This was riveting

The Enigma of Amigara Fault

This short story by Junji Ito is about a fault that appears in Amigara mountain after an earthquake. The earthquake exposes countless human-shaped holes in the mountain which seem to have been made about a thousand years ago. People, intrigued by these  silhouettes, gather at the site and that’s when things get creepy.

It’s about a 15-20 min read, but if you haven’t read this before, you’re in for a treat. Link above.

I made a fake mobile game ad!

“ H e l l o . ”

Alan scares the hell out of me and that’s something I cherish and appreciate. Especially when he grew up, man sent shivers down my spine. Love the Resnick infuence in this arg. Go watch it, do yourself a favour!

Fábio Magalhães, Trouxa III (Allusive to Artur Barrio), 2013 Oil on canvas

Amarjeet Sada: The World’s Youngest Serial Killer

The murders

Children killing other children is horrifying, but what’s even more terrifying is a child murdering multiple people on multiple occasions. Amarjeet Sada, born in 1998, was just eight years old when he became a serial killer.

Sada grew up in a poor family in eastern India, and neither he nor his siblings went to school regularly. He committed his first murder in 2006 at eight years old, and his victim was his sister, who was just an infant. He took his baby sister out in a field and killed her, and then showed his parents the body. Sada’s family decided not to tell the police about what had happened, hoping that it was a one-time thing. However, Sada murdered once again the same year. This time, he murdered his cousin. Sada beat his cousin to death, and the family members who knew of his crime once again decided to keep it a secret. However, when a neighbor’s baby girl disappeared and Sada confessed to killing her, his family could no longer protect him. Most people living nearby the Sada family suspected young Amarjeet of the disappearances and deaths of his family members, and they decided to alert police when a third baby was killed. The police were skeptical of the villagers’ accusation, but Amarjeet soon confessed to beating all three children with bricks and strangling them. Sada confessed to his crimes in a calm and monotone manner and showed no signs of remorse.

Aftermath

Amarjeet Sada was examined by several psychiatrists and it was determined that he was a sadist. He could not be prosecuted for the murders because of his young age, but he was sent to a juvenile home where he was separated from the other children. Not much is known about Sada’s life after the murders, but he was released at the age of 18. Sada was reportedly given medication and went to therapy after confessing to the murders.

Is a serial killer stalking an idyllic British county?

In and around one of the UK’s most wealthiest counties, it’s thought that a vicious predator is lurking. Home to footballers and rich landowners, Cheshire is the last place you’d associate with a series of violent double murders. Since 1996, at least five elderly couples were found dead in apparent murder-suicides. Thought to be the killer’s first victims, it was initially ruled that Harold Ainsworth murdered his wife Bea before killing himself. A few years later, fellow Wilmslow residents Donald and Auriel Ward  suffered a similar fate, something that shook the town who had still not fully recovered from the disturbing news about the Ainsworths. Strangely, both couples had enjoyed long marriage and no violence was ever observed from either husbands or wives. Similarly, 4 years later, it was ruled that an otherwise “happy couple” had their many decades of marriage snuffed out by a rage-filled husband; police decided that Michael Higgins had beaten his wife to death with a rolling pin before ending his life by the extremely difficult method of strangling oneself with the wire of a coat-hanger. They even stated on the final report that “terrible violence took place that was out of character.” 

Senior coroner’s officer, Stephanie Davies, believes that the murders don’t just stop there. After making enquiries with several police constabularies across England, she found 39 cases of older couples committing murder-suicides between 2000 and 2019. At least three cases shared “striking similarities” to the ones in Wilmslow decades before. The case is ongoing.

Andrew Mayorga was only 17 years-old when he vanished on January 4th, 2007. Around the time of his disappearance, Andrew was going through some major changes in his life. He had been living in Washington state with his mother, but recently decided to move to Louisiana to live with his grandmother. On his way across the country, Andrew stopped in San Antonio, Texas to spend the holiday season with a family friend who Andrew referred to as his “honorary grandfather.” That family friend was well known to both Andrew’s mother and grandmother. Both had worked for the man’s law firm in San Antonio, and while Andrew was staying with him, he worked at the law firm as well.

