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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Oregon Brewing Up a State Microbe

Saccharomyces cerevisiae , or beer yeast, would be first state microbe

(Newser) - US states have official flags and official flowers, but Oregon could become the first to have a state microbe—and a delicious microbe, at that. Oregon's microbe of choice is the Saccharomyces cerevisiae, better known as ale yeast, and the bill's sponsor hopes the measure will show appreciation...

Philly Skyscraper Hosts ... Giant Game of Pong

Science stunt helps kick off Tech Week

(Newser) - If anyone in downtown Philadelphia last night was wondering about that strangely familiar pattern of lights on the Cira Center, the AP has the answer: They were epic games of the classic Atari game Pong. The games played out via LED lights on the facade of the 29-story skyscraper, with...

Florida Invaded by Rat-Sized Snails
 Florida Invaded by 
 Rat-Sized Snails 
in case you missed it
Apr 20, 2013 8:30 AM CDT

Florida Invaded by Rat-Sized Snails

More than 1K giant African land snails caught per week

(Newser) - No, this is not a 1970s B-movie: South Florida really is dealing with an invasion of giant African land snails. The beastly mollusks can grow as large as rats (the biggest measure eight inches long, the Ocala Star-Banner reports), and can eat their way through plaster and stucco. More than...

Wow: Runner Escapes Boston Bombs, Texas Blast

Joe Berti was there for both

(Newser) - Not too many people can relate to this week better than Austin's Joe Berti. He raced in the Boston Marathon and figures he crossed the finish line about 30 seconds before the first bomb went off, reports AP . His wife got hit with shrapnel but escaped serious injury. The...

Got Some Existential Angst? Try Tylenol

Study suggests it eases non-physical pain, too

(Newser) - This could make for some interesting commercials: A new study suggests that Tylenol not only eases physical aches, but existential ones, too, reports Psych Central . Researchers found that people asked to brood about their own deaths were less, um, broody if they popped a Tylenol as opposed to a sugar...

Judge Holds Self in Contempt of Court

Fines himself $25 over cellphone interruption

(Newser) - Judge Raymond Voet is nothing if not a man of his word. The Michigan justice has a strict "no cellphones" rule posted in his Ionia County courtroom, and has a history of confiscating phones from witnesses, lawyers, spectators, and police officers during trials. So when his own phone went...

30 Skiers Hold Hands, Do Backflip

But they miss the Guinness deadline, so they'll try again next year

(Newser) - Thirty skiers grabbed hands, sped down a hill in Canada, and did a joint backflip, hoping for a Guinness record. The good news: It's probably the biggest simultaneous skiing backflip in history, the Telegraph reports. The bad: The group missed the entry deadline, so they'll try again next...

Get Ready for the $40K Cocktail

It comes with a 4-carat ruby

(Newser) - Want to impress your date? How about a $40,000 drink? The Ruby Rose cocktail will be available starting in June at a Kennebunk, Maine, restaurant and inn. The secret ingredient: a 4-carat ruby. The idea was a guest's joke, but the White Barn Inn decided to take it...

Woman Calls 911, Asks for Divorce

She did end up getting something: a disorderly conduct citation

(Newser) - Call it an emergency of the heart: Police have cited a 42-year-old Pennsylvania woman for disorderly conduct after she called 911 requesting a divorce and police assistance to make her husband leave. Troopers say the woman called just after 1am Saturday asking that officers be sent to her home in...

Maine Hermit Gets Offers of Marriage, Bail

Knight is 'smiling, pleasant;' even has his own folk song tribute

(Newser) - For a guy who spent 27 years living in the woods with no human contact , Christopher Knight seems pretty popular. Authorities in Maine, where the "North Pond Hermit" is being held on burglary charges, say he has received a marriage proposal from a woman on the other side of...

Man Tries to Take Photo of Beaver; It Kills Him


 Man Tries to 
 Take Photo 
 of Beaver; 
 It Kills Him 
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Apr 14, 2013 7:34 AM CDT

Man Tries to Take Photo of Beaver; It Kills Him

Animal's bite severs artery in man's thigh

(Newser) - Forget sharks: It's beavers that are truly terrifying. A fisherman in Belarus was bitten to death by one, and all he was doing was trying to take its picture, Sky News reports. The man spotted the beaver while fishing with friends at Lake Shestakov, but as he approached to...

Meet the Doctor Who Resurrects People

 Meet the Doctor Who 
 Resurrects People 
in case you missed it
Apr 13, 2013 7:00 PM CDT

Meet the Doctor Who Resurrects People

Sam Parnia offers patients a few more decades

(Newser) - Dead? Sam Parnia is the doctor you want to see. The Brit runs an intensive care unit in New York state, and he's brought back patients who have been dead for hours, the Guardian reports. His process is rooted in his belief that most hospitals give up on patients...

Lawsuit: County Used Son's Remains to Train Dogs

Tissue from crash scene allegedly used for training

(Newser) - A western New York family is suing an upstate county after the coroner there took a piece of their son's body for use in a dog-training exercise. Thirty-two-year-old Roger Dunn died last spring in an auto wreck in Cambria. After the crash, Niagara County Coroner Russell Jackman gave some...

Police Chief Eats Daughter's Pot-Laced Cake

He ends up in hospital before she realizes what happened

(Newser) - Bad: Dad accidentally eats his kid's marijuana-laced cake. Worse: Dad gets sick. Worst of all: Dad just happens to be the local police chief. That's the strange tale from Laurelville, Ohio, courtesy of the Logan Daily News . Chief Mike Berkemeier is fine now, but he ended up in...

Frozen Vultures Falling From Sky in South Dakota

2 turkey vultures crash onto one Sioux Falls home

(Newser) - It's not just snow falling in South Dakota this week: Turkey vultures have also been dropping from the sky. Apparently the freezing rain was so bad around Sioux Falls earlier this week that some of the birds iced over and fell onto the houses of local residents, reports the...

And Now We Have Breast Milk Jewelry

You can buy pretty much anything on Etsy, it would seem

(Newser) - Strands from baby's first haircut. The first tooth. Tiny footprints sunk into clay. Some parents even tuck away the dried stump of the umbilical cord or the stick pregnancy test as a touching memento marking the milestones of their kids. The latest? Breast milk jewelry, on sale at the...

How Maine Hermit Survived in Woods for 27 Years

Not by building fires or fishing, apparently

(Newser) - When news broke yesterday of Christopher Knight's arrest in Maine, two details jumped out as pretty wild: One, he's accused of committing more than one thousand burglaries —and upon his arrest he told police he has encountered just one human in a span of 27 years. The...

Swedish Shop Made Staffers Wear Bra Sizes

Court sides with woman who sued lingerie chain

(Newser) - The Change lingerie shop in Sweden swears it had only the best of intentions in telling female staffers to wear their bra size on a badge. It would help customers gauge their own size, demystify the process, etc. The Swedish Labour Court, however, found that it did something else entirely:...

Maine Cops Nab Hermit Suspected in 1K Burglaries

Christopher Knight had lived in woods for 27 years

(Newser) - A man who lived like a hermit for decades in the woods of central Maine—and who may be responsible for more than 1,000 burglaries—has been captured, authorities say. Police say 47-year-old Christopher Knight was arrested last week while stealing food from a camp in Rome. Yesterday, authorities...

Frog-Phobic Man Wins $1.6M Lawsuit

Developer turned his land into frog paradise

(Newser) - An upstate New York man terrified of frogs has won a seven-year legal battle with a developer who flooded his 40-acre property, attracting vast numbers of the amphibians. Paul Marinaccio—who says his fear of frogs began when he was a child in Italy and he was chased by a...

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