Strange Stuff: Weird Crimes, Crazy Laws, and Other Interesting News Stories - Page 184

LA Gun Buyback Yields ... Rocket Launchers?!

75 assault weapons also turned in

(Newser) - Los Angeles officials declared victory this week, after their gun buyback program managed to pull in 2,037 guns, including 75 assault weapons and two anti-tank rocket launchers, the LA Times reports. Yes, you read that correctly. Residents turned in the weapons for grocery store gift cards, no questions asked.

Sudden Climate Change Forced Evolution: Scientists

Early humans saw woodland shift to grassland

(Newser) - Early humans evolved in fits and starts due to rapid environmental changes—not gradually as scientists used to think, according to a new study. Analyzing lake sediments in northern Tanzania, scientists from Penn State and Rutgers University concluded that climate change altered the landscape back and forth from grassland to...

Boater Puts Out
Fire in Awesome Way

Dec 29, 2012 4:48 PM CST

Boater Puts Out Fire in Awesome Way

New Zealanders capture makeshift firefighting on video

(Newser) - No firefighters around when your boat goes up in flames? How about hiring this freethinker to douse it with a speedboat "and look like a badass doing it," reports Gizmodo . Bystanders with a video camera recorded the flaming boat at Lake Lyndon in New Zealand but apparently just...

Height of All Leg Lamps Amazon Sold: Tall as Everest

holiday shopping

Dec 28, 2012 12:22 PM CST

Height of All Leg Lamps Amazon Sold: Tall as Everest

Amazon shares its quirkiest holiday shopping stats

(Newser) - Holiday spending may have been Scrooge-like , but it's not like we didn't shop at all. In fact, Amazon sold an eye-popping 26.5 million items on Cyber Monday alone, according to a post-Christmas press release that gives us a peek at the company's seasonal sales. The Wall ...

China to Citizens: Visit Your Elderly Parents, or Get Sued

Dec 28, 2012 10:40 AM CST

China to Citizens: Visit Your Elderly Parents, or Get Sued

Those who feel neglected can now take their kids to court

(Newser) - Visit your parents. That's an order. So says China, whose national legislature today amended its law on the elderly to require that adult children visit their aged parents "often" —or risk being sued by them. The amendment does not specify how frequently such visits should occur. State...

Florida Man Pleads Guilty to Dinosaur Smuggling

'Dinosaur
Smuggler'
Pleads Guilty

Dec 28, 2012 5:08 AM CST

'Dinosaur Smuggler' Pleads Guilty

Tyrannosaurus fossil sold for $1M

(Newser) - A man from Florida has admitted to smuggling some prehistoric cargo. Eric Prokopi yesterday told a Manhattan federal court that he'd "forwarded a few shipments of fossils of Mongolian origin from Great Britain to the US that were mislabeled." Among the shipments in question: a Tyrannosaurus bataar...

Drunk Driver Nabbed on
AA Founder's Lawn

Dec 27, 2012 10:01 AM CST

Drunk Driver Nabbed on AA Founder's Lawn

Donald Blood III apparently thought it was a parking lot

(Newser) - Today, in Ironyland: A Massachusetts man was nailed for driving under the influence on Christmas Eve—after depositing his car on the front lawn of the former home of the co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous. The Rutland Herald reports that Donald Blood III apparently thought the Wilson House lawn was a...

Cops: Burglar
Stole Presents,
Regifted Them

Dec 26, 2012 2:05 PM CST

Cops: Burglar Stole Presents, Regifted Them

But he rewrapped them first

(Newser) - The ultimate in regifting: Cops near Chicago say a man broke into two homes, swiped wrapped presents, then rewrapped them to give to his own friends and family, reports the Chicago Tribune . The 42-year-old suspect even installed a stolen ceiling fan in his bedroom, police say. His undoing was that...

Grinch N. Korea Shakes Fist at South's Christmas Lights

Dec 24, 2012 4:45 PM CST

Grinch N. Korea Shakes Fist at South's Christmas Lights

Pyongyang is not happy with Christmas tree-shaped tower on border

(Newser) - Dear Whos in Whoville, South Korea can surely feel your pain: It seems that Seoul opted to let Christians light a Christmas tree-shaped tower on the frontline over the weekend. This egregious affront predictably triggered a not-over-the-top-whatsoever response from Mount Crumpit, er, Pyongyang, which is now accusing its southern neighbor...

TSA OKs ...
Snow Globes

Dec 24, 2012 6:45 AM CST

TSA OKs ... Snow Globes

Finally!

(Newser) - Today, in really important travel news: You can finally carry that snow globe on your flight. That is, as long as it "appears to contain less than 3.4 ounces" of liquid, explains the TSA blog . How to tell if yours qualifies? Make sure it's smaller than a...

