Odd news items

Odd news items

Items which may have escaped your attention are presented here as an enormous public service for those of you who have no interest or concern for political news, no opinions on controversial topics, and no great concern about high taxes, loss of individual liberties, lack of privacy, or abuse of power. These news stories are for simple amusement, and they are on display here for entertainment only.

Cows have magnetic attraction to lying north to south. With the help of Google Earth images, Sabine Begall, of Germany's University of Duisburg-Essen, led a research team that looked at satellite images of 8,510 cattle in more than 300 pastures around the world. Their findings, published in a paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, claimed that the earth's magnetic field is "the only common and most likely factor responsible for the observed alignment".

Fifty-two cows are killed after lightning hits a wire fence. The Hereford and Normandy breed cows were discovered by the ranch manager in the field. A veterinary expert who examined the carcases said they had been killed by lightning hitting the wire fence bordering the field where the animals were stood.

Man calls 911 after Subway left sauce off sandwich. Jacksonville police say Reginald Peterson needs to learn that 911 is not the appropriate place to complain that Subway left the sauce off a spicy Italian sandwich.

Spam Turns Serious and Hormel Turns Out More. The economy is in tatters and, for millions of people, the future is uncertain. But for some employees at the Hormel Foods Corporation plant here, times have never been better. They are working at a furious pace and piling up all the overtime they want. The workers make Spam, perhaps the emblematic hard-times food in the American pantry.

Grandmother had the only cake in the contest — and still came second. When her Victoria sponge earned second place in a cake competition, Jenny Brown was naturally delighted. That is, until she found out she was the only entry. Officials at her village fete apparently felt her baking just wasn't worthy of a first-class ribbon.

Law exam a breeze for 8-year-old. An 8-year-old boy with dreams of becoming a judge has passed a law school entrance exam — shocking Brazil's legal profession and prompting a federal investigation. The Universidade Paulista, a multi-campus private university, issued a statement acknowledging that Joao Victor Portellinha de Oliveira had passed the entrance exam and that it initially enrolled him. But he was turned away from classes when he showed up on Thursday [3/6/2008] with his father.

One in Nine Berliners Wants the Wall Back, Study Shows. Every ninth Berliner would prefer the barrier which used to divide and encircle the city was still in place, according to a survey carried out on behalf of Berlin's Free University.

Gifted but dumb.
Gifted Student Hospitalized After Drinking Liquid Nitrogen. A gifted 15-year-old student from India had to be rushed to the hospital after drinking liquid nitrogen during a science class at Princeton University.

Date palm seed from Masada is the oldest to germinate. Scientists using radiocarbon dating have confirmed that an ancient Judean date palm seed among those found in the ruins of Masada in present-day Israel and planted three years ago is 2,000 years old — the oldest seed ever to germinate.

Firefighters fined for speeding to blazes. Firefighters are being issued speeding tickets by the NSW Government for rushing to life-threatening emergencies in fire engines. In an astounding case of bureaucracy gone mad, the Government is sending infringement notices to the homes of individual fire truck drivers.

Texas man tries to cash $360bn cheque. Forth Worth police earlier this week slapped the cuffs on a 21-year-old music biz wannabe who decided the best way to raise some venture capital was to cash a dodgy cheque for $360 billion, NBC 5 reports. … [The police] arrested Fuller on suspicion of fraud, as well as unlawfully carrying a weapon and marijuana possession since he'd decided to make his play while packing a pistol and a small amount of weed.

The Editor says...
Unless he got the money in billion-dollar bills, he would have a hard time leaving the bank with that much money. In $20 bills, that quantity of cash would be almost as big as the bank itself. My guess is that he probably is a product of the public schools, where hardly any student knows the importance of correctly placing a decimal point.

Father of LSD takes final trip. The father of LSD and the first person to experience an "acid trip", Albert Hoffman, has died aged 102. Swiss-born Hoffman was renowned by chemists, pharmacists and hippies the world over for stumbling across the world's first synthesised hallucinogen, lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), in 1938.

His brick of dried noodles fed countless. We can hope that Momofuku Ando, the inventor of instant ramen noodles who died last week at age 96, had a fulfilling life. We know we'll always be full thanks to his ingenious cheap eats. After its introduction in the States in 1972, ramen noodles quickly became a food staple for dorm and apartment dwellers on limited budgets.

Colin Murdoch: The disposable syringe, the silent burglar alarm, the childproof medical bottle and the animal tranquilliser dart — all were invented by Colin Murdoch. His inventions have had a beneficial impact on the lives of millions of people, though did little to enrich Murdoch himself.

Inventor of Gatorade Dies at 80. Dr. Robert Cade, who invented the sports drink Gatorade and launched a multibillion-dollar industry that the beverage continues to dominate, died Tuesday [11/27/2007] of kidney failure. He was 80.

