Immortality of the dead

The bizarre behavior of thousands of toads spontaneously exploding has puzzled scientists.

According to an AFP report on April 23, a bizarre and inexplicable phenomenon has recently occurred in Germany: thousands of toads have suddenly exploded, ejecting their internal organs a meter high. This strange phenomenon has baffled German scientists and biologists, who, despite their research, have been unable to explain the toads' suicides.

According to numerous reports from German veterinarians and animal welfare workers, biologists have discovered that at least 1,000 toads suddenly and continuously inflated their bodies until they reached their maximum size and finally exploded. Their internal organs were also ejected up to one meter high during the explosion. The phenomenon of toad self-explosion was most severe in the Odonna region of Hamburg, Germany, where a local lake was filled with toad carcasses, earning the lake the nickname "Pond of Death."

Currently, Hamburg authorities have banned public access to the small lake. Every day between 2 and 3 a.m., a biologist is sent to the lake to observe the suicide toads exploding. Werner Smonik, a member of the Hamburg North Nature Conservation Society Observation and Research Institute, said, "It's like a science fiction movie. They suddenly swell and explode, and their bodies are 3.5 times larger than ordinary toad carcasses."

Biologists have speculated on the reasons for the toad's self-explosion, including that the toad was infected with an unknown virus.

Beijing Youth Daily, April 25, 2005

Seven skulls found on the ceiling of an old Shanghai villa

On the 23rd, workers discovered seven skulls on the ceiling of an old villa on Xibaoxing Road in Shanghai during demolition. Police have launched an investigation.

Around 11:00 AM on the 23rd, after receiving a tip, a reporter arrived at the scene. Mr. Zhang, who discovered the skull, told the reporter that he and his wife found a human skull on the roadside near a demolition site while taking a walk. After inquiring with the workers, Mr. Zhang learned that the skull had been found by demolition workers from an old house nearby and discarded by the roadside. The reporter observed that although it was damaged in several places, it was confirmed to be a human skull.

According to a worker, the day before yesterday afternoon around 4 pm, the workers found the skulls in the gap between the ceiling and the roof on the second floor of the old house while they were demolishing it. A total of 5 skulls were found at the time, and the workers broke 2 skulls during the cleaning process.

During the interview, several workers enthusiastically pointed out the location where the skulls had been found. Unexpectedly, in the second-floor roof mezzanine where the five skulls had been discovered, they found two more skulls. One worker showed the reporter the two newly found skulls and two other bones. The reporter noticed that the skulls were wrapped in a newspaper from May 17, 1967.

According to demolition workers, of the five skulls initially discovered, two were broken, while the other three were taken away by the police yesterday for investigation.

July 25, 2005, Shanghai Youth Daily, Part 1: Overture - People Who Escaped from the Hands of Death

cloudy day.

I hate cloudy days; bad weather always affects my mood. This story begins in bad weather, foreshadowing that things won't be good for us to come.

But I didn't realize that when I answered that call.

"Thank you so much! Well done! I bet you'd do a fantastic job as a reporter!" I showered him with compliments. I knew he loved hearing that.

"Hehe, not at all, just providing a tip. Your article is truly excellent. I'd be perfectly content if I could have your name listed as a correspondent someday." Old He immediately returned the compliment.

"Being a whistleblower isn't so bad, is it? Your information will definitely earn you a reward, at least fifty. I'll try my best and see if I can get a hundred."

"Oh dear, oh dear, I can't accept this." Without even looking, I could guess how wide the grin was on the other end of the phone.

"Of course, you should tell me first if you have any news like this in the future."

"Of course," Old He assured him.

This kind of thing is mutually beneficial. If the news gets out too late and is published by another newspaper first, or if our cleaning lady finds out through other channels, his tip-off fee will be lost.

"That patient, did he really have a terminal illness?" I asked him again to confirm.

"There's no mistake. Our Ruijin Hospital organized an expert consultation, and it's definitely Heinrich's disease, an extremely rare and incurable disease. We've never heard of anyone in the world who got this disease and recovered. This is the first case. Although the recovery is a bit inexplicable."

"Okay, I'll come over for the interview this afternoon."

I've crossed the line again. Oh well, it's all for survival. That's what I thought after hanging up the phone.

Normally, this kind of medical news would be written by reporters covering health, but now it's different when my informant calls the hotline to break the news. As a reporter from the mobile department, I can interview anyone who calls the hotline.

