Lookout Below

At least 38 Warao Indians in remote Venezuela were killed by rabies spread by bites from vampire bats.  Police have yet to confirm the cause, but the symptoms point to rabies.

If not vaccinated immediately after exposure to rabies, human victims will suffer horrible symptoms on their way to death.  Symptoms include fever, body pain, tingling in the feet, a progressive paralysis, and an extreme fear of water.  In the final days, victims will experience convulsions and grow rigid.  There is no truth to reports that victims grow fangs, hunger for blood and avoid daylight.

Venezuelan health officials are investigating the outbreak and planning to distribute mosquito nets to shield villagers from bats.  The government is also sending a medical boat to help treat victims.

Over 60 party-goers (or "ravers") were blinded after their retinas were burned by a giant laser light show near Moscow, Russia. 

The ravers were attending the July 5 Aquamarine Open Air Festival.  Heavy rain forced organizers to erect massive tents and hold the all-night party inside.  Giant lasers that normally shoot far into the sky instead were refracted into the ravers’ eyes.

A few days later, ravers began visiting hospitals in droves, complaining of sore eyes and poor vision.  One raver described the injury as "a spot like when you stare into the sun."

One of the ophthalmologists told reporters, "’They all have retinal burns, scarring is visible on them.  Loss of vision in individual cases is as high as 80 per cent, and regaining it is already impossible."

One expert said the blindings were an accident due to "illiteracy on the part of technicians.  It was partly the rain, but also partly the size of the laser.  Somebody set up an extremely powerful laser for such a small space."

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No doubt you’ve seen the infamous video of the fiery crash of the Hindenburg airship. Accompanying the disturbing images is the anguished narrative by American radio reporter, Herbert Morrison. A recent study by audio historian Michael Biel of Morehead State University discovered that the original audio recording was slightly slow, giving Morrison a higher pitch than the deeper bass he was known for. Biel has redubbed the video to reflect what is believed to be the true sound of Morrison’s voice.

The giant zeppelin made history with her maiden transatlantic flight in May 1936. The 800-foot long, hydrogen-filled behemoth had a top-speed of 82 miles/hour and range of over 8,000 miles. On the night of May 3, 1937, the Hindenburg left Frankfurt for Lakehurst, New Jersey. This was the first transatlantic trip of the 1937 season. The crossing over the Atlantic Ocean was uneventful.

The Hindenburg arrived in Lakehurst around 7pm to begin landing procedure. Shifting winds resulted in a few missed attempts. At 7:25 pm, witnesses saw fabric in the zeppelin’s upper fin flutter as if gas was leaking. At the same time, another witness saw what looked like static electricity moving up the hull from the bottom. Immediately after this, witnesses reported a small flame near the fin. Then the Hindenburg caught fire and quickly became engulfed in flames. (more)

Morrison and engineer Charlie Nielsen had been sent by WLS in Chicago to cover the Hindenburg arrival “as an experiment in recording news for delayed broadcast. His eye witness description of the disaster was the first coast-to-coast radio broadcast and has become a classic piece of audio history.” (source)

The back motors of the ship are just holding it just enough to keep it from— It’s burst into flames! It burst into flames, and it’s falling, it’s crashing! … Four- or five-hundred feet into the sky and it—it’s a terrific crash, ladies and gentlemen. It’s smoke, and it’s flames now, and the frame is crashing to the ground, not quite to the mooring-mast. Oh, the humanity and all the passengers screaming around here. (more)

Thirty-five people aboard the ship (13 passengers and 22 crew) and one member of the ground crew died. The cause of the fire remains a mystery, but suspected causes include sabotage, static spark, engine exhaust spark, or lightning. Regardless, the accident abruptly ended the use of airships for public transportation. Today’s blimps are used primarily for marketing and photographing sports events and are filled with non-volatile helium.

The unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) has become the weapon of choice for the U.S. military. The UAV is an unpiloted aircraft that is flown by remote control or pre-programmed flight plans. UAVs are deployed heavily in Iraq and Afghanistan and used primarily for reconnaissance and attack. UAVs are preferred for missions that are too “dull, dirty, or dangerous” for manned aircraft.

This video shows what happens when you arm a UAV with a 30mm cannon and point it at the enemy. Warning: the video is explicit.

“To err is human, but to really foul things up you need a computer.” –Paul Ehrlich

Software errors cost the U.S. economy $60 billion annually in rework, lost productivity and actual damages. We all know software bugs can be annoying, but faulty software can also be expensive, embarrassing, destructive and deadly.

In this case, just hours after thousands of fans left the Hartford Coliseum, its steel-latticed roof collapsed under the weight of wet snow. The cost of this disaster was $70 million, plus another $20 million damage to the local economy. The roof collapsed due to a bug in the CAD software used to design the coliseum.

See 20 Famous Software Disasters