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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Meet the Drug That's Powering Wall Street

Prescriptions for Modafinil up 10-fold in decade

(Newser) - Cocaine may no longer be the drug that fuels Wall Street. Instead, traders and start-up entrepreneurs looking to work hard rather than party hard are increasingly turning to a Modafinil—a "smart drug" said to have inspired the film Limitless, in which a writer pops a pill that allows...

National Laughing Contest Debuts in US

Contestants try to infect audience with laughter

(Newser) - Like laughing at nothing in particular? Then check out the American Laughing Championship when it debuts tomorrow in San Diego, reports the Huffington Post . The audience will determine which contestant is best at the Alabama knee-slapper, the maniacal laugh, and the diabolical laugh—the latter an attempt to make the...

You, Too, Can Be Kidnapped —for a Fee of $1.5K

GQ pays for new 'extreme' service

(Newser) - GQ magazine paid $1,500 to the men who kidnapped one of their writers, but not in the way you might think. The magazine gave the fee to a company called Extreme Kidnapping, which provides the only-in-America service of a fake abduction. Drew Magary writes a first-person account of the...

Basketball 'Sportswriters' Reveal Hoax After 40 Years

Three college students made up 'Hershberger' award

(Newser) - It sure sounded official. Forty years ago, the National Association of Collegiate Basketball Writers picked the nation's top 15 rookie players and named them to an All-America team. The award got national publicity. Schools boasted of the honor. The only problem is that the NACBW didn't exist; it...

Latest Super PAC to Push ... Bearded Candidates

Those with goatees will be considered; mustache only? Forget it

(Newser) - At last, a super PAC that can be described as hirsute—it's Bearded Entrepreneurs for the Advancement of a Responsible Democracy, aka BEARD, a political action committee dedicated to advancing bearded candidates. Founded by Jonathan Sessions and Andy Shapero, BEARD is as quirky as you might imagine: A planned...

Video Spurs Mystery: Are These Women Twins?

Internet helps them find out

(Newser) - The Internet is best known as a giant repository of cat pictures and Downfall parodies, but occasionally it has other uses. Case in point: Two South Korea-born women who met thanks to a YouTube video and connected via Facebook believe they are twin sisters separated at birth and have now...

Brothers Have Babies an Hour Apart

Cousins born at same hospital

(Newser) - The babies are cousins—but they're practically twins. Two Long Island brothers found themselves at the same hospital yesterday, as their wives had babies less than an hour apart, CBS New York reports. "I sent my brother a text message, telling him that we were in the hospital,...

Cops: Graffiti Tagger Died in High-Rise Stunt

He was dangling from 9 stories in the air

(Newser) - After locals spotted a body dangling from a Sacramento building yesterday morning, police have been postulating about what he was up to. Their theory: The 30-something man, who was hanging from at least nine stories up, was a graffiti artist. He had a rope tied around him, rappelling-style, and a...

Easter Bunny Gets Pulled Over

Gets off with a warning after motorcycling without helmet

(Newser) - He must have been in a rush to hide some eggs. The Easter Bunny was pulled over on Saturday for riding his red motorcycle without a helmet near San Diego, the Los Angeles Times reports. The bunny told a California Highway Patrol officer that he was en route to a...

Inmates Host Raunchy Party at Prison Nightclub

Venezuelan prisoners invite friends, family to bash

(Newser) - For a fun night, visit the local ... prison? Seems inmates in Venezuela have built their own nightclub and hosted an inaugural bash including strippers and a light show, AFP reports. According to a local paper, the inmates at a prison on Margarita Island invited friends and family over for the...

Freezing Temps Wipe Out ... Entire Flea Circus

300 fleas in Germany meet tragic end

(Newser) - It's a pint-sized tragedy in Germany, where freezing temperatures have claimed their latest victim: An entire flea circus. As the AP reports, flea circus director Robert Birk opened his transport box Wednesday morning, only to find all 300 fleas dead. The mass die-off left Birk scrambling to keep a...

Dad Shoots Family Dog to Retrieve Boy's Finger

Florida man disembowels animal in frantic search

(Newser) - A father in Florida shot and disemboweled one of the family dogs yesterday in an effort to retrieve his son's finger, the Bradenton Herald reports. Luis Brignoni, 41, pulled the finger out and rushed his 11-year-old to a hospital in St. Petersburg—but doctors said the nerve damage was...

Pilot Ejected From Airplane by Mistake

Student wasn't wearing a seat belt when aircraft nose-dived

(Newser) - Freak accident in Tennessee: A student pilot was ejected from his plane during a lesson and fell about 2,500 feet to his death, NBC News reports. The man, as yet unidentified, flew out of the plane during a malfunction yesterday because he wasn't wearing a seat belt. Neither...

Good Friday Dancing Ban Has Germany in a Twist

But some Germans say one-day ban small price for tradition

(Newser) - No, the "Tanzverbot" isn't the latest German dance craze. It's quite the opposite: the decades-old law that bans all organized dancing in Germany on Good Friday and other religious holidays. And with church attendance falling around Germany, its citizens are increasingly calling for the ban to be...

Humans Raise Baby Gorilla
 Humans Raise Baby Gorilla 
Mar 28, 2013 3:23 PM CDT

Humans Raise Baby Gorilla

Gladys poised for stardom at Cincinnati Zoo

(Newser) - Meet the new zoo superstar: Gladys the baby gorilla. When the 8-week-old western lowland gorilla's mother seemed uninterested in raising her, zookeepers took matters into their own hands, reports AP . Gladys was sent from her home zoo in Texas to the Cincinnati Zoo, where the staff has extensive experience...

How Not to Rob a Store
 How Not to Rob a Store 
Mar 28, 2013 11:49 AM CDT

How Not to Rob a Store

Video captures botched attempt in California

(Newser) - Police in Redding, California, are searching for a criminal mastermind who came thisclose to burglarizing a grocery store, reports Redding.com . Video captures him looking into the locked store, then returning a few seconds later with his face covered in a stocking. He throws a rock at the glass, which...

Camera Lost in Hawaii Washes Ashore in Taiwan

...6 years later

(Newser) - A Georgia woman has been reunited with the camera she lost during a 2007 trip to Hawaii, which, amazingly, washed ashore in Taiwan. Lindsay Scallan says she was on a scuba diving trip when she lost her camera during a night dive. As CBS Atlanta reports, she had forgotten about...

Court to Mogul: Girlfriend Can't Be Your Daughter, Too

Judge calls adoption a 'fraud' against court

(Newser) - News flash: No, you cannot adopt your girlfriend . Especially not as part of an alleged bid to safeguard tens of millions of dollars. A Florida appeals court judge yesterday ruled that John Goodman's 2011 adoption of his lover "constituted a fraud on the court," reports the Sun ...

Florida Town Plagued by 4th Sinkhole?

Seffner just can't catch a break

(Newser) - If you were considering moving to Seffner, Florida, we'd advise you to look elsewhere. Yet another sinkhole may have struck in the town; it's still unconfirmed, but the possibility forced two families to evacuate last night. Seffner's first sinkhole killed a 37-year-old man ; its second appeared just...

Qatar Marriage Rate Falls: Weddings Cost Too Much

Government steps in to help strapped grooms foot the bill

(Newser) - The government of Qatar is worried about the nation's falling marriage rate, and one of the reasons it cites for the decline isn't your standard fare: Weddings have become so expensive that would-be grooms—who traditionally foot the bill—are balking. How expensive? Al-Jazeera talks to one guy...

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