I have several informants on my side, or to put it more bluntly, "deep throats." They're usually hidden in various industries, and they'll tip me off at the slightest sign of trouble. Take this Lao He, for example; although he works at Ruijin Hospital, he's familiar with most of the major hospitals in the city center. He spends his free time calling acquaintances at these hospitals to gather news leads. Of course, the reason these "deep throats" are so proactive, besides my personal charm, is primarily because of the tipping fees. Earning several hundred or even a thousand yuan a month just by talking—why not?

If I train a few more, I won't have to worry about running out of writing material.

During my lunch break, I looked up Heinz syndrome online, but I didn't find any useful information. Perhaps it's because the disease is too specialized, or perhaps I mispronounced one character in the transliterated name of this terminal illness.

All organs atrophied and quickly failed? On the way to Ruijin Hospital, I pondered the simple description of Hainix case that Lao He had given me. It sounded terrifying. How could it have suddenly resolved itself, leaving even the attending physician baffled?

That's interesting.

"A Miracle Occurs at Ruijin Hospital: Deadly Illness Mysteriously Cured!" I've already come up with the headline for this news story. That's right, it has to be sensational. Even if the interview itself isn't anything special, the headline still has to be eye-catching.

There were more than twenty people waiting to see a doctor outside the internal medicine department. When I walked into the consultation room, I felt a chill down my spine. They must be cursing me for rushing in without waiting in line. If they knew that I was going to delay their doctor by at least ten or twenty minutes, even more vicious curses would come pouring down on me.

Lao He had already informed my interviewer, Dr. Lin, and after he finished seeing the next patient, I sat down on the bench opposite him.

"Old He said you're the attending physician for that patient with Heinz O.M. disease. I'd like to learn more about the situation," I asked him after identifying myself.

"Your information network is really impressive." The middle-aged man in the white coat, with a slightly balding head, seemed a little surprised: "The patient was only confirmed to have recovered yesterday, and you've already come to interview him today." It seemed he didn't know Lao He's "Deep Throat" identity.

Of course, I wouldn't say it out loud; I just smiled and looked very profound.

“But this is truly a miracle, a miracle indeed.” The doctor began to wave his hand, and his voice became louder than before. Only then did I notice that his eyes were bloodshot.

He was very excited; perhaps he had been excited for days.

"Let me talk about this disease first. Heinz syndrome is not caused by a virus, but is congenital. From a genetic point of view, it means that there is a congenital defect in the gene. Most of the time, this defect does not cause problems, but if it is unfortunately activated at some point, the immune system will have a problem, a big problem. Eventually, it will lead to the slow failure of all organs, especially the heart, liver, lungs and kidneys. An even more peculiar phenomenon is that although the cause of Heinz syndrome is not a virus, patients with Heinz syndrome are particularly susceptible to a special virus. This virus cannot survive in a healthy human body, but it can multiply and thrive in the internal organs of patients with Heinz syndrome, which will further accelerate organ failure."

Is there no treatment?

The doctor shook his head swiftly and rapidly.

"Before this, the longest recorded time from diagnosis to death for Heinz disease was seven years. Usually, patients die within two years. Current medical methods can only prolong this time as much as possible, at the cost of patients living in pain and ultimately dying anyway."

"How long has this patient been ill? Oh, and I still don't know his name."

"The patient's name is Cheng Gen. He is a businessman. He was probably too busy and kept putting off his health. By the time he was diagnosed, the disease had already progressed to the middle stage. The effects of medication on this disease are limited. When we had a consultation a week ago, our opinion was that he had at most ten months to live. A few days ago, when his son was with him, Cheng Gen was so weak that he needed help to walk."

"Oh? So his son wasn't around when Cheng Gen recovered?"

"Yes, I heard it was some urgent business for him to handle, so he flew to Guangzhou. My father's miraculous recovery will be a big surprise for him." Dr. Lin smiled as he said this. He was genuinely happy for his patient; a doctor's heart is truly compassionate. But not every doctor these days can be like him.

Dr. Lin's smile lasted only two seconds. He suddenly slapped the back of his bald head and said, "Oh no, his son doesn't know that Cheng Gen has a terminal illness. Cheng Gen instructed our hospital not to tell his son about his condition. The young man always thought his father was just having a kidney attack."

"Ah..." I opened my mouth, thinking that this was such a good real-life scenario that I was even planning to write it into my manuscript: "So, Cheng Gen will get better in the next few days?"

The doc

……