Tuesday December 31, 2013
Canadian research shows that couples who have been together for at least 18 years are able to easily identify their partner’s voice in a crowded room. The so-called cocktail party effect was tested on couples aged 44 to 79, who were able to ignore other voices and focus on their partner’s for a better success rate.
Monday December 30, 2013
A woman in Italy stole a church’s Christmas offerings after hypnotising its 71-year- old priest, police say. The woman, 35, made off with €1800 ($2736) collected by Padua’s Santa Giustina abbey over Christmas. The priest learnt of the theft after he came out of a hypnosis-induced trance, he said, and alerted police.
Saturday December 28, 2013
A pigeon dropping a discarded cigarette down a chimney and a dog turning on a toaster were among some of the most bizarre causes of fires in London this year, the fire brigade has revealed. In another case, a pair of boxer shorts being used to apply linseed oil to a floor caught fire. Investigators studied 2000 incidents to highlight the importance of fire safety.
Friday December 27, 2013
For Christmas, British great-grandmother Doreen Gover gave a snowman and reindeer-themed jumper to each of her 28 family members – including her pet springer spaniel. Using almost 40 kilometres of wool, she had knitted for up to eight hours a day since January to make the 28 jumpers.
Thursday December 26, 2013
Police in Cleveland, England, havewarned the public about inappropriate use of Britain’s emergency 999 number over the Christmas period after one caller wanted to report a fly in his ice-cream and another phoned in drunk to ask for a lift home after a party because she had no credit on her mobile phone to ring a taxi.
Tuesday December 24, 2013
One in 10 British people aged between 18 and 24 believe Father Christmas was a biblical figure mentioned in Gospel accounts of Jesus Christ’s birth, according to a survey. About 7 per cent of respondents in the ConRes survey said there was a Christmas tree mentioned in the Bible.
Monday December 23, 2013
Markya Le Floch, the owner of Mamm-Kounifl concert-cafe in Locmiquelic, northwestern France, faces a $14,000 fine for using "undeclared labour" when social security agents raided the premises and sawcustomers returning empty glasses to the bar on a tray en route to the toilets.
Saturday December 21, 2013
A giant billboard in the Indian city of Coimbatore that was meant to honour late South African president Nelson Mandela mistakenly used a photo of actor Morgan Freeman. The billboard, paid for by a local merchant, also featured the pictures of Mahatma Gandhi, Mother Teresa and Martin Luther King jnr. Freeman, 76, portrayed Mandela in the 2009 film Invictus.
Friday December 20, 2013
Druids from as far as Holland and Scotland have protested outside the $50 million visitor centre at Stonehenge on the day of its opening. Dressed in flowing robes, they called for tourists to boycott the site, banged on drums and sang about their ancestors.
Thursday December 19, 2013
Wildlife officers have charged a Florida man with three offences after he tried to swap a 1.2-metre alligator for beer. "In 25 years of law enforcement, I have never come across an individual who purposely caught an alligator and tied it up, brought it to a convenience store and tried to barter it for a 12-pack," Officer Jorge Pino said.
Wednesday December 18, 2013
A children’s advocacy group says an animated video on the North American Aerospace Defence Command Tracks Santa website injects militarism into Christmas by showing fighter jets escorting Santa’s sleigh. NORAD defends the video as non-threatening and safe for kids.
Tuesday December 17, 2013
An 85-year-old London retiree has had thousands of replies to his newspaper ad to find someone to spend Christmas with. James Gray, a former butler, has spent Christmas alone for nine years. But not this year. "I’m so appreciative of the offers. I should have done this years ago," he said.
Monday December 16, 2013
Laughter may not be the best medicine, according to researchers from Oxford University. In a survey of hospital patients from 1946 to the present, they found guffaws that caused heart ruptures, torn gullets, incontinence and hernias. The researchers concluded, however, that sick jokes could not make you ill.
Saturday December 14, 2013
A Japanese man went on a year-long burglary spree, stealing cash and jewels worth $205,100 to feed 120 cats a gourmet diet. Mamoru Demizu, 48, is suspected of breaking into 32 houses. He told police that he stole to feed his feline friends, spending up to $270 a day. "He said he felt happiest when he rubbed his cheek against cats," the officer said.
Friday December 13, 2013
In the US state of Colorado, a six-year-old boy has been suspended from school for kissing a girl. It’s the second time Hunter Yelton has been suspended for alleged sexual harassment. Hunter told local media that he and the girl like each other, and he kissed her on the hand during reading group.
