News of the Weird (July 6, 2014)
News of the Weird
Weirdnuz.M378, July 6, 2014
Copyright 2014 by Chuck Shepherd. All rights reserved.
Lead Story
California Polytechnic State University at San Luis Obispo has a huge, 350-student “viticulture and enology” program, preparing its majors for an industry critical to the state’s economy (and with a venerable international cachet)--but puritanical state law continues to hobble it. Many in Cal Poly’s four-year wine-making program must arrange for a fifth year--after they turn 21--because, otherwise, faculty and administrators could be felons for “furnishing alcohol to a minor” when they assign students to taste their own class creations. The current California legislative session is considering allowing underage wine-making students to sip and spit. [San Luis Obispo Tribune, 6-20-2014]
Science on the Cutting Edge
On dairy farms across the country, cows bizarrely queue up, without prodding, to milk themselves by submitting to $250,000 robots that are recently the salvation of the industry. According to an April New York Times report, this advance appears to be “win-win” (except for migrant labor’s watching choice jobs disappear)--more efficient for the farmer and more pleasant for the cow, which, constantly pregnant, usually prefers frequent milking. Amazingly, cows have learned the drill, moseying up to the precise spot to engage the robot’s arms for washing and nipple-cupping. The robots also yield copious data tracked from transponders worn around the cow’s neck. [New York Times, 4-22-2014]
Argentine agricultural scientists in 2008 created the “methane backpack” to collect the emissions of grazing cows (with a tube from the cow’s rumen to the inflatable bag) in order to see how much of the world’s greenhouse-gas problem was created by livestock. Having learned that (It’s 25-30 percent), the country’s National Institute of Agricultural Technology announced recently that it will start storing the collected methane to convert to energy. In a “proof of concept” hypothesis, it estimates, for example, that about 300 liters of methane could power a refrigerator for 24 hours. [Fast Company, 4-15-2014]
Scientists Just Wanna Have Fun
Bioengineers who work with Dictyostelium slime molds held the “Dicty World Race” in Boston in May for a $5,000 prize and intellectual adulation in August at the Annual International Dictyostelium Conference in Potsdam, Germany. The molds oozed down the 800-micrometer (0.0315 inches) track, lured to the finish line by ordinary bacteria that the molds normally enjoy. A team from the Netherlands beat out 19 others for the coveted prize. (Among the other “games” scientists play, mentioned in the same Nature.com story, is the “Prisoners’ Smellemma,” in which players mix obscure samples in a test tube and smell the result to guess what their opponent used.) [Nature, 5-7-2014]
Artist Diemut Strebe offered his 3-D-printed re-creation of the famous ear of Vincent van Gogh for display in June and July in a museum in Karlsruhe, Germany--having built it partially with genes from a great-great-grandson/nephew of van Gogh--and in the same shape, based on computer imaging technology. (Van Gogh reputedly cut off the ear, himself, in 1888 during a psychotic episode.) Visitors can also speak into the ear and listen to sounds it receives. [Wall Street Journal, 6-4-2014]
Researchers from the Polish Academy of Sciences, writing recently in the journal Zoo Biology, reported witnessing 28 acts of fellatio by two orphaned male bears at a sanctuary in Kurerevo, Croatia--the first-ever report of bear fellatio and the payoff from 116 hours of scientific observation over a six-year period. In each case, the researchers wrote, the older male was the receiver, and the researchers speculated that the episodes were less sexual in nature than a reflection of the bears’ “early deprivation of maternal suckling.” [LiveScience.com, 6-17-2014]
Defective Animals
(1) A black-and-white housecat, Lenny, was turned back to a shelter near Rochester, N.Y., in April, only two days after adoption because the new owner could not tolerate Lenny’s flatulence. (A braver second adopter, even though “warned,” has taken Lenny in successfully.) (2) When three parrots were stolen from a home in Saxilby, England, in June, the owner provided police their descriptions, even though all three are African greys, and quite talkative, and look very much alike. One of the three, however, has asthma and is easily recognized by his chronic cough. (3) Miles Jelf of Bristol, England, was seeking financial help in April to cover surgery for his hard-luck tortoise, Cedric, whose prolapsed penis (likely from a mating mishap) constantly drags on the ground, partially erect. [Democrat & Chronicle (Rochester), 4-9-2014] [BBC News, 6-8-2014] [Daily Mail (London), 4-18-2014]
