strange stuff

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

Stories 4621 - 4640 | << Prev   Next >>

Surgeon Makes Back Brace... for Whale

Rescued SeaWorld pilot whale has scoliosis

(Newser) - A whale nicknamed “300” beached herself in the Florida Keys this spring—but her troubles didn't end there. The pilot whale, transported to SeaWorld for care, developed curvature of the spine, which prevented her from using her tail correctly. Fortunately, an orthopedic surgeon and a prosthetics expert came...

Love Milk? Now You Can Wear It

German designer makes eco-friendly clothes from drink

(Newser) - For the fashion industry, cows provide more than just leather. Combining her knowledge of biochemistry and clothing design, a German designer has begun making clothes from a textile that’s made of pure milk, the AP reports. It feels like silk, is as washable as cotton, and is good for...

Author: Arsenic Poisoning Killed Jane Austen

She may have gotten it as medicine

(Newser) - A crime writer poring over Jane Austen's letters thinks she knows what killed the author at age 41: arsenic poisoning. Lindsay Ashford sees telltale hints in Austen's own words, written just months before she died, including this line: "I am considerably better now and am recovering my...

World&#39;s Priciest Tea Made Using Truly Gross Ingredient
World's Priciest Tea Made Using Truly Gross Ingredient
hint: it involves pandas
Nov 15, 2011 10:18 AM CST

World's Priciest Tea Made Using Truly Gross Ingredient

Wildlife expert plans to use panda poo to make $36K-per-pound tea

(Newser) - If you thought the world's most expensive coffee was disgustingly weird, you haven't seen anything yet: A wildlife expert in China is trying to make the world's priciest tea. The costly ingredient? Panda poop. An Yanshi plans to use the feces he has collected from a panda...

Girl Survives 2 Days Trapped in Car With Dead Dad

Jordan Landon, age 9, was stuck upside down

(Newser) - A truly astonishing tale of survival out of North Carolina: A 9-year-old girl managed to survive for more than 43 hours stuck upside down after the car her father was driving crashed. Jordan Landon was trapped by her seatbelt from about 10pm Friday until her Sunday night rescue, reports the...

Colbert Shines Light on Vodka Tampon Trend
 Colbert Shines Light on 
 Vodka Tampon Trend 
KIDS THESE DAYS...
Nov 15, 2011 8:36 AM CST

Colbert Shines Light on Vodka Tampon Trend

And by 'shines light on' we mean 'mocks mercilessly'

(Newser) - Parents, do you know what your teenagers are doing with their vodka? How about their feminine hygiene products? Because odds are they’re soaking the latter in the former and sticking them in their you-know-wheres, high school security cop Chris Thomas tells KPHO 5 in Phoenix, saying the phenomenon is...

Copper Thieves Raid Lincoln's Tomb

Police suspect statue's sword ended up as scrap metal

(Newser) - Police in Illinois are looking for a thief who emancipated a 3-foot copper sword from a statue of a Civil War artilleryman at Abraham Lincoln's final resting place. Investigators believe the sword—which replaced a bronze one stolen from the same statue at Lincoln's tomb in the 1890s—...

Judge 'Humiliates' Breastfeeding Mom

Laws don't apply in courtroom, he says

(Newser) - A Michigan mother says she was humiliated by a judge who told her breastfeeding in his courtroom was inappropriate. Natalie Hegedus, who was fighting a boating ticket, says she brought her 5-month-old son, who was getting over a fever, to court with her and fed him discreetly in the back...

South African Farmer Marius Els Killed by Pet Hippo
 Farmer Killed by Hippo 'Son' 
Nov 15, 2011 12:36 AM CST

Farmer Killed by Hippo 'Son'

Dangerous pet turns on South African

(Newser) - They tried to tell Marius Els that a hippo couldn't be domesticated. Unfortunately for the South African farmer, they were right. The 40-year-old army major was killed by Humphrey, a 6-year-old "pet" hippo he considered one of the family, the Guardian reports. The 2,600-pound animal bit Els,...

