strange stuff

From strange crimes to strange celebrity deaths, read all of the latest weird and strange stuff news stories on Newser.com

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Darth Vader Running for Mayor in Kiev

Odessa, too, though he must settle for being a write-in candidate

(Newser) - Ukraine holds elections this weekend, and Vladimir Putin has promised to honor the results, reports AP . But what if he has to deal with Darth Vader? A candidate by that name (and uniform) is running for mayor in both Kiev and Odessa, and his videos have become a sensation in...

Suit: Teachers Turned Sisters Into Death Cultists

John, Jane Doe say Conn. teachers, counselor indoctrinated their girls

(Newser) - The girls at Connecticut's Avon High School were learning more than just Spanish in their Spanish classes, according to a lawsuit filed by one family. The parents, identified only as John and Jane Doe, say their older daughters—now ages 22 and 19—started acting differently while attending the...

Found in University Basement: 250 Corpses

Department director resigns over gross debacle

(Newser) - It seems journalists with Spain's El Mundo have stumbled onto Frankenstein’s laboratory. "This is not Auschwitz in 1942. Neither Srebrenica ... nor Rwanda," as El Mundo puts it. No, it’s the basement of the Anatomy and Embryology Department at Madrid's Complutense University, where the body...

Cop Jumps Off Bridge to Avoid Being Hit by Own Car

Officer in hospital after run-in with alleged drunk driver

(Newser) - When Kenneth Lewis and his partner made a routine traffic stop on a Texas bridge on Friday, they had no idea that the real danger would come from other cars behind them—including their own. Dash cam video obtained by KHOU shows the officers' patrol car barreling toward them, forcing...

Cops: Man Tried to Have Sex With ATM

Then Lonnie Jackson Hutton allegedly tried to have his way with a picnic table

(Newser) - This may be the holy grail of weird sex crime stories: Police on Friday arrested a Murfreesboro, Tenn., man who was allegedly trying to have intercourse with a bar's ATM around 9:30pm, the Daily News Journal reports. Per the police report, 49-year old Lonnie Jackson Hutton "pulled...

Teen Faces Life Sentence Over Pot Brownies

Jacob Lavoro's use of hash oil is a big part of the problem

(Newser) - A Texas teen is facing five years to life in prison for allegedly making and selling pot brownies due to the particulars of the state's drug laws—and his recipe. Jacob Lavoro’s fateful mistake was allegedly adding hash oil to his batch. While possession of up to two...

Teacher&#39;s Arm-Wrestling Contest Ends Very Badly
Teacher's Arm-Wrestling Contest Ends Very Badly
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
May 18, 2014 10:41 AM CDT

Teacher's Arm-Wrestling Contest Ends Very Badly

For the student and for Zach Larkin, who is being sued

(Newser) - Zach Larkin may have initially emerged the winner of an arm-wrestling contest, but the glory was very, very short-lived. The popular Orange County, Calif., high school teacher faces a civil suit over the June 2013 contest—during which he broke a 17-year-old student's arm. Court documents filed Monday allege...

Man Freakishly Killed on Way to Funeral

Tony Calderon crushed by a 2K-pound palm tree crown

(Newser) - A 49-year-old California man died yesterday while waiting for a ride to his uncle's funeral, according to family members. Tony Calderon was waiting streetside in an unincorporated part of East Los Angeles when a palm tree's 2,000-pound crown became detached and fell on top of him, initially...

Scientists Solve Nagging Octopus Question

Here's why the creatures don't get tangled

(Newser) - If you had eight arms, how would you avoid tripping and tangling yourself up—especially if the arms were covered in suckers? Somehow, octopuses manage, but scientists didn't know how. New research indicates, however, that the suckers on the arms are able to identify other arms and avoid sticking...