The Fine Points of the Law
Paul Stenstrom, 62, lived comfortably in his Palm Harbor, Fla., home from 2002-2014 without paying a penny of his $1,836 monthly mortgage bill, exploiting federal bankruptcy law that forces foreclosing creditors to back off once a debtor files for protection. Stenstrom and his wife filed 18 separate petitions in that 12-year period, according to an April Tampa Bay Times report, until a judge recently cut them off. The Stenstroms were spotted recently preparing to relocate--but Stenstrom said he was considering buying the Palm Harbor house back (since the price has dropped because of the foreclosure). [Tampa Bay Times, 4-12-2014]
Leading Economic Indicators
Several “professional organizers” in New York City told a New York Post reporter in May that this summer is far busier than in years past for clients who need help packing their kids’ trunks for summer camp. One consultant, who charges $250 an hour, said it is as if moms fear that the slightest change from home life will stress out their little darlings. Some mothers’ attention to details includes packing the same luxury bedding the campers sleep on at home, along with their special soap and candles and even separate plastic boxes to provide the cuties more storage space. [New York Post, 5-23-2014]
First-World Sales Launches: (1) Daneson (an Ontario “purveyor of fine toothpicks”) recently introduced $35.99 “Artisanal Toothpicks” (that’s per dozen, in “Single Malt” and other exotic flavors) for the discriminating dental raker. The lemon-flavored picks are a bargain at only $19.99 yet made from the same “finest quality Northern White Birch,” “prepared according to exacting recipes.” (2) The Skin By Molly salon in Brooklyn (and by now, perhaps, competitors) offers “facials” for the derriere (occasioned by a recent social-media fascination with “bum selfies.”) Molly’s is the “Shiney Hiney Facial” ($65 for a 30-minute treatment), important because, she says, “Acne can flare up anywhere.” [Gothamist, 5-22-2014] [Huffington Post UK, 5-23-2014]
Least Competent Criminals
(1) A “stocky” man in his 30s wearing a Cincinnati Reds baseball cap was sought in New York City in June after holding up five banks in the space of about 3-1/2 hours but earning a total of only $449 (still, an average of $128 an hour). (Actually, $399 came from one Chase branch and $50 from another; three banks had shooed him away empty-handed.) (2) Notorious San Diego, Calif., tagger Francisco Canseco, 18, was present in a downtown courtroom in June for a hearing on 31 misdemeanor paint-vandalism charges and apparently could not contain his boredom. While waiting (as officials discovered only the next day), Canseco managed to tag numerous chairs in the courtroom, along with benches in the hallway. (Vandalism of a courthouse is a felony.) [New York Daily News, 6-17-2014] [San Diego Union-Tribune, 6-17-2014]
Update
It turns out (contrary to a report in News of the Weird on April 20th) that Dayton, Ohio, transit driver Rickey Wagoner was not saved by the religious book in his pocket that absorbed a bullet from an attack by “three black teenagers.” After a thorough investigation, the Dayton police chief told reporters in June that Wagoner’s allegations were “unfounded” and “fabricated.” The chief reported that Wagoner was under financial stress at the time but declined to speculate further, though he did reassure the community that no such attackers were being sought. [Dayton Daily News, 6-20-2014]
New World Order
Plant City (Fla.) High School near Tampa announced that its 2014 valedictorian, Ms. Dhara Patel, had graduated with a grade-point average of 10.03. She not only vanquished the students who had fought for the formerly-coveted 4.0, but she aced her heavy load of the ultra-competitive “advanced placement” courses for extra credit. [WTVT (Tampa), 5-13-2014]
Thanks This Week to Justin Warner and Candy Clouston, and to the News of the Weird Board of Editorial Advisors.
Weirdnuz.M378, July 6, 2014
Copyright 2014 by Chuck Shepherd. All rights reserved.
