Strange Stuff: Weird Crimes, Crazy Laws, and Other Interesting News Stories - Page 112

Jun 16, 2015 5:36 PM CDT

Octopus' Cuteness May Decide Its Name

Meet the future Opisthoteuthis Adorabilis (maybe)

(Newser) - The Huffington Post thinks it looks like "a cross between a Pac-Man ghost and a Pokemon creature." But it will be a researcher at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institution who will get the honor of bestowing a name on the little octopus with huge eyes. (Or "...

Guy Enters
Pro Poker Event
by Mistake,
Wins $81K

Jun 15, 2015 12:17 PM CDT

Guy Enters Pro Poker Event by Mistake, Wins $81K

Panicked newbie Christian Pham managed to outplay the pros

(Newser) - It's one thing to outlast hundreds or thousands of poker players to win one of the World Series of Poker's 68 events and the Las Vegas tournament's coveted gold bracelet. It's another thing entirely to win a game you've never played before. Christian Pham of...

Culprit Behind
3 Crashes and
Bridge Closing?
Mayfly Swarms

Jun 14, 2015 4:10 PM CDT

Culprit Behind 3 Crashes and Bridge Closing? Mayfly Swarms

That is not snow in the photos

(Newser) - Authorities say a swarm of mayflies was so dense that it caused a series of motorcycle crashes and prompted them to close a Pennsylvania bridge. The mayflies swarmed around the lights on the bridge and then fell to the ground, making piles several inches deep on the roadway, reports Lancaster...

To Dodge Tax Man, Brothel Offers Up Free Sex

An Austrian Brothel Is
Offering Up Free Sex

Jun 14, 2015 1:40 PM CDT

An Austrian Brothel Is Offering Up Free Sex

Owner Hermann Mueller's scheme is extremely popular, he says

(Newser) - An Austrian brothel is offering a summer special that competitors will find hard to match—free sex. Its owner says it's his way of protesting a tax squeeze. "Effective immediately: Free Entrance! Free Drinks! Free Sex!" the Pascha bordello writes on its website. The Oesterreich daily quotes...

Weird 'Blobs' Turning Up
on California Beaches

Jun 13, 2015 3:15 PM CDT

Weird 'Blobs' Turning Up on California Beaches

One expert links these 'sea hares' to warmer water temperatures

(Newser) - A blob from the sea is invading East Bay beaches and waterways this summer, and some experts say it may be caused by warmer temperatures near coastal waters. These California sea hares are harmless plant eaters. But their big size and unusual abundance this year is turning heads at the...

Adultery No Big Deal
if Done for Business: Court

Jun 13, 2015 8:45 AM CDT

Adultery No Big Deal if Done for Business: Court

Tokyo courts typically award wife damages, but not in this case

(Newser) - Typically, if your husband cheats on you in Tokyo and you sue his mistress, you'll be awarded damages from said mistress. It's considered a way of protecting marriage, the Japan Times reports, but last year the Tokyo District Court broke with the practice—big time. A wife who...

Court Reaffirms
Right to Get
Drunk on
Your Porch

Jun 12, 2015 4:45 PM CDT

Court Reaffirms Right to Get Drunk on Your Porch

If you live in Iowa, anyway

(Newser) - The perfect court decision heading into the weekend: Iowa's Supreme Court endorsed the right to be drunk on the front porch of a private home, ruling that a woman can't be convicted of public intoxication while standing on her front steps. Patience Paye, 29, of Waterloo based the...

Woman Finds Her 'Twin'—Again

Jun 12, 2015 12:10 PM CDT

Woman Finds Her 'Twin'—Again

Niamh Geaney plans to search for 5 more doppelgangers

(Newser) - Niamh Geaney was understandably "freaked out" when she found a woman that looked just like her living only an hour away in Ireland. But Geaney, who set out to find her doppelganger through project Twin Strangers , was even more astounded when she found a second doppelganger, this one living...

Keep MERS Away
by Laying Off the
Camel Pee: WHO

Jun 11, 2015 11:56 AM CDT

Keep MERS Away by Laying Off the Camel Pee: WHO

Yes, this is a tip that the World Health Organization is offering

(Newser) - The MERS outbreak that's spread into South Korea has killed at least 10, sickened more than 120, and forced about 2,600 schools to shut down there, the AP reports. But South Korean officials believe the disease has peaked in the country, and the World Health Organization is offering...

Pizza or Hot Dogs?
The Hut Gives You Both

Jun 11, 2015 11:07 AM CDT

Pizza or Hot Dogs? The Hut Gives You Both

Hot Dog Bites Pizza soon available in US until July 11

(Newser) - How do you top pizza wrapped in bacon ? You whip up a pizza wrapped in pigs in a blanket, that's how. The totally serious creation comes to you from Pizza Hut, which has been testing what the Consumerist calls its "hot dog stuffed in a pizza crust"...

