strange stuff

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

Stories 2181 - 2200 | << Prev   Next >>

The Story Behind the 'Mutant Daisies'

Plant deformities or 'fasciation' not uncommon: experts

(Newser) - The Internet is aflutter over two rather bizarre photographs of what appear to be daisies taken near the Fukushima nuclear disaster site in Japan. We say they appear to be daisies because the flowers in Nasushiobara City actually feature multiple stems and mutant centers. While many have claimed the plants...

Dead Man With 1.5K Guns 'Thought He Was Alien Spy'

Mystery man left arms cache, many questions

(Newser) - The death of a Los Angeles man in his car has led police to a huge stash of firearms and an even bigger pile of strangeness. From what cops can piece together, Jeffrey Alan Lash claimed to be a spy—sometimes a hybrid human-alien spy—and just before he died...

Court: Butt Dialers Forfeit Right to Privacy

If you place the call, even accidentally, people can listen in

(Newser) - Butt dialers, be warned: If you inadvertently place a call with your posterior, you have no legal right to privacy about anything you then say. So declares the US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in Kentucky, reports Courthouse News Service . The case involves an executive on a Kentucky...

How a Teen's Nosebleed Saved Her Parents

In fact, it saved the teen herself, too

(Newser) - It had to be the luckiest, and most lifesaving, nosebleed in the world. As KTVT reports, it befell 14-year-old Crystal Enns of Wylie, Texas, in 2013. Her parents took her to the doctor when the bleeding wouldn't stop, which led to the diagnosis of a serious kidney disease called...

Maine's Latest Lobster-Flavored Export: Beer

No real, live lobsters actually were harmed in the brewing of this beer

(Newser) - A Maine brewer is offering a quicker way to consume two of the state's summertime staples: beer and lobster. Oxbow Brewing is serving up beer brewed with live Maine lobsters and a dash of sea salt. Brewmaster Tim Adams says the lobsters were placed in a mesh bag and...

Dessert Contest Prize: $390K Home
Dessert Contest Prize:
$390K Home 
Jul 21, 2015 4:10 PM CDT

Dessert Contest Prize: $390K Home

$100 contest is latest to embrace trend

(Newser) - If you passed on chances to win an inn , a bakery , or a goat farm , now you've got another to win a $390,000 home in California. A realtor is giving away the refurbished 1906 residence in rural Jackson to the person who submits the best dessert recipe, reports...

Want Free Music? Give Blood—in Transylvania

Romania tries unconventional way to draw blood from stony population

(Newser) - Romania is tapping into the Dracula legend, offering concert-goers free tickets in exchange for their blood. The campaign is part of a push to increase blood donations in a country where only 1.7% of the people donate blood. Adrian Chereji, marketing director for the UNTOLD Festival, said today the...

Man Gets 30 Years for Giving Deadly Wedgie

Brad Davis' stepfather was found dead with his underwear pulled over his head

(Newser) - An Oklahoma man who gave his stepfather a fatal "atomic wedgie" was on Thursday sentenced to 30 years for the crime. Brad Davis, 34, in May pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter in the death of Denver Lee St. Clair; at the time Davis said he killed the 58-year-old "...

This Robot Is Hitchhiking Across US

hitchBOT is going from Massachusetts to San Francisco, by thumb

(Newser) - With its thumb raised skyward and a grin on its digital face, the robotic creation of two researchers in Canada is about to start hitchhiking across the US. The humanoid robot named hitchBOT has already caught rides across Canada and in Europe, relying on the kindness and curiosity of strangers....

Spanish Mayor Makes Afternoon Nap the Law

In Ador, the siesta is mandatory (or at least strongly suggested)

(Newser) - If you're planning to visit the town of Ador, Spain, timing is everything. Get there between the hours of 2 and 5pm, and you'll find nothing open and nobody to chat with—they'll likely be snoozing by decree of the mayor. Joan Faus Vitòria has declared...