Lead Story
California Polytechnic State University at San Luis Obispo has a huge, 350-student “viticulture and enology” program, preparing its majors for an industry critical to the state’s economy (and with a venerable international cachet)--but puritanical state law continues to hobble it. Many in Cal Poly’s four-year wine-making program must arrange for a fifth year--after they turn 21--because, otherwise, faculty and administrators could be felons for “furnishing alcohol to a minor” when they assign students to taste their own class creations. The current California legislative session is considering allowing underage wine-making students to sip and spit. [San Luis Obispo Tribune, 6-20-2014]
Science on the Cutting Edge
On dairy farms across the country, cows bizarrely queue up, without prodding, to milk themselves by submitting to $250,000 robots that are recently the salvation of the industry. According to an April New York Times report, this advance appears to be “win-win” (except for migrant labor’s watching choice jobs disappear)--more efficient for the farmer and more pleasant for the cow, which, constantly pregnant, usually prefers frequent milking. Amazingly, cows have learned the drill, moseying up to the precise spot to engage the robot’s arms for washing and nipple-cupping. The robots also yield copious data tracked from transponders worn around the cow’s neck. [New York Times, 4-22-2014]
Argentine agricultural scientists in 2008 created the “methane backpack” to collect the emissions of grazing cows (with a tube from the cow’s rumen to the inflatable bag) in order to see how much of the world’s greenhouse-gas problem was created by livestock. Having learned that (It’s 25-30 percent), the country’s National Institute of Agricultural Technology announced recently that it will start storing the collected methane to convert to energy. In a “proof of concept” hypothesis, it estimates, for example, that about 300 liters of methane could power a refrigerator for 24 hours. [Fast Company, 4-15-2014]
Scientists Just Wanna Have Fun
Bioengineers who work with Dictyostelium slime molds held the “Dicty World Race” in Boston in May for a $5,000 prize and intellectual adulation in August at the Annual International Dictyostelium Conference in Potsdam, Germany. The molds oozed down the 800-micrometer (0.0315 inches) track, lured to the finish line by ordinary bacteria that the molds normally enjoy. A team from the Netherlands beat out 19 others for the coveted prize. (Among the other “games” scientists play, mentioned in the same Nature.com story, is the “Prisoners’ Smellemma,” in which players mix obscure samples in a test tube and smell the result to guess what their opponent used.) [Nature, 5-7-2014]
Artist Diemut Strebe offered his 3-D-printed re-creation of the famous ear of Vincent van Gogh for display in June and July in a museum in Karlsruhe, Germany--having built it partially with genes from a great-great-grandson/nephew of van Gogh--and in the same shape, based on computer imaging technology. (Van Gogh reputedly cut off the ear, himself, in 1888 during a psychotic episode.) Visitors can also speak into the ear and listen to sounds it receives. [Wall Street Journal, 6-4-2014]
Researchers from the Polish Academy of Sciences, writing recently in the journal Zoo Biology, reported witnessing 28 acts of fellatio by two orphaned male bears at a sanctuary in Kurerevo, Croatia--the first-ever report of bear fellatio and the payoff from 116 hours of scientific observation over a six-year period. In each case, the researchers wrote, the older male was the receiver, and the researchers speculated that the episodes were less sexual in nature than a reflection of the bears’ “early deprivation of maternal suckling.” [LiveScience.com, 6-17-2014]
Defective Animals
(1) A black-and-white housecat, Lenny, was turned back to a shelter near Rochester, N.Y., in April, only two days after adoption because the new owner could not tolerate Lenny’s flatulence. (A braver second adopter, even though “warned,” has taken Lenny in successfully.) (2) When three parrots were stolen from a home in Saxilby, England, in June, the owner provided police their descriptions, even though all three are African greys, and quite talkative, and look very much alike. One of the three, however, has asthma and is easily recognized by his chronic cough. (3) Miles Jelf of Bristol, England, was seeking financial help in April to cover surgery for his hard-luck tortoise, Cedric, whose prolapsed penis (likely from a mating mishap) constantly drags on the ground, partially erect. [Democrat & Chronicle (Rochester), 4-9-2014] [BBC News, 6-8-2014] [Daily Mail (London), 4-18-2014]
The Fine Points of the Law
