Strange Stuff

A  woman and her self-proclaimed "bishop" have been arrested after cops found the decomposing corpse of a 90-year-old woman on a toilet in the house she shared with her two kids, the Wisconsin State Journal reports. The woman said the bishop of her tiny religious group told her her God would bring the corpse back to life if she prayed hard enough. More »

Police have questioned Indianapolis Colts star Marvin Harrison about a shooting outside his Philadelphia bar this week, the Indianapolis Star reports. Details are vague so far: A man was shot in the hand, doctors treated a child hurt by shattered glass, and “a vehicle that was on the highway” was involved in the Tuesday incident, a police spokesman said. More »

A UK plastic surgeon repudiated claims by an American company that a powder made from a pig’s bladder spurred regrowth of a man’s severed fingertip, the Guardian reports. Stories circulated this week of Lee Spievack’s “miraculous” recovery thanks to what he called “pixie dust,” but Simon Kay, professor of hand surgery at the University of Leeds, said the reports were “junk science.” More »

DNA tests have confirmed that remains discovered last year in Russia are the remains of two children of Tsar Nicholas II, the BBC reports. Though most of the tsar’s family, executed during the Bolshevik revolution, was found in 1991, two children—Alexei and Maria—were thought missing, fueling widespread rumors that they survived and escaped later capture. More »

David Blaine broke the world record for holding one’s breath today when he was submerged for 17 minutes and 4 seconds during a taping of Oprah. The endurance artist looked relaxed emerging from a water-filled sphere, the AP reports. Blaine had undergone simulated altitude training and pure oxygen treatment to prepare for the feat. The previous record was 16 minutes, 32 seconds. More »

Spinner dolphins had better watch out—their pearly whites are again a fast-growing currency in the South Pacific, the Wall Street Journal reports. Economic troubles in the Solomon Islands have caused many to return to the traditional trading chip. “Dolphin teeth are like gold,” says the governor of the nation's central bank. "You keep them as a store of wealth.” More »

An unemployed writer posing as a 10-year-old boy seeking advice wrote letters to a number of celebrities, including some of America's most infamous killers. The responses to the queries from the "pop-culture historian," as Radar magazine described Bill Geerhart, range from the weirdly sensible (Ted Kaczynski) to the terrifyingly psychotic (Charles Manson). More »

The bus-sized, helium-filled pig unintentionally unleashed by Pink Floyd alum Roger Waters at the Coachella music festival Sunday has been found—in two pieces—at a nearby country club, reports the Desert Sun of Palm Springs. "It is entirely possible that I have at least part of your pig," a woman wrote organizers of the festival. "I must warn you that it is not in good shape." More »

New Zealand scientists have begun defrosting a colossal squid, caught last year, so they can dissect the little-known species. They aim to start by determining the sex of the 34-foot long animal, a native of Antarctica that weighs half a ton. "They're incredibly rare—this is probably one of six specimens ever brought up," one researcher told the BBC. More »

Just about every week seems to bring another entry into the field of celebrity fragrances, but the news that architect Zaha Hadid has her own scent moved I.D. Magazine to ask industrial designers how they'd approach the process. Hold your nose for this sampling: France's Inga Sempé gets equine with an unnamed "blend of horse dung, gasoline, milled iron, and parma ham"—in a bottle strung with animal hair. More »

If your idea of good eating doesn't stretch to yak's penis or duck testicles, then Beijing's Guolizhuang restaurant definitely isn't the place for you. The exclusive restaurant's menu is made up almost entirely of penis and testicle dishes, Der Speigel reports. Well-heeled businessmen flock in for dishes such as "Jasmine Flowers with 1,000 Layers"—otherwise known as sliced donkey penis. More »

In a step away from the legacy of its late dictator, who renamed each month after heroes, poets, and himself, Turkmenistan’s president urged a return to traditional month names, the Guardian reports. April had been named after Saparmurat Niyazov’s mother, while September was a reference to Niyazov’s spiritual book—but the new president, strengthening ties with the rest of the world, has decided to dump Niyazov’s system. More »

A wetsuit for a penguin might  sound as useful as a fur coat for a bear, but it was just the thing for an elderly penguin at San Francisco's Academy of Sciences who was losing his feathers, reports AP.  A suit designed by dive experts made it possible for Pierre, 25, to stop shivering and return to the chilly water. His penguin pals accepted his new look, and his feathers are sprouting again. More »

Beloved saint Padre Pio, exhumed in March after 40 years, is now on display in southern Italy, where 700,000 faithful have signed up to view his remains, BBC reports. The archbishop who ran the exhumation marveled at the body: “The knees, hands, mittens, and nails are clearly visible.” More »

A sex game gone wrong apparently killed a Tennessee man last weekend, and his wife has been charged with reckless homicide. The woman tied her husband up, put a ball gag in his mouth, wrapped his head in duct tape, leaving only nostril slits to breath through—and left to spend the night with another man, authorities said. She returned 20 hours later to find him dead. More »

Paris Hilton is facing a worldwide Hyatt ban after she scrawled her name on a $12,700-a-night presidential suite's luxury wallpaper in Moscow, the Sun reports. The heirhead, who's on tour with her Good Charlotte boyfriend Benji Madden, was fined $7,100 for the "Paris Moscow 2008" graffiti gaffe, which she scrawled in black marker during a sexy photo shoot. More »

A proposed ban on saggy pants didn’t fly in Louisiana, where a Senate panel rejected the legislation as a violation of freedom of speech, reports the Times-Picayune . “This is a situation that is disgusting and needs state attention,” insisted the state senator pushing the bill. “I have the right to walk down the street and not see your dirty drawers.” More »

David Blaine, the magician and "endurance artist" is training to break the human breath-holding record April 30 on Oprah . He's already done it 16 minutes, 9 seconds in a test run, John Tierney reports in his New York Times science blog. New techniques have made it possible for the untrained to hold their breath longer than thought possible in the past. More »

A 69-year-old Florida woman called 911 after finding an 8-foot gator in her kitchen. The beast apparently crawled in through a porch screen door and an open sliding door, making its way through the living room and down a hall, reports the St. Petersburg Times . Authorities called a trapper, and the gator was caught without incident—except for being hurt slightly by a falling plate. More »

A cop and several firemen struggled to rescue an Oregon pet shop owner after she stuck her hand in a python's cage, the Eugene Register-Guard reports. Teresa Rossiter was showing off 12-foot Darla to customers when the snake bit her, wrapped around her, and knocked her down. A policeman came to cut off the $850 python's head, but Rossiter begged him to find another way. More »