strange stuff

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

Stories 3541 - 3560 | << Prev   Next >>

Fairy Wrens' Key to Survival: Musical 'Password'

It helps them weed out cuckoo imposters

(Newser) - A contender for favorite new bird: the fairy wren. It has developed an ingenious trick for weeding out imposters from the nest, reports Discover (via Kottke.org ). After laying her eggs, mom sings them a special song over and over with a note "that acts like a familial...

Smuggler Swallowed 220 Diamonds: Police

Man caught trying to leave South Africa

(Newser) - A diamond smuggler is accused of the impressive, painful-sounding feat of swallowing 220 of the gems in an attempt to get them out of South Africa. The Lebanese man was arrested at the Johannesburg airport as he was waiting to fly to Dubai, the BBC reports. Scans of his body...

NC Town's New Year's Eve 'Possum Drop' Squashed

PETA files lawsuit, but fans still 'opossum-istic'

(Newser) - Following outcry from PETA, a judge in North Carolina has put the brakes on a bizarre holiday tradition, reports Fox News . For the past 21 years, the residents of Brasstown have rung in the new year by placing a live possum in a glass box and lowering it for 10...

'Idiot' Sign Only Latest in Court Shamings

Cleveland woman has to humiliate herself publicly

(Newser) - A woman caught on camera driving on a sidewalk to pass a Cleveland school bus was ordered this week to hold a sign at the intersection reading, "Only an idiot would drive on the sidewalk to avoid a school bus." It was the latest example of creative, and...

Montana Lawmaker: Pay Me in Gold, Please

Jerry O'Neil says he's worried about the dollar

(Newser) - A state lawmaker in Montana has found a unique way to express his concern about the national debt: Jerry O'Neil is demanding that he be paid in gold and silver coins instead of US dollars, reports the Daily Inter Lake . O'Neil wrote to the state legislature with his...

Cops Foil Horse Manure Attack on Prince Charles

New Zealander, 76: 'I would have done it'

(Newser) - Prince Charles avoided a stinky fate during a visit to New Zealand: Police nabbed an elderly man who admitted plans to hurl horse manure at the British royal. Sam Bacanov, 76, whom police called "a known anti-royalist," told reporters he had mixed manure with water to make it...

Janeane Garofalo Was Married for 20 Years, Didn't Know It

Finally divorced Rob Cohen Saturday

(Newser) - Janeane Garofalo had a marriage that lasted longer than most Hollywood unions do—but she had no idea. She and Rob Cohen, a writer for The Ben Stiller Show and now a Big Bang Theory producer, dated for a year and then "got married drunk in Vegas" in the...

New 'Invisibility Cloak' Actually Works—Sort Of

Duke University team renders small cylinder 'invisible'

(Newser) - Well, it's a work in progress anyway: A cloak of invisibility in development for six years has finally made an object invisible—at least from a certain angle, from passing microwaves. A team of Duke University electrical engineers used the cloak to render a half-inch cylinder "invisible" for...

Wife Blames Husband for Election, Runs Him Over: Cops

He's hospitalized in critical condition

(Newser) - President Obama's re-election? It was all the fault of one man, according to his wife—who allegedly ran him over and left him in critical condition, reports ABC 15 . Holly Solomon, 28, got into a shouting match with her husband Saturday in a parking lot in Gilbert, Arizona, because...

Pepsi's Latest: Fat-Blocking Soda

At least, it claims to

(Newser) - Get skinny by drinking ... Pepsi? Maybe. Pepsi-Cola has introduced a fat-blocking soda in Japan, ABC News reports, though we have to wonder if it will turn out like those "toning shoes." The "Pepsi Special," which goes on sale tomorrow, contains dextrin—a fiber that supposedly helps...

Cops: Guy Stole Car, Kept Delivering Food

Keith Hinds allegedly wanted to keep money from deliveries

(Newser) - The first thing Keith Hinds did after allegedly stealing a Chinese food delivery car last week? Made a food delivery. Connecticut police say Hinds continued dropping off food so he could keep the money. The delivery driver called police to report that the car had been stolen after he left...

