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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Usain Bolt, William Wordsworth: Can Your Name Influence Job Choice?
 Can Your Name 
 Influence Your 
 Job Choice? 
just ask usain
Dec 25, 2011 3:53 PM CST

Can Your Name Influence Your Job Choice?

Experts say yes in new study

(Newser) - Ever noticed how perfect the name Wordsworth is for a poet, or wondered whether Usain Bolt's last name prompted his running career? Researchers are currently investigating whether one's name can influence one's choice of job, with one study already suggesting it can. Indeed, it's become a...

Virtual Swear Jar Turns Your Potty Mouth Into Charity

'Charity Swear Box' urges you to donate $1 per bad word

(Newser) - If your New Year’s resolution is to stop swearing so much, why not do some good at the same time? Giving a modern twist to the idea of putting money into a glass jar every time you curse, " Charity Swear Box" monitors your Twitter feed for naughty words....

Man Crashes $380K Lamborghini Murcielago 6 Hours After Winning It
Man Crashes $380K Car
6 Hours After Winning It
in case you missed it
Dec 25, 2011 8:23 AM CST

Man Crashes $380K Car 6 Hours After Winning It

David Dopp says he'll be more careful next time

(Newser) - A Utah contest winner received a $380,000 Lamborghini Murcielago last Saturday … and promptly crashed it six hours later. "Yeah, I got it on Saturday and I wrecked it on Saturday," David Dopp tells KSL.com . Dopp had entered a "Joe Schmo to Lambo" contest organized...

Actress Suing IMDb Over Age Must Reveal Her Name

'Jane Doe' must re-file suit under real name or drop case

(Newser) - A bizarre celebrity lawsuit takes an amusing twist. The actress suing Amazon.com for $1 million because the Internet Movie Database, which Amazon owns, revealed her real age, must reveal something of her own: her name. The Hollywood Reporter explains that a US District Court judge yesterday ruled that "...

Mysterious &#39;Space Ball&#39; Falls From Sky
 Mysterious 
 'Space Ball' 
 Falls From Sky 
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Dec 23, 2011 11:49 AM CST

Mysterious 'Space Ball' Falls From Sky

Namibians say it's made from 'an alloy known to man'

(Newser) - Namibian authorities are scratching their heads over a strange metal ball that fell out of the sky, they reveal. The ball, which weighs about 13 pounds and is 14 inches in diameter, was found lying about 60 feet away from the 12-foot-wide crater it left in the ground when it...

World's Oldest Yoga Teacher Is 91

Bernice Bates can still get her knee to her nose

(Newser) - Bernice Bates is 91 years old, but she’s probably more flexible than you. She’s been practicing yoga for half a century, and now teaches it once a week at the community center of a Florida retirement village, making her the Guinness World Records’ oldest yoga teacher. In one...

Girl Lost in 2004 Tsunami Found Safe: Report

Grandfather discovers girl looking for home in Indonesia

(Newser) - Seven years ago, an 8-year-old girl was pulled from her mother's arms by the tsunami in Indonesia; now, word is she's been discovered alive. An acquaintance brought a 15-year-old girl to her grandfather's home this week; his name—Ibrahim—was the only one she could remember, state...

British PSA: Don't Get Drunk, Fall Under Train

Police release video of woman's close call

(Newser) - British police have a new public service announcement out asking people to take it easy on the booze over the holidays, and it's illustrated by a drunken woman falling under a subway train. Luckily, said train was stopped at the time, and the woman got pulled to safety with...

Relax, Catholics: No Porn at Vatican.xxx

Church worried someone had bought the racy web address

(Newser) - The Vatican may be an expert on the heavenly domain, but apparently it's still a bit shaky when it comes to domain names. A Vatican spokesman complained yesterday that someone had bought up Vatican.xxx, presumably to commit any number of sacrileges against the Holy See. "This domain...

Pyongyang: Sky Glowed Red Before Kim's Death

Ice cracked and Manchurian crane circled, state media claims

(Newser) - Weird and wonderful events surrounded the death of Kim Jong Il , according to North Korea's state-run media. The country's official news agency claims that a snowstorm suddenly ceased and the sky glowed red over the sacred Mount Paektu minutes before Kim departed. A frozen lake cracked with a...

