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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AI-Generated Seinfeld Parody Is Halted Over Trans Jokes

'Nothing, Forever' is suspended on Twitch, as creators blamed a content-filter glitch

(Newser) - A parody of Seinfeld generated by artificial intelligence and intended to run endlessly on a Twitch stream has been stopped in its tracks because of transphobic lines. On Monday, the Jerry-like animated character in Nothing, Forever likened being trans to having a mental illness, among other lines, and Twitch pulled...

Funeral Home Staff Unzipped a Body Bag, Got Quite a Shock

Woman who'd been declared dead at Iowa continuing care facility was actually still alive

(Newser) - At least four people who were sure a woman with early-onset dementia at a continuing care home in Iowa had passed away didn't get it right, and the facility is now facing a hefty fine. ABC News reports on the incident out of Urbandale, where the 66-year-old in hospice...

Woman's Close Encounter With Boulder Has Hearts Pounding

Giant rock came crashing through her Oahu home, narrowly missing her

(Newser) - A woman on the Hawaiian island of Oahu got a most terrifying welcome to her new home. Caroline Sasaki was walking into the living room over the weekend when a huge crash shocked her and her family members: A 5-by-5-foot boulder had barreled down a hill and right through the...

Bird Charity's Account Frozen After Tweet About Woodcock

It took 8 days to get back in

(Newser) - Researchers noted a rise in "hate speech, antisemitic posts, and other troubling content" in the wake of Elon Musk's takeover of Twitter—and yet those seemingly loosened posting parameters were apparently still too tough for the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO). Yes, that's a bird conservation charity,...

Cars Drive Around Barriers, Get Stuck in California Sinkhole

CHP 'at a loss for words'

(Newser) - Drivers who ignored road closure signs in a California town ended up caught in a sinkhole, and authorities sound pretty flabbergasted with the situation. "There are concrete rails across the roadway. It takes a little bit of effort to maneuver around it to get past it," explains a...

Assistant Coach Fired After Impersonating Player, 13

'I was just shocked,' says the girl's father in Portsmouth, Virginia

(Newser) - An assistant coach for a JV girls' basketball team in Virginia is now a former assistant coach after displaying some seriously odd judgment. Arlisha Boykins, 22, pretended to be a 13-year-old and played in a game for Churchland High School in Portsmouth, Virginia, reports WAVY 10 . (See video here .)...

Firefighters Leave Stove On, Learn Important Lesson

They return to a kitchen fire at their station in Georgia

(Newser) - In their defense, the firefighters were in a hurry to leave. So much so, that nobody in the station remembered to turn off the stove when they left to fight a house fire in Hall County, Georgia, reports the Gainesville Times . When a separate fire crew that had been out...

This City's Self-Driving Cars Are Causing Oodles of 911 Calls

San Francisco logged nearly 100 emergency calls about autonomous cars in second half of 2022

(Newser) - Traffic in San Francisco was, well, weird during the last half of 2022, and fingers are being pointed at the city's autonomous vehicles. Per a Wednesday letter from the San Francisco County Transportation Authority to the California Public Utilities Commission, there were a whole lot of 911 calls (92,...

Bizarre 'Whirlpool' Appears in Hawaii's Night Sky

Strange sight apparently caused by launch of a SpaceX rocket

(Newser) - A telescope in Hawaii captured the strangest of sights: an unearthly-looking whirlpool of light spinning in the night sky. (See for yourself in this video .) Alas, Live Science quickly obliterates the magical mystery: "It turns out the stunning spiral was comprised of frozen rocket fuel that was ejected...

Boy Playing in Shipping Container Ends Up in Another Country

He entered container in Bangladesh, exited in Malaysia 6 days later

(Newser) - A 15-year-old boy apparently playing hide and seek entered a shipping container in Bangladesh ... and didn't exit until six days later, when the container had been transported to Malaysia. That's 1,600 nautical miles, or more than 1,840 miles, according to maritime tracking site FleetMon . The Malaysian...

Japanese Vending Machines Now Dispensing Whale Meat

Conservationists are worried about the development

(Newser) - A Japanese whaling operator, after struggling for years to promote its products amid protests from conservationists, has found a new way to cultivate clientele and bolster sales: whale meat vending machines. The Kujira (Whale) Store, an unmanned outlet that recently opened in the port town of Yokohama near Tokyo, houses...

