Strange Stuff: Weird Crimes, Crazy Laws, and Other Interesting News Stories - Page 225

study says

Dec 29, 2011 5:48 PM CST

Slime Mold Is Smarter Than You Think

It can solve mazes, might be used in future biocomputers

(Newser) - It may not look like much, but slime mold is capable of human-like "thought" beyond the reach of the most sophisticated computers. The organism can arrange its cells in order to find the quickest route through a maze, a Japanese scientist has found. "Humans are not the only...

Japan's Asahi Soft Drinks Vending Machines to Offer WiFi

New Source of WiFi:
Japanese Vending Machines

Dec 29, 2011 2:30 PM CST

New Source of WiFi: Japanese Vending Machines

And it's totally free

(Newser) - Want some WiFi with that soda? A Japanese soft drink company has unveiled new vending machines that offer a free wireless Internet signal, TechCrunch reports. Users needn't register or even shell out for a drink: They can simply connect to the public signal for 30 minutes, landing on a...

Wendy's Return to Japan Marked by ... a $16 Foie Gras Burger

Wendy's Return to Japan Marked by ... a $16 Burger

Dec 29, 2011 8:49 AM CST

Wendy's Return to Japan Marked by ... a $16 Burger

It comes topped with foie gras

(Newser) - For two years, Japan's fast-food lovers were forced to go without Wendy's. Now the chain is back—with a bang. Its first new store to open in the country will serve up the Foie Gras Rossini Burger, which, yes, is topped with foie gras and costs 1,280...

Hugo Chavez: Is US Behind Cancer in Latin American Leaders?

Chavez Suggest US Gave World Leaders Cancer

Dec 29, 2011 5:51 AM CST

Chavez Suggest US Gave World Leaders Cancer

Secret cancer-causing technology could be at work, he speculates

(Newser) - Argentina's Cristina Fernandez has become the latest Latin American leader to be diagnosed with cancer , prompting Hugo Chavez to wonder if the US is to blame. "Would it be strange if they had developed a technology to induce cancer, and for no one to know it?" pondered the...

Hitchcock's Birds
Mystery Solved

Dec 29, 2011 5:40 AM CST

Hitchcock's Birds Mystery Solved

Kamikaze California seabirds were poisoned, researchers say

(Newser) - The real-life mystery that inspired Alfred Hitchcock's 1963 thriller The Birds has been solved, researchers say. Hitchcock is said to have largely based the film on a bizarre incident in 1961, when flocks of crazed seabirds slammed into homes in California's Monterey Bay. Researchers now believe that, rather...

Samoa Skipping Dec. 30

Dec 29, 2011 5:33 AM CST

Samoa Skipping Dec. 30

Pacific nation cancels day to cross date line

(Newser) - If you've got an appointment this Friday in Samoa, better reschedule. The Pacific island nation has decided it wants to be on the other side of the international date line and is canceling this year's Dec. 30 to get there, AP reports. For the country's 186,000...

Rival Monks
in Broom Brawl
at Christ's
Birthplace

Dec 28, 2011 12:22 PM CST

Rival Monks in Broom Brawl at Christ's Birthplace

Annual cleaning ignites tensions

(Newser) - Not a very nice birthday present for Jesus: Dozens of rival monks brawled at his birthplace today, as the feuding clergy members were performing an annual cleaning of the holy spot. The Church of the Nativity, built over the site where Jesus is believed to have been born in Bethlehem,...

Clerk KOs
Armed Burglar

Dec 27, 2011 2:41 PM CST

Clerk KOs Armed Burglar

Instead of money, he gets a knockout punch

(Newser) - It looked like the thief's lucky day: A shop clerk in North Carolina who was usually armed didn't have his gun on him. But when an armed robber threatened him, the clerk dealt the intruder a knockout punch—and the whole thing was caught on security cameras, WYFF4...

10 Busted in
Mall of America
Brouhaha

Dec 27, 2011 9:57 AM CST

10 Busted in Mall of America Brouhaha

10 teens arrested as melee breaks out

(Newser) - Retailers were hoping for a big day yesterday, but Minnesota's Mall of America might have preferred something smaller than a mob of hundreds of kids who wreaked havoc. At least 200 teens were involved in an hour-long melee that had shoppers scrambling and stores closing, some for the remainder...

Man Busted After Mom Pleads for Help on Facebook

Dec 27, 2011 8:37 AM CST

Man Busted After Mom Pleads for Help on Facebook

We 'will be dead by morning,' she posts

(Newser) - On Christmas Eve, a sort of Facebook miracle: A Utah woman posted a plea for help, saying that she and her 17-month-old son had been held against their will for five days, which eventually led to their rescue. Police have arrested the woman's live-in boyfriend, Troy Reed Critchfield, 33,...

