strange stuff

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

Stories 1001 - 1020 | << Prev   Next >>

Beetle Has Brilliant, Gross Method of Escape
Beetle Has an Amazing
Way of Escaping Death
new study
Aug 4, 2020 1:59 PM CDT

Beetle Has an Amazing Way of Escaping Death

After being swallowed, insect tricks frog into pooping and, voila, freedom

(Newser) - Once upon a time, a water beetle was swallowed by a frog. The intrepid insect survived the journey through the frog's mouth, esophagus, stomach, and intestines, then found itself at what scientists call the frog's "vent"—in other words, its anus. So close to freedom. The...

5-Month Pandemic Honeymoon Is One for the Ages

It included 3 months with elderly aunt, 1 month at sea

(Newser) - Honeymooners Feeonaa and Neville Clifton planned to spend two weeks visiting family in the Falkland Islands before heading to South America. Instead, they spent four months stuck in the Falklands—three in isolation with an elderly aunt—and another month crossing the ocean in a fishing boat to get back...

In This Nation, Hello Kitty 'Flight to Nowhere' Offers an Escape

Taiwanese citizens will be able to fly around for 3 hours with no destination on Saturday in Dream jet

(Newser) - We've heard of cruises to nowhere—but a "flight to nowhere"? That's the plan behind EVA Air's latest gimmick to appeal to Taiwanese citizens who haven't been able to travel outside the country during the coronavirus pandemic. Per CNN , to celebrate Father's Day...

Tax Refund Checks Bear Odd Signatures

Mickey Mouse signed off on them in Rhode Island, as did Walt Disney

(Newser) - Well this is a little goofy. Recipients of government checks in Rhode Island this week were surprised to see they were signed by none other than Mickey Mouse and Walt Disney, reports WJAR . It seems the state's Division of Taxation uses those dummy signatures for tests, and a glitch...

Police: Students Scammed Into Kidnapping Themselves

Scam is targeting Chinese young adults studying in Australia

(Newser) - A scam that ends with people tying themselves up in a hotel room and sending photos of it to their family? Outlandish but true, say Australian police, who are warning Chinese students in Sydney of a surge of "virtual kidnapping" cases in the country. Police say they have this...

Those Strange Seeds You Got in the Mail? Don't Plant Them

Officials in several states warn unsolicited packets may be from China, other overseas locations

(Newser) - "Do not plant seeds from unknown origins." That's the warning issued by Mike Strain, Louisiana's agriculture commissioner, after people in his state and several others say they've received unasked-for packages of seeds in the mail, which officials say may have come from China or other...

Owl Is Well After Dramatic Rescue
Owl Is Well After
Dramatic Rescue
Jul 27, 2020 1:20 PM CDT

Owl Is Well After Dramatic Rescue

Hooting was heard from bottom of well at old castle

(Newser) - All's well that ends well—and a young owl is well after the end of its ordeal in a well in a ruined 12th-century castle in Germany. Authorities in Bad Segeberg say a 3.5-hour rescue operation involving around 20 people was launched Saturday after hoots of distress were...

Dog Gets an Unexpected Road Trip to Florida

Belle jumped out of car in South Carolina, was picked up by Floridians

(Newser) - A pet dog that jumped out of a car window on a South Carolina highway has been found two weeks later, nearly 600 miles away in Miami, per the AP . The dog named Belle escaped from the moving car near Charleston on July 15, according to Tim Whitfield, whose 90-year-old...

&#39;Friendly&#39; Kangaroo Leads Florida Cops on 30-Minute Chase
Florida Cops
Have a Really
Strange Chase
VIDEO
Jul 17, 2020 10:11 AM CDT

Florida Cops Have a Really Strange Chase

They capture a runaway kangaroo in Fort Lauderdale

(Newser) - Police in Fort Lauderdale had quite the day Thursday after getting a call about an unlikely escapee. WPLG reports that for 30 minutes or so, cops were in hot pursuit of a kangaroo that escaped from a local home. "I'm trying to catch a kangaroo!" one cop...