Yale QB Ditches Rhodes for 'The Game'

Patrick Witt will miss finalist interview Saturday

(Newser) - Given what one might think would be a fairly straightforward choice between a Rhodes Scholarship and a football game, Patrick Witt chose the football game. It's not just any game, but rather a game known as "The Game": The Yale senior will lead his team Saturday in their...

Brits Killing Pets for Insurance Money

Association of British Insurers pegs 2010 insurance fraud at $3M

(Newser) - How bad is the economy? Some people are trying to make a buck by killing their pets to rake in the insurance money, says the Association of British Insurers. In a detail that doesn't really do much to restore one's faith in humanity, the insurers note that some...

Gadhafi Slept With 'Four or Five Women Each Day': Aide

And he was addicted to Viagra, former manservant claims

(Newser) - You may want to wait until after breakfast to read on: A chef who once cooked for Moammar Gadhafi shared some pretty sordid tales about the late dictator in yesterday’s Sunday Times, the Daily Mail reports. The chef, Faisal, recalls that while he was cooking dinner for Prince Andrew...

Dog Scarfs $1K in Cash
 Dog Scarfs $1K in Cash 
Nov 11, 2011 2:04 PM CST

Dog Scarfs $1K in Cash

Owners induce vomiting, get $900 back

(Newser) - Teachers rarely accept the excuse “my dog ate it”—but it seems banks are more forgiving. A Florida woman left 10 $100 bills in an envelope at home for her husband to deposit, but when he came home from work, the money was nowhere to be found. There...

Man Scours Landfill for Wife's $10K Wedding Ring

... and miraculously finds it

(Newser) - The lost-and-found tale of the week: A Florida man accidentally chucked his wife's $10,000 custom-made wedding ring in the trash, then dutifully headed to the county dump to dig in. Workers gave him a protective suit, pointed him in the right direction ... and watched in amazement as the...

Weird 11/11/11 Ritual Forces Pyramids' Closure

Numerologists planned to fight 'cosmic forces'

(Newser) - Egyptian officials have decided to close the pyramids today following complaints over a planned 11/11/11 ceremony that was to happen there. Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities had apparently planned to allow Polish numerologists to gather onsite and battle the “cosmic forces” set to destroy the world next year,...

18-Year-Old Elected Mayor of Iowa Town

High school student Jeremy Minnier's margin of victory: 24-8

(Newser) - He didn’t spend a cent on campaigning and he wasn’t even on the ballot, but 18-year-old Jeremy Minnier has been elected mayor of an Iowa town. There were 32 ballots cast in Aredale—which has all of 74 residents—and 24 of them were write-ins for Minnier, reports...

Flyers Pull On-Ice Stunt to Send NHL a Message

Philly refuses to move to call out Tampa's boring 'trap' strategy

(Newser) - Bizarro moment in an NHL game last night: The Philadelphia Flyers refused to budge with the puck, and Tampa refused to go after them. It actually happened multiple times, with the Flyers trying to send a message about Tampa’s reviled “trap” system. The trap is a defensive scheme...

French Built Fake Paris to Fool German Bombers

Replica city wasn't finished by end of WWI

(Newser) - A sham Paris was built near the end of World War I in an attempt to fool German bombers, according to recently unearthed archives. The fake city—built on a bend of the Seine similar to the one in Paris—boasted fake railways, fake factories, and even a fake Champs-Elysé...

'Gay' Penguins to Be Split Up at Zoo

Officials want Buddy, Pedro to mate with females

(Newser) - A pair of "gay" penguins will be split up by the Toronto Zoo so that they can have chicks—with females. The so-far inseparable males “will be put in with a specific female so they have the chance to get to know one another, and if they bond,...

Burger King Marriage Spat a Twitter Blockbuster

'The Restaurant of Broken Dreams' in 140-word blurbs

(Newser) - A cup of Coke, a pile of fries ... and thou. It could have been a tender romantic interlude between a young married couple spotted at a Boston Burger King. Instead, it turned out to be a painful bitch-fest as husband and wife battled mighty ugly in front of a stunned...

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