Hysteria 51

Frog Guts & Demon Hunting Rats | 466

This week on Hysteria 51, we’re ping-ponging between “medical science is incredible” and “we are absolutely doomed (pun intended).”First up: researchers in Japan isolated a gut bacterium from Japanese tree frogs that, in a preclinical mouse model, showed shockingly strong anti-tumor results against colorectal cancer—the kind of headline that makes you whisper, “Nature… what else you hiding in there?” (Answer: apparently a lot.)Then we pivot to the most important scientific breakthrough since fire: rats trained to play DOOM… and now they’ve learned how to shoot demons using a custom lever setup. Yes, really. Somewhere a lab coat just gained a Metallica patch.It’s a weird news buffet of frog-gut cancer research, DOOM-playing rodents, and the comforting reminder that the future is equal parts miracle and chaos.Links & Resources📌Gut Science📌Rat DOOMEmail us your favorite WEIRD news stories:weird@hysteria51.comSupport the ShowGet exclusive content & perks as well as an ad and sponsor free experience at https://www.patreon.com/Hysteria51 from just $1ShopBe the Best Dressed at your Cult Meeting!https://www.teepublic.com/stores/hysteria51?ref_id=9022See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

3I/ATLAS The Interstellar Drive-By That is Breaking Everyone’s Brain | 465

An interstellar object just cruised into our cosmic neighborhood and—naturally—humanity immediately responded with calm, measured curiosity… by screaming “ALIENS!” into the void.This week on Hysteria 51, we’re diving into 3I/ATLAS, the latest confirmed visitor from beyond our solar system. Is it just a dirty, fast-moving comet minding its own business? Or is it something a little more… engineered? We break down what scientists actually know so far, why this thing has the internet acting like it found a Wi-Fi signal in the Kuiper Belt, and what the “completely natural” crowd says (spoiler: they have math and spectra and other buzzkills).Then we do what we do best: lean into the fun. If 3I/ATLAS is under intelligent control—even hypothetically—what does that mean for humanity? First contact? Surveillance? A cosmic prank? Or just a high-speed reminder that we are absolutely not the main character of the universe.Strap in, stare into the sky suspiciously, and remember: “closest approach” doesn’t mean “close,” but it does mean the conspiracy machine is about to hit maximum RPM this week on Hysteria 51!Special thanks to this week’s research sources:YouTube (video): 3I/ATLAS Is Causing Scientists To Panic. Here’s Why. YouTube. YouTubeNASA Science: NASA. (n.d.). Comet 3I/ATLAS (mission/observation timeline page). NASA Science. NASA ScienceMinor Planet Center (MPEC): Minor Planet Center. (2025, Jul 2). MPEC 2025-N12: 3I/ATLAS = C/2025 N1 (ATLAS). Minor Planet CenterarXiv (early discovery & characterization): Discovery and Preliminary Characterization of a Third Interstellar Object: 3I/ATLAS. arXiv:2507.02757. (2025). arXivMNRAS (SOAR photometry): Frincke, T. T., et al. (2026). Near-discovery SOAR photometry of the third interstellar object: 3I/ATLAS. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (Advance Article). OUP AcademicMNRAS Letters (spectrum paper): Opitom, C., Snodgrass, C., Jehin, E., et al. (2025, Nov). Snapshot of a new interstellar comet: 3I/ATLAS has a red and featureless spectrum. MNRAS: Letters, 544(1), L31–L36. OUP AcademicA&A (context vs other comets/interstellars): de la Fuente Marcos, R., et al. (2025). Assessing interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS with the 10.4 m Gran Telescopio Canarias… Astronomy & Astrophysics. A&A Scientific JournalarXiv (technological hypothesis paper): Hibberd, A., Crowl, A., & Loeb, A. (2025, Jul 16). Is the Interstellar Object 3I/ATLAS Alien Technology? arXiv:2507.12213. arXivJason Wright (rebuttal / anomaly breakdown): Wright, J. (2025, Nov 9). Loeb’s 3I/ATLAS “Anomalies” Explained. AstroWright (Penn State). Penn State SitesSecondary roundup referencing rebuttal: ScienceAlert. (2025, Nov 13). Don’t Panic! 3I/ATLAS Isn’t an Alien Death Probe, But It Is Wildly Unusual. ScienceAlertEmail us your favorite WEIRD news stories:weird@hysteria51.comSupport the ShowGet exclusive content & perks as well as an ad and sponsor free experience at https://www.patreon.com/Hysteria51 from just $1ShopBe the Best Dressed at your Cult Meeting!https://www.teepublic.com/stores/hysteria51?ref_id=9022See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The Great GameStop Barter and Rock Skim Con | 464

