strange stuff

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

Stories 4721 - 4740 | << Prev   Next >>

Man Rides Entire Mississippi—by Paddleboard

Dave Cornthwaite traveled more than 2,300 miles on the water

(Newser) - A British man has conquered the 2,300-plus miles of the Mississippi, with only a stand-up paddleboard to keep him moving. Dave Cornthwaite, 31, has earned himself a place in the Guinness Book of World Records for his journey from Elk Lake, Minn., to the Gulf of Mexico, the Huffington...

Bumbling 'Gumby' Tries to Rob 7-Eleven

And fails, hilariously

(Newser) - One for the Legendary Fail Department: A person dressed in a Gumby costume attempted to rob a San Diego 7-Eleven on Monday. Here are the problems the would-be criminal ran into: One, the clerk thought it was a joke. Even after Gumby said, "This is a robbery," the...

Study Finds Marijuana Users Less Likely to Be Obese
 Pot Smokers 
 Less Likely 
 to Be Obese 
study says
Sep 7, 2011 7:46 AM CDT

Pot Smokers Less Likely to Be Obese

Maybe the munchies aren't so bad for you...

(Newser) - Marijuana users are less likely to be obese, according to a new study that would seem to fly in the face of the legendary munchies that are almost synonymous with pot. Researchers were so surprised by the results that they examined a second sample, only to come up with the...

Germany Installs Street Meters for Prostitutes
 Germany 
 Installs Street 
 Meters for 
 Prostitutes 
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Sep 4, 2011 11:03 AM CDT

Germany Installs Street Meters for Prostitutes

They must pay to get a nightly permit to work

(Newser) - Prostitution is not only legal in Bonn, Germany, the city has implemented a new "sex tax" for prostitutes who want to ply their trade. City officials also have come up with a novel way to get their money: They've installed automated meters in red-light districts, akin to parking...

Kid, 17, Dupes Fla. Hospital, Snags ER Job

Police say Matthew Scheidt wore lab coat, examined patients, gave CPR

(Newser) - A 17-year-old boy has been arrested on charges of impersonating a physician's assistant and working in a Florida hospital's emergency room for a week, reports the Orlando Sentinel . Police say Matthew Scheidt dressed in a lab coats and surgical scrubs, conducted physical exams, and reportedly even gave CPR...

Jobless Illinois Man Wayne Sabaj Finds $150K in Garden
 Jobless Man 
 Finds $150K 
 in Garden 
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Sep 4, 2011 6:49 AM CDT

Jobless Man Finds $150K in Garden

Illinois carpenter may get to keep cash after a year

(Newser) - Wayne Sabaj went into his backyard garden looking for broccoli and found $150,000 instead. The unemployed and very honest Illinois carpenter—fearing the cash packed into two duffel bags might have come from a bank robbery—alerted police to the discovery. Investigators have been unable to find the source...

Domino's Says It Plans Store on the Moon

... though opening date is a little fuzzy

(Newser) - It’s tough to get a decent pizza in space—so tough that astronauts at the International Space Station once received a delivery from an earthbound Pizza Hut. Now, Domino’s Japanese operation is going a step further in the publicity wars: The chain swears it plans to open a...

Feds: Hospital Scammer Sold Patients' Prostheses

Health worker replaced working artificial limbs, sold them online: probe

(Newser) - Seeing this health worker could literally cost you an arm and a leg. A hospital official may have tricked his patients into replacing quality prostheses so he could trade the originals for cash on eBay, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports. The FBI is looking into whether the head of prosthetic...

Scammers Sell Woman iPad Made of ... Wood

Imagine her surprise when it turned out to be a wood block

(Newser) - Ashley McDowell probably should have been suspicious when two guys approached her in a South Carolina McDonald’s parking lot and offered to sell her an iPad for $300. She almost certainly should have gotten suspicious when, after she explained she only had $180, the pair still agreed to the...

As Jo Calderone at Video Music Awards, Lady Gaga Wore Prosthetic Penis
 At VMAs, Gaga Had a Penis 
Aug 31, 2011 9:53 AM CDT

At VMAs, Gaga Had a Penis

A prosthetic one, at least

(Newser) - You already knew Lady Gaga’s dedication to her drag performance at the VMAs was so intense that she didn’t drop character, even backstage . But apparently it was even more intense than we all presumed: so much so that she wore a prosthetic penis, which Us cutely refers to...

