A red-faced Australian nudist who tried to set fire to what he thought was a deadly funnel web spider’s nest ended up with badly burnt buttocks — via Rogue Sun
German nuclear power station officials, responsible for high-level security within the plant, avoided owning up to having lost keys to vital areas around the reactors for as long as possible — via iol News
Thirty-five years ago, a group of anonymous activists broke into the small, two-man office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Media, Pennsylvania, and stole more than 1,000 FBI documents that revealed years of systematic wiretapping, infiltration and media manipulation designed to suppress dissent — via digg
The teddy bear’s fluffy, cream coloured fur looks like that of a typical stuffed animal. But this teddy’s fur has something more in common with health foods than children’s toys — it comes from soy. Tofu Bear is part of Biltmore World Trade’s line of SoySilk Pals, stuffed animals whose fur is made out of soy fibre that is extruded from soybean cake, or tofu
Jakub Fik, 33, cut off his own penis during a Northwest Side rampage. When confronted by police, Fik hurled several knives and his severed organ at the officers. Officers stunned him with a Taser and took him into custody — via The Cult of Father Darwin
The Pentagon’s defence scientists want to create an army of cyber-insects that can be remotely controlled to check out explosives and send transmissions
A church was blocking the only high speed signal in town, so Kevin Lavallée decided he needed to go higher. This is the story of one man’s quest to build a 60-foot reception tower in his yard and retire his modem once and for all
Desmond Irvine, 74, was so heartbroken by the death of his wife Veronica on Valentine’s Day that he put her in a nice dress and, with the help of his son, took her in a taxi from Edinburgh, Scotland to their holiday home in Berwick, England where they put her in the freezer. Two weeks later, police were tipped-off by concerned family members and discovered the body. Desmond was detained by police for nine hours. Apparently, Desmond and his son are now trying to bring Veronica back home — via Boing Boing
A former Australian city councillor has been charged with assault for shushing a woman who wouldn’t stop talking on her phone at a screening of Brokeback Mountain. Pauline Clayton was on holidays in Texas, catching the movie in Texas cinema, when the woman’s phone rang. After she ignored a shushing gesture, Clayton touched her lightly on the shoulder. After Clayton touched her a second time, the woman went berserk, screamed obscenities, and got two cops and swore out an assault complaint — via Boing Boing
It appears that Eddie, the retarded UFO navigator, wasn’t allowed to play with the big boys. While his mates were off creating a rather nifty crop circle (KMZ) in Billingley, Yorkshire, Eddie was booted a couple of fields over and left to his own devices (KMZ). Feel free to make up your own wacky explanation
Authorities are seeking a burglar who allegedly took the time to make coffee, cook and eat meals, take showers, pick out a change of clothes, watch television and check his e-mail while inside three rural Washington County homes this month
Australian researchers are developing a new surface coating which has the potential to realise the utopian dream of a self-cleaning bathroom. Researchers at the University of NSW are currently testing out a number of properties that might help to create the new coating with the goal of rolling out test products within the next year or so. Their research is based on nanoparticles already being incorporated into self-cleaning glass which comprise a tiny coating of titanium dioxide. When the particles interact with natural light the electrons become activated and oxidate the surface, effectively cleaning it
Last month, Johannas Pope, 61, was found dead, wearing a white gown, and propped up in her chair in front of the television. She had been placed there way back in 2004 by her caretaker. After a long investigation, the coroner announced yesterday that Johannas had died naturally of heart disease. Pope told her caretaker, Kathy Painter, she didn’t want to be buried because she believed she would come back to life — via Boing Boing
A guy was selling his used video camera on Amazon, and a Nigerian scammer sent the seller a bogus sale confirmation e-mail that appeared to originate from amazon.com. Instead of receiving a valuable video camera, the scammer ended up paying shipping charges to Nigeria for a box of dog shit — via Boing Boing
Paper made from kangaroo and wallaby dung has shot an Australian paper company into the global spotlight. Joanna Gair, manager of handmade paper company Creative Paper Tasmania, says production of roo poo paper
only started in the past two weeks but she has been thinking about the idea for some time. I’ve been inspired by the African paper makers who’ve created an enormous industry out of elephant dung paper,
she says. I thought we needed an Australian version
— via Improbable Research
Joshua Philip Martin was in his fourth day on the job as a rescue-squad worker in Russell County when, in a playful mood, he decided to reach into the front seat of the ambulance and zap one of his co-workers with the defibrillator paddles. Earlier in the week, a judge convicted Martin, 25, of involuntary manslaughter — via Warren Ellis
A rodent-eating snake and a hamster have developed an unusual bond at a zoo in the Japanese capital, Tokyo. Their relationship began in October last year, when zookeepers presented the hamster to the snake as a meal. The rat snake, however, refused to eat the rodent. The two now share a cage, and the hamster sometimes falls asleep sitting on top of his natural foe. As a joke, the zookeeper said they named the hamster Gohan — the Japanese word for meal — via Rogue Sun
Fridge magnets may one day be able to fix bad grammar and change the words to something they think is more appropriate. The idea is that each magnet is aware of the other magnets on the fridge and they transmit information between each other,
Australian digital artist Pierre Proske said. Mr Proske is working with researchers at the Future Applications Lab of the Viktoria Institute in Sweden to develop the intelligent fridge magnets
After a burglar broke into caricaturist Bill Weg
Green’s Heathmont home, it took the 82-year-old just seconds to draw his attacker. Fifteen minutes later, patrolling police caught a suspect — and Mr Green’s drawing proved they had the right man
A huge beached whale has been dumped outside the Japanese embassy in Berlin in a Greenpeace anti-whaling protest. The environmental activists hauled the fin whale to Berlin from the Baltic coast after finding it beached on a sandbank. The dead whale measured 17m long and weighed 20 tonnes. Activists are trying to demonstrate that there is no need to kill the mammals for research — as Japan does — because cadavers can be found — via Darren Barefoot
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