Thursday December 12, 2013
A survey of women over 30 has found about half would rather go without sex for a month than spend a month without their smartphone. The survey of 3583 women also found that 69 per cent sleep with them, 39 per cent take them to the bathroom and 76 per cent of women look at their phone hourly.
Wednesday December 11, 2013
A 10-year-old American schoolboy has been suspended from classes after he violated the school’s zero-tolerance policy on weapons by firing an imaginary bow and arrow. Defence lawyer Jonna Spilbor told Fox News: "If we're going to punish this poor kid for pretending to shoot a bow and arrow, let’s ticket his parents for parking their unicorn in a fire zone."
Tuesday December 10, 2013
Australian Jesus lookalike Nathan Grindal, whose expulsion from the Players Darts Championship in Minehead, England,was featured in the Odd Spot on Saturday, has received divine intervention. Darts superstar Phil Taylor has appealed to organisers to allow him in, despite the prospect of off-putting crowd chants of "Jesus, Jesus".
Monday December 9, 2013
Stephany Cohen, 52, of Bromley, England, who claims to have been Joan of Arc in a previous life, says she has been visited by aliens from Canis Major, who told her to tell Crystal Palace’s soccer manager Tony Pulis that his struggling team will avoid relegation from the English Premier League.
Saturday December 7, 2013
Bearded, long-haired Australian electrician Nathan Grindal was ejected from last year’s Players Darts Championship at Butlins in Minehead, England, after the 5000-strong crowd saw him on the big screen and repeatedly chanted "Jesus". He was ejected on sight this year because organisers didn’t want a repeat.
Friday December 6, 2013
German police have developed software that can identify banned neo-Nazi music. Some extremist music is banned for public sale or performance, but the far-right regularly tries to skirt the regulations with concerts to recruit young people. A police spokeswoman said the software would help officers decide if the music matches banned songs.
Thursday December 5, 2013
Have Neanderthals been given a bum rap for the past 100,000 years? Archaeological research in Italy appears to show Neanderthals, usually depicted as messy cave-dwellers, had neatly organised homes – butchering of animals, making tools and social gatherings were done in separate parts of the cave.
Wednesday December 4, 2013
Chinese conservationists have saved 8000 alligators from having to brave the icy northern hemisphere winter by moving them to warmer climes. They were concerned the alligators would not survive the winter in their outdoor pools at a park in Anhui so they kindly took them one by one to warmer pools under cover.
Tuesday December 3, 2013
A Minnesota man who threw1000 $1 bills from the top floor of a crowded shopping mall has been charged with disorderly conduct. Serge Vorobyov, 29, wanted to spread some holiday cheer at America’s largest mall in Bloomington. Police and mall owners said his "disruptive" stunt could have caused a riot.
Monday December 2, 2013
Medics have removed a dandelion found growing inside an ear of a 16-month-old girl in Beijing. The dandelion had grown to two centimetres and had partly flowered. Doctors said the dandelion had completely filled the ear canal wall. Last year doctors found a spider living in a woman’s ear canal.
Saturday November 30, 2013
The "world’s oldest public toilet", created at the dawn of the dinosaurs, has been unearthed in Argentina. Thousands of fossilised droppings left by rhinolike megaherbivores were found clustered together, scientists say. The huge, 240 million-year-old site is the first evidence that dinosaurs shared "latrines" and the dung contains clues to prehistoric diet, disease and vegetation.
Friday November 29, 2013
A frog named after Charles Darwin has become extinct. Named after the father of evolution, who discovered them in 1834 in Chile, Darwin’s pointy-nosed frogs evolved to escape predators by looking like a dead leaf. In the end, however, they were unable to adapt to a deadly skin fungus, say scientists.
Thursday November 28, 2013
Researchers at the National University of Singapore say they have made a gadget that enables you to taste food on the internet. Dr Nimesha Ranasinghe says that by manipulating current, frequency and temperature his team has created salty, sour and bitter sensations, and it’s working on sugar and umami (savoury) tastes.
Wednesday November 27, 2013
The president of England's Supreme Court has sparked outrage by suggesting short jail sentences interfere with the home lives of criminals. Lord Neuberger, who made the comments after visiting Holloway women's prison, also worried that inmates had to share cells and complained of the prison's "bossy notices" and cheap furniture.
Tuesday November 26, 2013
New Zealand police are looking for an injured cow after it was hit by the undercarriage of a light plane taking off from Pahiatua on the North Island. The pilot landed the plane on two of its three wheels at nearby Feilding. "Contrary to popular belief, the cow wasn't trying to jump over the moon," police said. "We don't know about the cow, we don't know where it is."