Truck Crash's
Odd Victim:
a Shark

Jun 11, 2015 10:17 AM CDT

Truck Crash's Odd Victim: a Shark

4 sandbar sharks were being transported from Florida to Coney Island

(Newser) - One died, three survived. That was the outcome for four sandbar sharks being hauled from Marathon, Fla., to an aquarium in Coney Island, NY, after the truck they were in crashed during a storm on Interstate 95 yesterday afternoon, the Florida Highway Patrol tells Florida Today . The semitrailer blew a...

Here's One
(Risky) Way
to Get Out of
Jury Duty

Jun 10, 2015 2:21 PM CDT

Here's One (Risky) Way to Get Out of Jury Duty

James Lowe could have spent some time in the real deal for his jail jumpsuit

(Newser) - A Vermont man has escaped jury duty—by getting dismissed for wearing a prisoner costume. James Lowe of Barnet says he was released from jury duty yesterday when he showed up to court wearing a black-and-white-striped jumpsuit with a matching beanie. The Caledonian Record reports that Lowe showed up on...

Hundreds
of Islanders
Worship ...
Prince Philip

Jun 9, 2015 9:33 AM CDT

Hundreds of Islanders Worship ... Prince Philip

He's believed, by some on Tanna, to be the son of ancestral God

(Newser) - Standing under his sacred banyan tree, Albi Nagia sings as he cracks open a coconut with a few deft strikes from his bush machete. He chews the meat inside and spits it out in a shower, to the delight of the gathering chickens. He is praying ... to Prince Philip. Yes,...

91-Year-Old Checks Off
Bizarre Bucket-List Item

91-Year-Old Checks Off Bizarre Bucket-List Item

Accident reconstruction officer made dream a reality

(Newser) - Thanks to a dedicated grandson, Illinois man Walter Thomas finally has an answer to a question that he has pondered for many of his 91 years. He "told me a long time ago that he always wanted to back a car through the garage door," granddaughter Becky Goers...

Woman Sues eBay,
Claims to Own the Sun

Jun 6, 2015 11:30 AM CDT

Woman Sues eBay, Claims to Own the Sun

A Spanish court will hear her case

(Newser) - Next month, a Spanish court will hear arguments in a most unusual case: A woman who claims to own the sun has sued eBay for blocking her extraterrestrial real estate sales. Though it sounds a little nuts, a court in Madrid has ruled that 54-year-old Maria Angeles Duran has the...

Man Changes Name
to Avoid Airline Fee

Jun 6, 2015 7:06 AM CDT

Man Changes Name to Avoid Airline Fee

Adam 'West' won't give in to Ryanair

(Newser) - This might be the best story about an airline fee in the history of airline fees, and not only because it involves Batman. A 19-year-old from Manchester, England, has legally changed his name rather than pay a $336 fee to Ryanair, reports the Guardian . The tale of how Adam Armstrong...

Oregon's Fake Orca
Goes Belly-Up

Jun 5, 2015 1:22 PM CDT

Oregon's Fake Orca Goes Belly-Up

Solution to Astoria's sea-lion problem doesn't go as planned

(Newser) - An effort to use a fake, life-sized orca to scare off hundreds of sea lions crowding docks off the Oregon coast ended, at least temporarily, with the fiberglass creature belly-up after it was swamped by a passing ship. Still, Jim Knight of the Port of Astoria says the sea lions...

Woman Erects
60-Foot Screen
to Block Neighbor

Jun 4, 2015 2:06 PM CDT

Woman Erects 60-Foot Screen to Block Neighbor

And she's fined $15K for it, with more tacked on each day

(Newser) - A former Vermont gubernatorial candidate says she had a 60-foot by 24-foot "screen" built so she wouldn't have to see her neighbor's home. Ruth Dwyer tells WPTZ-TV she's lived on her farm in rural Thetford for more than 40 years. Two years ago, a new home...

Texas Teen
Survives Bizarre
Lightning Strike

Jun 3, 2015 6:52 PM CDT

Texas Teen Survives Bizarre Lightning Strike

She got hit in her own kitchen while opening the fridge

(Newser) - Lightning strikes people often enough, but usually not when they're opening the fridge for a snack. Such is the plight of Texas high school student Macie Martinez, who was home with her parents on Memorial Day when a storm blew in. She was opening the fridge to grab some...

Sex-Ed Teacher's Field Trip Angers Parents

Jun 2, 2015 7:11 PM CDT