Paul Stenstrom, 62, lived comfortably in his Palm Harbor, Fla., home from 2002-2014 without paying a penny of his $1,836 monthly mortgage bill, exploiting federal bankruptcy law that forces foreclosing creditors to back off once a debtor files for protection. Stenstrom and his wife filed 18 separate petitions in that 12-year period, according to an April Tampa Bay Times report, until a judge recently cut them off. The Stenstroms were spotted recently preparing to relocate--but Stenstrom said he was considering buying the Palm Harbor house back (since the price has dropped because of the foreclosure). [Tampa Bay Times, 4-12-2014]
Leading Economic Indicators
Several “professional organizers” in New York City told a New York Post reporter in May that this summer is far busier than in years past for clients who need help packing their kids’ trunks for summer camp. One consultant, who charges $250 an hour, said it is as if moms fear that the slightest change from home life will stress out their little darlings. Some mothers’ attention to details includes packing the same luxury bedding the campers sleep on at home, along with their special soap and candles and even separate plastic boxes to provide the cuties more storage space. [New York Post, 5-23-2014]
First-World Sales Launches: (1) Daneson (an Ontario “purveyor of fine toothpicks”) recently introduced $35.99 “Artisanal Toothpicks” (that’s per dozen, in “Single Malt” and other exotic flavors) for the discriminating dental raker. The lemon-flavored picks are a bargain at only $19.99 yet made from the same “finest quality Northern White Birch,” “prepared according to exacting recipes.” (2) The Skin By Molly salon in Brooklyn (and by now, perhaps, competitors) offers “facials” for the derriere (occasioned by a recent social-media fascination with “bum selfies.”) Molly’s is the “Shiney Hiney Facial” ($65 for a 30-minute treatment), important because, she says, “Acne can flare up anywhere.” [Gothamist, 5-22-2014] [Huffington Post UK, 5-23-2014]
Least Competent Criminals
(1) A “stocky” man in his 30s wearing a Cincinnati Reds baseball cap was sought in New York City in June after holding up five banks in the space of about 3-1/2 hours but earning a total of only $449 (still, an average of $128 an hour). (Actually, $399 came from one Chase branch and $50 from another; three banks had shooed him away empty-handed.) (2) Notorious San Diego, Calif., tagger Francisco Canseco, 18, was present in a downtown courtroom in June for a hearing on 31 misdemeanor paint-vandalism charges and apparently could not contain his boredom. While waiting (as officials discovered only the next day), Canseco managed to tag numerous chairs in the courtroom, along with benches in the hallway. (Vandalism of a courthouse is a felony.) [New York Daily News, 6-17-2014] [San Diego Union-Tribune, 6-17-2014]
Update
It turns out (contrary to a report in News of the Weird on April 20th) that Dayton, Ohio, transit driver Rickey Wagoner was not saved by the religious book in his pocket that absorbed a bullet from an attack by “three black teenagers.” After a thorough investigation, the Dayton police chief told reporters in June that Wagoner’s allegations were “unfounded” and “fabricated.” The chief reported that Wagoner was under financial stress at the time but declined to speculate further, though he did reassure the community that no such attackers were being sought. [Dayton Daily News, 6-20-2014]
New World Order
Plant City (Fla.) High School near Tampa announced that its 2014 valedictorian, Ms. Dhara Patel, had graduated with a grade-point average of 10.03. She not only vanquished the students who had fought for the formerly-coveted 4.0, but she aced her heavy load of the ultra-competitive “advanced placement” courses for extra credit. [WTVT (Tampa), 5-13-2014]
Thanks This Week to Justin Warner and Candy Clouston, and to the News of the Weird Board of Editorial Advisors.
Comments
I read about development of the robotic milking machines a long time ago. Glad to see it's finally being implemented. The milk is supposedly better, too, because being milked only twice a day causes stress which affects milk quality.
I wonder if the same tech could be applied to insert a collection tube in their rear to pump out the methane. I've been told that their copious gas is one of the worst parts of milking cows.
I wonder if the same tech could be applied to insert a collection tube in their rear to pump out the methane. I've been told that their copious gas is one of the worst parts of milking cows.
Posted by Phideaux on 07/06/14 at 06:15 PM
The worst part of milking cows (when I assisted a farmer when I was about 15) is getting shat on. Seriously. You work in a trench between two rows of cow-posteriors. You develop a 6th sense very quickly.
I don't understand the American GPA system at all. How can a score considered to be "high" be beaten by 250%?
I don't understand the American GPA system at all. How can a score considered to be "high" be beaten by 250%?