Zoo's 'Cry Me a Cockroach' Promotion Is Back for V-Day

To, er, celebrate Valentine's Day, San Antonio Zoo will feed a roach named after your ex to an animal

(Newser) - If you're not especially looking forward to Feb. 14 due to a recent breakup, one Texas venue has a promotion that could help mitigate the pain with a little old fashioned spite. The San Antonio Zoo is once again hosting its "Cry Me a Cockroach" fundraiser , with all...

This Turkey Is Making Life Hell for a Minnesota Town
This Turkey
Is Making
Life Hell for a
Minnesota Town
in case you missed it
Jan 29, 2023 11:20 AM CST

This Turkey Is Making Life Hell for a Minnesota Town

Residents, including kids, now walk around with makeshift weapons to fend off 'terrorizing' bird

(Newser) - The Minnesota town of Coon Rapids is known for its dozens of scenic parks, Golf Digest-recognized golf club, and renowned Mercy Hospital. Now, it's got a new claim to fame: a most troublesome wild turkey that's been menacing residents of a mobile home park for more than a...

Uber Eats Delivery Guy Interrupts College Game
Uber Eats Delivery Guy
Interrupts College Game
video
Jan 26, 2023 11:04 AM CST

Uber Eats Delivery Guy Interrupts College Game

Somebody ordered McDonald's at Duquesne's game

(Newser) - The refs had to briefly stop the Duquesne-Loyola college basketball game Wednesday night for the weirdest of reasons: A wayward Uber Eats delivery person started wandering onto the court, reports the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette . Watch the moment here . The unidentified man looked a little lost while carrying a bag of food...

Mansion That Was Basically Destroyed in Blaze Sells in 4 Days

Tennessee home had previously sold for $10M

(Newser) - A Zillow listing for a $1.49 million mansion in Nashville, Tennessee, didn't shy away from the home's history: Photos on the real estate site show the residence going up in flames. Even so, it was on the market just four days before it sold, the BBC reports....

High School Is Unable to Shut Its Lights Off

They've been on for more than a year at Minnechaug school in Massachusetts

(Newser) - NBC News reports on an unusual problem at a high school in Massachusetts: Nobody can turn the lights off. As a result, every light at Minnechaug Regional High School has been burning around the clock since August 2021. The problem is a software failure. The school had a 7,...

BBC Broadcast Interrupted by 'Sexual Noises'

Network apologizes after moaning could be heard during live soccer broadcast

(Newser) - "Sexual noises" interrupted live BBC television coverage of a soccer competition in what the presenter later referred to as an "amusing" form of "sabotage." The BBC apologized after the incident, which took place as Gary Lineker was covering the FA Cup and moaning could be heard...

Husband-Calling Contest Is a Hit on TikTok

It's a real thing at the Iowa State Fair

(Newser) - An odd video of a husband-calling contest is going viral on TikTok, with one common question: Is it real? The answer is yes, reports the Des Moines Register . The clip actually dates back to 2017 from the Iowa State Fair, and it shows a group of women going up to...

Accountant Holds One of the Weirdest World Records

Italy's Michele Santelia has typed 81 books backward

(Newser) - An Italian accountant has become famous in a small-scale way for the books he types. To be clear, Michele Santelia is not the author of these books. He retypes the works of others, usually famous works in history. But as Lit Hub notes, it's the way he does so...

Brewery CEO&#39;s &#39;Willy Wonka&#39; Contest Goes South
Brewery's 'Willy Wonka'
Contest Costs CEO Big-Time
in case you missed it
Jan 15, 2023 7:00 AM CST

Brewery's 'Willy Wonka' Contest Costs CEO Big-Time

James Watt made three ill-advised tweets

(Newser) - A Scottish brewery dreamed up a Willy Wonka-style competition in late 2020, and it ended up costing it big-time, or so wrote CEO James Watt on LinkedIn over the weekend. He explained that Brewdog turned to a goldsmith to craft 50 cans made from 24-carat gold, which were to be...

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