Andrew and his grandmother spoke on the phone each day since he had arrived in San Antonio.  The day before he vanished, Andrew’s grandmother decided to drive from Louisiana to San Antonio to come pick him up. Unfortunately, Andrew disappeared before his grandmother arrived. The family friend he was staying with told Andrew’s grandmother that he checked Andrew’s bedroom the evening of January 3rd to see if the teen was in bed, and he was not. It is unknown if he left the house through the door or a window. According to San Antonio detective Courtney Weytrich, “it’s unknown how he actually walked away and disappeared from that location.”

Andrew’s grandmother stated that Andrew left behind “everything that was important to him,” including his wallet, clothing, and even his pet dog. He was spotted for the last time around 7:30am on January 4th, standing on the corner of Soledad and Travis near Travis Park; an area he frequented. Due to the fact that Andrew left all of his important items and his beloved dog at the house where he was staying, it appeared that he intended to return there. He never did, and has never been seen or heard from again.

While working at the law firm, Andrew had access to a computer that he also used to access his MySpace page. Andrew’s grandmother was aware of this, and suggested that the computer’s hard drive be searched for possible clues. However, before it could be searched, the family friend threw the computer away. While this seems quite suspicious, especially since it is still unclear how Andrew left the man’s house, investigators have not named this man as a suspect. In fact, both investigators and family members have stated that they believe it is possible that Andrew left on his own accord. Detective Weytrich put forth a few theories, stating, “we’re thinking that he met somebody ​during his walks downtown. [Or] he met somebody on MySpace, since MySpace was an outlet to other states, other areas. We don’t know if he met somebody and they provided a plane ticket or a bus ticket to leave San Antonio. Being 17, the airlines and the bus stations will not ID or question you for leaving. You can come and go as you please on the airlines and buses if that’s your choice of transportation.”

For unknown reasons, the family friend Andrew was staying with in San Antonio has not been publicly identified. Despite the fact that he vanished under seemingly suspicious circumstances, Andrew is still considered a runaway to this day. Andrew’s family members hope that somebody with potential information could come forward and help bring Andrew home. If you have any information that could help, please contact SAPD’s Missing Persons Unit at 210-207-7660.

On December 18, 1996, the body of a woman was found in the Pleasant Valley Memorial Park Cemetery in Annandale, Virginia. Her body was found in the section where infants were buried, but wasn’t near any particular grave. She had committed suicide. There was a clear plastic sheet on the ground with an 8-inch Christmas tree adorned with gold balls and red ribbons. She also had a portable tape player with headphones, where a recording of comedians Mel Brooks and Carl Reiner doing their 2000 Year Old Man routine was in the player.

On her person, she was wearing a teal all-weather Eddie Baur hooded jacket size M,  navy blue Classiques Entier sweater size L,  red Classiques Entier sweater size XL,  red Classiques Entier sleeveless silk shirt size Petite L,  navy blue Classiques Entier knit wool pants size L,  knee-high stockings, white support bra, white Fruit of the Loom underpants size 6, and black loafers size 7M. She also was wearing two clip-on earrings, a small gold women’s Guess watch with a mesh band, a 14-karat gold ring with four jade stones, and a metal bead chain with a medic alert “NO CODE, DNR, No Penicillin.” She also had bifocals with translucent frames, a green knapsack that held Jeff Foxworthy’s You Might Be A Redneck cassette, a tape of Monty Python and the Holy Grail, two empty juice bottles, and a new roll of masking tape with her. 

Annandale Jane Doe was anywhere between 50 - 70 years old when she died, weighed 157 pounds, was 5′0, her hair was a copper color and curly. She had an 8 inch scar on her abdomen, most likely from a c-section. She was probably familiar with the area based on where she died. She has been excluded as numerous missing persons (click here for a list, shout out to the r/gratefuldoe subreddit for compiling this list) and still remains nameless.

If you have any information of the identity of Annandale Jane Doe, please contact any of the following numbers:

Northern District Medical Examiner’s Office:  703-530-2600 Fairfax County Police Department: 800-673-2777 Fairfax County Crime Solvers: 800-411-TIPS (8477) or 703-691-8888

Further readings/sources:

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/245ufva.html

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1fISQaJg4Naty5CwQ-JtDtKId0jB_LoEpp9f4OhJcFXg

Nobody likes to be unfairly judged on their appearance and there is something truly disheartening about a witch hunt based on the appearance of somebody. In December 2010, 25-year-old Joanna Yeates was strangled to death. Her landlord, Christopher Jefferies, who was a retired English teacher, was called in for questioning. The media immediately zoned in on his “strange” appearance, indicating that this alone was evidence that he was the one who killed her.

