feeds/weird+feeds/weirdnewsvideo

How snails point to the trails of ancient seafarers in Ireland

Nidhi Subbaraman — Thu, 20 Jun 2013 00:52:09 GMT

When a group of French or Spanish travelers sailed the Atlantic to Ireland about 8,000 years ago, they carried along a species of snails that today bear genetic witness to their passage. The snails might have been stowaways — or maybe they were just snacks.Irish land snails today possess certain genetic markers that are shared solely with snails living in the northern Spain and southern France. A ...

Say it ain't so! Cap'N Crunch not really a captain?

Tracy Saelinger — Thu, 20 Jun 2013 00:08:11 GMT

Until recently, the only crime that Cap’N Crunch could be accused of was cutting up the roofs of our mouths, despite his cereal’s delicious sweet corn taste. Now, an eagle-eyed cereal lover has found that Cap’N Crunch is not a captain at all, but a commander, according to the stripes on his uniform. Navy captains sport four stripes, while commanders have three—as the captain does—but many on the ...

Principal: Retirement flash mob 'meant everything'

Rebecca Fishbein — Thu, 20 Jun 2013 00:08:09 GMT

The end of the school year has teachers and students everywhere singing in the streets, but one retiring middle school principal in Mass. got a particularly celebratory send-off when his students surprised him with an epic flash mob.Hingham Middle School principal Roger Boddie is retiring at the end of the summer, after 36 years of being an educator. And to say goodbye, students and teachers orche...

Guinea pig fans go extreme: $22,000 outfit, 'pignics'

Danika Fears — Thu, 20 Jun 2013 00:08:07 GMT

Don’t let their small statures fool you: Dogs may be man’s best friend, but guinea pigs have long courted their own devoted following, and the zeal of their supporters runs deep.Just over a week ago, Sean McCoy of Fairfax, Va., began auctioning off a suit of chain mail armor he had made on a whim for his guinea pig, Lucky, on Ebay. From the $5 starting bid, the price quickly shot into the quadrupl...

It's OK, Miss Utah. Brain freezes happen to all of us

Meghan Holohan — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 23:56:55 GMT

When asked a question about fair pay for women during the Miss USA competition last night, Miss Utah, 21-year-old Marissa Powell, did what happens to so many of us in less glamorous situations. She totally blanked. And then said: “I think we can relate this back to education and how we are continuing to try to strive to figure out how to create jobs right now. That’s the biggest problem and I thin...

How snails point to the trails of ancient seafarers who came to Ireland

Nidhi Subbaraman — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 23:56:53 GMT

Bear with head stuck in jar is rescued in Pa.

U.S. News — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 22:31:14 GMT

JAMISON CITY, Pa. — Four central Pennsylvania residents said they used only a rope and a flashlight during a wild chase to rescue a young bear whose head had been stuck in a plastic jar for at least 11 days.The frightened but powerful bruin fell into a swimming pool at least twice during the ordeal, according to a report Saturday in the Press Enterprise of Bloomsburg (http://bit.ly/166z97k )....

'Burrito bomb' threat leads to federal charges for man who 'wanted to be sent to prison'

Sophia Rosenbaum — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 22:31:14 GMT

This may be the first incidence of someone threatening to blow up a building with a burrito.Brian Demarco, 50, was arrested late last week after he allegedly called the FBI’s Public Access line, based in West Virginia, on June 11 and said he was going to blow up the Albuquerque FBI field office by sending “a burrito with CO2 explosive inside of it,” according to a criminal complaint filed in the U...

Florida man beaten, robbed, stripped naked on first date

Daniel Arkin, Staff Writer, NBC News — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 22:31:13 GMT

A Florida man was beaten, robbed, forced to strip naked and abandoned on the side of a road Friday evening during a first date gone horribly wrong, according to police.Authorities found nude, bloodied Shaun Paul Williams, 34, walking on the shoulder of State Road 100 in Bunnell, Fla., late Friday near a cow pasture where Williams said he was assaulted and mugged by his date and her two unidentifie...

Fliers tackle passenger screaming about poison, CIA, Snowden

Katie Zezima — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 22:31:13 GMT

A man loudly ranted about national security, the CIA and international spying aboard a flight from Hong Kong to Newark Monday, causing passengers to tackle him and bind his hands and feet for the duration of the flight. The FBI met United Airlines Flight 116 as it landed at Newark Liberty International Airport Monday around 1:30 p.m., passengers said, and escorted the man off the airliner. Th...

Kitten survives 1,000-mile journey inside car engine

Gillian Spear, Staff Writer, NBC News — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 22:31:12 GMT

A stray kitten is recuperating after spending two days stuck in the engine of car that made a 1,000-mile drive from Oregon to Southern California.Julia Di Sieno, who has been rescuing animals for 30 years, answered the driver’s call to rescue the kitten in Santa Barbara, Calif.Di Sieno said that the driver heard the stray's cries when she left Oregon, but she continued with her journey, unsure of ...

A new take on 'grass-fed' meat: Pig farmer markets pork raised on marijuana

Elisha Fieldstadt — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 22:31:12 GMT

The possibilities when it comes to marketing meat made from marijuana-fed animals are close to endless, but the man who came up with the idea has decided to simply call them “Pot Pigs.”William von Scheneidau, owner and founder of BB Ranch in Seattle, didn’t come up with the idea to feed pigs and other animals weed while sitting around a bong in the basement with his buddies.In fact, he doesn’t eve...

Fashion faux-pas, adults doing shots, bad rappers and Obama's brother

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 14:05:17 GMT

If Alex Trebek ran for mayor of Toronto, what would his slogan be?

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 11:33:25 GMT

Miss Utah gets a second chance on Kimmel

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 11:33:25 GMT

Bear paw smugglers arrested in China

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 15:15:04 GMT

Japanese watermelon, sweet but pricey

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 15:15:04 GMT

Black bear climbs tree and gets really close to guy in tree

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 13:36:05 GMT

WTE host says tie and collar caused him to asphyxiate

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 13:16:54 GMT

What would you hold back from Putin?

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 11:01:05 GMT

Japanese hold contest to build boats from boxes

Sat, 15 Jun 2013 15:44:47 GMT

Louisiana town sets curfew for all its residents

Fri, 14 Jun 2013 15:27:15 GMT

‘Jesus’ spotted in floor tile at Arizona airport

Fri, 14 Jun 2013 15:27:15 GMT

Cost of Boston parking spot not priceless, but close

The Associated Press — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 14:18:25 GMT

Parking is such a precious commodity in Boston that one woman was willing to pay $560,000 for two off-street spaces near her home. Lisa Blumenthal won the spots in the city's Back Bay neighborhood during an on-site auction Thursday held in a steady rain by the Internal Revenue Service. The IRS had seized the spots from a man who owed back taxes. Blumenthal, who lives in a multimillion-dollar home ...

Bird collector gets into shoot-out after threatening cops with toy gun

Tracy Jarrett, Staff Writer, NBC News — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 19:23:15 GMT

An Arkansas man with a toy gun got into a real altercation Wednesday with police outside of a Wal-Mart — and cops later found his van held a veritable menagerie of various birds.The bizarre unfolding of events began shortly before 8:00 am, when police in Springdale, Ark., received a call reporting a suspicious vehicle.The caller stated that her uncle, identified as Rainbow Kilo Rasphoumy, 40 of Hu...