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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Help Wanted: Polar Bear Spotter

Remote Norway region needs someone to warn scientists

(Newser) - If you passed on the job posting for a manager at Stonehenge , the AP has another weird help-wanted ad to consider. It seems Norway's remote Svalbard region needs an official polar bear spotter this summer. The idea is to keep your eyes peeled for bears, then yell like crazy...

Guy Loses All His Money ... to Carnival Game

But hey, at least Henry Gribbohm has a giant stuffed banana

(Newser) - Most of us know carnival games are scams, but Henry Gribbohm learned that particular life lesson the hard way—by losing his life savings in a desperate attempt to successfully toss a ball into a tub. The New Hampshire man was trying to win an Xbox Kinect by playing Tubs...

Fish Use ... Sign Language?
 Fish Use ... Sign Language? 
Apr 30, 2013 1:57 PM CDT

Fish Use ... Sign Language?

At least two kinds gesture while hunting prey, study suggests

(Newser) - Fish might have more going on in their fishy brains than thought, a new study suggests. Researchers found that at least two types—groupers and coral trout—use what amounts to sign language to help their hunting partners, reports LiveScience . The finding plays off another unusual trait: Both fish are...

Elderly Couple's Revenge on Neighbors: Blasting Iron Maiden

Now they face harassment charges

(Newser) - An elderly couple in Sweden was tired of hearing a "whistling sound" coming from their new neighbors' property, so they took revenge by blasting Iron Maiden's "Afraid to Shoot Strangers," police say. The 71-year-old woman and her 81-year-old husband allegedly played the music at top volume...

Juror's Crush on Suspect May Have Caused a Mistrial

Bronx DA investigates allegations

(Newser) - A murder trial ended in a hung jury and mistrial—and it's all because one of the jurors was in love with the suspect, says the victim's mother. Now, the Bronx district attorney has launched an investigation into the relationship between former juror Katheryne Diop and Devon Thomas,...

Mom Forced Daughter, 14, to Impregnate Herself

Woman wanted another baby, but was barred from adopting

(Newser) - A mother who was barred from adopting more children found a criminal way to increase her brood: She forced her 14-year-old daughter to start inseminating herself with donor sperm the mother bought on the Internet. The girl, a virgin, is thought to have miscarried at 14, and ended up giving...

NY Amnesty Event Nets ... 3 Gators?

(Newser) - New York's Long Island, perhaps more noted for nails-on-chalkboard accents than rampant reptiles, held an amnesty event for illegal cold-blooded critters yesterday and some surprising "pets" crawled out of the woodwork: Namely, three alligators. “I’m done with alligators,” said one guy who turned in 4-year-old...

Lock of Emperor's Hair Sells for $18K

But that's only half the price of Bieber's

(Newser) - A lock of hair from an Austro-Hungarian emperor who ruled in Europe more than a century ago fetched about $18,000 at auction in Vienna yesterday—about 20 times the estimated price, reports the AP . An Austrian restaurateur bought the white lock once belonging to Franz Josef, whose reign from...

80-Year-Old Accidentally Swallows $5K Diamond

Miriam Tucker had to recover her prize the hard way

(Newser) - Miriam Tucker's last colonoscopy yielded quite a treasure: a 1.03-carat round brilliant cut diamond, worth $5,000. But don't go scheduling an appointment with your gastroenterologist in the hopes that you, too, will strike it rich. Tucker, you see, had accidentally swallowed the diamond first. The 80-year-old...

Siblings Survive 14 Hours in Ocean

US vacationers in St. Lucia survive sinking of boat

(Newser) - The AP recounts a tale that falls easily into the vacations-from-hell category for two US siblings visiting the Caribbean island of St. Lucia. Dan Suski, 30, and Kate Suski, 39, were out at sea earlier this week on a chartered fishing boat when its electrical system conked out. As the...

Fed Up With LA Traffic, CEO Gives $50K to Speed Work

Elon Musk says he'll provide even more of his own money if it will help

(Newser) - Surprise, surprise: Los Angeles again ranked as the city with the worst traffic congestion in America in an annual survey out this week, reports Reuters . Here's a sign of how bad things are, from the LA Times : Entrepreneur Elon Musk —he of Tesla, PayPal, and SpaceX—has forked...

Rowers Find Enormous Head in Hudson

Styrofoam structure looks like ancient sculpture

(Newser) - Today's mystery: What was a seven-foot-tall head doing floating in the Hudson River? Marist College crew members found the enormous noggin, made of Styrofoam and fiberglass and reminiscent of a Greek or Roman sculpture, while on the river on Tuesday, Newsday reports. It "looked like something out of...

Police Confiscate 4-Foot, 2-Pound Joint

It just slightly exceeded California's one-ounce medical pot limit

(Newser) - No, we didn't write that headline while stoned. California police actually did confiscate a mammoth joint during a 4/20 pot rally on Saturday, reports the Los Angeles Times . As the paper notes, hundreds of UC Santa Cruz students gather each year for the event, and each year campus police...

Mormon Bishop Scares Off Attacker With Samurai Sword

Kent Hendrix is also a martial arts instructor

(Newser) - When Kent Hendrix woke up yesterday to his teenage son telling him someone was being attacked in front of their house, he did what any self-respecting Mormon bishop/martial arts instructor/fourth-degree black belt holder/weapons collector would do: He grabbed his Samurai sword, ran outside, drew the sword on the attacker, and...

New Object of Chick-fil-A's Ire: Kale T-Shirts

Trademark Office not buying Vermont guy's bid to patent 'Eat More Kale'

(Newser) - First, Chick-fil-A flapped its way into the gay marriage debate , and now the fast-food giant is again throwing down—this time with a Vermont artist who makes "Eat More Kale" T-shirts. Chick-fil-A contends that the slogan, though spelled correctly, is too close to its own “Eat Mor Chikin”...

Burglar Hears Scary Noise, Calls Cops

Turns out it was probably a cat

(Newser) - A burglar in Romania was arrested—after he called the cops himself. Marius Ionescu, 31, apparently got scared by a noise while looting a house; fearing another robber at work, he dove under the bed and called police to save him, the Metro reports. They arrived to find no one...

What It's Like to Be Stuck Living in a NY Castle

Phemisters struggle to flip this New York house

(Newser) - You don't even need a cool million to purchase a 36,000-square-foot castle in Upstate New York. Just $895,000 will do. The New York Times today takes a look at this most unusual piece of real estate—and the unusual consequences of a common problem: homes that buyers...

Woman Walks Into Bathroom, Meets Tiger

Needless to say, Jenna Krehbiel was surprised

(Newser) - A central Kansas woman got quite a surprise when she walked into the bathroom at the Isis Shrine Circus in Salina: A tiger was standing just two feet from her. The big cat had escaped briefly after its turn in the ring Saturday; staff members blocked off the concourses at...

Driver Busted With 53 Cobras: Cops

Their meat is a delicacy in Vietnam

(Newser) - A driver in Vietnam was arrested over some unusual cargo. His car was slithering with snakes—53 cobras in green sacks, to be specific, police say. The driver reported being paid less than $50 to haul the animals, whose meat is a delicacy in the country, the AP reports. If...

Fisherman Fist-Fights Crocodile, Survives

Yoann Galeran has 'a few holes on the head'

(Newser) - A French fisherman was swimming near an Australian yacht club when he felt something odd, "like rocks hitting on my head." It turned out to be an 8-foot crocodile, Australia's ABC News reports. "He just hit me on the top, on the left side, and on...

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