strange stuff

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

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Deadly Spider Found in Family's Bananas

World's most dangerous arachnid gnawed its own leg off in escape attempt

(Newser) - The last thing you'd expect to find lurking in your bananas is a creature whose Greek scientific name means "murderess." But that's exactly what one London family found after a grocery delivery from the Waitrose supermarket chain, the Daily Mail reports. The family patriarch (known only...

Teacher's Disciplinary Tool: 'Wheel of Misfortune'

Punishments included 'Koosh ball firing squad'

(Newser) - A Washington high school chemistry teacher had an unconventional means of doling out discipline in her classroom: Kem Patteson used a "wheel of misfortune" to determine what punishment a student would face, and one of those punishments involved being pelted with rubber Koosh balls by other students. Students say...

Scientist Stumbles Upon Spider as Big as a Puppy

Goliath birdeater has 2-inch fangs

(Newser) - Strolling through a Guyana rainforest one night, a scientist heard some rustling and thought he'd encountered a furry mammal. Well, he was right about the furry part. The creature was actually a Goliath birdeater spider, LiveScience reports—the world's biggest type of spider, according to the Guinness Book ...

Man Escapes Alimony After Wife Admits She's a Genie

So rules a court in United Arab Emirates

(Newser) - This story about a divorce in the United Arab Emirates begins in not-so-unusual fashion: A wife refuses to sleep with her husband, and he is not pleased. Then it gets weird: She tells him to talk to her parents, who explain that their daughter can't have sex with him...

$84M Lotto Check Collected by Guy in Bear Suit

Winner of China's 3rd-biggest jackpot dodges freeloaders

(Newser) - A guy who can now afford a lot more than just the bare necessities of life turned up in a bright-yellow bear suit to collect a lottery prize worth $84.4 million. The 520 million yuan jackpot the Shanxi province man collected is the third biggest in Chinese history, reports...

X-Ray Scanner Reveals Mystery of Star Wars Toy

And it's a bit of a letdown for UK collector

(Newser) - He wanted a Boba Fett, but he's got to settle for a Palpatine. If that sentence makes no sense, you probably won't have much sympathy for UK toy collector Dave Moss. About five years ago, Moss bought an unopened box that contained a Star Wars figurine—part of...

87-Year-Old Who Doesn't Drive Gets $1.5K in Tickets

California's Joyce Silva doesn't even own the Acura that got ticketed

(Newser) - Joyce S. Silva of Manteca, Calif., doesn't drive, nor does she own a white Acura. So it's understandable why the 87-year-old woman with arthritis was scratching her head after receiving a total of 18 traffic tickets costing $1,475 for a white Acura, CBS Sacramento reports. For the...

'Vampire Grave' Found in Bulgaria

Man buried in 13th century had stake through his heart

(Newser) - An archaeologist in Bulgaria has found what he calls a "vampire grave" from the 13th century—so named because the middle-aged gent inside the coffin had a stake driven through his heart, reports UPI . That, of course, is the age-old and evidently successful way to keep someone from returning...

Home Buyers Pay Extra $122K for Family's Cat

Australian family agrees to throw in Tiffany

(Newser) - It's difficult to put a price on a family's love for their cat, unless you're in Australia, where $122,000 seems to do the trick. A buyer bid that amount over the asking price for a home valued at about $1.8 million—as long as the...

Ocean-Front Home Built on Wrong Lot
Ocean-Front Home
Built on Wrong Lot
Oct 14, 2014 2:46 PM CDT

Ocean-Front Home Built on Wrong Lot

Builder didn't catch survey mistake in Florida

(Newser) - A brand-new 5,000-square-foot-home in a gated Florida community has a lovely view of the ocean—and of the vacant lot next door where the home was supposed to have been built. Yes, a builder put up the $680,000, five-bedroom home on the wrong lot in Flagler County, reports...

New Cure for Terrible Diarrhea: Frozen Poop Pills

Now available frozen

(Newser) - Might want to put down your sandwich while you read this one: Clostridium difficile, an infection of the intestines associated with terrible cases of diarrhea, is linked to some 14,000 American deaths each year. But researchers have found a promising treatment in the form of fecal transplants , in which...

Woman Examines 'Dried Blood' in Nose, Finds Leech

Daniela Liverani apparently picked it up in Vietnam

(Newser) - After a Scottish woman suffered a motorcycle accident during a backpacking trip to Vietnam, she figured the dark thing sticking out of her nose was just dried blood. Instead, it was something even less appealing: a three-inch leech that had been in her nostril for a month, the Daily Mail...

'Wasco Clown' Terrorizing California ... Kind Of

Clown posting on social media inspires rash of apparent prank calls

(Newser) - For the past week or so, authorities in California's Central Valley have been fielding calls about clowns supposedly terrorizing locals. On Wednesday, a clown with orange hair was reportedly chasing people with a club, for example, but when sheriff's deputies responded, there was no evidence of a clown...

At This Comedy Club, It's 38 Cents a Laugh

Barcelona venue using facial-recognition tech to spot guffaws

(Newser) - Audiences beware: If you laugh too much at this comedy club, you'll pay for it—literally. Barcelona's Teatreneu is using facial-recognition technology to charge visitors by the laugh, the BBC reports. Come to the club, and the seat in front of you will have a tablet tracking your...

Woman's Fire-Breathing Stunt Goes Wrong

Ashley Keach burned at Blood Run 5K in Ohio

(Newser) - If you've always equated "fire-breathing" with "unnecessarily and insanely dangerous," well, your point was proven yesterday in Ohio. A 23-year-old woman was hospitalized after what the AP terms "performing a fire-breathing act at a Halloween-themed running event." The woman, who has identified herself via...

Cops Inform Wrong Parents Son Is Dead

They were kind of surprised when he answered the door

(Newser) - The parents of Justin Priest were in agony after learning their son had just been killed in a car crash, and they drove to the home of his longtime girlfriend to deliver the news in person. Thus, as Alaska Dispatch News explains, they were more than a little surprised when...

Thousands of Spiders Drive Owners From Ritzy Home

Missouri family gives up trying to fight the brown recluses

(Newser) - If you like golf and you love spiders, then Fannie Mae has got your dream home waiting in Missouri. The foreclosed home in Weldon Spring overlooks a golf course but has been vacant for two years because apparently nobody wants to live with the estimated 4,000 to 6,000...

Why Are Plane Passengers So Into Tomato Juice?

The taste is different in a low-pressure environment

(Newser) - Tomato juice: It's not something many people crave on land, but in the sky, it's hugely popular. Germany's Lufthansa airline, for instance, has said it serves some 53,000 gallons of tomato juice per year—not so far off from its 59,000 gallons of beer in...

Couple Pulled Over for DUI Had Sex in Cop Car

Judge at sentencing says behavior of Travis Husnik, Heather Basten was 'outlandish'

(Newser) - Most people who get pulled over for drunk driving and hauled away in a squad car probably keep their pants on (just a guess). Then again, most people aren't Travis Husnik and Heather Basten. The Wisconsin couple, ages 33 and 29 respectively, were being taken to the Oconto County...

Hot Air Balloon Proposal Goes Quite Awry

Balloon ends up in the ocean

(Newser) - A romantic ride in a hot air balloon turned into a rescue operation, with lifeguards and surfers saving three people after the basket dipped into the ocean off a Southern California beach. A man was proposing to his girlfriend during their sunset ride yesterday when the balloon drifted off course...

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