When thousands of people depart, leaving an entire city dead that’s a real tragedy. There are mainly two reasons why people leave the place where they used to live for years or even generations: danger, and economic factors. Abandoned Places In The World. ( previously 1,2)
posted by netbros on Jun 21, 2009 - 29 comments

Full Danger Mouse & Sparklehorse album Dark Night of the Soul is streaming right now on NPR. Info about album dispute here.
posted by forallmankind on May 16, 2009 - 50 comments

"Q: What the hell is this site about? This is a site about urban exploration in the Ozarks." Abandoned water slides, underground tunnels, abandoned buildings and half-demolished malls throughout Missouri were all once fair game for this blog, and remain fair game for those who post in Underground Ozarks' forums.
posted by limeonaire on Jun 16, 2008 - 25 comments

Some people like to text while driving(YT). Others think TWD is dangerous enough to be illegal.
At last there is a solution for literate(YT), bookish types (Googvid) to get in on the fun.
Sadly, as with everything good, reading-while-driving has its haters too.
posted by isopraxis on Feb 13, 2008 - 67 comments

Disaster at Sea!! A collection of dozens & dozens of photographs of misfortune striking those GIGANTIC shipping vessels, the kind that bring goods from China to Wal Mart. Every kind of affliction imaginable, from shipboard fire to heavy weather to grounding amidst crushing waves to capsizing from ill balanced loads to random explosive cargo to terrorist attack to so much more. Descriptions of the vessels and what brought them down are included in the first link.
posted by jonson on Jul 15, 2007 - 57 comments

"I thought, 'Why don't we just raid the place?' " --the newest and only currently viable way to check up on how the billions and billions we're spending on reconstruction in Iraq is being spent--fake raids by the US military, making it seem like the recipients aren't receiving aid from us, and in fact are being targeted by us.
posted by amberglow on Mar 23, 2007 - 35 comments

The Global Trouble AlertMap
Are you curious about that chemical spill in Minnesota? Or how about the bio hazard situation in Honduras? The Havaria Information Systems AlertMap is updated in (near) real-time and the wealth of bad news is fairly astonishing. Plus they've got RSS feeds for whatever bad (or locationally relevant) news you want delivered. There are USA only maps, Europe only maps and Hungary too (slow day, just a fire). Previously (focused on bird flu tracking though several comments note how freakin' cool the map is)
posted by fenriq on Mar 17, 2007 - 18 comments

Keep your distance. Avoid eye contact. And even if it looks cute, never hug a Swiss cow. With helpful warning poster (PDF).
posted by mr_crash_davis on Aug 29, 2006 - 41 comments

Frank Morrison "Mickey" Spillane, 1918-2006. Author, actor, circus performer, comic book writer.
posted by Smart Dalek on Jul 18, 2006 - 23 comments

Don't try this at home.
Pyro Boy wraps himself in pyrotechnics and ignites them so you don't have to. Happy 4th.
posted by mecran01 on Jul 4, 2006 - 10 comments

Unsafe-science-experiments-you-did-in-class-Friday: an advisory on dangerous chemistry experiments (they mention Nitrogen Triiodide, Chromate Volcanos, Whoosh Bottles, and Potassium Chlorate and Sugar), unwise microwave oven experiments, and, of course, thermite (and a great thermite video). I am amazed anyone survives high school, what other dubious but educational experiments did you do? Note: all pages are science education sites. Read the warnings. The awesome Chemistry Comes Alive site mentioned prev.
posted by blahblahblah on May 4, 2006 - 45 comments

Britain's New Labour have very short memories!

They are trying to persuade people to vote for them by highlighting exactly how they got in to power themselves as being a fault in the Conservative Party
posted by catchmurray on Apr 19, 2006 - 35 comments

Prisoners of their Bureaus--the Besieged Press of Baghdad What it's like to be a journalist in Iraq now--and especially relevant given the current attacks on the media for not reporting all the good that's happening in Iraq-- ... an ever-widening gulf between official language and the reality of the actual situation in Baghdad. While official language is relentlessly upbeat, the already nightmarish reality has been getting worse with each passing day. ... the insurgent attacks on the US forces and Iraqi government and the sectarian fighting between Sunnis and Shiites have become destructive beyond what most journalists have been able to convey ... (NY Review of Books)
posted by amberglow on Mar 25, 2006 - 35 comments

Warning signs ahead. Use caution. Don't be somewhere you shouldn't. No crapping in the woods. I just don't know.
posted by mss on Dec 6, 2005 - 17 comments

What's so extreme about Extreme Sports? According to the ads, Extreme Sports are the antidote to our safety-first, shrink-wrapped world. In reality, sports like skateboarding and mountain biking are more about the appearance of risk and marketing-driven terms like 'carving out your own path' rather than any particular danger. The reality of these Extreme Sports? Many are actually safer than traditional sports.
posted by fet on Nov 22, 2005 - 60 comments

Planning a vacation or going on a business trip this summer? Why not try one of the world's most dangerous destinations for the trip of a lifetime? Just make sure you have Worldcue® PRO loaded on your laptop and fill out some forms and you'll be ready for death departure.
posted by Guerilla on May 13, 2005 - 2 comments