This week on Hysteria 51, we’re serving up two stories that prove society is being held together by duct tape and pure audacity.First: GameStop’s “Trade Anything Day.” And they meant anything. Customers reportedly rolled in with a goose, a bobcat, and a Wii Netflix disc—which is basically the Rosetta Stone of “please don’t ask how long this has been in my trunk.” If you’ve ever wondered what retail looks like when chaos is the manager on duty, welcome home.Then we head to the high-stakes world of competitive stone skimming, where a cheating scandal has allegedly rocked the World Stone Skimming Championships—because apparently even skipping rocks isn’t safe from scandal, suspicion, and somebody’s cousin “who definitely knows a guy.” It’s sports drama, but with wetter pants and more passive-aggressive shoreline energy.Two stories. Zero dignity. Maximum weird. Hit play and let’s skim straight into the absurd.Links & Resources📌GameStop Trade in Chaos📌Stone Cold Scandal Email us your favorite WEIRD news stories:weird@hysteria51.comSupport the ShowGet exclusive content & perks as well as an ad and sponsor free experience at https://www.patreon.com/Hysteria51 from just $1ShopBe the Best Dressed at your Cult Meeting!https://www.teepublic.com/stores/hysteria51?ref_id=9022See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Bananas, Crates, and Maybe-Monkey Debates: The De Loys' Ape Story | 463

Picture this:You and 19 of your closest coworkers go into the jungle looking for oil. Three years later, only four of you come out. You’ve buried most of your friends, you almost died of disease, and somewhere along the way you shot what might be the first ever “American ape.”Or...you shot a spider monkey, cut off its tail, and accidentally invented one of the dumbest racist “missing link” hoaxes in history.Welcome to this week’s saga, the De Loys’ Ape, on Hysteria 51!Special thanks to this week’s research sources: Core historical & zoological background1. Wikipedia contributors. “François de Loys.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. (accessed 2025).Wikipedia2. “De Loys’ Ape.” Swiss National Museum Blog (2025). nationalmuseum.ch/swiss-monster-hunters3. “De Loys’ Ape – History of Geology.” History of Geology blog, Feb 2011. historyofgeology.fieldofscience.com4. David Bressan, “De Loys’ Ape Was a Well Played Anthropological Fraud.” Forbes, Jan 2016.ForbesMontandon, taxonomy, and racist theory5. “Proto-Nazi Hoax: The ‘Ape’ in Green Hell.” Cryptomundo (Loren Coleman), 2007.cryptomundo.com6. “Ameranthropoides loysi.” Biology Online archive / Monstropedia entry.Bio Dictionary Online+1Tejera letter & debunking7. “The Truth About the Venezuelan Monkey.” Interciencia / ResearchGate summary.ResearchGate8. Strange Animals Podcast blog, January 2019 entries discussing De Loys’ ape and Tejera’s letter.strangeanimalspodcast.blubrry.net+1Morphology and spider monkey identification9. Karl Shuker, “A Picture of Monkey Business – Or, How a Small Furry Pet Became a Giant Mystery Ape.” ShukerNature blog, July 2017.karlshuker.blogspot.com10.“MonoGrande, DeLoy’s Ape.” Bigfoot Encounters / Mono Grande essay quoting Ivan T. Sanderson.Bigfoot Encounters+1South American cryptid primates (Mono Grande & others)11.“Mono Grande.” Wikipedia.Wikipedia12.“Mono Grande – South American Ape.” Fortunecity / Bigfoot Encounters archive.FortuneCity Community13.“Mono Grande.” Cryptid Wiki / New Cryptozoology Wiki and related pages.Cryptid Wiki+114.Occultopedia entry on “Mono Rei / Mono Grande / Di-Di.”m.occultopedia.comGeneral cryptid / cultural references15.“De Loys’ Ape | Cryptid Wiki.”Cryptid WikiEmail us your favorite WEIRD news stories:weird@hysteria51.com Support the ShowGet exclusive content & perks as well as an ad and sponsor free experience at https://www.patreon.com/Hysteria51 from just $1ShopBe the Best Dressed at your Cult Meeting!https://www.teepublic.com/stores/hysteria51?ref_id=9022See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Needles on the Tree, Gold Under the Sea: Ozempic Baubles & Sunken Treasure | 462

This week on Hysteria 51, Christmas gets weird and history gets shinier. First up: we deck the halls with Ozempic syringe Christmas ornaments, Botox baubles, air-fryer decorations, and Taylor Swift hanging next to baby Jesus—because nothing says “tidings of comfort and joy” like a weight-loss injection twinkling in the tree lights. We dive into the very real boom in bizarre Christmas baubles and what it says about consumer culture, wellness obsessions, and our desperate need to turn literally everything into décor. Then we sail straight from the mall to the “holy grail of shipwrecks”: the 18th-century Spanish galleon San José, finally giving up its first treasures after 300+ years on the ocean floor—cannons, coins, porcelain, and a whole lot of international drama over who actually owns the loot. Expect Conspiracy Bot to immediately claim maritime salvage rights while we unpack the real story behind the treasure hunt, the deep-sea tech, and the $20 billion question.If you’re into weird news, true treasure stories, odd Christmas trends, Ozempic ornaments, and cursed shipwreck gold, this episode is your festive, barnacle-encrusted fever dream.Links & Resources📌Xmas Pricks📌Golden BootyEmail us your favorite WEIRD news stories:weird@hysteria51.comSupport the ShowGet exclusive content & perks as well as an ad and sponsor free experience at https://www.patreon.com/Hysteria51 from just $1ShopBe the Best Dressed at your Cult Meeting!https://www.teepublic.com/stores/hysteria51?ref_id=9022See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.