Posted by Sebastian on 07/06/14 at 06:59 PM
Crud, 150%. Oh irony.
Posted by Sebastian on 07/06/14 at 08:42 PM
RE; Least competent criminals. I disagree. If he doesn't get caught, he has $449 TAX FREE.
Posted by BMN on 07/06/14 at 11:31 PM
Calf. Wine Class Letting intelligence get in the way of progress is, most definitely, against all that bureaucracy stands for!
Milk Bots "Calf. has been a hold out". Really? The 8M ILLEGALS in Mexafornia need jobs too!
Cow Farts And the gazillion buffalo that used to roam the prairie and the bazillion grass eating critters in Africa aren't doing what?
Dicty World Race What, no replay of the action?!?
Bears Suck Get'chur freak on!
Paul Stenstrom When lawyers also write the laws this @@#$@$ happens! Loopholes make $$$ for them.
Professional Organizers When you breed for stupid and educate to the level of idiot what do you expect?
Toothpicks & Butts Why are these two stories together again? Just askin'.
Dhara Patel But, when did she have time to be a kid?
Thanks, Chuck!
Milk Bots "Calf. has been a hold out". Really? The 8M ILLEGALS in Mexafornia need jobs too!
Cow Farts And the gazillion buffalo that used to roam the prairie and the bazillion grass eating critters in Africa aren't doing what?
Dicty World Race What, no replay of the action?!?
Bears Suck Get'chur freak on!
Paul Stenstrom When lawyers also write the laws this @@#$@$ happens! Loopholes make $$$ for them.
Professional Organizers When you breed for stupid and educate to the level of idiot what do you expect?
Toothpicks & Butts Why are these two stories together again? Just askin'.
Dhara Patel But, when did she have time to be a kid?
Thanks, Chuck!
Posted by Expat47 in Athens, Greece on 07/07/14 at 12:53 AM
Auto milking and flatulence gathering- I'm thinking they could combine the two for efficiency.
ear- Someone always manages to find something stupid to waste new technology on.
bear bjs- Wonder what the picture on the belly of THAT care bear would be!
turtle- The poor thing, that must be painful.
foreclosure- People like that hurt poor people trying to hang on to their homes during bad financial times damn it.
rich kids camp/toothpicks- Rich people are ridiculous sometimes.
10.03- Good for her!
There we go, now it is where it belongs!
ear- Someone always manages to find something stupid to waste new technology on.
bear bjs- Wonder what the picture on the belly of THAT care bear would be!
turtle- The poor thing, that must be painful.
foreclosure- People like that hurt poor people trying to hang on to their homes during bad financial times damn it.
rich kids camp/toothpicks- Rich people are ridiculous sometimes.
10.03- Good for her!
There we go, now it is where it belongs!
Posted by Patty in Ohio, USA on 07/07/14 at 07:02 PM
Wine class: You blame it on state laws, but isn't your older-for-a-glass-than-for-a-bullet law imposed by the federal gibberment?
Cow Farts: Expat: no, both because the cows get a special diet to make as much milk as possible and stand around in a field all day, while buffalo eat whatever they can get and move around all year long, and because there are more cattle than wild buffalo (and the cattle are even larger).
Milking robots: We've had those for years. Then again, IIRC they were invented here.
Skin by Molly: That's not a facial, then. Arsial?
Cow Farts: Expat: no, both because the cows get a special diet to make as much milk as possible and stand around in a field all day, while buffalo eat whatever they can get and move around all year long, and because there are more cattle than wild buffalo (and the cattle are even larger).
Milking robots: We've had those for years. Then again, IIRC they were invented here.
Skin by Molly: That's not a facial, then. Arsial?
Posted by Richard Bos on 07/08/14 at 07:22 AM
@Rich: I was speaking in the past tense and, anyhow, cows that graze also produce ponderous amounts of gas.
Posted by Expat47 in Athens, Greece on 07/08/14 at 09:25 AM
How do dairy owners avoid expenses for robots damaged by cows kicking them? Many a dairy worker has suffered injuries from angry bovines. The venerable metaphor for death, "to kick the bucket", stems from the tradition of sending repeat offenders to the butcher.
Posted by Angie unduplicated on 07/08/14 at 12:10 PM
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