MetaFilter posts tagged with Accidents

Is there no problem the internet can't solve - Flickr finds only known photo of Phineas Gage

jessamyn — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 21:43:41 -0800

While many quirky news buffs may be aware of the story of Phineas Gage -- the Vermont railroad foreman who had a three foot iron rod penetrate his skull as the result of an explosion and lived to tell about it -- fewer know that the only known photograph of him was recently discovered. Fewer still know that the identification of that photograph happened via a Flickr comment. (no thanks to you LA Times, previously) - More on Gage from the owners of the photograph - other interesting pictures from their collection - Wikipedia article on Gage - "The American Crowbar Case and nineteenth century theories of cerebral localization" - More stories like this over at Flickr Discoveries - Other cool stuff over at the Harvard Medical School's Warren Museum - obligatory slideshare deck (actually pretty interesting)

Moops Grawfucks and Interaccidents

carsonb — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 12:08:30 -0800

We've very much enjoyed the beautiful work of the NYT graphic and infovisual design staff bef ore, but what about when those glorious graphs and interactive adventures don't turn out as expected? Still pretty neat.

Accidents on Long Island.

R. Mutt — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 07:03:10 -0800

Accidents on Long Island, a photogallery.

Events That Touched Our Ancestors' Lives

netbros — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 07:36:19 -0800

GenDisasters is a genealogy site, compiling information on the historic disasters, events, and tragic accidents of Canada and the U.S. that our ancestors endured, as well as, information about their life and death. Search is quite extensive and navigation is broken down by disaster type, including earthquakes, hurricanes, mining explosions, and dozens of other categories. You can also choose by state within the USA, for example Arizona, or province within Canada, i.e. New Brunswick. Finally, you may also browse a timeline that begins as early as 1755 and includes information as current as the Swan's Island fire in July of this year. Members are encouraged to report and add information to the ever-growing database.

A Beautiful Place to Die

rollbiz — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 17:51:15 -0800

"STOP. The area ahead has the worst weather in America. Many have died there from exposure, even in the summer. Turn back now if the weather is bad."

A Boston Globe piece on the White Mountain National Forest, the common disregard for danger of those who hike in it, and the people who often go and get them when things go wrong.

Traction Park

concreteforest — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 17:09:34 -0800

Active in the years before padded jungle gyms (and class action lawsuits), Action Park was a sometimes bloody rite of passage for many New Jersey kids. Infamous for its gravity-and-friction-defying looping waterslide and beer gardens, it eventually produced so many injuries that the park bought the surrounding city extra ambulances to cope. It still is alive in many New Jersey hearts today.<-video. Action Park is now no longer in operation, with a new waterpark named Mountain Creek having inherited its location, but not its dubious safety record. Or watersnakes. Or 40 foot diving cliff located on top of a public swimming area. Or flesh burning fibreglass alpine slide.

The Book of Accidents

homunculus — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 18:37:44 -0800

The Book of Accidents: Designed for Young Children (1831). "In presenting to his little readers The Book of Accidents, the Author conceives he cannot render a more important service to the rising generation and to parents, than by furnishing them with an account of the accidents to which Children, from their inexperience or carelessness, are liable. If generally studied it will save the lives of thousands, and relieve many families from the long and unavailing misery attendant on such occurrences." [Via]

Radiographs: a flickr set

of strange foe — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 12:50:38 -0800

Radiographs : a small and terrific flickr set. After you check out an exploded hand, maybe you will want to admire a Fasciolaria filamentosa.

Van Halen Off Key

jonson — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 09:57:11 -0800

The worst sounding thing ever? Van Halen, on a show of their reunion tour in North Carolina, attempting to match up their pre-recorded background synths for "Jump" with their live instruments & vocals. The pre-recorded material is accidentally being played back at a higher pitch, approximately 1.5 semitones sharp of the key from the guitar/vocals.

There is a dildo in the anus covered with a condom

ibmcginty — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 14:55:48 -0800

NewsFilter: "A Montgomery minister found in his home this summer died with his hands and feet bound behind his back and dressed in two rubberized suits, an offical autopsy showed. ... The Rev. Gary Michael Aldridge was found dead June 24. Police ruled the 51-year-old pastor of Thorington Road Baptist Church was alone at the time of his death and that there was no foul play involved." He's a Liberty University graduate and former Liberty dean. From the autopsy: "The decedent is clothed in a diving wet suit, a face mask which has a single vent for breathing, a rubberized head mask having an opening for the mouth and eyes, a second rubberized suit with suspenders, rubberized male underwear, hands and feet have diving gloves and slippers. There are numerous straps and cords restraining the decedent. There is a leather belt about the midriff. There is a series of ligatures extending from the hands to the feet. The hands are bound behind the back. The feet are tied to the hands. There are nylon ligatures holding these in place with leather straps about the wrists and ankles. There are plastic cords also tied about the hands and feet with a single plastic cord extending up to the head and surrounding the lower neck. There is a dildo in the anus covered with a condom." More discussion and analysis here.

So, I nearly got killed today...

jonson — Tue, 23 May 2006 13:53:36 -0800

I don't own a gun, and I hope my neighbors don't either.

