strange stuff

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

Stories 2621 - 2640 | << Prev   Next >>

Teacher&#39;s Arm-Wrestling Contest Ends Very Badly
Teacher's Arm-Wrestling Contest Ends Very Badly
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
May 18, 2014 10:41 AM CDT

Teacher's Arm-Wrestling Contest Ends Very Badly

For the student and for Zach Larkin, who is being sued

(Newser) - Zach Larkin may have initially emerged the winner of an arm-wrestling contest, but the glory was very, very short-lived. The popular Orange County, Calif., high school teacher faces a civil suit over the June 2013 contest—during which he broke a 17-year-old student's arm. Court documents filed Monday allege...

Man Freakishly Killed on Way to Funeral

Tony Calderon crushed by a 2K-pound palm tree crown

(Newser) - A 49-year-old California man died yesterday while waiting for a ride to his uncle's funeral, according to family members. Tony Calderon was waiting streetside in an unincorporated part of East Los Angeles when a palm tree's 2,000-pound crown became detached and fell on top of him, initially...

Scientists Solve Nagging Octopus Question

Here's why the creatures don't get tangled

(Newser) - If you had eight arms, how would you avoid tripping and tangling yourself up—especially if the arms were covered in suckers? Somehow, octopuses manage, but scientists didn't know how. New research indicates, however, that the suckers on the arms are able to identify other arms and avoid sticking...

America's Oddest Hobby: Cataloging Toilets

It's a thing. Really

(Newser) - There are hobbies like collecting baseball cards and knitting, and then there's toiletfan1 , who spends his spare time, with his parents, taking videos of America's toilets and urinals. And plenty of them: some 4,514 to date, posted to YouTube. And while toiletfan1 may have been remarkably prolific...

Old Meteor Messing Up Town's Hunt for Water

Manson, Iowa, trying to dig new well, but its geology is out of whack

(Newser) - The small town of Manson, Iowa, has tried and failed three times now to dig a new water well, but it's got the best scapegoat ever: a meteor that smashed down 74 million years ago. It seems the meteor's massive impact did such a number on the local...

Private Guards Watch Teen Criminal Around the Clock

German authorities find unusual solution for kid too young for jail

(Newser) - German authorities are dealing with a criminal so prolific and unrepentant that he warrants his own set of private security guards to watch him seven days a week. Also, he just turned 14. The Local picks up on a report in the German newspaper Bild about the unusual case: As...

Iowa Pair Orders McD's Burgers, Gets Pot With That

No, not Colorado, and no, it wasn't a happy meal

(Newser) - While many might hit their local fast-food joint to chase away the excesses of the night before, an Iowa couple found the excess itself tucked between the patties of their McDonald's double cheeseburgers. As they were chowing down one evening last month in Ottumwa, the couple noticed what the...

Danish Government Yanks Own Video Over Sex, Violence

'Voteman' character proved a little too graphic

(Newser) - It's a cartoon video made by the government designed to encourage young people to vote. Probably cheesy or hokey, you'd think? Try laden with sex (of the group variety, no less), violence (including a decapitation), and cartoon nudity. Meet "Voteman," a concoction of the Danish government....

Ill-Advised Selfie Leads to Guy's Arrest

He was bragging about what a good drug dealer he was, and then...

(Newser) - Pro tip: It may not be a great idea to post selfies on Facebook that show you dealing drugs ... particularly if you were doing so next to sheriff's deputies. That's what Taylor Harrison, a 21-year-old South Florida man, allegedly did before he was arrested last week, First Coast...

'Exploding Head Syndrome' Is Real: Experts

Sufferers hear loud noises before or after sleep

(Newser) - OK, it doesn't involve one's head literally exploding, but "exploding head syndrome" is no joke, say experts. "It's a provocative and understudied phenomenon," says psychologist Brian Sharpless of Washington State University after a review of studies. Sufferers experience explosive-sounding noises during transitions between waking...

