News of the Weird: Week of Jan. 6, 2022

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Wait, What?

Ever watched a cooking show and wished you could sample the finished product? A professor in Japan has created a prototype TV screen that you can lick to taste a particular food. It works by spraying flavors on a film that rolls over the TV screen, Reuters reported. While such a product might seem misguided during a global pandemic, Meiji University professor Homei Miyashita sees it differently: "The goal is to make it possible for people to have the experience of something like eating at a restaurant on the other side of the world, even while staying at home," he said. Miyashita said a commercial version could be made for about $875.

Scrooge Is Real

-- Gina Sheldon of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, arrived home from Europe and opened her luggage to find $3,000 of gifts gone, WMUR-TV reported on Dec. 24. The items were "replaced with dog food, an old T-shirt, a shaving cream bottle," Sheldon said; she believes those items were used because they look like a "real luggage product" when scanned. She had spent 11 days in Italy and a few in Paris and believes the switcheroo happened in the baggage area of Charles DeGaulle Airport in Paris. Sheldon had bought a leather jacket for her teenager and "these really cute leather wristlet band purses" for other family and friends. Delta Airlines and their partner Air France are looking into the incident.

-- In this story, Scrooge is a hyperactive rodent with a bushy tail: The vendor who usually installs holiday lighting at Mears Park in St. Paul, Minnesota, declined to take the job this year after squirrels chewed through the wires in 2020, Lee Ann LaBore, co-chair of the Friends of Mears Park, told the St. Paul Pioneer Press. "Our vendor reuses the lights, and they can't afford to ... have the squirrels destroy them again," she said. Instead, this year organizers used a projector with kaleidoscopelike moving images of snowflakes. People "want to see the twinkly lights," LaBore said. "Well, we can't have twinkly lights. It was probably this or nothing."

Virtual Reality

Pinellas County (Florida) sheriff's deputies stopped a car at 4 a.m. on Dec. 18 for driving without its lights on, The Smoking Gun reported. They arrested the driver, Darius Owens, 27, for DUI and marijuana possession, but the real payoff came when they searched the car and passenger, Patrick Florence, 34. Under the Florence's seat, they found a gun; wrapped around his penis, they discovered baggies holding methamphetamine and cocaine. Florence, who has many felony convictions, denied that the drugs were his, but he wouldn't say who they belonged to. So many questions.

Weird Christmas Tradition

Since 1966, the city of Gavle, Sweden, has erected a huge straw goat in its downtown square at Christmastime. The goats are pagan symbols that preceded Santa Claus as a bringer of gifts, the Associated Press reported. But in what has become an adjunct to the town's tradition, the goats have been torched dozens of times during the past 55 years, including this year on Dec. 17. Police arrested a suspect in his 40s who had soot on his hands and matched a description from witnesses.

Thank You, I Think?

According to the Associated Press, Suyin Ting, collections manager for vertebrate paleontology at the Louisiana State University Museum of Natural Science, is retiring, so researchers in Alabama and South Carolina honored her with a unique gift: They named a prehistoric shark species after her. Carcharhinus tingae lived 40 million years ago and was identified using fossilized teeth in the museum's collection. "I am very honored to be recognized by my peers for my work," said Ting on Dec. 23, her retirement day.

Lovin' It

McDonald's locations in Guangdong and Shanghai, China, are testing new in-store seating: exercise bikes. A spokesperson said the bikes are part of McDonald's Upcycle for Good initiative, which promotes sustainability, United Press International reported. They generate electricity, which customers can use to charge their devices. Oh, and they help customers stay healthier while gobbling a Big Mac and fries.

The Continuing Crisis

-- On Dec. 26, as bad weather kept Kristin Livdahl and her 10-year-old daughter inside, they looked for some fun challenges to do: "... laying down and rolling over holding a shoe on your foot," for example, Livdahl explained on Twitter. But when the child asked Amazon's Alexa for a challenge, Fox News reported, it suggested she plug a charger cord about halfway into a wall, then hold a penny against the exposed prongs. Fortunately, Livdahl was there with her and yelled, "'No, Alexa, no!' like it was a dog," she said. Later, Livdahl received an email from Amazon, apologizing for the incident and promising to follow up.

-- It appears that red-winged parrots in Australia can't hold their liquor, according to Broome Veterinary Hospital in Kimberley. It's the end of mango season, and the ripe fruits are falling to the ground, where they ferment in the sun. The parrots indulge in the boozy treat -- sometimes to their demise, ABC News reported. "A lot of them, unfortunately ... don't make it to the clinic because they pass away before people find them," said veterinarian Paul Murphy. It's not just the alcohol that kills them, but drunken behavior; Murphy said they fly into windows and sit on the ground, where they're vulnerable to predators.

Oops

When Olivia Crump tried to leave her apartment in Milledgeville, Georgia, on Dec. 28, she was surprised to find a crucial structure missing: the stairs to the ground floor. According to the Daily Mail, Crump said the management company did not notify her about the stairs being removed for construction. "It was impossible to get down without climbing over the ledge with a ladder or scaling the side with a decent drop below," she said. She and her dog were trapped in the apartment for about four hours, during which the dog almost had an accident. While Crump doesn't plan any legal action, she did note that the absence of stairs could be a fire hazard, and she hopes the management company will compensate tenants for putting them in a dangerous situation.

Oh, Canada

Two transport trucks full of butter went missing from Trenton, Ontario, on Dec. 26, CTV News reported. Each of the trucks was loaded with about 20,000 kilograms of butter, worth about $200,000 total, the Ontario Provincial Police said. While the trucks were found on Dec. 27, the contents were missing, which begs the question: When will the cookies be ready?

Short Fuse

Alvis Parrish, 54, of Jacksonville, Florida, got tired of hearing her boyfriend, William Carter, talk on Dec. 7, so she gave him "just enough" poison in his lemonade to shut him up. Then she called police "so he wouldn't die," clickorlando.com reported. When officers arrived, Parrish was on her front porch, where she was handcuffed. "Do whatever you want," she told them. "If you don't take me, I will kill him." A deputy who spoke to Carter, 61, said he was difficult to interview because he was so tired. Carter said the lemonade tasted funny, then collapsed on the floor. Parrish is facing a charge of poisoning food or water with intent to kill or injure a person.

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