What a Weird Week gets you caught up on the weird news of the week. https://www.
(Begin episode transcript) Hi Friends, I'm Scott. This is What a Weird Week where we catch you up on the weird news of the week. For transcript/ shownotes/ podcast stuff see www.shownotes.page! Here's Season 5, Episode 14 first published on Friday April 5th 2024
❿ Number 10 this week is from Hoops Hooper, the Weird News Guru at UPI. It's a story about something that happened a few weeks ago to this family in Naples, Florida. Alejandro Otero was on the news. Wink News interviewed him about the weird thing that happened. The headline is "Object that crashed through Florida roof may have come from the International Space Station." At time of recording NASA is still looking into this. It's a two pound object. Looks like a, I mean, definitely manufactured, not just a rock or something. Some sort of cylinder-like object. And it came smashing through Alejandro Otero's roof. According to the folks at Wink News, this isn't from an airplane. They checked on that. And also, the same day this happened, there were reports of other space debris falling to Earth. It's weird, but also scary because somebody was home at the time. The homeowner's son was in the house! and this piece of debris went through the roof and another floor of the house. Like, there's no coming back from that if you're in harm's way and the space debris comes smashing through your roof. I don't want to think about that too much because... there's space debris... over all of us. Should we head down into the bunker yet? idk.
❾ From India Today, the story of a bear that escaped a zoo. It's been a little while since we had a bear story. We've featured bears ringing doorbells and waiting for people to answer the door so they could eat them. That's what I theorize. The bears are certainly sneaky and intelligent you guys (based on the news articles that we've featured). So this one from India Today broke on April the first and it's always hard to trust a news story that comes out on April the first, but this one appears to be legit about a zoo in India where the bear escaped... and listen to what happened... they had like a storm... a windstorm and a tree falls and it fell in such a way in the bear's enclosure that the bear was able to use that tree, that fallen tree trunk, to climb to freedom. Now, at time of recording, this bear is still on the loose. They are armed with tranquilizer guns. They've closed the zoo. They're putting traps around. It is Operation Find the Bear right now. That's where we're at with this one. I'll tell you one thing, they're gonna have to rethink having trees in bear enclosures. Right?
I've seen the penguins of Madagascar documentary. Those animals, they can get organized at the zoo and they can just start knocking trees over and escaping willy-nilly. Now we're gonna need the trees at the zoo to also be in cages I guess.
I've seen the penguins of Madagascar documentary. Those animals, they can get organized at the zoo and they can just start knocking trees over and escaping willy-nilly. Now we're gonna need the trees at the zoo to also be in cages I guess.
Next.. a literal game changer about flipping a coin... and the gathering of kyles!
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The Top Ten Weird News Stories of the Week: this is What a Weird Week. 
The Top Ten Weird News Stories of the Week: this is What a Weird Week.
❽ It's another one from Hoops Hooper, a story that came out last fall, but Hoops did an article on it this week. Coin tosses. This one didn't get a lot of coverage when it came out in the fall, but the research indicates, well, it's game-changing research. Literally game-changing research, because apparently when you flip a coin, it's not 50-50 odds. I mean, they get into it, there are hundreds of thousands of coin flips that were documented. And different kinds of currency. It's not all, you know, one certain coin or whatever. And essentially, it's a tiny bit more likely that you're going to end up on whatever the coin starts at. So if you look at the coin and it's heads, it's showing heads, it's slightly more likely that that coin will end up, after you flip it, it'll end up heads again. Like 50.8% more likely. So it's close to 50-50, but not exactly. Why it happens needs to be figured out and harnessed!
❼ Kyle, Texas back in the news. We talked about this before. For the last five years, Kyle Texas has been attempting to set a world record with their gathering of Kyles. And the record is people with the same name in the same place, the most people with the same name in the same place at once. They tried the Ryan rodeo in Austin, Texas awhile ago. We talked about that one too... where they tried to get all the Ryans together and they couldn't quite get enough for a world record. The current record holder is the event that had for all the people named Ivan in Europe. Right now there's European dominance with this same name world record. So, Kyle, Texas, they are hoping that this is the year. If your name is Kyle or you know someone who's named Kyle, let's book that flight to Kyle, Texas and let's get this done. Last year they almost had 1500 Kyles at the Gathering of Kyle's. But that's not enough. The Ivans have it right now. All 2300 and something Ivans is the world record. So we got to beat that. I'm kind of pulling for the Kyle, Texas folks because it's been five years, five years of no wins. And that can be frustrating. So Gathering of Kyle's! May 18th, Kyle, Texas!!
such a Kyle thing to do
Next... the eclipse food that's been in the news...
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This is What a Weird Week. Thanks for listening and subscribing.
❺ This is the weirdest snake story you're going to hear all week.
A pet snake that had been missing for a year then shows up... and how it showed up... and where it showed up is Absolutely Bonkers. This is a story out of the UK. The snake is named Agnus. Agnus the pet corn snake which had been missing for a year and then turned up on top of the neighbor's garage after it was dropped by a crow. After a year, the snake gets dropped by a crow onto the neighbor's garage!? Like, what? At first they didn't know this was Agnus. It was just, hey, a bird dropped a snake on our roof. Upon further investigation, the neighbor was like, is this Agnus? It was Agnus.