We're sending our love down the well

Diag — Mon, 08 May 2006 09:01:58 -0800

15 days ago, there was a relatively small earthquake near Beaconsfield, Tasmania, which left 3 miners trapped in a gold mine. The situation looked grim after the body of one of the miners was recovered. But after 5 days, there was elation as the other two were found, still alive, buried one kilometer underground in a small cage. Australia's major commercial networks immediately sent their top news celebrities to the small mining town, assuming there would be a quick and easy rescue. In hindsight, they were perhaps a bit over enthusiastic. Accusations of a media circus, and chequebook journalism soon followed. After a couple of days of nothing happening, the media even started turning on their own. The story took an unexpectedly sad twist this weekend when one of Australia's most well known journalists died at the site from an apparent heart attack. But tonight, after 15 days underground, it seems the rescuers are finally breaking through the rock to reach the unfortunate trapped miners.

Hybrids: the silent killers

mojohand — Tue, 07 Feb 2006 10:38:42 -0800

*Look* both ways before you cross the street "The dangerous drawbacks of driving a hybrid: it's so quiet that pedestrians can't hear it when it's starting up or idling, and they often walk right into the path of the moving vehicle." I've got a feeling this is how I'm going to buy it. Oh well, like the lady said, if it's not one thing it's another. Tip of the hat to Kausfiles via Auto Blog.

That beautiful blue glow...

aberrant — Tue, 31 Jan 2006 00:36:11 -0800

Three Mile Island - a study in bad human interface design. Chernobyl in text, pictures (posted previously), and eyewitness accounts. Those are two of the most famous incidents involving mishaps with radioactive material. There have been many more (see also) including suicides, homicides, assaults, and motives forever unknown. But US citizens need not worry - the NRC is on it. What do you know about radiation poisoning? Take the test.

“the SOUND of the DEAFENING REVVING ROARS of the ENGINES and the SMASHING of METAL against FLESH and BONE"

you just lost the game — Fri, 13 Jan 2006 06:29:55 -0800

Death Race 2000. Eric Red isn't the only celebrity to have killed someone in a car accident. But his story may be the most bizarre.

Attacked by pygmies?

jonson — Fri, 11 Nov 2005 23:01:14 -0800

Not a particularly interesting person? Perhaps you'd be more interesting if you had been attacked by pygmies, or survived a fall from a 19 story building. But who has the time to actually HAVE crazy life threatening accidents. Now, you no longer need to.

People can panic

stevefromsparks — Wed, 03 Aug 2005 12:26:33 -0800

"People were tripping over each other, climbing over the seats to get to the exit." Warbaby posted a link on July 7 to an article by Lee Clark that said people don't panic in disasters. Survivors from Tuesday's Toronto plane crash give a different story. Here's one account: Ho said people at first were calm and lining up, but once fire from the back of the plane, "people were tripping over each other, climbing over the seats to get to the exit." He said a flight attendant told him to jump out the front door with no chute, but it was about a 12-fioot drop. He ran to a second door. It had a damaged chute, but he took it. "I jumped and fell onto some people," Ho said. "Some people broke their arms or legs."

Oopsy

srboisvert — Wed, 20 Apr 2005 15:51:18 -0800

The Oops List. Enjoy the pure pleasure of the misfortune of others.

Bwa-ha-ha, Wipeout!

mischief — Thu, 18 Dec 2003 05:34:33 -0800

Hardcore band Bleeding Through emerged relatively unscathed (video) after hitting black ice on a Utah interstate and nearly taking out two state troopers. On Trustkill Records, the band has had to cancel their tour. Can't wait for the music video, guys!

Police Cruiser Hits Deer

Witty — Wed, 03 Dec 2003 09:30:39 -0800

Ever wonder what it's like? Do you hit the brakes, swerve left, swerve right? If it's never happened to you, take a look at this and see just how fast it all happens. Talk about "in the blink of an eye".... WOW.
(.wmv file... and possibly not safe for the squeemish.)

MEATFILTER

BrodieShadeTree — Fri, 17 Oct 2003 09:53:44 -0800

Meat or Accident Friday flash ... fun? A disturbing, pointless look at meat and, well, accidents. (link contains sound and flash)

How did you lose yours?

brettski — Thu, 16 Oct 2003 06:34:07 -0800

Top 10 data disasters The BBC report on a list of 10 data mishaps and asks for more. Some of the user submitted stories are too funny. So how did you lose yours?

Vibrating Shoes

Lokheed — Fri, 03 Oct 2003 16:49:09 -0800

So let me get this straight. These shoes, they vibrate? All joking aside, the use of tiny vibrations in the soles of shoes to help keep the elderly from falling seems like a very interesting idea...

Think you're losing your head?

IndigoSkye — Sun, 17 Aug 2003 11:11:22 -0800

Think you're losing your head? Then you might want to avoid elevators for a while. Especially old elevators. This makes you wonder what happened here. Perhaps these should be mandated. These things happen more than you might think.

Freelance ambulance-chasers in Washington D.C.

Slithy_Tove — Tue, 06 May 2003 02:27:31 -0800

Streets strewn with glass and gold. In the nation's capitol, freelance 'runners' dash from police station to police station, grabbing auto accident reports the moment they appear and phoning the victims, trying to convince them to file suit. If they succeed, "personal injury cases can be sold to a lawyer for $300 to $600, sometimes more if the victim broke some bones or died. Not bad money." Whatever you may think of the social policy wisdom of D.C. allowing this, this tiny subculture of high-energy hustlers living on the ragged fringe of law and mainstream ethics is colorful as hell, and would make a great context for a novel or film.
WaPo link. [via Overlawyered.com]