Your Vote, Mr. Ryan? Mr. Ryan? Zzzzzzz

Irish lawmaker has to be woken up in parliament

(Newser) - An Irish lawmaker's vote in parliament is getting lots of attention, for all the wrong reasons. Eamon Ryan, leader of Ireland's Green Party, was caught snoozing when his turn came to vote, reports Irish Central . (See the video .) The clerk of the Dáil called Ryan's...

3 Sisters, 3 Births on Same Day, Same Hospital

'This kind of blew everybody away'

(Newser) - Three Ohio sisters have defied odds by giving birth on the same day in the same hospital with the same obstetrician overseeing their deliveries, per the AP . Daneesha Haynes, Ariel Williams, and Ashley Haynes gave birth July 3 at OhioHealth Mansfield Hospital within a four-and-a-half-hour span, the Mansfield News Journal ...

This Would be the Weirdest $10K You'd Ever Make

Tushy will pay someone to use a bidet for 3 months

(Newser) - Those interested in making $10,000 over the summer for executing a basic bodily function will need to act fast: Tuesday is the last day the bathroom product company Tushy is accepting applications for its position of VP of Fecal Matters. The title is jokey, but the duties are straightforward...

A Real-Life Ninja? One Guy Is Close


A Real-Life
Ninja?
One Guy
Is Close
Jun 29, 2020 12:00 PM CDT

A Real-Life Ninja? One Guy Is Close

A Japanese university has its first graduate in a ninja program

(Newser) - Ninjas are the stuff of lore in Japan, not to mention Hollywood. But now a 45-year-old Japanese man can lay claim to being the closest thing to an actual ninja in the modern world. Genichi Mitsuhashi is the first person to complete a rigorous master's program in the ninja...

Guy Explains How He Won a $4M Lottery, Again

Mark Clark says 'everything is pretty amazing right now'

(Newser) - How does he do it? For the second time, a southeastern Michigan man has won a $4 million lottery game, officials said this week. Mark Clark of South Rockwood scratched a ticket with a coin that was given to him by his late father about 10 years ago, the AP...

Goldman Sachs Has New Font, With a Weird Catch

License says you can't criticize company using the new Goldman Sans typeface

(Newser) - Much as the first rule of Fight Club is not to talk about Fight Club, the first rule of using the new Goldman Sachs font is ... not to talk about Goldman Sachs disparagingly using the Goldman Sachs font. Per the Verge , the new "Goldman Sans" typeface can be used...

In Australia, Weird Case of a Cargo Ship Stowaway

31-year-old allegedly planned to flee Australia

(Newser) - It was almost a great plan. Officials say a man who's the subject of an Australian sexual assault case hatched a plan to stow away on a ship that was bound for Malaysia—and he reportedly managed to successfully conceal himself for two days. CNN reports that on Saturday...

Item in Post Office Scare Turns Out to Be a Delicacy

Six were hospitalized in Germany over stinky durian fruit

(Newser) - The package smelled so bad that postal workers thought it might be a chemical weapon. A full complement of police and medical units descended on the facility in Schweinfurt, Germany, where a dozen workers needed medical care, reports CNN . Six of them ended up in the hospital. But when authorities...

Strange &#39;Fifth&#39; Form of Matter Is Created in Space

Strange 'Fifth'
Form of Matter
Is Created in Space
new study
Jun 20, 2020 2:00 PM CDT

Strange 'Fifth' Form of Matter Is Created in Space

Scientists probe quantum physics on the International Space Station

(Newser) - Strange things are happening inside a box on the International Space Station. Physicists are using the box—called the Cold Atom Lab—to generate a quantum state of matter that could help unlock a few secrets of the universe, LiveScience reports. Called Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs), the matter is basically a...

Rob Lowe Is Pals With a Supreme Court Justice

Who knew?

(Newser) - They say Hollywood is all about connections. And then there's Rob Lowe—who's got a friend in an even higher place, the Albany Herald reports. "It could be Brat Pack people, it could be West Wing people, Parks and Rec people," Lowe said recently about guests...

Guy Fined for Farting 'With Full Intent' at Police

'Our colleagues don't like to be farted at so much'

(Newser) - A man in Vienna has been fined $565 for breaking wind loudly in front of police—a move that the Austrian capital's police force was at pains to defend on Tuesday. The Oesterreich newspaper reported that the fine stemmed from an incident on June 5 and that the offender...

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