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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Smell of Cinnamon Can Make Us Buy Expensive Stuff

It makes us feel powerless, and that makes us want to spend: researchers

(Newser) - Shoppers, beware: Your nose could trick you into spending more than you'd planned to. That's according to a new study, which finds that fragrances linked to a feeling of warmth—cinnamon, for instance—can lead us to buy fancier items, Medical Daily reports. It's a little complicated:...

Second Nun Gives Birth in Italy
Second Nun Gives
Birth in Italy

Second Nun Gives Birth in Italy

She was taken to hospital with stomach pains

(Newser) - Last year about this time, a Catholic nun in Italy went to the hospital with stomach pains and, much to her surprise, ended up delivering a baby boy . Different year, different nun, same result: This time, a 31-year-old sister in central Italy was taken to the hospital with severe stomach...

Cops: Kids Left Home Alone —for 4 Months

Parents say uncle was to watch them, he said all was fine

(Newser) - Kevin McCallister thought he had it bad. Twin 9-year-old boys were left mostly alone in their New Hampshire apartment for four months after their parents took three siblings to Nigeria and left an uncle to care for them, authorities say. Manchester police say the uncle, 25-year-old Giobari Atura, told...

German Judge Backs Men's Right to Pee Standing Up

Landlord went after tenant over floor damage

(Newser) - A German court has ruled that a tenant who liked to pee standing up doesn't owe his landlord money for damages apparently caused by missing his target. The Duesseldorf administrative court rejected the landlord's claim of $2,200 for damage to the bathroom's marble floor, the dpa...

Hermaphrodite Cat Getting Gender Assignment Surgery

Mittens will officially become male

(Newser) - Here's a sentence you probably never thought you'd read: Mittens, a hermaphroditic cat from Newfoundland, is getting gender assignment surgery. Colleen Clarke-Murphy's daughter brought the stray cat home, and when the family took it to the vet, they were told it has both male and female genitalia,...

Man Bulldozes Home While Wife Runs Errands

Surprise, honey!

(Newser) - Picture this: You've just stepped out of your New York home for a bit to run errands. You return to find the home completely demolished ... by your own husband. That's what happened to Diane Andryshak on Monday, News 12 reports. Her husband, James Rhein, 48, rented a bulldozer...

Shopper Opens Lowe's Cabinet, Is Bitten by Snake

Fortunately, it wasn't a venomous species

(Newser) - A shopper opening a cabinet at a Lowe's store got an unpleasant surprise: a bite on the head by a snake, WTVA reports. The snake jumped out of the cabinet at the store in Corinth, Miss., the local police chief says. The customer's condition isn't clear, but...

Man Has Suffered Persistent Deja Vu—Since 2007

Researchers think anxiety could be to blame in case of 23-year-old Brit

(Newser) - The Telegraph calls it "one of the strangest cases of déjà vu ever recorded in medical history": A 23-year-old British man can't lead a normal life because he feels he's "trapped in a time loop," as he describes it. When his episodes first started...

Jogger's Scalp Punctured by Owl

Ron Jaecks thought it was a mugger, or an aneurysm

(Newser) - Ron Jaecks thought he was being attacked by a person, or possibly that he was having a stroke or an aneurysm. But the truth turned out to be much stranger. The Oregon man was jogging in a local park around 5:15am Tuesday when his stocking cap was pulled off...

Parents Get Invoice After Boy Skips Birthday Party

UK mom says they should have to cover $24 cost

(Newser) - Alex Nash, 5, accepted an invitation to a friend's birthday party in December—and when the UK boy ended up skipping it because he also had plans with his grandparents, his parents got an invoice in the mail. Julie Lawrence, the birthday boy's mom, sent the bill for...

