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Feel free to ignore these Halloween-themed stories. But remember, there is a skeleton inside you, and it wants out.

CoolHand writes:

Spooky Skull-Shaped Dead Comet To Zip Past Earth This Halloween

A comet that, in certain lights, resembles a human skull will zip right past Earth just in time for Halloween. Scientists have been observing the space rock from the Infrared Telescope Facility in Hawaii. It is expected to safely flyby Earth on Nov. 11.

The comet was first discovered back in October 2015 by the Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System or Pan-STARRS-1, part of Near-Earth Object Observations Program funded by NASA. The space rock called Asteroid 2015 TB145 is more likely a dead comet, which has already shed its volatiles after repeated close encounters with the Sun.

Scientists also found that it only reflects about six percent of light, slightly higher than a typical comet that reflects about 3 to 5 percent of light.

"That suggests it could be cometary in origin — but as there is no coma evident, the conclusion is it is a dead comet," explained Vishnu Reddy, a research scientist from the Planetary Science Institute."

Asteroid 2015 TB145 will fly by the Earth at a distance of about 25 million miles. Its first observed flyby happened on Oct. 31, 2015, prompting scientists at NASA to call it the "Great Pumpkin."

Magazine Street mad scientist creates marvelous high-tech haunted house

Mad scientist Dave Gentry's fingers fished around inside of Frankenstein's skull, amidst the wires, servos, circuit boards and whatnot, installing what looked like small, very dark sunglasses. He enthusiastically explained that Frankenstein's eyes are actually two tiny video screens that will project ultra-authentic eye motion through the holes beneath the monster's plastic brows.

Frankenstein is the newest edition to Gentry's much-loved high-tech Halloween display, Ghost Manor, at 2502 Magazine St. that draws thousands of onlookers to the border of the Garden District and the Irish Channel each October.

Frankenstein is expected to rise up on the front porch, after the lightning crackles, Gentry said. Frankenstein and the lightning display are connected, he explained. Everything is connected. Everything! From the 60 sequenced electric jack-o-lanterns, to the flitting rear-projected hovering eyeballs, the fire-engulfed video witch, the synchronized singing skeletons and the 18 translucent LED-lit skulls on the fence posts.

Ribeye Charlie's Makes Halloween Horror Bid

What is Ribeye Charlie's? Only the latest hit from indie game melting pot Itch.io, usually alive with low or no-budget horror games with this week more animated than most and all five of its most popular picks tackling the genre in some way.

Foremost among them is Ribeye Charlie's, presented with the grain and smear of a retro VHS aesthetic, and an intense blend of elements from earlier 2018 hit Baldi's Basics In Education And Learning and subgenre jump-starter Five Nights At Freddie's.

Here, at Ribeye Charlie's steak and pasta joint, players have to retrieve their lost wallet and get out again, but the front door won't open again and the eatery's dimly lit backrooms and corridors, decorated with waste paper, abandoned oil drums and bovine carcasses, are patrolled by relentless, cow-headed men.

Spooky Halloween Tech and Gifts

It's nearly time for Halloween, and with that comes creepy skeletons, eerie lights and spine-tingling sounds. Check out these cool ideas to decorate your home, or gift to your favorite ghoul.

Halloween comes only once a year, but for kids, and adults who are kids at heart, the holiday can last the entire month of October.

I've dug up interesting items for Halloween gifts for your favorite ghoul, as well as some cool tech to make your house extra spooky.

realDonaldTrump writes:

Secret identity of 150-year-old mummified body found in New York City revealed

The almost perfectly preserved body was actually that of a woman born decades before the Civil War. She had been buried in what was once the grounds of a church founded in 1830 by the first generation of free African-Americans. Now a new documentary, "The Woman in the Iron Coffin," premiering Wednesday on PBS, provides the woman's identity.

Full video available at PBS. Includes a transcript.

You CAN Dress Up Your Chicken

takyon writes:

No, The CDC Didn't Say You Can't Put Chickens in Halloween Costumes

Chicken-costume enthusiasts may have been alarmed earlier this week, when headlines proclaimed that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) was "ruining Halloween" by, ...telling people not to put chickens in costumes?

The problem is, the CDC never said this. "Recent media stories erroneously reported that the [CDC] warned people against dressing chickens in Halloween costumes. The CDC hasn't given this advice," Benjamin Haynes, a spokesperson for the agency, told Live Science in an email.

[...] So, how can you and your costume-clad chicken safely celebrate Halloween? The CDC said in the email that the agency recommends washing the chicken costume in the washing machine in hot water after it's been worn by the bird. You should also wash your hands after handling the costume. (In fact, you should wash your hands after handling chickens or anything chicken-related, no matter the time of year.) And lest you think that the CDC cares about only your health and not the health of your festively costumed flock, the email included a bit of advice: "Make sure your chicken can breathe and walk normally while wearing the costume."

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