It's an amazing story of snake survival.
For photos and more, see our show notes.
This is What a Weird Week. Thanks for listening and subscribing.
❻ Eclipse Flavored Sun Chips in the news...
The promotion department at SunChips® has got the brand in the news with a limited-edition flavor that will be given away during the total eclipse... which is 4 minutes and 27 seconds... the new flavor is Solar Eclipse Limited-Edition Pineapple Habanero and Black Bean Spicy Gouda. Yum? From the press release: " Beginning at 1:33 p.m. CT on April 8, as the eclipse casts its shadow over U.S. soil, eager fans can get their hands on the new flavor at SunChipsSolarEclipse.com while supplies last." They hired an astronaut to help them celebrate the solar/ snack event.
The promotion department at SunChips® has got the brand in the news with a limited-edition flavor that will be given away during the total eclipse... which is 4 minutes and 27 seconds... the new flavor is Solar Eclipse Limited-Edition Pineapple Habanero and Black Bean Spicy Gouda. Yum? From the press release: " Beginning at 1:33 p.m. CT on April 8, as the eclipse casts its shadow over U.S. soil, eager fans can get their hands on the new flavor at SunChipsSolarEclipse.com while supplies last." They hired an astronaut to help them celebrate the solar/ snack event.
A pet snake that had been missing for a year then shows up... and how it showed up... and where it showed up is Absolutely Bonkers. This is a story out of the UK. The snake is named Agnus. Agnus the pet corn snake which had been missing for a year and then turned up on top of the neighbor's garage after it was dropped by a crow. After a year, the snake gets dropped by a crow onto the neighbor's garage!? Like, what? At first they didn't know this was Agnus. It was just, hey, a bird dropped a snake on our roof. Upon further investigation, the neighbor was like, is this Agnus? It was Agnus.
It's an amazing story of snake survival.
For photos and more, see our show notes.
Next... more weirdness in the sky this week... and the coolest bacteria shoes you'll ever own!
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You're listening to the What a Weird Week Program. It's weird news!
You're listening to the What a Weird Week Program. It's weird news!
❹ This is from ABC7. Another mysterious thing in the sky... the headline: "Streaking lights that lit up SoCal night sky were caused by Chinese space junk reentry, experts say." For a while, people didn't know what the heck was going on in the sky above them. When you see the footage, it looks like a shooting star or something like that, except it doesn't burn out. It just goes and goes and goes. So of course... therefore aliens. It looked like multiple fireballs and people got some great footage... a number of people thought it was space debris from a SpaceX launch... that was ruled out upon more investigation... People online are pretty much now saying it was older space junk from a Chinese space module.
❸ If you're like me and you wear shoes, this one might be interesting for you. An article came out this week from PopSci and it's about shoes made from bacteria. Listen, they're not the greatest looking shoes I've ever seen, but I'm no fashionista. I wear Crocs a lot. If they could get bacteria Crocs going, I'm in. Because it's sustainable, it's gonna save the planet if we all wear bacteria shoes. That's sort of me paraphrasing the science involved in the bacteria shoes article from POPSci. The textile industry can be hard on the planet and hard on our resources. So they're figuring out a way to grow bacteria cellulose material which could be a leather substitute and better for the environment than plastic. Listen, some of the very expensive shoes that are bad for the environment aren't any better looking than these bacteria shoes. Have a look at the photos. ShowNotes dot page.
Next...the luckiest salmon in the world?
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We're almost to the number one weird story of the week... this is the What a Weird Week Show.
We're almost to the number one weird story of the week... this is the What a Weird Week Show.
❷ The salmon truck crash that was in the news... this headline from the BBC: "Truck crash spills live salmon into wrong river." This is from Oregon, United States of America, a truck that was carrying live salmon, crashed before it got to its destination where the live salmon were going to be released. But where the truck crashed, there was a creek... LookingGlass Creek... and seventy-some thousand of the salmon made it into the creek... and now the experts say some of those salmon are gonna return to spawn in Lookingglass Creek. *not all the fish made it. *And the driver did sustain minor injuries. *Driver's gonna be okay.
The fact that this crash could have occurred, the fish could have been, you know, in the middle of a highway or something... But instead, the way the crash occurred, many of the fish made it to the water. What are the odds of that? When they make the movie version of this, it's gonna be a scene where the driver at the last minute knows he's going to crash and he's like, "I got to get the fish into the water. If I can just swerve a certain way, the fish will land in the water." That scene writes itself pretty much.
The fact that this crash could have occurred, the fish could have been, you know, in the middle of a highway or something... But instead, the way the crash occurred, many of the fish made it to the water. What are the odds of that? When they make the movie version of this, it's gonna be a scene where the driver at the last minute knows he's going to crash and he's like, "I got to get the fish into the water. If I can just swerve a certain way, the fish will land in the water." That scene writes itself pretty much.