A number of newspapers published slandering and mocking articles, with one implying that he was gay because he disliked sports and one berating him for wearing a “cheesy” scarf and calling him a “peeping Tom.” Everything spread in these newspapers was unfounded and complete slander. After months of being treated like a creep and murderer, Yeates’ neighbour, Vincent Tabak, confessed to the murder.

your just jealous of the drip

My Tzimisce oc Tulma, steals 'spare parts' from the hospital morgue, and is overall an unhinged art student who wanted to manipulate the human body like a sculptor does with clay

Dancing with the Stars #4

Sandra Yagi

oil on panel, 2019

hkasof

Tickling the Dragon’s Trail and the Demon Core

“Gentleman, what we have here is the most powerful force ever created by mankind. Lets poke at it with a screwdriver.”

—Louis Slotin, Los Alamos laboratory

After World War II the scientists at Los Alamos laboratory found themselves in possession of a spare core originally intended for a nuclear bomb. Nicknamed ‘“Rufus” the core would have been detonated as part of a third nuclear bomb dropped on Japan, however the Japanese surrendered before the bomb could be assembled. Instead the 89mm (3.5 inch) diameter sphere of plutonium-gallium was reserved for scientific testing, in particular criticality experiments.

Critical mass is the minimum amount of mass needed for a fissile material to sustain a nuclear chain reaction. When a fissile material reaches critical mass, it becomes “supercritical”, where it releases a large amount of energy.  Rufus was 5% subcritical, thus scientists thought it was ideal for use in criticality experiments. The experiment was designed to simulate critical mass by surrounding the core with neutron reflectors, in this case tungsten carbide bricks. The bricks would deflect released neutrons back into the core, increasing it’s reactivity. Completely surrounding the core would cause it to go supercritical, an event which was to be avoided because it would release a burst of neutron radiation that could kill everyone in the room. Essentially the purpose of the experiment was to see how much nuclear material could be added to the core before it would go supercritical, and measure how much energy is released in the process.

On August 21st, 1945 physicist  Harry K. Daghlian Jr. (pictured above left)was conducting a criticality experiment with Rufus when he accidentally dropped a tungsten carbide brick on the core. The core went supercritical, releasing a burst of neutron and gamma radiation while bathing the room in a bright blue light. Daghlian promptly responded by removing the brick from core, causing his hand to instantly blister from the radiation.

Daghlian had received a deadly dose of radiation, resulting in his death 25 days later. An accompanying guard,  Army Private Robert J. Hemmerly, was sitting at a desk 12 feet away but seemed unharmed by the accident, although he would die 33 years later from leukemia.

After the accident, Rufus was renamed, “The Demon Core”. A new procedure was designed to make the experiment “safer”, which was designed by physicist Louis Slotin (pictured above, right). The new procedure involved the core sitting between two beryllium half spheres. A screwdriver was jammed in between the two half spheres, creating a gap through which neutrons could escape. The screwdriver was used to manipulate the half spheres, raising or lowering them to increase or decrease the size of the gap, thus increasing or decreasing the reactivity of the core. If the two half spheres completely enclosed the core, it would go supercritical. 

If this sounds completely bonkers, you probably have more common sense than the brilliant physicists who conducted these experiments. In fact the experiment was named “Tickling the Dragon’s Tail”, based on a remark by physicist Richard Feynman who compared the experiment to “tickling a sleeping dragon”. Slotin was certainly aware of the dangerous nature of the experiment, he had been at Daghlian’s bedside when he had died. The famed physicist Enrico Fermi had warned Slotin that if he continued these criticality experiments, he would be dead within a year.

On May 26th, 1946 Slotin was conducting a criticality experiment with the demon core when he lost control of his screwdriver, causing the beryllium sphere to close. The incident is almost perfectly re-enacted in the 1989 film “Fat Man and Little Boy”,

Louis Slotin died of acute radiation poisoning nine days later. Of the other seven people in the room, two would die of cancer years later, although it is unknown whether the accident contributed to their deaths. 

After these two criticality accidents new experiments were designed which used remote controlled machines and cameras. The Demon Core was melted down and recycled into other cores.