Absolutely Fascinating Part 5

Yes, it is that time once again. The time when I give you a peek into some of the strange and bizarre things that go on in this world. As a  librarian, I have uncovered some absolutely fascinating but completely useless knowledge over the years. If you want to entertain yourself for a while try looking up information on the Internet about these bizarre but oddly enthralling subjects.

WARNING: Clicking on the links below will take you to outside webpages whose changing content I have no control over.  Click at your own risk.

Virtual pop stars? 

I kid you not. These girls don't actually exist. The holographic singer's voice is even synthesized.That's right, that is actually a computer singing, not a human being. And she's got a sold out concert in L.A. this coming Monday, right here in the USA. Just a little too freaky for me.

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/tech/2011/07/01/lah.japan.cg.video.star.cnn?hpt=hp_c2

And this leads us to . . . 

The Uncanny Valley

This is a psychological fear of something that looks human but isn't. We humans tend to feel uncomfortable or even fearful when a man made object gets a little too human looking, but isn't quite the real thing. Example: ultra realistic robots, CGI, or even dolls. (Think wax museum.) Something seems just a tiny bit off to us when we look at them and this triggers fear. Scientists have tried to study this phenomenon for years. Watch the video below to see some great examples of this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNdAIPoh8a4 

Think of all the people who are terrified of dolls--or clowns. That's the Uncanny Valley. Freaky, huh?

Almost as freaky as . . .

Training Your Goldfish to Do Tricks

I saw the guys on Mythbusters attempting to train goldfish once. To my amazement, it actually worked. I've had lots of pet goldfish in my life--none of them did anything like the ones in the video below.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_Iznh9VbsY

Distorted Beauty Perceptions

This video shows the way society has distorted our perception of beauty. That gorgeous woman you see on the billboard, she doesn't exist. So why do woman spend so much time and money trying to look just like her? It just shows how much we've all bought into the myth.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhgoGfnD8sc

If you are interested, here are links to past Absolutely Fascinating posts with even more strangely curious stuff to read up on:

Absolutely Fascinating Part 4
Absolutely Fascinating Part 3
Absolutely Fascinating Part 2
Absolutely Fascinating Part 1