86-Year-Old Impaled in Skull by Garden Shears, Survives
 An 86-Year-Old Survived This 
Aug 30, 2011 1:44 PM CDT

An 86-Year-Old Survived This

Yes, that's a pair of garden shears in his skull

(Newser) - Take a gander at that X-ray. What you’re looking at is the skull of a man who’d just accidentally impaled himself with the dull end of a pair of gardening shears—and lived to tell the tale. Leroy Luetscher, 86, dropped his pruner point-down while doing yard work,...

Man Charged With Stealing Ribs in His Pants ... Again

Apparently when Donald Noone gets drunk, he wants ribs

(Newser) - It’s weird enough that Donald Noone, 65, was arrested for attempting to smuggle a rack of ribs out of a grocery store in his pants yesterday. What’s weirder is that the central Pennsylvania man had already been arrested for attempting the same stunt in May, the Sentinel reports....

Marines Ban Audible Farts in Afghanistan
 Marines Ban 
 Audible Farts 
 in Afghanistan 
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Aug 28, 2011 9:11 AM CDT

Marines Ban Audible Farts in Afghanistan

Bend over backwards to avoid offending Afghans

(Newser) - US military leaders, sensitive to winning hearts and minds in Afghanistan, have instituted several unloved regulations on troops there—no swearing, no talking about volatile subjects like politics or girls. But now leaders apparently want to win ears and noses, too, as they have introduced an unusual no-no—no farting,...

Aliens May Attack Earth Over Global Warming
 If Aliens 
 Attack, Blame 
 Global Warming 
in case you missed it
Aug 27, 2011 3:55 PM CDT

If Aliens Attack, Blame Global Warming

Humanity's rapid expansion could scare extra-terrestrials

(Newser) - If there is extraterrestrial life out there, and it's watching us, it might just as soon blow us to kingdom come as look at us, LiveScience reports—and all because of global warming. If ETs notice our greenhouse gas emissions and conclude we're expanding too rapidly, they may...

New Mothers Dine on Placentas to Battle Postpartum Depression, Aid Breastmilk Production
 New Craze 
 for New Moms: 
 Eat the Placenta 
in case you missed it
Aug 27, 2011 12:30 PM CDT

New Craze for New Moms: Eat the Placenta

Cooked or in smoothies, it has high iron levels and vitamin B-12

(Newser) - More mothers are turning to a healthy diet after giving birth, including fruit, veggies ... and a nice plate of placenta. As in, their own. Before losing your appetite, consider that placentas contain high iron levels, vitamin B-12, and hormones, and while no study proves their effect, believers say they alleviate...

Clown Thieves Get Punked in Jewelry Heist

Their loot isn't really all that valuable

(Newser) - Send in the clowns: Two gun-waving robbers dressed in clown makeup and wigs robbed a Denver jewelry story yesterday, roughing up employees and stripping display cases clean. They made off with the loot after a 15-minute robbery, notes CBS4, but there's a caveat: The precious stones aren't so...

Jury Chucks Man's Chopped Penis Lawsuit

Doc found life-threatening cancer during circumcision, did partial amputation

(Newser) - Yes, he sliced off part of a man’s penis—but he also saved the guy’s life, said a jury in an unusual Kentucky court battle. Philip Seaton, 64, sued Dr. John Patterson for “loss of service, love and affection" over a circumcision that took off more than...

Gadhafi Had Album of Condi Rice Pics

He once praised her as 'my darling black African woman'

(Newser) - Did Moammar Gadhafi have a thing for Condoleezza Rice? It sure looks that way: Rebel looters found a photo album in Gadhafi’s compound filled with page after page of photos of Rice, MSNBC reports. Rice visited Libya in 2008 to celebrate what was supposed to be a new stage...

Bull Semen Shuts Tennessee Highway

Steaming canisters alarm motorists

(Newser) - A load of bull semen packed in liquid nitrogen caused a scare and closed a highway near Nashville on Tuesday after it fell out of a Greyhound bus. Motorists called emergency services after seeing the large, steaming canisters and smelling a foul odor, reports WKRN . The highway was reopened after...

Drunk Wasilla Pol Trashed Hotel, Billed City

Guess what famous family he's friends with?

(Newser) - A burned hotel room mattress, ruined bedding, a urine-stained chair, vomit on the carpet … but no, this was not the handiwork of a rock star on tour. Rather, Wasilla City Councilman Steve Menard apparently got a little crazy on a business trip—then slipped the city the bill for...

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