America's Oddest Hobby: Cataloging Toilets

It's a thing. Really

(Newser) - There are hobbies like collecting baseball cards and knitting, and then there's toiletfan1 , who spends his spare time, with his parents, taking videos of America's toilets and urinals. And plenty of them: some 4,514 to date, posted to YouTube. And while toiletfan1 may have been remarkably prolific...

Old Meteor Messing Up Town's Hunt for Water

Manson, Iowa, trying to dig new well, but its geology is out of whack

(Newser) - The small town of Manson, Iowa, has tried and failed three times now to dig a new water well, but it's got the best scapegoat ever: a meteor that smashed down 74 million years ago. It seems the meteor's massive impact did such a number on the local...

Private Guards Watch Teen Criminal Around the Clock

German authorities find unusual solution for kid too young for jail

(Newser) - German authorities are dealing with a criminal so prolific and unrepentant that he warrants his own set of private security guards to watch him seven days a week. Also, he just turned 14. The Local picks up on a report in the German newspaper Bild about the unusual case: As...

Iowa Pair Orders McD's Burgers, Gets Pot With That

No, not Colorado, and no, it wasn't a happy meal

(Newser) - While many might hit their local fast-food joint to chase away the excesses of the night before, an Iowa couple found the excess itself tucked between the patties of their McDonald's double cheeseburgers. As they were chowing down one evening last month in Ottumwa, the couple noticed what the...

Danish Government Yanks Own Video Over Sex, Violence

'Voteman' character proved a little too graphic

(Newser) - It's a cartoon video made by the government designed to encourage young people to vote. Probably cheesy or hokey, you'd think? Try laden with sex (of the group variety, no less), violence (including a decapitation), and cartoon nudity. Meet "Voteman," a concoction of the Danish government....

Ill-Advised Selfie Leads to Guy's Arrest

He was bragging about what a good drug dealer he was, and then...

(Newser) - Pro tip: It may not be a great idea to post selfies on Facebook that show you dealing drugs ... particularly if you were doing so next to sheriff's deputies. That's what Taylor Harrison, a 21-year-old South Florida man, allegedly did before he was arrested last week, First Coast...

'Exploding Head Syndrome' Is Real: Experts

Sufferers hear loud noises before or after sleep

(Newser) - OK, it doesn't involve one's head literally exploding, but "exploding head syndrome" is no joke, say experts. "It's a provocative and understudied phenomenon," says psychologist Brian Sharpless of Washington State University after a review of studies. Sufferers experience explosive-sounding noises during transitions between waking...

Official Message to Boston Drivers: 'Use Yah Blinkah'

State DOT draws some attention to its safety push

(Newser) - Massachusetts' DOT wanted to make Boston drivers familiar with the foreign idea of signalling before lane changes, but they probably didn't expect this many national headlines as a result. The reason, as CBS Boston explains, is that the DOT's electronic highway signs have the message "Use Yah...

ATMs Learn Self-Defense From Acid-Spraying Bug

Beetle's spray system offers model for cash machines

(Newser) - The ATM is getting a lesson in self-defense—from a bug. Researchers in Switzerland were inspired by the bombardier beetle, which shoots out a gas that can burn skin, the Atlantic reports. The beetle's mechanism works by mixing two chemicals normally kept separate in its abdomen. When under attack,...

Woman Has Neighbors' Home Bulldozed: Cops

That's one way to deal with a person you don't like

(Newser) - Authorities say a northeast Florida woman who didn't like her neighbors had their mobile home demolished. According to an arrest report, Ana Maria Moreta Folch of St. Augustine told a heavy equipment operator that she owned the trailer and wanted it and its septic tank destroyed. The Florida Times-Union...

Flying Deer Kills New Mexico Man

Deer was hit by car before striking Ben Archibeque

(Newser) - Authorities in northern New Mexico say a 30-year-old man was fatally injured when a deer struck by another motorist was thrown into the car carrying the victim and his mother. Police say Benardino "Ben" Archibeque of Brazos was traveling north on US 64/84 near Chama when the accident occurred...

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