happy halloween

Another video pic.twitter.com/jg58N8x3l8

— Jose Castillo 🎃 (@Kryptonlogic) October 28, 2016

rabbithOWLe.

oh, jesus christ.

your daily nightmare

did you know 2Pz is a horror blog now?

When entomologist and bee removal expert Jonathan Simkins was alerted to the presence of a larger-than-average yellow jacket wasp nest on privately-owned hunting ground in Central Florida, he expected to have his work cut out for him.

But he certainly never expected to find himself battling to the death against the Mother of All Wasp Nests.

"I have never seen a nest this large in my entire life," Simkins told WFLA. "This is the prehistoric nest from the dinosaur ages."

An everyday nest, Simkins says, might contain anywhere between 1,000 to 5,000 insects. The Jurassic nest, by comparison, may have contained "more than a million."

Simkins set out to eliminate the six-by-eight-foot beast, only to find himself being attacked by countless worker wasps.

"I have to be honest with you, I was terrified at one point," he told the local NBC affiliate, "and there were several times that I had to pull out and get a breather. My heart rate was racing, I had hundreds of them on my veil." (via)

thousands of queens.

just a spider swarm. nbd.

According to locals, the initial swarm hit on May 8th during a cultural celebration. The Times of India reports that chaos erupted as attendees trampled over each other in an effort to escape the massive cluster of spiders that had appeared out of nowhere.

Sadly, the incident was not an isolated one. Since that day, dozens of people have reported being bitten by spiders, and at least two people have died. Residents across the district have been asked to remain inside at night, when the spiders are known to emerge from their hiding places.

Scientists sent to the area to study the arachnids have thus far been unable to determine their species or place of origin. "As of now, we cannot give a specific name. It's similar to the tarantula, but it could be a whole new species," said Dr. L. R. Saikia of the Life Sciences department at Dibrugarh University.

"Whatever the species, it is a highly aggressive spider. It leaps at anything that comes close. Some of the victims claimed the spider latched onto them after biting."  (via)

GULP.

terror alert

some science folks think this summer will bring new york city a plague of mosquitos. go ahead and read this if you'd like to be terrified to leave your house for 3 months (or maybe ever).

They are coming. There is no doubt that they are coming. What we don’t know is when they will come and how many there will be.

The last outstanding question is: Are we prepared? From a public-health standpoint, that is, and from the standpoint of dealing with seriously annoying things. Because mosquitoes are both a major health hazard and about the most irritating creatures known to man. Even ticks are easier to get along with, which is saying a lot, given that they are bloodsuckers, too.

Biologists call mosquitoes commensals, from the Latin indicating that we share the same table. The table is our lives, in the summer. The meal is our blood.

Most winters thin the mosquito population. When weather is warmer, mosquitoes tend to thrive. This winter, as is well known, there was no winter. (via)

you're going to want to at least read as far as the "sewer skeeter" section. #dontwatchdave #youretoosweettoresist

introducing...

the MTA's first late-night subway map.  hi-res verion.

The map has a gray background color to prevent confusion with the normal subway map. The New York City Subway is the only large subway or metro system in the world to maintain service to all its stations around the clock. The overnight service shown in the night map runs generally from midnight to 6 a.m., although certain lines’ overnight service patterns depicted in the map may begin or end slightly earlier or later than these times. The MTA has printed 25,000 copies of the map in tandem with its normal press run of a million copies of the standard subway and railroad map. (via)

normally i wouldn't

According to this nyt article, Newt Gingrich is worried about and electromagnetic pulse terrorist attack that would fry our power grid and give rise to roving bands ala Mad Max. Normally i wouldn't give credence to this sort of kookery, but the article happens to coincide with the fact that last night I had my first nightmare in close to a decade. It was all about how there was an attack on the US and what I had to do to save myself and the people around me.

Incredibly telling and depressing spoiler alert: Eventually, I just gave up and got killed.



UPDATE: this jem was in the comments:

"Given that the Republican base doesn't believe in or study science, his scaremongering is one more cynical play on American hysteria born of ignorance."

Dumb comment. FYI I am part of the "Republican Base" and I have a degree in engineering and have done graduate work in Physics. What are your credentials???? A major in art? It's the Democrats that don't believe in science or if they do they believe in bogus science like the idea that "Green" energy is going to solve all our energy problems. I find most liberals are math challenged.
Why?
one reason is that studies show that liberals tend to gravitate to degrees in the liberal arts areas and other "soft" fields like teaching and journalism. They are also always experts in economics yet I see few that have actually studied it.


oof. Burn. I was an art major and i'm a teacher. does that "soft" comment extend to my dependability in  nightmares too? 

want some night terrorz?

check out the snake house.

today @ mulberry + grand

yes, those are fucking bees.

a step in the right direction

Under the new rules — which take effect immediately — building owners must inspect and treat apartments next to, above and below any unit that has bedbugs. They also must notify all tenants when bedbugs have been detected and distribute a plan on eradicating them. (via)

that law will be just perfect if they add one more thing: mandatory roscoe visits.