Donner Party Exonerated?
Forensic anthropologists presented evidence based on DNA analyses in Sacramento this week which throw into doubt widespread reports of the Donner party's cannibalism during the winter of 1846-7 in the Sierra Nevada. Analyses of 16,000 pieces of bone fragment found that the party had undoubtedly consumed all their livestock, including the horses, but no human DNA was found. [1/14/2006]

Study Finds Prion Disease Not a Significant Factor in Human Evolution
A new study in the journal Genome Research determines that prion diseases such as Creutzfeld-Jacob disease and kuru have not been widespread in human history, nor has historical cannibalism been a significant disease vector for these conditions. This finding contradicts a paper published three years ago suggesting that descent from survivors of populations who had been cannibals conferred a degree of resistance to such diseases through "balancing selection" on the relevant gene; the newer study specifically failed to find evidence of this.

Still, better safe than sorry. [1/14/2006]

Internet Cannibal Faces 2nd Trial, Sues to Stop Film and Song
Armin Miewes, the famed German “Internet cannibal”, is going back to court for a retrial after authorities argued that he was actually guilty of murder—he was only convicted of manslaughter after successfully arguing that his victim volunteered. Miewes has also filed charges in an attempt to stop the release of the upcoming film Butterfly, A Grimm Love Story, scheduled to open in March. Miewes is also suing the band Rammstein over their song Mein Teil, which he claims is based on his life story. [1/11/2006]

“Well, there's the Necronomicon at Miskatonic...”
Many of the nation's most prestigious universities have books in their collections which are bound in human skin. [1/9/2006]

“Birds do it, bees do it...”
An Australian entomologist reports that if a male Australian Redback Spider is good in the sack (so to speak), his chances of getting eaten “in the saddle” are about 65%. If she really likes him, they’ll mate again while she digests him. [12/24/2005]

Siberian Gets Fourteen Years for Long Pig Ravioli!
An eastern Siberian man has been sentenced to 14 years in a maximum security prison after being convicted of murdering a friend during a quarrel, then cutting his body into pieces and using some of the flesh to make pelmeni, a Siberian sort of ravioli. Unable to use all of the meat, he sold some to neighbors saying it was horse meat. [12/26/2005]

Police Fire on “Cannibal”-Hunting Crowd
Police in the town of Bvumbwe, Malawi, fired on a mob attempting to storm the house of a Chinese businessman accused of cannibalism in the disappearances of at least six local boys. Rumors that one of the missing boys had been seen entering the house of the man were spread by an employee. Police searched the house, bu no evidence to support the story was uncovered. Stories of cannibalism in Malawi's small Chinese community have been persistent, but no actual cases have ever been confirmed. [12/14/2005]