Unhappy Voters in 20 States: Let's Secede From Union

They take their request to ... the Obama administration

(Newser) - Forget moving to Canada : Some disappointed American voters would like to stay in the USA ... so long as their state secedes from the Union. The blog Red Alert Politics takes a look at petitions posted to the White House's petitions page by residents demanding just that. Newser's count...

Boy Blows Parents&#39; Life Savings on Candy



 Boy Blows Parents'  
 Life Savings on Candy 
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Nov 11, 2012 6:00 PM CST

Boy Blows Parents' Life Savings on Candy

Sticky-fingered thief spent nearly $4K

(Newser) - A 9-year-old Ukrainian boy caused a big headache for his parents (and maybe a stomachache for himself) by spending their entire life savings on sweets, reports Russia's Ria Novosti . During a school vacation, the boy took nearly $4,000 from his parents' stash of euros and dollars, which was...

Sandy Victim Powers Home ... With Prius
 Sandy Victim 
 Powers Home ... 
 With Prius 
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Nov 11, 2012 12:12 PM CST

Sandy Victim Powers Home ... With Prius

Bob Sakala uses inverter to power lights, TV, computer

(Newser) - Hey, turns out that the Prius is good for more than just saving on gas: Bob Sakala, a New Jersey resident who lost electricity during Hurricane Sandy, managed to power some of the lights in his home as well as his TV, laptop, and modem using only some heavy-duty extension...

USPS Worker Ignores Body on Porch, Delivers Mail
USPS Worker Ignores Body on Porch, Delivers Mail
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Nov 11, 2012 7:39 AM CST

USPS Worker Ignores Body on Porch, Delivers Mail

Says he thought it was leftover Halloween decor

(Newser) - Neither snow nor rain ... nor a lifeless body? A family in Denver is outraged after they say their mailman walked past a body to deliver the mail without stopping to help, reports ABC 7 News . Dale Porch was returning from a late-night shift last week when he collapsed on the...

Ear Bitten Off as Priests Fight for Parking Space

Father Thomas Byrne, 80, charged with grievous bodily harm

(Newser) - What a scene to behold: Two retired Catholic priests fought so viciously over a parking spot that one allegedly bit off the other's ear, reports Australia's News Network . Father Thomas Byrne, 80, battled 81-year-old Father Thomas Joseph Smith in their building complex yesterday in Perth, Australia, police say....

Hot British Betting Topic: Archbishop of Canterbury?

New pick asks gamblers who made money on him to donate it to charity

(Newser) - The man picked to be the next archbishop of Canterbury has made a public plea, but it's not exactly on a churchly topic. Justin Welby took to Twitter to ask everyone who made money gambling that he'd be the new archbishop to donate the winnings to their local...

Astrophysicist &#39;Finds&#39; Superman&#39;s Planet Krypton
 Astrophysicist 
 'Finds' Superman's 
 Planet Krypton 
in case you missed it
Nov 10, 2012 7:22 AM CST

Astrophysicist 'Finds' Superman's Planet Krypton

Neil deGrasse Tyson gives DC Comics a hand

(Newser) - OK, the planet Krypton still isn't real—but now we know where it would be if it existed. Using data from DC Comics, astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson has found a spot in space for Superman's home planet, the New York Post reports. "One of our staffers reached...

Darwin Gets 4K Write-Ins vs. Creationist Lawmaker

Georgia congressman Paul Broun gets symbolic opposition

(Newser) - Charles Darwin earned almost 4,000 write-in votes in one Georgia county against a congressman who denounced evolution and other scientific theories as "lies straight from the pit of hell." The symbolic votes in Athens-Clarke County on Tuesday were against Republican Rep. Paul Broun, who was running unopposed....

Disbarred Lawyer Jailed Over Penis Graffiti

He allegedly trashed former upscale office

(Newser) - Let's say you're a lawyer who's been disbarred and charged with four felonies for allegedly stealing from clients. Could you blacken your name any further? It's a tall order, but Dallas attorney Tom Corea may have managed it. Corea was sent back to jail this morning,...

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