Walmart Shopper Slugs
70-Year-Old Greeter: Cops

Dec 27, 2011 12:55 AM CST

Walmart Shopper Slugs 70-Year-Old Greeter: Cops

Greeter asked to see her receipts

(Newser) - A Walmart shopper in upstate New York slugged a 70-year-old store greeter who asked to look at the woman's receipts as she left, according to authorities. Jacquetta Simmons, 26, has been arrested and charged with two counts of assault for the attack that fractured the greeter's face and...

Lady Gaga's Ex-Assistant Sues

Dec 26, 2011 2:40 PM CST

Lady Gaga's Ex-Assistant Sues

Singer is kind of a little monster, claims Jennifer O’Neill

(Newser) - Lady Gaga just can't get good help these days: At least not the kind who will seamlessly handle all aspects of her life, manage her crazy wardrobe, wait at her beck and call at all hours, and not sue for their trouble. Seems one Jennifer O'Neill is suing...

Man Robs Store on
'Shop With a Cop' Night

brainiac dept.

Dec 26, 2011 8:44 AM CST

Man Robs Store on 'Shop With a Cop' Night

It didn't go well for David Sherman, 49

(Newser) - We don’t want to imply that there’s a right time to shoplift, but there’s definitely a wrong one, and that wrong one is on "Shop With a Cop" night. David Sherman, 49, tried to make off with a $79 DVD player from a Nebraska Walmart on...

Can Your Name
Influence Your
Job Choice?

just ask usain

Dec 25, 2011 3:53 PM CST

Can Your Name Influence Your Job Choice?

Experts say yes in new study

(Newser) - Ever noticed how perfect the name Wordsworth is for a poet, or wondered whether Usain Bolt's last name prompted his running career? Researchers are currently investigating whether one's name can influence one's choice of job, with one study already suggesting it can. Indeed, it's become a...

Virtual Swear Jar Turns Your Potty Mouth Into Charity

Dec 25, 2011 11:02 AM CST

Virtual Swear Jar Turns Your Potty Mouth Into Charity

'Charity Swear Box' urges you to donate $1 per bad word

(Newser) - If your New Year’s resolution is to stop swearing so much, why not do some good at the same time? Giving a modern twist to the idea of putting money into a glass jar every time you curse, " Charity Swear Box" monitors your Twitter feed for naughty words....

Man Crashes $380K Car
6 Hours After Winning It

Man Crashes $380K Car 6 Hours After Winning It

David Dopp says he'll be more careful next time

(Newser) - A Utah contest winner received a $380,000 Lamborghini Murcielago last Saturday … and promptly crashed it six hours later. "Yeah, I got it on Saturday and I wrecked it on Saturday," David Dopp tells KSL.com . Dopp had entered a "Joe Schmo to Lambo" contest organized...

Actress Suing IMDb Over
Age Must Reveal Her Name

Dec 24, 2011 4:48 PM CST

Actress Suing IMDb Over Age Must Reveal Her Name

'Jane Doe' must re-file suit under real name or drop case

(Newser) - A bizarre celebrity lawsuit takes an amusing twist. The actress suing Amazon.com for $1 million because the Internet Movie Database, which Amazon owns, revealed her real age, must reveal something of her own: her name. The Hollywood Reporter explains that a US District Court judge yesterday ruled that "...

Mysterious
'Space Ball'
Falls From Sky

Mysterious 'Space Ball' Falls From Sky

Namibians say it's made from 'an alloy known to man'

(Newser) - Namibian authorities are scratching their heads over a strange metal ball that fell out of the sky, they reveal. The ball, which weighs about 13 pounds and is 14 inches in diameter, was found lying about 60 feet away from the 12-foot-wide crater it left in the ground when it...

World's Oldest
Yoga Teacher Is 91

Dec 23, 2011 8:06 AM CST

World's Oldest Yoga Teacher Is 91

Bernice Bates can still get her knee to her nose

(Newser) - Bernice Bates is 91 years old, but she’s probably more flexible than you. She’s been practicing yoga for half a century, and now teaches it once a week at the community center of a Florida retirement village, making her the Guinness World Records’ oldest yoga teacher. In one...

Girl Lost in
2004 Tsunami
Found Safe:
Report

Dec 22, 2011 4:30 PM CST

Girl Lost in 2004 Tsunami Found Safe: Report

Grandfather discovers girl looking for home in Indonesia

(Newser) - Seven years ago, an 8-year-old girl was pulled from her mother's arms by the tsunami in Indonesia; now, word is she's been discovered alive. An acquaintance brought a 15-year-old girl to her grandfather's home this week; his name—Ibrahim—was the only one she could remember, state...

strange stuff

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