Our Next Super Food? Bacon-Flavored Seaweed

Oregon researchers patent new strain of algae called dulse

(Newser) - Researchers at Oregon State University have received a patent for a new strain of seaweed they developed, and there's only one thing you need to know about it: “When you fry it, which I have done, it tastes like bacon, not seaweed," chief researcher Chris Langdon says...

It's Always March 14, 2005, for This Man

Man can't remember anything for longer than 90 minutes after dentist visit

(Newser) - March 14, 2005, was a day like any other for William, a 38-year-old member of the British Armed Forces stationed in Germany. He got up, went to the gym, played volleyball, and answered emails from his office. By 2:40pm, he was sitting in a dentist’s chair for a...

Why an Office Looks Like This in China

Companies are trying to reduce workplace stress with monthly mask day

(Newser) - It may look like a scene from Office Space: the Horror Edition, but it's not. A company in Handan, China, has begun offering its employees "relaxation days" once a month. This includes a "faceless" day where masks are worn. It's a bid to cut down on...

In Russia, Women Compete to Be Bitten by Mosquitoes

They grin and bear it for 20 minutes

(Newser) - Mosquitoes: the scourge of every corner of the Earth except for Berezniki, Russia. That town is gearing up for its three-day Russian Mosquito Festival, which begins on Friday. The BBC picked up an Interfax report on the event, which was founded in 2013 as a bit of a "joke"...

Woman's Plan to Have Jesus Pay the Bill Ends Poorly

April Lee Yates was arrested on Sunday in Myrtle Beach

(Newser) - What would Jesus do? Maybe advise us to pay our own bills. April Lee Yates apparently had other ideas. The 51-year-old was arrested in Myrtle Beach, SC, on Sunday night and charged with defrauding a restaurant. The staff at Bennetts Calabash told police Yates had been there for almost four...

Belgium to Tweak &#39;Mayonnaise Law&#39;
Belgium to Tweak
'Mayonnaise Law' 
Jul 14, 2015 9:12 PM CDT

Belgium to Tweak 'Mayonnaise Law'

Manufacturers bound by old recipe

(Newser) - Mayonnaise is taken seriously in Belgium, but producers say the government's 60-year-old rules dictating how it gets made are starting to hurt. The problem is that those rules decree that the mayo be 80% fat and 7.7% yolk, and today's consumers don't like that much fat,...

City Scraps Weird Raffle Involving a Taser

Sorry, entrants, no human target

(Newser) - Plenty of people in Van Meter, Iowa, apparently wanted to deliver a jolt to a city official, but they'll no longer get the chance. The city has scrapped a strange raffle that offered people the opportunity to fire a Taser at the city administrator or at a councilman, reports...

Study: Vampires Are Real, and They Have a Big Fear

 Study: Vampires 
 Are Real, and 
 They Have a 
 Big Fear 
in case you missed it
Jul 12, 2015 12:09 PM CDT

Study: Vampires Are Real, and They Have a Big Fear

They drink blood, but live in fear of ... the doctor

(Newser) - This surely ranks among the more unexpected studies: Vampires are real, and they have a fear—"of Coming out of the Coffin to Social Workers and Helping Professionals," as the study's title reads in part. The study, published in the journal Critical Social Work , isn't talking...

Doctors Find Source of Woman's Pain: Stray Bullet

She thought firecracker hit her days earlier

(Newser) - A Florida woman says she was shot in the leg while sitting at a café on Independence Day, but she didn't realize it until doctors found the bullet five days later. Heather Charlebois tells the Daytona Beach News-Journal that after days of pain from what she initially thought was...

Angry Bull Chases Burglary Suspect

But the cops caught him first

(Newser) - In this case, the suspect might have been happy to be caught by police. Sheriff's officials in northern Alabama say a burglary suspect was taken into custody after being chased by a bull through a cow pasture. Marshall County Sheriff Scott Walls tells WHNT-TV that 26-year-old Brad Lynn Hemby...

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