IT Guy Foils Burglar From 6 Blocks Away

Motion detector in apartment sent images of break-in to his smartphone

(Newser) - A burglar made a huge mistake yesterday when he decided to break into the Manhattan apartment of a computer geek who had set up a motion-detecting camera that transmitted photos directly to his smartphone, reports the New York Post . Levent Cetiner was six blocks from his home when he received...

Babies' Foreskins Could End Animal Testing in Labs

Could one day be used to create artificial corneas, too

(Newser) - Babies' foreskins: The new wonder material? Maybe. They're already being used to make wrinkle creams , and now German scientists have developed a machine that uses the foreskin of young boys to grow artificial skin, reports the Local . For now, the researchers hope their innovation can be used for testing...

Cops: Man Dies Eating Bro's Cocaine to Spare Him Jail

Older brother begged sibling to eat drugs to spare him prison, say officials

(Newser) - A 20-year-old South Carolina man died after eating an ounce of cocaine his brother was hiding in his buttocks as the two were sitting in the back of a police cruiser, authorities say. Wayne Joshua Mitchell began having difficulty breathing and collapsed an hour after his older brother begged him...

Docs Find Working Pen in Woman's Stomach

...25 years after she swallowed it

(Newser) - So that's where it went. When a 76-year-old complained of digestive problems, doctors in Britain X-rayed her stomach—and found a pen. When they asked the patient about it, she thought back 25 years and recalled the incident: She'd been using a pen to investigate her tonsils in...

Maggots Clean Wounds Faster Than Doctors

 Maggots Clean Wounds 
 Faster Than Doctors 
study says
Dec 20, 2011 2:40 PM CST

Maggots Clean Wounds Faster Than Doctors

But they don't make wounds heal any better: experts

(Newser) - Maggots may work faster than any surgeon when it comes to cleaning large wounds that are slow to heal. Typically, doctors use scalpels and special enzymes to lift dead tissue from such wounds; researchers in France wanted to see if maggots could speed the process. They compared the two therapies...

Norway Busts Butter Smugglers
 Norway Busts Butter Smugglers
Dec 20, 2011 5:00 AM CST

Norway Busts Butter Smugglers

Bootlegged butter selling for $40 a packet

(Newser) - Norwegian authorities are cracking down on Swedes churning cash out of Norway's butter shortage . Enterprising bootleggers have been selling cross-border butter to Norwegians desperate to do their Christmas baking. The going rate? More than $40 per packet, the Telegraph reports. Two men with more than 500 pounds of butter...

Dutch TV Hosts Eat Each Other&#39;s Flesh
 TV Hosts Eat Each Other's Flesh
Dec 20, 2011 1:30 AM CST

TV Hosts Eat Each Other's Flesh

Celebrity chef cooks up small parts of presenters

(Newser) - In what is believed to be a TV first, viewers in the Netherlands tomorrow night will see a celebrity chef frying Dutchmen. Television hosts Dennis Storm and Valerio Zeno say they underwent surgery to have a small piece of their flesh removed and then dined on each other in front...

Man Found Guilty of Burying Fiancée Alive

She clawed her way out with engagement ring

(Newser) - Marcin Kasprzak said burying his fiancée alive was just a prank. But a West Yorkshire jury found him guilty today of attempted murder for burying Michelina Lewandowska, 27, in a box near their home, the Guardian reports. According to testimony, Kasprzak, 25, wanted their three-year-old son after his relationship...

Get Ready for Touch-Free Televisions...

...and phones, and tablets, starting next year

(Newser) - Touchscreens are so 2011. Starting as soon as next year, we'll be able to manipulate our phones with a wave of the hand. And that's just the beginning: Touch-free technology could soon take over our TVs, our tablets, and other devices, the BBC reports. One company behind the...

NYU Prof: I Got Fired for Giving a 'D' to James Franco

And Jose Angel Santana is suing, of course

(Newser) - James Franco's stint as a student at NYU is the gift that keeps on giving. A professor who gave him a D in acting class say he got fired for doing so and is suing the university for his job back, reports the New York Post . Jose Angel Santana...

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