This week’s ‘strange but true’ reveals kindergarten, car, and catfish capers, the lingering legacies of Burt Reynolds and ‘El Chapo’, surprising beard research, and a story dubbed “moo loo” (you can guess the rest).
KINDERGARTEN COP
German police say they have solved a burglary case at a kindergarten after a storytelling gadget the suspect had swiped revealed his location. Police said that the 44-year-old suspect had stolen various items during a break-in at a kindergarten in the western town of Halver in April. Among them were a laptop, picture books, cups and glasses, some fish sticks, pasta, and a smart speaker for playing children’s stories. When the man tried to download new stories onto the device a month later it sent his home location to the manufacturers, who informed police. Police said the device has since been returned in working condition to the kindergarten, where it was eagerly received by the children. There was no fairytale ending for the suspect, however.
HOW STUPID CAN YOU GET
A Florida man who tried to trade in a vehicle from the same dealership he stole it from was arrested on charges including grand theft of a motor vehicle and criminal mischief. Employees at a Chrysler Dodge Jeep dealership reported the man to Lake City police after discovering that the VIN number on the trade-in matched that of a vehicle stolen from the dealership’s lot a few days earlier. The man admitted to the theft, which was captured on the dealership’s camera system.
SOMETHING’S FISHY
A white catfish caught in Connecticut has smashed a state record and could also be a world record for the species — though the evidence has been eaten. Ben Tomkunas, 25, caught the 9.66-kg. fish late at night in Coventry. It was over a metre long, easily breaking the previous state record for the species of 5.76 kg. (12.7 pounds). Tomkunas said he intends to submit a claim to secure the new world record, but he also says that he gave the fish to his grandfather the next morning where “It kind of got eaten.”
BURT BUSTED
A plaque and a palm tree weren’t enough to mark the swagger and star power of Burt Reynolds. That’s why a bronze bust, mustachioed of course, and sporting his “Smokey and the Bandit” cowboy hat, were unveiled on Monday, three years after his death. “Anybody else want to touch him?” Loni Anderson, Reynolds’ wife from 1988 to 1994, asked the small crowd that gathered around the sculpture after the unveiling at Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Los Angeles.
While the bust’s cowboy hat suggests a 1970s Reynolds, it’s designed to look like a more ageless version. “That was one of the things we talked about, do we do baby Burt, do we do middle-aged Burt, do we do ‘Smokey’ Burt?’” Anderson said. What they ended up with was “more of an interpretation of every decade,” she added.
THE ENVELOPE PLEASE
Beards aren’t just cool and trendy – they might also be an evolutionary development to help protect a man’s delicate facial bones from a punch to the face. That’s the conclusion of a trio of scientists from the University of Utah who are among the winners of this year’s Ig Nobel prizes, the Nobel Prize spoofs that honour — or maybe dishonour, depending on your point of view — strange scientific discoveries.
The winners of this year’s 31st annual Ig Nobels being announced included researchers who figured out how to better control cockroaches on US Navy submarines; animal scientists who looked at whether it’s safer to transport an airborne rhinoceros upside-down; and a team that figured out just how disgusting that discarded gum stuck to your shoe is.
BANANA REPUBLIC
A man fed up with a private road in poor condition near his southwest Florida business has a novel solution: plant a banana tree in a pothole to warn motorists away. Bryan Raymond planted the tree in a stubborn pothole along Honda Drive just off US 41 in south Fort Myers. Raymond said the idea of planting a banana tree ripened in his mind after having to fill holes in the street with cement multiple times. Because Honda Drive is a private street it’s up to the business owners to maintain the street, county officials said.
For Raymond, the banana tree is an attention-grabbing repair. Some who work along the road say anything is better than potholes. “I love it, I think it’s hilarious. We should have more of these,” said Scott Shein, who works at a nearby business said. “I think it is sending a message.”
For some, though, the sight of a tree brings disbelief. “I pulled up and I’m like, is that really a tree in the middle of the road?” said John Hulker, who lives in Fort Myers.
MOOLOO IS NO BULL
Turns out cows can be potty trained as easily as toddlers. Maybe easier. It’s no bull. Scientists put the task to the test and 11 out of 16 cows learned to use the “MooLoo” when they had to go. Just like some parents, the researchers used a sweet treat to coax the cows to push through a gate and urinate in a special pen. And it took only 15 days to train the young calves. Some kids take quite a bit longer.
What started with a half-in-jest question on a New Zealand radio talk show about the very real problem of livestock waste resulted in a serious study published in the journal Current Biology. And it wasn’t just a “wow, this could be fun” academic question: massive amounts of urine waste is a serious environmental issue since a single cow can produce about 30 litres of urine a day and toilet training animals could make it easier to manage waste products and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
While dogs, cats and horses can be toilet trained, they already show the desire to go in special places, but cows don’t.
A DEFINITE FIXER-UPPER
The house former drug kingpin Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán fled in 2014 when Mexican marines had him surrounded underwent some changes recently as the Mexican government prepared to raffle it off in a national lottery. The surveillance cameras that covered every angle of the modest home’s exterior were removed. and the hole under a bathtub that Guzmán had slipped through to reach a network of tunnels was covered with a concrete slab. The house also got a fresh coat of white paint.
The house had been abandoned for years and the marines did some damage when they searched it, so repairs were necessary. The government lists the value as US$183,000. Proceeds from the lottery will go to Mexico’s Olympic athletes.