consciousness is a separate entity.   Within just ten years, Australia's other favorite marsupial might be extinct. Researchers say that Tasmanian devils are plagued with a facial cancer that their bodies simply don't recognize. Zoos are being turned to for breeding while scientists are working on a vaccine to prevent the cancer. If interested, on the zoo's website is a link to donate to the conservation of the species.   On a similar note ...

Week-and-a-halfly news, more like. My apologies for the tardiness; my laptop has been sent off for 10 business days and I've been experiencing erratic power outages and preposterous PC fickleness. Enjoy! ————————————————————————————————————————— Mercury is shrinking! The Nasa Probe Messenger photographed Mercury recently and noticed this was because of its contracting core. The little planet had not been studied in close proximity since the 1970s and more is yet to be learned of it when the MESSENGER enters orbit March 18, 2011. ————————————————————————————————————————— According to Think Progress.org, US President George W. Bush's new economic stimulus package has proved to have done wonders for the porn industry! The Adult Internet Market Research Company reported in a press release, "An independent market-research firm, AIMRCo (Adult Internet Market Research Company), has discovered that many websites focused on adult or erotic material have experienced an upswing in sales in the recent weeks since checks have appeared in millions of American's mailboxes across the country." So much for the "War on Porn!" ————————————————————————————————————————— For all you Pastafarians out there, the top ten pictures of the flying spaghetti monster. ————————————————————————————————————————— Seen any of THESE recently? These are the "Faceless People" who are being used by Lotus as promotion for the launch of a new ...