Reminds me of the original Star Trek episode where an Earth ship visiting a distant planet left behind a book about the Chicago Mobs of the 20's, and when the Enterprise arrived years later, the natives had modeled their entire society on it.

The predators are after the seed, the arm got attacked because the seed was on it at the time.

H.G. Wells' short story "The Man Who Could Work Miracles" ends with this happening, thanks to a very ill-advised wish on the protagonist's part. Also the 30's movie adaptation...

I've eaten and enjoyed sweet-pickle pie, without the hot dogs.

Additionally, I've read that the original version of that critter didn't have that headpiece; it was added after the female star of the movie made fun of this squatty little thing trying to be scary.

"And even if he was a lazy man - and The Dude was most certainly that - quite possibly the laziest in Los Angeles County .. which would place him high in the runnin' for laziest worldwide."

My favorite in my state of Washington is Humptulips. It even rated a mention in a Discworld novel.

I read a webcomic once where the scores in a belching contest were measured on the Richter Scale

As the article notes, it did have one drawback- it was possible for random noises in the room to activate functions on the TV.

Thomas Midgley, one of the other scientists, didn't "die with a smile on his face" as the article speculates. He contracted Polio, built an elaborate rope and pulley system to help himself in bed, and ended up strangling to death when it malfunctioned. So yeah, backfired would be an understatement.

I wouldn't be surprised if it was based on garbled reports of hippos, who actually do spray intruders from the back end. If they aren't just chomping on them.

I think my favorite BL entry will always be "Flick that Bic, roast that chick, and you'll feel my steel through your last meal!"

The article gets at least one fact wrong- it was a different good witch that kisses Dorothy at the start of the novel, not Glinda. Which also points out a plot-hole that the movie introduced by having Glinda send Dorothy off on her quest, instead of just telling her straight off about the shoes. In the original, the first less-powerful witch doesn't know about the shoes, and sends Dorothy to the Wizard after she does some divination-magic. Glinda only appears at the very end, after Dorothy and Co. travel to her distant home.
And they did make a sequel, Return to Oz, which is actually pretty good, if maybe too scary for really young children.

Our sun will never go supernova, it is too small. In a few billion more years, it will swell up into a red giant and then collapse into a white dwarf.