Official Message to Boston Drivers: 'Use Yah Blinkah'

State DOT draws some attention to its safety push

(Newser) - Massachusetts' DOT wanted to make Boston drivers familiar with the foreign idea of signalling before lane changes, but they probably didn't expect this many national headlines as a result. The reason, as CBS Boston explains, is that the DOT's electronic highway signs have the message "Use Yah...

ATMs Learn Self-Defense From Acid-Spraying Bug

Beetle's spray system offers model for cash machines

(Newser) - The ATM is getting a lesson in self-defense—from a bug. Researchers in Switzerland were inspired by the bombardier beetle, which shoots out a gas that can burn skin, the Atlantic reports. The beetle's mechanism works by mixing two chemicals normally kept separate in its abdomen. When under attack,...

Woman Has Neighbors' Home Bulldozed: Cops

That's one way to deal with a person you don't like

(Newser) - Authorities say a northeast Florida woman who didn't like her neighbors had their mobile home demolished. According to an arrest report, Ana Maria Moreta Folch of St. Augustine told a heavy equipment operator that she owned the trailer and wanted it and its septic tank destroyed. The Florida Times-Union...

Flying Deer Kills New Mexico Man

Deer was hit by car before striking Ben Archibeque

(Newser) - Authorities in northern New Mexico say a 30-year-old man was fatally injured when a deer struck by another motorist was thrown into the car carrying the victim and his mother. Police say Benardino "Ben" Archibeque of Brazos was traveling north on US 64/84 near Chama when the accident occurred...

Newly Engaged Women Getting $1,200 'Hand Lifts'

Yes, this is a thing

(Newser) - So you just got engaged, and you want to show your fancy new ring off to the world ... but what to do about the sad state of your hands? That's apparently the thought process that goes through some women's minds, because, as the Daily Dot reports, "hand...

Man on Dating Show Reveals He's a Lady Killer—Literally

Sefer Calinak murdered two women, served short sentences each time

(Newser) - It's tough to find love when you've murdered multiple previous lovers. Perhaps that's what drove Sefer Calinak to appear on the Turkish dating show Luck of the Draw, where he cheerfully admitted killing his first wife and another woman, the Hurriyet Daily News reports. Calinak married his...

Another Rare Shark Is Caught
 Another Rare Shark Is Caught 
May 8, 2014 2:16 PM CDT

Another Rare Shark Is Caught

Megamouth is landed in Japan

(Newser) - First came the strange-looking goblin shark caught off the Florida Keys. Now comes another exceedingly rare creature from the deep: a megamouth shark caught in Japanese waters, reports the West Australian . Fishermen brought up the 13-foot-long, 1,500-pound shark from a depth of 2,600 feet, and about 1,500...

Spain Cops Bust Guy With 'Cocaine Sandwich'

Ham, cheese, 100g of coke—you know, the usual

(Newser) - In other circumstances, lunch might consist of a sandwich and a Coke, but Spanish police say they have arrested a Colombian national living in a resort town for his variant on the theme—the cocaine sandwich. As Sky News reports, the concoction "contained ham, melted cheese, and nine cylinders...

Man's Heart Moves to His Right Side, and Back

Motorcycle accident has 'unique' consequence

(Newser) - Talk about heart-wrenching: An Italian man’s heart rotated 90 degrees to the right after a motorcycle accident, placing it in the right side of his body in a case that’s understandably being described as "unique," LiveScience reports. The unidentified 48-year-old rider suffered punctured lungs, broken ribs,...

90-Year-Old Drug Mule Handed Prison on Birthday

Leo Sharp is also a World War II veteran

(Newser) - Leo Sharp turned 90 yesterday ... while sitting in federal court in Detroit, where he was sentenced to three years in federal prison for his role in a drug smuggling operation. The Indiana man, a World War II veteran, was convicted of hauling cocaine between Mexico and Detroit for a Mexican...

Stories 2621 - 2640 | << Prev   Next >>
Most Read on Newser