Strange Stuff: Weird Crimes, Crazy Laws, and Other Interesting News Stories - Page 211

Mar 20, 2012 5:47 AM CDT

Earliest Spring Since 1896 Is Here

Vernal equinox brings early first day of spring

(Newser) - Spring has sprung at its earliest in more than a century. At 1:14am EDT today, the sun's path across the sky intersected with the celestial equator, marking the spring equinox and the start of springtime—in an astronomical sense—in the northern hemisphere, and the beginning of fall...

Iron Man Made
of Urine Wins
$13.5K Prize

Mar 19, 2012 2:29 PM CDT

Iron Man Made of Urine Wins $13.5K Prize

Wong Tin Cheung takes home $13,500 for rancid masterpiece

(Newser) - When Wong Tin Cheung started peeing blood, he was inspired, and not in the time-to-go-to-the-hospital kind of way: A big Marvel comics fan, Wong realized that by combining the red urine with the normal yellow-hued sort, he could create a portrait of Iron Man, the unfortunately nicknamed Golden Avenger. The...

Celeb Bunny
Meets Untimely
Demise

Celeb Bunny Meets Untimely Demise

Earless German rabbit stepped on by cameraman

(Newser) - An earless baby bunny that was a rising star on Germany's celebrity animal scene had his 15 minutes of fame brought to an abrupt end when he was accidentally stepped on by a television cameraman. The fate of 17-day-old Til, a bunny with a genetic defect, was plastered across...

Hottest Item to Steal: Tide?

Or, maybe not...

(Newser) - The latest crime wave sweeping the nation: Tide thefts. Yes, that's Tide, as in the laundry detergent. The Daily reports it's stolen so often that some cities and stores are actually forming "special task forces" and coming up with Tide-specific security procedures to fight back. Why? Apparently...

Russian, Korean Scientists Look to Revive Mammoth

Hwang Woo-Suk, the man who faked human stem cell research, is involved

(Newser) - The woolly mammoth may be on the comeback trail, thanks to a deal signed today between prominent Russian and South Korean scientists to collaborate on efforts to clone the extinct prehistoric beast. Vasily Vasiliev, of the North-Eastern Federal University of the Sakha Republic, forged the pact with controversial cloning expert...

Cops: Woman
Killed Herself
With Chainsaw

Mar 16, 2012 5:22 PM CDT

Cops: Woman Killed Herself With Chainsaw

Valerie Nash, 47, was discovered yesterday in Palms neighborhood

(Newser) - A Los Angeles woman was found dead yesterday after apparently committing suicide with a chainsaw. Police say Valerie Nash, 47, was discovered inside her home in Palms by her sister, "with a chainsaw wound on her neck," reports CBS Los Angeles . An LAPD sergeant says, “At this...

Man Gets Ticket After Cat Refuses to Go on a Jog

Mar 16, 2012 10:11 AM CDT

Man Gets Ticket After Cat Refuses to Go on a Jog

It couldn't keep up, so he tied it to a rock ... then birds attacked

(Newser) - A case of feline fitness gone wrong: Colorado police have ticketed a man who is accused of tying his cat to a rock after it refused to go jogging. Sgt. Fred Palmer says 19-year-old Seth Franco brought his cat on a leash to a path at a Lafayette park on...

Utah Boy, 8,
Takes Sis, 5,
on Joyride

Mar 16, 2012 5:37 AM CDT

Utah Boy, 8, Takes Sis, 5, on Joyride

Neither sibling harmed in late-night crash

(Newser) - An 8-year-old Utah boy and his 5-year-old sister were unharmed after crashing the family minivan on an ill-fated late-night trip to the store. Cops say the boy—who made sure he and his sister buckled up before setting out on their midnight mission—barely made it out of the driveway,...

Woman Strangled by
NY Train Station Escalator

Mar 16, 2012 1:44 AM CDT

Woman Strangled by NY Train Station Escalator

LIRR escalator had been slated for replacement

(Newser) - An 88-year-old woman was strangled yesterday on a Long Island Rail Road escalator that commuters said was malfunctioning for months. Irene Bernatzky was killed after she fell and her clothes became entangled in the treads of the moving stairs, investigators say. Officials say the escalator passed inspection last month after...

Overweight?
Blame It on CO2

study says

Mar 15, 2012 4:53 PM CDT

Overweight? Blame It on CO2

Research points to emissions' effect on our bodies

(Newser) - Why are we fat? It's just something in the air, researchers say—namely carbon dioxide. A Danish researcher found that subjects' weight gain over two decades matched the increase in carbon dioxide over the same period, the Daily Mail reports. What's more, between 1986 and 2010, American obesity...

