strange stuff

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

Stories 2681 - 2700 | << Prev   Next >>

Rolling Boulder Leaves Wild Path of Destruction

No one hurt, but repairs could cost millions

(Newser) - Some 141,000 cubic feet of rock tumbled from the face of an Italian cliff this month, sending a boulder tearing through a 300-year-old farm. The rock rolled through a barn in the Alto-Adige region, resulting in millions of dollars' worth of damage, says the manager of the site, which...

Scientists Explain Underwater 'Fairy Rings'

They're caused by tainted mud, not aliens

(Newser) - Scientists have ruined a perfectly good mystery off the coast of Denmark—weird circles spotted on the ocean floor aren't so magical after all, despite their nickname of "fairy rings." Nor are they caused by World War II bombs or aliens, two of the more interesting theories....

81-Year-Old Jailed for Excessive Bear-Feeding

She feared they'd starve otherwise: officials

(Newser) - An 81-year-old woman is in prison without bond for feeding bears vast quantities of dog food—and refusing to stop, officials say. Mary Musselman, a retired gym teacher, allegedly fed bears when they visited her property in Sebring, Florida. "We are talking about putting out as many as 17...

Girl's iPhone Catches Fire in Pants

Teen suffers minor burns in Maine classroom

(Newser) - A weird one from Maine, where school officials say a 13-year-old girl suffered first- and second-degree burns when her iPhone caught fire in her pants, reports WMTW . The trouble began when the girl sat down, heard a popping sound from the back pocket where her phone was located, and noticed...

Woman Trying to Change Her Name to 'Sexy'

Ranea Crabtree goes before the judge next month in Ohio

(Newser) - While lots of folks might want to be known as sexy, one woman in Ohio wants to be known as Sexy, with a capital S. Yes, Ranea Crabtree will appear before a judge next month to request the name change, reports the Columbus Dispatch . Her real first name is actually...

After Shark Bite, Guy Stitches Leg, Grabs a Beer

New Zealand doctor wasn't too worried

(Newser) - When a New Zealand man felt something odd on his leg while spearfishing, he assumed it was one of his buddies. "I looked behind to see who it was and got a bit of a shock," James Grant, a 24-year-old doctor, tells Radio New Zealand . It was, apparently,...

Meet the Purple Tomato
 Meet the Purple Tomato 
Jan 27, 2014 11:13 AM CST

Meet the Purple Tomato

It's got blueberry-like health benefits: researchers

(Newser) - Finally: the health benefits of a blueberry in the shape of a tomato. That's how researchers are billing a genetically-modified purple tomato that may soon be available to shoppers. "With these purple tomatoes you can get the same compounds that are present in blueberries and cranberries that give...

UK Fears Approach of Rat-Infested &#39;Ghost Ship&#39;
UK Fears Approach of
Rat-Infested 'Ghost Ship'
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Jan 26, 2014 10:10 AM CST

UK Fears Approach of Rat-Infested 'Ghost Ship'

Though Lyubov Orlova hasn't been heard from since March

(Newser) - The Russian "ghost ship" that was last heard from in March has all but vanished—but a flurry of reports now have it on a potential collision-course with Britain's coast, and packed with rats. Experts are warning that the Lyubov Orlova could be headed that way in the...

Family: Young Teen Killed Sister Over Laundry

Justice Toliver had reportedly bleached her brother's clothes

(Newser) - A 14-year-old girl allegedly stabbed her younger half-sister to death on Tuesday, telling the 11-year-old she was ungrateful for the older girl's housework as she did so—and shockingly, it's not the only alleged chore-related teen murder of the week. A 17-year-old girl was shot to death in...

Hillary Mag Cover &#39;Deeply Weird&#39;
 Hillary Mag Cover 
 'Deeply Weird' 
OPINION
Jan 23, 2014 1:28 PM CST

Hillary Mag Cover 'Deeply Weird'

NYT Mag explores Clinton's 'political universe'

(Newser) - New York Times staffer David Joachim tweeted a photo of the newspaper's Sunday magazine cover, declaring that it shows Hillary Clinton "as you've never seen her before." That's an understatement. It depicts Hillary as a planet (or a "faceplanetball" in the words of Mediaite...