🍅 Music that makes pasta taste better? The folks at Barilla Pasta have commissioned an award-winning composer and an experimental psychologist to create music for specific types of pasta... Like they did a composition for spaghetti, they did a composition for rigatoni, a number of different pastas... And according to this article, it's supposed to make the pasta taste better. Essentially, I'm kind of paraphrasing, they get into like the overall experience of eating the pasta. I'm trying to do a deep dive on this article and then I realize... it really reads to me like a publicity stunt. I'll link to the whole thing in the show notes. And I'll link to the music if you want to enjoy the pasta tunes. They have a Spotify. I gotta say, I am such a loud breather, a gasper, and loud chewer that I'm not gonna hear any music. Anybody around me will say, "All we can hear is you chewing, Scott. Turn up the music louder," you know? So I don't know if this is gonna work for everyone.
🍅 Another honorable mention that was all over the news this week is how they want to have moon standard time... So we'll all know what time it is on the moon/ We can all be on the same page as to what time it is on the moon when somebody on the moon walks up to you and says, "Do you know what time it is?" ... then you'll b able to say with confidence, yes, I do, because NASA has developed lunar time. That's kind of the whole story, I mean... as more and more missions to the moon are in the news, people are gonna need to know what time it is. I recommend #MoonO'clock as one of the times on the moon clock.
Next...number one... a world record you could try this weekend but idk you guys...
♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫Catch up on the weird news of the week with What a Weird Week.
❶ The Top story this week is a result of April Fool's Day. This one's kind of a funny story that was picked up by a lot of official news orgs, but I do have some skepticism about this story. First, here's what happened...
a business in the Philippines described as a food shop, posted on their social media, "Hey, we've got this prize money if you get our logo tattooed on your forehead!" (paraphrase) Prize money amount would be roughly $2400 American. Well, somebody did it. Somebody tattooed the logo on their forehead and then commented, "Hey, I did it. Here's a photo. Where my money at?" (paraphrasing.) Then the food shop deleted their original post/ Put up another post saying, "Hey! April Fool's Day. It was a prank." (paraphrase). Then people started feeling bad for the forehead tattoo fellow, and some other businesses stepped up and said, "We'll give you money. Take our money. Because money will make you feel better, and maybe if you get enough you can have the tattoo removed." (I don't know, those are all me speculating the thoughts of the businesses.) So a lot of people got some publicity out of this. Some publicity good, some publicity bad. Here's where I'm suspicious... Did all of it really happen that way? If the same thing happened to you, if you were in need of money and you saw some local shop advertising that they would pay you money to get their logo tattooed on your forehead, wouldn't you be a little skeptical? Wouldn't you double check before booking your tattoo appointment? Wouldn't you check the calendar? Is today perhaps a day for pranks and hijinks? Wouldn't you? But then we have photos of the tattoo, the forehead tattoo. I just don't know. I have too many questions on this one, but I love a good mystery and I love a good forehead tattoo. I haven't found one right for me yet so I haven't made that commitment myself personally, but... Anyway, good one to wrap things up this week, and so that is that.
❶ The Top story this week is a result of April Fool's Day. This one's kind of a funny story that was picked up by a lot of official news orgs, but I do have some skepticism about this story. First, here's what happened...
a business in the Philippines described as a food shop, posted on their social media, "Hey, we've got this prize money if you get our logo tattooed on your forehead!" (paraphrase) Prize money amount would be roughly $2400 American. Well, somebody did it. Somebody tattooed the logo on their forehead and then commented, "Hey, I did it. Here's a photo. Where my money at?" (paraphrasing.) Then the food shop deleted their original post/ Put up another post saying, "Hey! April Fool's Day. It was a prank." (paraphrase). Then people started feeling bad for the forehead tattoo fellow, and some other businesses stepped up and said, "We'll give you money. Take our money. Because money will make you feel better, and maybe if you get enough you can have the tattoo removed." (I don't know, those are all me speculating the thoughts of the businesses.) So a lot of people got some publicity out of this. Some publicity good, some publicity bad. Here's where I'm suspicious... Did all of it really happen that way? If the same thing happened to you, if you were in need of money and you saw some local shop advertising that they would pay you money to get their logo tattooed on your forehead, wouldn't you be a little skeptical? Wouldn't you double check before booking your tattoo appointment? Wouldn't you check the calendar? Is today perhaps a day for pranks and hijinks? Wouldn't you? But then we have photos of the tattoo, the forehead tattoo. I just don't know. I have too many questions on this one, but I love a good mystery and I love a good forehead tattoo. I haven't found one right for me yet so I haven't made that commitment myself personally, but... Anyway, good one to wrap things up this week, and so that is that.
... that's the show for this week... For Shownotes and more go to ShowNotes Dot Page or search "What a Weird Week" wherever you get podcasts. Every weekend you can hear the show on Fun House Radio. Ask your smart speaker to
play Fun House Radio or see the link on our Shownotes Page. See you next week for another countdown of weird news.
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