Richard Knerr, co-founder of Wham-O Inc., which unleashed the granddaddy of American fads, the Hula Hoop, on the world half a century ago along with another enduring leisure icon, the Frisbee, has died. He was 82.

Chemical plant accident creates laughing gas cloud. An accident in a chemical plant Friday [6/6/2008] created a frightening-looking cloud of "laughing gas," government and emergency officials said. Nobody was reported to be injured — or to be giggling uncontrollably.

A dark discovery — no, really, this stuff is dark. A scientist at Rice University has created the darkest material known to man, a carpet of carbon nanotubes that reflects only 0.045 percent of all light shined upon it. That's four times darker than the previously darkest known substance, and more than 100 times darker than the paint on a black Corvette.

Unexplained beer injuries. Doctors have always used a tribal vocabulary to communicate between themselves, but now their secret lingo is been enriched by the electronic media and urban slang. … [For example,] CTD means "Circling The Drain", GPO signifies "Good for Parts Only" and Rule of Five means that if more than five of the patient's orifices are obscured by tubing, he has no chance.

AK-47 Inventor Doesn't Lose Sleep Over Havoc Wrought With His Invention. Sixty years after the AK-47 went into production, Mikhail Kalashnikov says he does not stay awake at night worrying about the bloodshed wrought by the world's most popular assault rifle.

Anti-swimmer system bad news for frogmen. The system is designed to protect commercial piers, government and military vessels, cruise ships, terminals, and other high-value assets, but it'll work just as well for your hideaway surf break. You know it's good if the oil sheiks buy it. Kongsberg installed an integrated system at a "High-Value Seaside resort" in the United Arab Emirates; the exact location is classified.

Sudoku-playing Jurors Make Judge Stop Drug Trial. A judge aborted a drug conspiracy trial Tuesday [6/10/2008] after some jurors were found to have been playing the puzzle game Sudoku while evidence was being given. … The judge was alerted after it was observed the jurors were writing vertically, rather than horizontally. It had been assumed they were taking notes.

MADD warns off foe of illegal aliens. Michelle Dallacroce was hopping mad when she received a letter from Mothers Against Drunk Driving demanding she change the name of her organization, Mothers Against Illegal Aliens. "I couldn't believe it," Mrs. Dallacroce said. "I don't know who would be confused by this. We don't even have the same acronym." Mrs. Dallacroce, … received a certified letter Oct. 10 stating that MADD owns the rights to the name "Mothers Against" and giving her 10 days to stop using it.

'I never saw Taylor eat people'. In March, a witness told the Special Court for Sierra Leone that Taylor ordered fighters in his National Patriotic Front of Liberia to eat their enemies as a way of striking terror into his opponents. Joseph "Zigzag" Marzah, who described himself as Taylor's chief of operations and head of a death squad before Taylor became president, said African peacekeepers and even United Nations personnel were killed and eaten on the battlefield by Taylor's militiamen. He also said he had sat with Taylor as he ate a human liver.

Biodegradable coffins rise up. Biodegradable coffins are part of a larger trend toward "natural" burials, which require no formaldehyde embalming, cement vaults, chemical lawn treatments or laminated caskets. Advocates say such burials are less damaging to the environment. Biodegradable containers cost from around $100 for a basic cardboard box up to more than $3,000 for a handcrafted, hand-painted model.

Oops!
Scientists Find Oldest Living Animal, Then Kill It. The team from Bangor University in Wales was dredging the waters north of Iceland as part of routine research when the unfortunate specimen, belonging to the clam species Arctica islandica, commonly known as the ocean quahog, was hauled up from waters 250 feet deep. Only after researchers cut through its shell … and counted its growth rings did they realize how old it had been — between 405 and 410 years old.

Smiling can seriously damage your health. Real emotions, Makoto Natsume says, are being dangerously suppressed by the "smile masks" that [Japanese] women wear all day at work and the psychological effects he sees among patients are devastating. Depression, mental illness and other disorders are spreading fast, he cautions, and smile-mask syndrome could soon become a serious national health issue.

Bagpipes a threat to the environment (and we're not talking noise pollution). Traditionally the chanter on the bottom of Highland pipes, which is used to create the melody, was made from native woods such as bog oak. But Scottish mariners who travelled to Africa in the 18th century returned with supplies of African Blackwood, which proved to be far more resilient and produced a sweeter sound. Since then the species, known as Mpingo in Swahili, has been a staple component of most quality pipes.

Disco-dancing dentist sued for drilling disaster. A dentist was dancing to a song on the radio while drilling on a woman's tooth, and she wound up in the hospital when the drill bit snapped off and lodged near her eye, a lawsuit alleges. Brandy Fanning, 31, said she had to undergo emergency surgery and spent three days in the hospital because of the October 2004 mishap.