The Uses of Canaries--and what canaries need to do --...Why go to all that trouble when we have reduced the homosexual, himself, to nothing more than a body part? Remove the homo -- he's just a diseased body part, after all -- and the problem is solved. Of course there will always be those so pathologically sex-panicked that they have to rely on their Think Pieces to get their pornography fix. Not worth worrying about, generally. But when United States Senators start in with the Depravity Fillip, and the DF starts showing up in the campaign literature of various groups... well, you want to keep your eye on that sort of thing. You maybe want to start thinking about that famous canary in the mine-shaft. ...
posted by amberglow on May 9, 2005 - 51 comments

You'll put your eye out! My childhood was fraught with peril. I rode bikes without a helmet. My friends made flashpowder bombs. I brought knives and lasers to school. I survived. Blogger Tim Blair did too, and asks "What insane risks did you take as kids that would now induce rage and fear if repeated by your children?"
posted by bitmage on Dec 1, 2004 - 147 comments

Future of Sky Scrapers? Is this the future of sky scrapers, or are they now irrelevant with the current threats that are presented? Would you work in this building?
posted by npost on Jan 29, 2003 - 15 comments

A proposed mega wind farm miles into the ocean off Cape Cod is being fought by Democrats like Robert Kennedy Jr because it would "obstruct" the view from his oceanside house on clear days. Other concerns like bird kills (perhaps a few hundred birds a year), fish disruption from poles in the sand and danger to low flying planes are cited and could hold the project up for 5 years or perhaps forever. Would you care about a windfarm out in the ocean if Kennedy and few other had a view that was not "like when the Pilgrams arrived" or is this powerfull community leaders pulling a Not in my Backyard when it comes to fighting for the Environment. Horseshoe Shoals is one of the best wind spots on the East Coast.
posted by stbalbach on Nov 3, 2002 - 30 comments

Here is a list of the ten most dangerous jobs. Of course, I suppose that depends on who you ask. But don't stop there! The Bureau of Labor Statistics site has lots more interesting (albeit overwhelming) information.
posted by FilmMaker on Oct 16, 2002 - 32 comments

Nine lives? It seems cats do better when dropped...uh, I mean, fall, more than seven stories. Anything less and they fail to reach terminal velocity and don't land properly. Once the cats reach terminal velocity they spread their legs (think parachute) and slow their fall. A cat has a far better chance of survival falling from 32 stories than four. Dwarfs, however, do not benefit from longer flights.
posted by cedar on Aug 29, 2002 - 36 comments

How the biohazard symbol came to be (from NYTimes Magazine)...
posted by Miyagi on Nov 18, 2001 - 12 comments

Dangerous People, Dangerous Places, Dangerous Things This is a way cool site. The Danger Finder. Lots of fun and adventure. Be sure to come back alive!
posted by redhead on Oct 16, 2001 - 1 comment

Do not pet the great white sharks while they're feeding. Do not climb onto a whale carcass with your child while the great whites are ripping it to shreds. This is very similar to a thread I posted here but the idea of tourist shark interaction fascinates me.
posted by rdr on Jul 24, 2001 - 19 comments

Beethavean Scottland died last night of head injuries sustained in a boxing last week. Will boxing ever be safe?
posted by dfowler on Jul 3, 2001 - 14 comments

Killed by Fabric Softener and the deadly 'Sky Shelves.' Yet another evil of the dread capitalist system. Shop till you drop, anyone?
posted by lelilo on Jun 20, 2001 - 9 comments

One of the worst things I've seen in a while... this reminds me of that 8-story supermarket in Seoul, Korea last year that crumbled from the weight of overcrowding in it's poorly built frame. What does it take for people to know better than to let things like this happen?
posted by prototype_octavius on May 25, 2001 - 20 comments

K....A....B....O....O....M....! Rolls Royce is recalling five of their 2000 and 2001 models after discovering a design flaw can cause the cars to EXPLODE. While only 539 vehicles are affected, 408 are in the US. The flaw was discovered after a technician put the first tank of gas into the $360,000 (!) vehicle, started to drive it and hit the switch to roll up the windows. The explosion blew out all the windows and damaged the convertible top and the interior.
posted by crunchland on May 13, 2001 - 13 comments

Dodge ball getting flack for being too dangerous. Nevermind football, field hockey, or lacrosse. *sigh* Shame is, as the awkward, non-athletic kid they're trying to protect, dodge ball was my savior. It allowed me to fully participate in PE without the loss of dignity necessitated by other, mainstream sports.
posted by silusGROK on Apr 11, 2001 - 40 comments

World's steepest street claims a life. 'What appears as a young couple out to have a bit of fun with a wheelie-bin has ended in tragedy.'
posted by rory on Feb 28, 2001 - 22 comments

"This is a painful reminder of the risks our agents take each and every day." Is this referring to the CIA? The FBI? Nope -- real estate. (via the one true /usr/bin/girl)
posted by jjg on Jan 5, 2001 - 11 comments