weird

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The Late Movies: 13 Carnivorous Plants Eating Insects...and More

Tonight, prepare to be a little grossed out: videos of carnivorous plants eating stuff. Not for the faint of heart! Sundew vs. Fruit Fly Timelapse Taken over six hours. Venus Flytrap vs. Slug The audio is just buzzing, making it even more... READ ON

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Quantum-Locked Superconducting Floating Discs Will Freak You Out

Short version: prepare to have your mind blown by scientastic weirdness (also known as "quantum levitation"). Longer version: exploiting the Meissner effect, scientists from Tel Aviv University (and others) have created an interesting scenario with super-cooled superconducting discs, cooled to -185ºC and suspended above (or below) magnetic fields. Okay, that "longer explanation" still doesn't do it justice. Watch this floating insane-o-disc and prepare to start Googling to see whether it's a hoax:... READ ON

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The Weird Week in Review

Whale Takes Australian Couple On Wild Boat Ride Glenn Wilson and Nerida Higgins were enjoying a cruise on their yacht off the coast of Queensland, Australia, when a humpback whale grabbed their anchor rope and took off, dragging the boat behind it. The ride lasted 15 minutes, then a second humpback whale took over the rope and dragged the boat. That's when the couple decided to cut the anchor line. They had already called the coast guard and emergency services, but the strange story was so unbelievable... READ ON

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A Telephone Explains the Meaning of Life

Reporter Joshua Topolsky at This is My Next decided to ask the new iPhone's voice assistant some unusual questions. While my favorite is the (creepily helpful) response to Topolsky's statement "I need to hide a body," I thought I'd show you the response offered by a smartphone regarding the meaning of life. Adams and the Pythons would be... READ ON

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The Money Trees of the UK

Imagine wandering through the forest when all of a sudden you stumble upon a massive tree completely covered in coins dating back centuries. No, you haven't discovered a magical giving tree. You've found one of the UK's mystical "money trees", and each of those coins represents one person's wish for health and luck. Apparently the practice of hammering coins into trees started back in the 1700s. The locals believed that offering low-denomination coins to the tree would take away their sickness. But if... READ ON

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The Weird Week in Review

Curry-Eating Contest Sends Two To Hospital Kismot in Edinburgh, Scotland is a restaurant known for its hot chili pepper curry. It staged a curry-eating contest this past Saturday to benefit the Children's Hospice Association Fund. Contestants ate spoonfuls of increasingly hot curry until they dropped out. Local patron Mike Lavin make it to fifth place and American Curie Kim came in second as others cried, screamed, and threw up, then dropped out. Both were later taken to a hospital (Kim twice). Although... READ ON

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The Fish That Eats Itself to Death

The black swallower might not be the best known undersea creature, but it might be one of the most abhorrent. That's because scientists have only ever seen them after they are dead—often after they have attempted to eat a fish so large that its meal eventually killed it through indigestion. While scientists have never actually seen the fish eating, they speculate that it grabs its prey by the tail and slowly starts swallowing it whole, as its dinner rolls into a circle in its belly. Unfortunately, the... READ ON

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"Twin Peaks" as an Atari Game

Have you ever wondered what a Twin Peaks video game would look like? Apparently there were plans for a Nintendo game that never made it off the ground. Now coder/musician Jak Locke has created a sort of Atari 2600/NES-ish game based on the last episode of the show. Spoilers abound, of course! Plus, the game seems to lack much of a coherent plot or sensible gameplay. And it's extremely slow to get started (not so different from the show); not much happens until around 1 minute into the video below.... READ ON

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The Weird Week in Review

Town Erects Statue to Commemorate Beatles' Layover On September 18, 1964, The Beatles changed planes at a tiny airport in Walnut Ridge, Arkansas. The 15 minutes they spent there was the biggest thing that ever happened in the small town. Now, 47 years later, the town has unveiled a statue by artist Danny We called "Abbey Road" commemorating the event. Last Sunday, the unveiling was accompanied by a tribute concert and townspeople sharing memories of that glorious day in 1964. Evicting A Middle-aged Son... READ ON

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The Weird Week in Review

Drunken Moose Hides Swing Set in Tree A family in Storebro, Sweden arrived home one night to find evidence of a wildlife party. Apples were strewn over the backyard, and the children's swing set was missing. Sweden has a problem with moose (called elk in Europe) this time of year, because the animals eat fermented apples and become drunk. The homeowner called police, who brought in a hunter to find the inebriated moose. The perpetrator was never located, but the family's swing set was eventually found in... READ ON