Once in a while, justice is swift.
Fleeing Robbery Suspect Eaten By Alligator. A Florida man police said was breaking into cars at Miccosukee Resort and Gaming was attacked and killed by a 9-foot alligator while trying to run from police. … One of the men was quickly captured by officers during the incident last week but the other robbery suspect tried to elude officer by jumping into a large pond behind the facility, according to a WJXT-TV report.

Photo Experts Say 'Stop Deleting!' Look through any old photo album and you'll find them: terrible family photos — the crying baby, the poorly lighted shot, the out-of-focus family, the off-center portrait. But the new digital ritual is changing all that. Some call it the lost art of bad photography.

Cards for inmates say it all for you: The cards displayed on the bookstore rack stopped me in my tracks. They shared a simple cover drawing — a delicate yellow rose with a barbed-wire stem — but their greetings suggested an unconventional audience: "Sorry to Hear About Your Arrest."

Sigbritt, 75, has world's fastest broadband. A 75 year old woman from Karlstad in central Sweden has been thrust into the IT history books — with the world's fastest internet connection. Sigbritt Löthberg's home has been supplied with a blistering 40 Gigabits per second connection, many thousands of times faster than the average residential link and the first time ever that a home user has experienced such a high speed.

Roswell aliens theory revived by deathbed confession. Last week came an astonishing new twist to the Roswell mystery. Lieutenant Walter Haut was the public relations officer at the base in 1947 and was the man who issued the original and subsequent press releases after the crash on the orders of the base commander, Colonel William Blanchard. Haut died last year but left a sworn affidavit to be opened only after his death.

Nissan warns U.S. cellphones can disable car keys. Nissan North America has a warning for customers: placing your electronic key too close to your cellphone could leave you stranded. The automaker is asking customers driving new models of two of its flagship sedans to keep their car keys and cellphones at least an inch apart to avoid disabling the "intelligent keys."

No such thing as a free lunch? They eat food they find in bins and are driven by conscience, not financial need. Meet the freegans. According to the saying there's no such thing as a free lunch, but freegans beg to differ. They only eat food they can scavenge for free from supermarket dustbins. Most is only just past its sell-by date, some is still within it but the packaging has been damaged. The freegan philosophy of "ethical eating" is a reaction against a wasteful society and a way of highlighting how supermarkets dump tonnes of food every year that is still edible.

Mice move in to new New York Times building. The New York Times just moved into a new $600 million, 52-story building and all people want to talk about is the mice. Or the leaks. Or the screwy elevators.

Is the Vatican a Rogue State? The top crime neighborhood in the world isn't in Sao Paulo or Lagos. It's not the Bronx in New York, or even Wedding in Berlin. It's the small city ruled by Pope Benedict XVI, which apparently sees more criminal cases per capita than any other part of the world.

Italian woman finds live grenade in potato bag. A 74-year-old Italian grandmother who bought a sack of potatoes at the her local market found a live grenade among the spuds. ... Police said the pine cone-shaped grenade, which had no pin and was still active, was the same type used by U.S. soldiers in Europe in World War Two.

No More Monster Bunnies for North Korea. The fate of 12 German giant rabbits delivered to North Korea is in doubt. The breeder who sent them suspects they have been eaten by top officials rather than used to set up a bunny farm.

Cooking spray: Prevents TV outages? Consumers can purchase a variety of products, such as heaters and covers, to prevent snow build-up on their dishes. Heaters can cost upwards of $100 to $200 depending on the size of the dish. A can of Pam cooking oil spray can also do the job.

Your car will talk to other cars — soon. Researchers from the Network Research Lab at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and car manufacturer BMW are working on an autonomous, self-organising communication network that connects cars to each other, allowing them to collect data from their immediate surroundings, process it and exchange it with other cars.

Plastic duck armada is heading for Britain after 15-year global voyage. A flotilla of plastic ducks is heading for Britain's beaches, according to an American oceanographer. For the past 15 years Curtis Ebbesmeyer has been tracking nearly 30,000 plastic bath toys that were released into the Pacific Ocean when a container was washed off a cargo ship.

Male gators attracted to tuba's B flat. Mating Florida alligators respond to the note of B flat — at least when played on a tuba through the wood of a boardwalk. At least that's what a Tampa Tribune reporter discovered in an attempt to replicate a 1944 experiment, "Response of Captive Alligators to Auditory Stimulation," conducted at the Museum of Natural History in New York.

Oven door passed off as flat-screen TV in scam. An unsuspecting woman purchased a "flat-screen television set" at a bargain price, the package even bubble-wrapped and complete with cord and controller. … Despite the bizarre fraud, police say oven doors are an increasingly hot item in area burglaries.