Murder Weapon
of the Future:
the Smartphone

Dec 23, 2012 5:03 PM CST

Murder Weapon of the Future: the Smartphone

Phones can disable cars, homes, electrical systems

(Newser) - As we all know, smartphones are terrific tools—but in the wrong hands they can become weapons capable of mass murder, Vanity Fair reports. Terrorists already use them to trigger bombs, but tech-security experts are finding that phones can also shut off pacemakers, make cars crash, hijack houses, exhaust batteries...

Your Christmas Tree:
Home to 25K Bugs?

Dec 23, 2012 12:33 PM CST

Your Christmas Tree: Home to 25K Bugs?

The good news is, they'll end up dead

(Newser) - Santa may be sneaking down your chimney, but he's not the only one making his way into your home. An avalanche of bugs is likely riding the Christmas Tree Express straight into your living room, reports the AFP . It spoke to a scientist who cited research that has found...

Judge: Woman
Can Flip Off
Neighbors Via
Holiday Lights

Judge: Woman Can Flip Off Neighbors Via Holiday Lights

Louisiana resident has a unique display

(Newser) - A Louisiana woman can resume giving her neighbors an unusual holiday greeting— Christmas lights in the shape of a middle finger. Sarah Childs was in a dispute with some of her neighbors in Denham Springs, just east of Baton Rouge, and decided to send a message with her decorations. Neighbors...

UChicago's
Indiana Jones
Mystery Solved

UChicago's Indiana Jones Mystery Solved

Journal was en route to Italy from Guam

(Newser) - The University of Chicago has cracked its Indiana Jones mystery —and it involves an international route that wouldn't have been out of place in a Jones movie. The copy of Jones mentor Abner Ravenwood's journal that turned up in a weatherbeaten envelope was the misplaced creation of...

5-Day-Old
Dead People
Great for
Stem Cells

study says

Dec 22, 2012 2:55 PM CST

5-Day-Old Dead People Great for Stem Cells

Bone-marrow cells have a variety of uses

(Newser) - Even after five days, corpses are an excellent source of stem cells to replace fat, cartilage, bone, and other kinds of cells, New Scientist reports. A research team from the University of Miami, Florida, found it could mine mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) from the bone marrow of finger bones stored...

Chicago Bus Driver
Plows Into 20 Cars

Dec 22, 2012 2:30 PM CST

Chicago Bus Driver Plows Into 20 Cars

Tow truck driver: It 'looked like a scene out of a movie'

(Newser) - Amazingly no one was killed when a Chicago bus driver passed out at the wheel yesterday and plowed into at least 20 cars and a laundromat, CBS Chicago reports. "Literally looked like a scene out of a movie," said a tow truck driver who estimated the damage at...

French Secret
for Long Life:
Stinky Cheese?

French Secret for Long Life: Stinky Cheese?

Researchers investigate 'French paradox' of longevity

(Newser) - It's packed with fat and salt—yet a moldy blue cheese could help you live longer, say researchers. Though the French enjoy a diet high in saturated fats, its women share the title of Europe's longest-living, with a life expectancy of 85.3 years. That prompted researchers to...

Our Hands Evolved
to Help Us ... Punch?

study says

Dec 20, 2012 6:41 PM CST

Our Hands Evolved to Help Us ... Punch?

Opposable thumbs weren't for tools, says a Salt Lake researcher

(Newser) - Human hands evolved the way they did not so we could use tools but so we could punch each other better, says a new study out of the University of Utah. The lead researcher argues that we could have ended up with any of several different shapes if it were...

Lawmaker Keeps Voting—
From the Grave

Dec 20, 2012 4:43 AM CST

Lawmaker Keeps Voting— From the Grave

Russian voted 'aye' 31 times yesterday, after his death

(Newser) - A Russian lawmaker was so devoted to his job, even death couldn't stop him from doing it. Vyacheslav Osipov voted "aye" on 31 measures in parliament yesterday, the same day fellow legislators held a late-afternoon moment of silence for the newly deceased 75-year-old. The votes were made by...

Woman Scores $7M Fortune
From Long-Lost Relative

Dec 19, 2012 11:10 AM CST

Woman Scores $7M Fortune From Long-Lost Relative

Cleaning crew finds thousands of gold coins in dead man's garage

(Newser) - For those who dream of some long-lost dead relative leaving you a fortune, it apparently can actually happen. Arlene Magdanz, a San Francisco-area substitute teacher, is now officially a millionaire seven times over thanks to a dead first cousin. The AP reports that a crew cleaning out Walter Samaszko Jr....

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