All posts tagged: rotting

What happened to Michael Jackson’s Neverland home he abandoned with rotting Ferris wheel?

Michael Jackson lived in Los Olivos, California, on his ‘Neverland’ ranch for almost 20 years, leaving the home in 2005. The estate, which covered a 13,000-square-foot French country home sitting on a 2,700-acre theme park-style complex, was purchased by the late singer in 1988 and named after the imaginary land in J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan. © Getty ImagesMichael Jackson purchased the ranch he called Neverland in 1988 According to The New York Times, it featured a movie theater, a lake, and a train station, as well as an amusement park with a Ferris wheel and a petting zoo that became home to llamas, chimps, and other animals. It was open by invitation only, and zoning regulations prevented public access. © Getty ImagesMichael Jackson named his ranch after Neverland, the fantasy island in the story of Peter Pan, a boy who never grows up Michael’s sister La Toya Jackson wrote in her 2011 book Starting Over that the ranch “was a living fairy tale, which Michael created to finally have a normal childhood and life for …

Why spring smells like semen and rotting fish

Published by Jenni Sidey

Get the Popular Science daily newsletter💡 Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent six days a week. Ah, spring. The sun is out, the streets are humming, the days are getting longer, and the air smells like… like… um… say, can anyone else smell that? It’s not just me, right? Right?? It’s not just me. All over America, spring is getting smellier every year, and the culprit is the Bradford pear, a tree that gained popularity in the mid-20th century for its ornamental properties. But it has since proven to be kind of a nightmare. As well as its distinctive smell (described as smelling like rotting fish, sweat, or semen), it has a nasty habit of shedding branches during storms. Its hardiness makes it awfully difficult to get rid of, to the extent that it’s now considered invasive in most of North America. Oh, and you can’t eat its fruit, either, because it’s full of cyanide. The tree isn’t just a problem here in the US, either. In my home country of Australia, we have a …

Mount Holyoke’s Corpse Flower Blooms Again, Drawing Crowds to Its ‘Rotting Flesh’ Stench

Published by Sam Flores

SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. (AP) — One person entered the lush, green Victorian-era greenhouse and smelled rotting eggs. Another said the odor evoked the memory of dissecting a dead bird. A third compared it to a stinky diaper baking in the sun. “I was expecting it to smell bad, but it smelled genuinely like rotting flesh,” said Nyx DelPrado, a first-year student at Mount Holyoke College who visited its Talcott Greenhouse this week to see the blooming of a corpse flower. “Its name is accurate,” DelPrado added with a laugh, nose wrinkled, adding that it reminded them of the scent of a dissection. The corpse flower, or Amorphophallus titanum, is a rare tropical plant known for its foul odor. It’s native to the rainforests of Sumatra and blooms infrequently and for only a brief window, releasing a pungent scent meant to mimic decaying flesh and attract pollinators such as flies and beetles. Nicknamed “Pangy,” the plant first bloomed at Mount Holyoke College in 2023, and its latest appearance has once again drawn crowds eager to witness …

Can Bed Rotting Be Good For You? Psychologist Weighs In

Published by Sam Flores

Now that we’re into the second month of 2026, have you found that your hopeful ’new year, new me’ energy has started to wane a little? Same. In fact, I’ll be honest, there are often days where I struggle to get out of bed at all. I’m not quite depressed, I don’t think, but I do feel warmer and safer there. Apparently, my ‘bed rotting’ habit is not uncommon at this time of year. Dr Ritz Birah, a psychologist and sleep expert at Panda London, suggests many of us tend to languish a little more than usual in February. “Mid-February is one of the busiest periods in my clinic. The initial motivation of the New Year has worn off, the days are still short, and many people arrive feeling flat, depleted and quietly ashamed that they ‘just want to stay in bed’,” she says. “With constant rain, heavy grey skies and weeks of low light, it’s no surprise that the temptation to bed rot feels stronger than ever.” The term ‘bed rotting’ typically refers to …

Experts warn of the health consequences of ‘bed rotting’

Published by Daniella Wilson

Sign up to our free Living Well email for advice on living a happier, healthier and longer life Live your life healthier and happier with our free weekly Living Well newsletter Live your life healthier and happier with our free weekly Living Well newsletter On freezing, dark winter days, burrowing beneath the comforter and staying there may sound like perfection – sadly, though, it can have big health consequences. The practice now widely referred to as ”bed rotting” became popular on social media in the late 2010s. It referred to extended staycations in bed that can last for minutes or even days. And Gen Z are major fans –nearly a quarter of those aged 14 to 30 are “bed rotting,” according to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. More than 50 percent of America’s youth admit to spending more than 30 minutes in bed before going to sleep. And, 27 percent say they do the same thing in the morning before they get up. On TikTok, “bed-rotting” is promoted by dozens of people, including social …

‘Bed rotting’ may seem enticing this winter. But experts have issued a health warning

Published by Daniella Wilson

Skeptic Society Magazine

for honest conversations

Years

Authors

Filter by Month

Filter by Categories

Filter by Tags