ATMs blown up with gas. Dutch banks said on Monday [2/27/2006] they are to take urgent measures to end a spate of thefts from automatic telling machines (ATMs) by criminals blowing them up with gas. … Thieves drill a hole into the machine, pump gas in, retire to a safe distance and then detonate the gas, blowing the notes inside onto the street for gathering up.

Stay calm everyone, there's Prozac in the drinking water. Prozac, the anti-depression drug, is being taken in such large quantities that it can now be found in Britain's drinking water.

Kodak to Discontinue Black-And-White Paper. Ending a century-old tradition, Eastman Kodak Co. will soon stop making black-and-white photographic paper, a niche product for fine-art photographers and hobbyists that is rapidly being supplanted by digital-imaging systems.

Microchip Pioneer Jack Kilby Dies at 81.

What are you laughing at? In 1953, Charles Douglass invented a machine called the "laff box," which we commonly refer to today as the "laugh track," ushering in a new era of comedy on television. Counterculturalist Paul Krassner once called the laugh track "the epitome of televised hypnotic suggestion."

Britain Moves Against Windfall for Rapist. Home Secretary David Blunkett said Thursday [8/12/2004] he planned to bar convicted felons from benefiting from financial windfalls while behind bars after a jailed rapist won 7 million pounds (12.6 million) on the national lottery.

Doctor abandoned surgery patient to cash a check: A Cambridge orthopedic surgeon had his license suspended by the state medical board yesterday for leaving the operating room during spinal surgery - to go to the bank to cash a check. Dr. David C. Arndt of Mount Auburn Hospital was found to pose an "immediate threat to the public health" after he allegedly abandoned a patient already under anesthesia with an incision on his back to go to a Harvard Square bank.

Einstein's theory may be relatively wrong: The crux of Einstein's theory of relativity -- that E = mc² -- is under challenge, following evidence that the speed of light might be slowing down. The discovery, made by a team of Australian scientists, undermines Einstein's key formula which maintains that the speed of light must remain constant.

Have You Ever Tried To Sell A Diamond? The diamond invention -- the creation of the idea that diamonds are rare and valuable, and are essential signs of esteem -- is a relatively recent development in the history of the diamond trade.

The Army's Best Invention: It was developed in just 30 days in the summer of 1942 by the Subsistence Research Laboratory in Chicago. And never in its 52-year history has it been known to break, rust, need sharpening or polishing. Perhaps that is why many soldiers, past and present, regard the P-38 C-ration can opener as the Army's best invention.

Intentional:
NY Restaurant Charging $41 for Burger: The Old Homestead restaurant in New York bills it as "The World's Most Decadent Hamburger."

Unintentional:
Man is charged $4,334.33 for four burgers. An AP item datelined Palmdale, California notes that George Beane was charged $4,334.33 for four burgers at Burger King. To make a long story short, the cashier entered $4.33 and then forgetfully reentered the same amount again, resulting in a debit-card charge that instantly was paid out of his Bank of America account, wiping out his balance.

Sonygate, Part 2: Fake "Patriots": Maybe they should change the name from Sony to phony. Just a week after the studio grudgingly admitted its advertising executives faked a film critic in print ads for several of its movies, Sony's facing another in-house case of fakery. Daily Variety reports the studio passed off two of its employees as faux fans in commercials hyping last year's The Patriot.

Bank chief mugged at cash machine: Multi-millionaire Sir George Mathewson was robbed by two muggers who distracted him by saying he had dropped a �5 note. Mathewson, chairman of the Royal Bank of Scotland, was withdrawing cash from a central London automated teller machine when two con men approached him.

Smart People Live Longer. British scientists say their research suggests that the smarter you are, the longer you live — but they don't know why.

Air Force Colonel Jailed for Sexual Harassment: He is believed to be the highest-ranking Air Force officer ever convicted on sexual harassment charges.

Parking lot saliva brings murder arrest: Police wanted to find a DNA sample ...and they got it when the suspect spat.

Cop Killings Hit 35-Year Low: Forty-two law enforcement officers were feloniously killed by others in the line of duty across the nation in 1999, the lowest number in 35 years, according to new statistics released by the FBI on March 15, 2001.

Man Gets $218 Trillion Phone Bill. A Malaysian man said he nearly fainted when he received a $218 trillion phone bill and was ordered to pay up within 10 days or face prosecution. … The guy is actually lucky because at least this amount is obviously stupid. It could just as well have been an erroneous number which was vaguely reasonable but expensive and because the computer says it, it must as we all know, be right.

Electricity shut off in Flint home over a penny. Jacqueline Williams, 41, of Flint had an electricity bill of $1,662.08 and paid all of it, except for one cent. That wasn't enough for the power company, which blacked her out for seven hours Wednesday [5/10/2006].