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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6 Weird Things That Happened After a Coma

From speaking foreign languages to feeling like Matthew McConaughey

(Newser) - Recovering from a serious brain injury is not always a straightforward process, especially for the following folks, who each emerged from a coma with personalities and language abilities very different than the ones they had before:
  • The man who thought he was Matthew McConaughey: After getting into a car accident
...

Studies Pour In to Finally Shed Light on &#39;the Dress&#39;
 Scientists' 
 Latest Craze: 
 'the Dress' 
NEW STUDIES
May 17, 2015 6:50 AM CDT

Scientists' Latest Craze: 'the Dress'

Blue and black? White and gold? Assumptions about lighting are key

(Newser) - Not one, but three new studies emerged this week in a scientific journal seeking to explain the still-puzzling Internet phenomenon that is the Dress . "There will be dozens and dozens of papers about it over the years. This is just the beginning," Wellesley professor Bevil Conway tells the...

2 Canadian Teens Rescued From Forest*

*This is not exactly Into the Wild stuff going on here

(Newser) - Two men who got lost¹ in the woods² in Ontario, Canada, have been rescued after placing a distressed call to 911³. A K-9 unit found them, and they were checked out at a local hospital and released, reports the National Post and Global News . Some footnotes:
  1. They didn't so
...

Enter the Black Market for Blue Bell Ice Cream

You may be able to find it on Craigslist

(Newser) - Drugs and weapons, sure. What you don't expect to find on the black market: ice cream. After a listeria outbreak forced Blue Bell to recall its ice cream products, however, a black market for the items has indeed sprung up online, ABC News reports. A pint of the brand'...

Guy Sneezes Out Toy Wedged in Nose for 44 Years

Steve Easton, 51, went to doctor when he was 7 after the item went missing

(Newser) - When Steve Easton was about seven years old, his parents noticed that the suction cup was missing from one of his toy darts, and they were worried he had inhaled or swallowed it. So they took him to the hospital, but doctors couldn't find anything. Yet for decades, he'...

Creepy Lucy Statue to Be Moved

It will go to comedy center after residents complained

(Newser) - The residents of Celoron, NY, will no longer have to live with a creepy bronze statue of Lucille Ball (or, at least, that's who it's supposed to look like). After citizens of Lucy's hometown campaigned to have the frightening 400-pound sculpture removed, the board of trustees voted...

How You Could Win Your Very Own Bakery

Submit essay, $75—and cupcake recipe

(Newser) - With just $75, an essay, and a cupcake recipe, you could win a Vermont bakery. Vermont Public Radio reports that those interested in owning the Mix Cupcakerie and Kitchen in Waitsfield have to write about why they want it and submit the essay along with an idea for a cupcake...

How a Single Number Threatens Technology

2,147,483,647 is almost too much for some computers to handle

(Newser) - As complex and incredible as our latest gadgets are, they can be foiled by something very simple: a number that's just too big. The BBC explains the phenomenon in terms of an odometer that only goes up to 99,999 miles. Drive another mile, and it would roll to...

Thomas Edison's Creepy Dolls Can Finally Talk Again

New technology re-creates voices from wax cylinders

(Newser) - We can thank Thomas Edison for plenty of things, but the world had little use for one of his inventions. Edison's talking dolls were among the first of their kind, NPR reports. But even in the 1890s, they scared kids—and were expensive—and only about 500 of them...

Couple Admits Planting Goofy Skeletons in River

Sheriff's office is laughing about it, so no charges will follow

(Newser) - A Phoenix couple has claimed responsibility for putting two fake skeletons sitting in lawn chairs in the Colorado River in far west Arizona. Today's News-Herald reports the husband and wife approached the La Paz County Sheriff's Office earlier this week a little apprehensively and brought a photo as...

Woman Caught at Border Carrying Boy in Suitcase

Police in Spain say she was paid to smuggle him in; he's OK

(Newser) - It is one of the strangest X-ray scans you'll ever see: When Spanish authorities scanned a woman's suitcase at the border with Morocco, it revealed the unmistakable image of a small human body. When they opened the case, out popped a scared and confused 8-year-old boy from the...

Japan's Baby Monkey Will Stay 'Charlotte'

The royals took no offense: Oita officials

(Newser) - A monkey born in a Japanese zoo will keep its name Charlotte after all. Oita city officials settled a national debate over whether calling the monkey Charlotte offends its British royal namesake . The officials announced today they will stick to their first choice because there was no protest from Britain'...

Skeleton 'Tea Party' Found in Colorado River

Thankfully the skeletons are plastic

(Newser) - A man snorkeling in the Colorado River received quite the fright on Monday when he spotted what he thought were human remains about 40 feet below the surface near the Arizona-California border. With a little investigating, however, a diver with the Buckskin Fire Department uncovered a scene much more comical...

Mystery in Ukraine: Where Is the Golden Loaf?

Symbol of corruption now symbol of incompetence

(Newser) - In Ukraine, a symbol of the corruption of the ousted Viktor Yanukovich has disappeared and is now a symbol of the new regime's failure to deal with the legacy of that corruption, the Wall Street Journal reports. The "golden loaf"—a golden replica of a loaf of...

Chicago Roadwork Site Could Hide Thousands of Long-Buried Bodies

Oak Park Avenue was a burial site for the 'forgotten' a century ago

(Newser) - Workers are preparing for improvements to a road on the Northwest Side of Chicago, and their work could lead to the unearthing of thousands of bodies, a cemetery researcher tells the Chicago Tribune . That's because the area of Oak Park Avenue in question was once a cemetery and now...

Couple Will Give Goat Farm to Winner of Essay Contest

Plus $20K to boot, in Alabama

(Newser) - If you've ever yearned to be a goat farmer, a couple in Alabama has an essay contest just for you. They plan to give away their 20-acre farm—complete with house, goats, and equipment—to the winning essay writer, reports WAAY-TV . Paul and Leslie Spell of Elkmont hope to...

Developer May Have to Rebuild Old Pub It Razed

London officials preparing unprecedented order after destruction

(Newser) - Those who rail against developers for valuing the almighty dollar over character can raise a glass to this story out of London: Local officials will try to force developers to rebuild an old pub they tore down without permission, reports the Evening Standard . It seems that Tel Aviv developer CLTX...

Family's Attic Find Yields a Pirate Tale

Is the severed hand real? Well, that's not clear

(Newser) - A woman in Tampa doing some spring cleaning in her grandfather's attic says she found a box with some strange stuff inside, including a severed hand, old-looking coins, and a weathered map, reports USA Today . The woman and her brother say it could be authentic pirate booty that belonged...

Bar Owner: 2-Way Bathroom Mirror Is Staying

'It's just old-school fun house fun'

(Newser) - The two-way mirror in the women's bathroom of a bar in suburban Chicago is only there for harmless Halloween pranks and it's not going anywhere, vows the owner of Cigars & Stripes. Ronnie Lottz's bar started getting attention when comedian Tamale Rocks posted a video on YouTube...

Judge: Taking Girl to Pink Concert Not Bad Parenting

Ruling: Mom's move didn't damage 11-year-old

(Newser) - Taking a preteen to a Pink concert does not make you a bad mother. That's the upshot of Judge Lawrence R. Jones' ruling. The case decided in New Jersey family court centered around a Dec. 11, 2013, concert that a mother (all parties identified by pseudonyms) attended with her...

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