Man, 81, Cashes in 500 Lbs. of Pennies Worth ... Not a Lot

The grand total: $816

(Newser) - Save every penny you encounter over more than 60 years, and you could end up with 500 pounds' worth. But that lifetime of saving may be worth more in bragging rights than in financial gain. A Texas man has deposited his 81,600-penny collection, wowing bankers and earning him a...

Cops Get Report on Missing Deadhead Son&mdash;From 1995
Mom Reports Her Deadhead Son Went Missing—in 1995
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Mom Reports Her Deadhead Son Went Missing—in 1995

It's complicated, but this might be answer to 'Grateful Doe' mystery

(Newser) - A woman in Myrtle Beach, SC, filed a missing person report this week over a teenage son who left 20 years ago, reports the Smoking Gun . Strange? Yes, but this might be the answer to the mystery of "Grateful Doe," an unidentified car-crash victim from 1995. Start here:...

Garbage Truck Scoops Up Man Looking for Wallet

Californian survives the trip

(Newser) - A man searching for his wallet in a trash bin in Northern California was scooped up by a garbage truck and taken on a long, presumably smelly, ride. The Oroville Mercury Register reports that the man survived the ride in the rear of a truck. Yolo County Sheriff's Lt....

Missing Near Seattle: a Wallaby

Bella got loose during transfer to petting zoo

(Newser) - Seattle-area residents are being asked to keep an eye out for an unusual creature in that neck of the woods: a wallaby. The 6-year-old marsupial named Bella got out of her kennel while being transferred to a petting zoo in Arlington last Friday, then bolted for freedom across the highway...

Bette Midler: A Worm Crawled Out of My iPhone

No word on how it got in there

(Newser) - Today's Weird/Gross Celebrity Story comes to us courtesy of Bette Midler. It all started when her iPhone got wet, and, well, we'll just let her tweets from Tuesday tell the story:
  • 11:11am : "World gone mad. AND I dropped my phone in the toilet AGAIN!! I should
...

Glitter-Bomb Site Founder Wants to Quit

Surprise: After 24 hours, Mathew Carpenter is sick of glitter

(Newser) - The founder of the obscenity-filled ShipYourEnemiesGlitter.com would really like to stop shipping your enemies glitter. Yes, after an intense 24 hours that saw thousands of orders and a million people visit his website—which crashed under all the clicks, Fast Company reports—Australian Mathew Carpenter says he's ready...

Sheriff's Rug Typo: 'In Dog We Trust'

Sheriff in Pinellas County, Florida, will replace

(Newser) - Maybe the K-9 unit could use it? A new rug in the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office in Florida proudly proclaimed "In Dog We Trust," reports WFTS-TV . The best part is that the rug in the sheriff's administration building in Largo was in place for several weeks...

Alabama School May Arm Kids—With Canned Goods

Administrators emphasize it's a very small part of keeping students safe

(Newser) - With school threats, shootings, and lockdowns in the news at a dizzying pace, educators are naturally looking at ways to keep kids safe. But while those measures typically include security guards or metal detectors, one Alabama middle school is raising more than a few eyebrows by asking parents to arm...

For $8, Site Will Send Glitter Bomb on Your Behalf

Go ahead, mail your enemies envelopes full of glitter

(Newser) - Anyone who has ever opened a glittery birthday card from a well-meaning friend knows what a pain the stuff can be to clean up. Hence the appropriately named (and obscenity-littered) ShipYourEnemiesGlitter.com , which will do exactly what the name implies, Gizmodo reports: For about $8 (that's $9.99 Australian...

Lawmaker to Press: You Need Permission to Use My Name
 Pol to Press: 
 You Need 
 Permission 
 to Use My Name 
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Pol to Press: You Need Permission to Use My Name

Maryland council member's rant does not go over well

(Newser) - A county lawmaker in Maryland is getting a very public lesson in freedom of the press after his angry Facebook post. This is what Frederick County Council Member Kirby DeLauter first wrote to reporter Bethany Rodgers of the Frederick News-Post : "So let me be clear, do not contact me...

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