More from news

[Homicidalheathen]

Cause weird is good in a bad way, or...er...somthing...

Frontiers of Science

A 10-year-old British boy had such a severe obsessive-compulsive disorder that he was overwrought with guilt that he had caused the Sept. 11 World Trade Center attacks, in that he had not been able that day to make his ritual step upon a particular mark in the street. Writing in June in the journal Neurocase, psychologists at University College London said the boy recovered only when they convinced him that the attacks had already started by the time he would have made his usual step. [Daily Telegraph (London), 6-28-08]

Many nations are exploring how to curb cattle's release of the greenhouse gas methane, including altering cows' diets to reduce flatulence (which requires monitoring the gas compositions from the old and new diets). To collect the gas for measurement (according to a July report in London's Daily Telegraph), researchers at Argentina's National Institute of Agricultural Technology rigged a large plastic tank to the cow's back, with a tube to the backside to directly capture each emission. (The alternative, researchers pointed out, would require a human to follow a cow around with plastic bags.) [Daily Telegraph (London), 7-9-08]

Higher-Order Animal Research: Britain's Sea Life Centre announced a study in July that would give octopuses Rubik's Cubes to play with, to ascertain whether they use a certain tentacle for such activities, or any tentacle at random. [Daily Mail (London), 7-7-08]

Writing in the journal Nature in July, a team of University of Oregon biologists showed that roundworms do "calculus"-type computations, using chemosensory neurons, to determine how to find food or avoid trouble. [science Daily, 7-3-08]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

One Obsessive American

Sam Bloomfield, 58, grew up poor on Tonga but arrived here in 1976 and says he has tried to show his gratitude ever since, according to a July 4 profile in his hometown Herald of Everett, Wash. He has tattooed "God Bless America" under his left eye, "Land of the Free" under his right eye and a large "USA" across his forehead, and last year underwent another 15 painful hours with the needle to cover the rest of his face with stars and stripes resembling an American flag so that he can toast his beloved country in the mirror every morning. [seattle Post-Intelligencer-Everett Herald, 7-4-08]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Least Competent Corrections Department

In July, convicted drug dealer Marcus Anderson opened the door of the Corrections Department van taking him to court, climbed out and walked away into downtown Baltimore. It was an ordinary van without a prisoner cage and whose driver had no gun, handcuffs, phone or radio (because Anderson had arrived late at the pick-up point for the regular prisoner van). An exasperated Judge Charles Bernstein later asked whether the driver had given him bus tokens, too. "If I were a young enterprising criminal," said the judge, "I'd come to Baltimore to set up my practice. This is the place to be. This is the Promised Land." [baltimore Sun, 7-3-08]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Update

"Brain fingerprinting," reported in News of the Weird in 2000 and 2003 from the experimental work by former Harvard research associate Lawrence Farwell, achieved a breakthrough in July in India, when two murder suspects were convicted based in part on that technology. Though Farwell's theory is somewhat different, the "Brain Electrical Oscillation Signature" used in Mumbai operates on a similar principle, that a different brain area activates when one recalls an actual experience than when one recalls something he merely learned about. Thus, in the India cases, neurologists concluded that the defendants either were present at the murder scene or had actually looked for or transported the murder weapon (and not that they had just read or been told about those facts). [The Times of India, 7-21-08]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

News That Sounds Like a Joke

After complaints by neighbors, police went to an apartment in Framingham, Mass., in July to quell a raucous screaming match between two women who, it turns out, are deaf. [MetroWest Daily News (Framingham), 7-15-08]

In Crawley, England, in July, police were called to a supermarket to break up a fight between two grandmothers, who were ramming each other in their mobility scooters. [Daily Telegraph (London), 7-10-08]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Aristocrats!

Donald Seigfried, 55, and Diane Whalen, 54, were arrested in June and face several charges based on the more than 200 homemade videos police found featuring Whalen having sex with various dogs. Police were alerted after Whalen's son found the evidence of his mom in action. [The Oklahoman, 6-26-08]

In June, a woman walking in a parking lot near Fort Walton Beach, Fla., with her two children was nearly struck by a car, but gently approached the driver to let her know the kids were unhurt. Inexplicably, the driver erupted, and when the woman tried to calm her by offering her a church brochure, the furious driver grabbed it, pulled her own pants down, and, according to a police report, "wipe(d) her female anatomy" with it (as the mother shielded her children's eyes). [Northwest Florida Daily News, 6-10-08]

Thanks This Week to John Holsinger, Kathryn Wood, Ron Phillips, Wes Jones, and Mark Logan, and to the News of the Weird Senior Advisors (Jenny T. Beatty, Paul Di Filippo, Geoffrey Egan, Ginger Katz, Joe Littrell, Matt Mirapaul, Paul Music, Karl Olson, and Jim Sweeney) and the News of the Weird Editorial Advisors (Paul Blumstein, John Cieciel, Harry Farkas, Fritz Gritzner, Herb Jue, Emory Kimbrough, Scott Langill, Steve Miller, Christopher Nalty, Mark Neunder, Bob Pert, Larry Ellis Reed, Rob Snyder, Bruce Townley, and Jerry Whittle).

(And for the accomplished and joyous cynic, try News of the Weird Daily/Pro Edition, at

[Homicidalheathen]

oh god my sides hurt from laughing...I hate to see this kids medical bills after the psychologist visits

Donald Seigfried, 55, and Diane Whalen, 54, were arrested in June and face several charges based on the more than 200 homemade videos police found featuring Whalen having sex with various dogs. Police were alerted after Whalen's son found the evidence of his mom in action. [The Oklahoman, 6-26-08]

[cptdeath]

octopuss a scary smart. thay cannot be kept as pets you cannot prevent them from escaping. they seem extreamly inteligent and have distinctave personalities. i saw a sweet video of a shark getting killed by the stealthy hunter octopuss. the octopuss is like jack nickolson in departed. it's not a product of it's enviromeant it's enviromeant is a product of it

[TitsMcGee]

Here's a good one

Gifted Student Hospitalized After Drinking Liquid Nitrogen

Friday, August 15, 2008

PRINCETON, N.J. — 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.

The class was part of a program run by the Connecticut-based Summer Institute for the Gifted. It isn't affiliated with the university.

The students were performing a popular experiment in which liquid nitrogen is used to make ice cream.

Nitrogen liquefies at negative 328 degrees Fahrenheit — cold enough to cause burns.

The Summer Institute said the boy was in critical condition and has been upgraded to stable

Now I'm pretty sure this kid was supposed to be gifted smart...but I'm thinking he's not all that bright