Mathematician Cracks OkCupid, Finds Wife

Though it still took 88 actual first dates

(Newser) - First, there was boy meets girl. Then, boy meets girl online. And now, boy meets girl online after manipulating the algorithms of his Internet dating site. As Wired explains, it helps to be a mathematician. Christopher McKinlay was a 30-something looking for love on OkCupid and not having much luck....

Wanted Man Posts Mugshot, Gets Captured Immediately

Anthony James Lescowitch shared police department's post

(Newser) - Note to those wanted by police: If your goal is not to get caught, it's probably not a good idea to "share" your mugshot on Facebook after the police department posts it . That's what Anthony James Lescowitch did Monday, police say; not surprisingly, the move led to...

In One Sochi Men's Bathroom Stall, 2 Toilets

And the Twittersphere erupts!

(Newser) - They're the toilets seen 'round the world, in a photo taken and tweeted Monday night by the BBC's Moscow correspondent of the men's restroom in a Sochi Olympics venue. What it shows: one stall, two toilets. "Seeing double in the Gentlemen's Loo at the...

Buffett Will Give You $1B for Perfect NCAA Bracket

He backs contest offered by Quicken Loans

(Newser) - A math professor at DePaul once figured out that the odds of picking every game correctly in the NCAA March Madness bracket is 1 in 128 billion, notes Yahoo Sports . (And that assumes basketball knowledge.) If those odds aren't too daunting, then Warren Buffett has just the contest...

Cyclist: Driver Didn't See Me Stuck in Windshield

Despite the fact that he actually spoke to the driver, Steven Gove says

(Newser) - A Wisconsin man who became lodged in the windshield of a car that struck him said he turned to the driver and said, "Hello, I'm the guy you hit on the bicycle." The driver did not respond, but continued on, running a stop sign and hitting another...

Kids TP Home, Which Leads to It ... Burning Down

Cheryl Crausewell tried to burn some lingering bits out of a tree

(Newser) - Toilet-papering a house is just a harmless teen prank, right? For one family in Dora, Ala., not so much. The first part of the story is fairly rote: Neighborhood kids TP Cheryl Crausewell's house of a dozen years over the weekend, doing a number on her yard and magnolia...

Cow-Pee Soda: Miracle Cure?
 Cow-Pee Soda: 
 Miracle Cure? 
Jan 19, 2014 9:45 AM CST

Cow-Pee Soda: Miracle Cure?

Hindu sect says so

(Newser) - An Indian Hindu group says it has a cure for some "70 to 80 incurable diseases ," but it might not appeal to everyone. The miracle medicine is cow urine—specifically, pee from a virgin female taken before sunrise, LiveScience reports. The head of a cow shelter in northern...

Your Pee Could Be Fertilizer of the Future

Team collects 3K gallons of nutrient-rich stuff

(Newser) - Nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium are among plants' key needs—and your urine contains all of them. That's why Vermont's Rich Earth Institute is studying the use of human urine as fertilizer, Modern Farmer reports. There's already plenty of evidence that it works. Yahoo cites one study, earlier...

Surprised Nun Gives Birth
 Surprised Nun Gives Birth 
Jan 18, 2014 10:36 AM CST

Surprised Nun Gives Birth

Insists she had no idea she was pregnant, names kid after pope

(Newser) - In a not-so surprising development, a woman in Italy has named her newborn son after the pope. In a more surprising development, she happens to be a nun. The 31-year-old in Reiti went to the hospital complaining of stomach pains and reportedly rejected the doctors' crazy suggestion that she was...

Target Thief's Getaway Vehicle: Skateboard

Video shows him making off with a TV in Florida

(Newser) - It's another headline-grabbing theft at Target , but this one is decidedly more low-tech. Someone in Clearwater, Florida, used a skateboard to make his great escape after stealing a TV, reports the Tampa Bay Tribune . In fact, surveillance video shows him skateboarding inside the store with the 32-inch flat-screen. One...

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