Strange News

Man Ends Fight With Girlfriend By Driving Into Pole, Walking Away

7:44am December 02, 2014

David Scarpa's neighbors heard yelling, then a crash, then nothing — because he was gone, apparently preferring being charged with fleeing an accident to dealing "with his girlfriend yelling at him."

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Two men wrestle in a ring full of smelt during the Smelt Carnival in Marinette, Wis., in 1939.

National

Wacky Wrestlers Of Yesteryear

4:37am November 28, 2014

by Linton Weeks

In America, there's a fine line between gimmicky wrestling and performance art.

Arts

Sandwich Monday: The Thanksgiving Hot Durkey

6:15pm November 26, 2014

by Peter Sagal

For this week's Sandwich Monday, we make our own holiday turkey — out of hot dogs.

National

When Thanksgiving Was Weird

10:05am November 24, 2014

by Linton Weeks

Circa 1900, Americans wore gaudy costumes and bizarre masks, and some roved the streets begging for candy and treats — on Thanksgiving Day.

India has record no Ebola cases, but the country is on high alert and has quarantined hundreds of travelers from West Africa. This hospital in New Delhi has set up an Intensive Care Unit for potential Ebola patients.

India Quarantines Ebola Survivor Because Of Infectious Semen

8:15pm November 18, 2014

by Michaeleen Doucleff

Ebola can linger in semen for months after a person recovers from the disease. So survivors are typically given condoms and a stern warning. But India is being more cautious.

Airbus' patented design for amphitheater-like seating.

Economy

'Flying Doughnuts': Airbus Files Patent For A New Kind Of Plane

1:50pm November 18, 2014

by Laura Sullivan

The new design would seat passengers within a circular seating area rather than in short rows inside a tube.

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Vape was chosen as the word of the year for 2014 in part because it provides a window "onto how we define ourselves," says Casper Grathwohl of the Oxford University Press. Here, women exhale vapor clouds during a competition at the Henley Vaporium in Manh

Take It In: 'Vape' Is The Oxford Dictionaries Word Of The Year

10:28am November 18, 2014

by Bill Chappell

The growing popularity of e-cigarettes sparked the notice of the Oxford Dictionaries, which chose "vape" as the word of the year for 2014. It beat out contenders such as "bae" and "normcore."

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Ventriloquist Challenges Gag Order Against His Puppet

8:09am November 12, 2014

Satirist Conrad Koch of South Africa denies that his puppet Chester Missing engaged in hate speech. When asked why someone takes a puppet to court, Chester Missing tweeted "You need to be a dummy."

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Science

In Space, No One Can Hear You Sample

6:33pm November 08, 2014

NASA just released a collection of sound effects from both this world and deep, intergalactic space into the Public Domain. They are now available for all of us to enjoy and perhaps use to make music.

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Danish concertmaster Erik Heide plays "Jalousie" after downing an vividly hot pepper.

Music & Culture

This Is An Orchestra Under The Influence Of Chili Peppers

8:11pm November 07, 2014

by Bill Chappell

Each musician ate one of "the world's hottest chili peppers" whole, before continuing to play a famous tango.