If We Lost All Earth's Bodies of Water

The question for the What If? series was "What would happen is all the bodies of water on Earth magically disappeared?" Yeah, you had the same thought I did, of course we'd all die. You can't survive without water, and neither can any other living thing on earth. But that's too easy of an answer. Randall Munroe and Henry Reich instead take this scenario one step at a time. First, people swimming would fall to the ground. Then boats would crash, with a possible survivor. yeah, a lot of other stuff happens, and the extinction of all human life is treated like just one more event in a series that stretches way beyond that, with lots of details. It's a good thing the word "magically" appears in the question, so we don't have to worry about this theoretical disaster. We only need to worry about the slow loss of water.  

Paper

[image or embed]

— Evelyn X (@evelynecks.bsky.social) August 24, 2026 at 4:54 PM

The Enfield Horror

In 1973, Henry McDaniel of Enfield, Illinois, and his family saw a horrible monster approach their home in the dark. It was four or five feet tall, hairy, had pink eyes and stood on three legs. It also damaged the house. Publicity from the incident turned Enfield into a circus for a time as monster hunters descended on the area. Some people believed McDaniel, others didn't, and some reported also seeing the monster. Over time, the creature turned from an animal-type monster into an alien. 

So what did McDaniel see that night? We still don't know, although there is plenty of speculation and quite a few possibilities. The real story is how that incident spread from local talk to national news, and grew as it went. It put the small town of Enfield on the map for quite some time. Dr. Emily Zarka explains what we know and what we don't about the Enfield Horror. 

What Does a Nuclear Bomb Explosion Feel Like?

There have been more than 2,000 nuclear bomb explosions, secret tests that were witnessed by plenty of military personnel. Some of them talk about the experience. (via Motherboard) 

Fortune Cookie

(via Fark)

Incoming

Don't fret, you won't live to feel the loss. This comic is from Tommy Siegel. (via Pleated-Jeans) 

Lover's Lane

The story of Lover's Lane is an urban myth about a couple who goes parking and narrowly escapes a horrible death. What we called "parking" is the custom of young people in a car finding a secluded space to canoodle away from prying eyes, and many towns have at least one road that is famous for such activities nicknamed Lover's Lane. The first part of this video explores the history of how parking itself became a thing. 

Then at about five minutes in, we learn about the very real crimes that may have sparked the urban legend. Or did the legend inspire the crimes? Since we don't really know how far back the legend goes, it's not quit clear. But for someone who wants to kill and get away with it, teenagers in a car on a lonely road present a tantalizing opportunity. 

The third section of the video goes into how these crimes and the Lover's Lane legend influenced the modern horror film. That seems only natural, since the target audience for these movies are young people who have the world in the palm of their hands, until they don't. 

Blood Oath

Ew. Fresh blood is fairly clean, yet you don't know where that hand has been. But that's nothing compared to the world of bacteria crawling inside the mouth of someone with such weak gums. This comic is from Jake Likes Onions. (via Geeks Are Sexy) 

Yum!

(via Bad Newspaper)

Danger

(via Buzzfeed)

How the Nuclear Football Works

The "nuclear football" is a nickname for a briefcase that enables to US president to destroy the world. It contains instructions for destroying the world and the nuclear codes. It goes everywhere the president goes. Supposedly, once the codes are sent to the Pentagon and are confirmed and authorized, no one can rescind the orders to destroy the world. Yet in the real world, any link along the chain of command can decide maybe to not destroy the world. At least we can hope. This video is shorter than it look because the last 90 seconds is an ad.     

Ouch

(via Bad Newspaper)

The Eerie Story That Inspired a Horror Show

Derek and Maria Broaddus bought a house in Westfield, New Jersey, in 2014. They immediately started renovations to get the house ready for they and their three children to move into, They also started getting eerie letters from an anonymous writer. The letters revealed that someone had them under surveillance, and intended to keep watching them. The letters continued and became more threatening, and the Broaddus family delayed moving in. 

Their story was published on an internet blog in 2018, and was eventually made into a TV show, The Watcher, which ran for seven episodes in 2022. Weird History gives us the rundown on what happened and some speculation about why it happened. No perpetrator has ever been identified. But you might want to watch something a little more benign to clear your head after hearing what the Broaddus family went through.      

Product Design

(Thanks, WTM!)

What He Does For Fun

It's strange how a mundane question can turn nonsensical and then into a slowly unfolding horror story. You won't see what's coming for a while, and by the end, you'll wonder what kind of mind dreamed this up. That would be Chris Barnett. 

Project Plowshare

When all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail. Imagine you're Edward Teller and you've spent years of your life probing the mysteries of the atom and finally invented a nuclear bomb. That happened with the Manhattan Project, and resulted in two nuclear bombs that finally ended World War II. What then? The US and the Soviet Union developed more powerful bombs and large nuclear arsenals until the concept of mutually-assured destruction took hold. These bombs were so deadly that neither side could use them as weapons, since that would be suicide.

So what good are these very expensive bomb-splitting weapons if they can't be used in war? Maybe they could be used for infrastructure projects, like digging canals, opening up harbors, oil extraction, or maybe geothermal heat production. What could possibly go wrong? If you've ever wondered what all those underground nuclear tests in the 1960s were for, Kurzgesagt is glad to explain them to us. There's a promotional break from 4:49 to 5:56. The video ends at 11:56.  

The Bell Witch Haunting

The legend of the Bell Witch is still told in Tennessee. John Bell and his family started undergoing paranormal experiences in 1817. Most of the incidents were poltergeist activity, although the word was not yet used in America at that time. The haunting went on for years. The family kept the weird phenomena to themselves for months, and when the word got out, other families reported similar events. They continued until John Bell, the patriarch of the family, died under mysterious circumstances in 1820. Bell had married his wife Lucy when she was 12 years old (he was 32). They moved to Tennessee after Bell beat a murder rap in North Carolina. The family eventually had nine children and a solid reputation in Tennessee. But the witch threatened Bell constantly, and some reports said his health was failing the entire three years of the haunting. Or was he poisoned? Dr. Emily Zarka tells the tale of the Bell Witch. How much of the story is true is a matter of conjecture. Written accounts didn't appear until decades later, and even family recollections varied over time, but the story still chills those who hear it.  

Rachel

(via Bits and Pieces)

Scary

(Thanks, WTM!)

No Landing Gear

Tuesday morning, a NASA pilot managed to set down a WB-57 aircraft as  smoothly as you've ever seen at Ellington Airport in Houston after the landing gear failed to deploy. With no brakes, it had to be a butt-puckering experience, but no one was injured. Luckily, the runway was longer than the video. 

The WB-57, also known as the Martin B-57 Canberra, is a superlative plane. The B-57 was the first jet that could cross the Atlantic without refueling, and made the trip in just four hours and 40 minutes in 1951. It was used extensively as a bomber in Vietnam. The WB-57 variant could fly at altitudes up to 62,000 feet. That's why, when the Air Force phased out the plane,  NASA snapped up the remaining three WB-57s in America. They are used for high-altitude research like collecting near-space samples and observing spacecraft launches. Read more about the WB-57 at Ars Technica. (via Fark)