No Sex? Male Fruit Flies
Turn to Booze

Mar 15, 2012 4:33 PM CDT

No Sex? Male Fruit Flies Turn to Booze

They get their 'reward' from alcohol instead: Study

(Newser) - Entomology as country song: Researchers say male fruit flies denied sex drown their sorrows in alcohol, reports the BBC . Or more precisely, boy flies who get some action turn up their noses at food dosed with alcohol, while boys who get rejected are far more likely to indulge. Researchers think...

Pat Robertson:
Sure, Have Oral Sex
(If You're Married)

Mar 15, 2012 12:16 PM CDT

Pat Robertson: Sure, Have Oral Sex (If You're Married)

Awkward topic comes up on '700 Club'

(Newser) - Today in Uncomfortable Pat Robertson Quotes , the 700 Club host has given married people the OK to engage in some good old-fashioned oral sex. The topic came up because a viewer wanted to know if such a practice was sinful. "The Bible doesn't make that sinful," Robertson...

Teen Sends Extremely Unfortunate Text to Cop

pranks gone wrong

Mar 15, 2012 9:52 AM CDT

Teen Sends Extremely Unfortunate Text to Cop

Pinterest-inspired prank goes quite wrong

(Newser) - A northwest Arkansas teenager thought it would be funny to text a random phone number saying she hid a body, but the joke backfired ... to say the least. Of all the local phone numbers she could have chosen, the 15-year-old Rogers girl picked one that belonged to a police detective....

Eau de Pope:
Benedict Gets
Own Cologne

Mar 15, 2012 8:51 AM CDT

Eau de Pope: Benedict Gets Own Cologne

One-of-a-kind scent features 'lime, verbena, and grass'

(Newser) - Holy water de cologne? Boutique perfume maker Silvana Casoli has created a special cologne for the famously well-dressed Pope Benedict XVI, featuring "hints of lime tree, verbena, and grass" based on the pope's love of nature, reports the Guardian . But don't try to find this unique blend...

Gettysburg
Store Pulls
Bobblehead
of Booth

Mar 14, 2012 11:50 AM CDT

Gettysburg Store Pulls Bobblehead of Booth

Lincoln assassin even held a little gun

(Newser) - The gift shop at the Gettysburg Museum has had second thoughts about selling a novelty item some thought was a little tasteless: a bobblehead doll of John Wilkes Booth, complete with miniature gun. Museum officials pulled the dolls after the local Evening Sun wrote about them. The museum isn't...

Toddler Picks Lotto Ticket,
NYC Mom Wins $1M

Mar 14, 2012 10:30 AM CDT

Toddler Picks Lotto Ticket, NYC Mom Wins $1M

Lesson? Listen to your 2-year-old

(Newser) - A New York City toddler with the Midas touch has made her family $1 million richer. Afsheen Ahsan, of Queens, credits her 2-year-old daughter, Anaya Hussain, for picking her New York Poker instant scratch-off ticket. Ahsan says the toddler reached out and touched the ticket on Jan. 30 while they...

NH Town Votes on Whether
to Rename 'Jew Pond'

Mar 13, 2012 11:37 AM CDT

NH Town Votes on Whether to Rename 'Jew Pond'

Residents of Mont Vernon a little bit split on the decision

(Newser) - Residents of Mont Vernon, New Hampshire, vote today for a fairly unconventional reason: to decide whether to rename Jew Pond. The town health officer who pushed for the vote finds the name "inappropriate" and "disrespectful," but others in the small rural town aren't sure such a...

Docs Halt Growth of
World's Tallest Man

Mar 13, 2012 10:58 AM CDT

Docs Halt Growth of World's Tallest Man

Sultan Kosen, 8-feet-3 inches, given medication by UVa. doctors

(Newser) - The world's tallest man may have reached his peak, thanks to treatment by researchers at the University of Virginia Medical Center. Measuring at 8-feet-3 inches, 29-year-old Sultan Kosen of Turkey is listed in the 2011 Guinness World Records at the tallest living man. Kosen visited the university in May...

Trenton Running Out
of Toilet Paper

Mar 13, 2012 10:48 AM CDT

Trenton Running Out of Toilet Paper

...because mayor, city council fighting over paper cups

(Newser) - Trenton city employees may soon have to start BYOTP to work. Unless a purchasing contract conflict is resolved soon, City Hall will run out of toilet paper by Friday—and other buildings could run out even sooner. WPVI confirmed yesterday that all that remains are a few boxes of rolls....

Cheney Axes Canada Trip Because It's Too Dangerous

Mar 13, 2012 9:44 AM CDT