Strange News

Cow Tipping: The Myth That Just Won't Stand Up

1:01pm September 07, 2013

Though it may be considered an adolescent rite of passage in some places, journalist Jake Swearingen insists it can't be done. Swearingen talks to host Scott Simon about the science of cow tipping, and why it's mathematically impossible.

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Welcome to Night Vale is the number one most downloaded podcast on iTunes.

Arts

Welcome To 'Night Vale' — Watch Out For The Tarantulas

10:06am September 01, 2013

by NPR Staff

The popular Welcome to Night Vale podcast imagines a creepy desert town where conspiracies are real. From the hooded figures lurking in the closed-up dog park to the mysterious lights above the Arby's, Night Vale is a standard small American town that's just not quite right.

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Mark Malkoff makes a Skype call to Belgium.

Call Me, Haiti? One Man's Quest To Skype Around The World

11:59am August 31, 2013

by NPR Staff

Mark Malkoff has lived inside of an IKEA store, consumed beverages at 171 Starbucks in Manhattan in less than 24 hours and proved that his kid's Big Wheel bike could beat a New York City bus. Now, the comedian has video chatted with people in 162 different countries — including North Korea.

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World News

Finns Dominate Mobile Phone Throwing World Championship

5:30pm August 27, 2013

The 2013 Mobile Phone Throwing World Championships in Finland have crowned a winner in the Women's category — Asa Lundgren from Sweden. Audie Cornish and Robert Siegel have more.

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Fantasy sports attract an estimated 36+ million players in the U.S. and Canada.

Quitting Your Job For Fantasy Football

6:04pm August 25, 2013

Drew Dinkmeyer was an investment analyst. Pretty steady job, right? He left that job - in this economic climate - to become a full-time fantasy sports player.

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Tim Curry as Pennywise in a 1990 TV adaptation of Stephen King's It. Come on, tell us you aren't just a little creeped out.

Arts

Fear Of Clowns: Yes, It's Real

12:53am August 09, 2013

by NPR Staff

Clowns are terrifying — that's pretty much a given. Even children, to whom they're supposed to appeal, are said to dislike them instinctively. Writer Linda McRobbie says darkness has always been a part of clowning.

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Thai Elephant Orchestra co-founder David Sulzer (bottom center, in red) poses with the animals and their mahouts, or keepers.

The Biggest Thing Out Of Thailand: An Elephant Orchestra

3:01pm August 08, 2013

by NPR Staff

Based out of a conservation center for former work animals, the Thai Elephant Orchestra is just what it sounds like: a group of elephants trained to play enormous percussion instruments, holding mallets in their trunks and sometimes trumpeting along.

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At 18, Gabrielle Turnquest is the youngest person in the history of the English legal system to be admitted to the bar.

Education

U.S. Teen Is Youngest Ever To Pass Britain's Bar Exams

6:38pm August 04, 2013

by NPR Staff

An 18-year-old from Florida is the youngest person to be admitted to the bar in the United Kingdom.

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Bland Meets Dull In Scotland

6:01pm August 02, 2013

The village of Dull, Scotland, has just been visited by a delegation from Bland Shire, Australia. It wanted to get in on a bit of the publicity generated last year when Scotland's Dull established links with Boring, Ore. Bland Shire resident Dot McCaskie said she hoped the visit would bring awareness to places with unusual names.

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"Liver buds" grow in petri dishes. The rudimentary organs are about 5 mm wide, or half the height of a classic Lego block.

Scientists Grow A Simple, Human Liver In A Petri Dish

9:48am July 04, 2013

The tiny organs created from stem cells aren't complete, but they act like regular livers when transplanted into mice, Japanese scientists say. Still, it will be years before the synthetic organs could help people with liver problems, even if further research all works out as hoped.

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