Cheeky
Rawiya Al-Qasimi, a female reporter, was covering an event in Riyadh on March 4 when a Saudi Arabian robot called Android Muhammad unexpectedly slapped her posterior during a live shot, the Daily Star reported. Al-Qasimi pushed the robot’s hand away and rebuked him. Before the untoward touching, Android Muhammad introduced himself, saying, “I was manufactured and developed here in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as a national project to demonstrate our achievements in the field of artificial intelligence.” Ironically, had he been a real man, he might have faced jail time for his inappropriate behavior. [Daily Star, 3/7/2024]
Maybe She’s Onto Something
Spanish artist Alicia Framis, now based in Amsterdam, has created the perfect husband: a hologram that she designed and named AILex Sibouwlingen, whom she modeled on past paramours, according to EuroNews. Framis plans to marry him this summer at a museum in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. On her Instagram page, Framis shares photos and videos of herself and AILex sharing meals and other elements of daily life. “Love and sex with robots and holograms are an inevitable reality,” Framis said. “They are great companions and capable of expressing empathy.” [EuroNews, 3/1/2024]
Truth Is Stranger Than Netflix
Loreen Bea Feralo, 55, and Karen Casbohm, 63, were charged with theft and gross abuse of a corpse after allegedly carrying out a Weekend at Bernie’s stunt in Ashtabula, Ohio, The Smoking Gun reported. On March 4, police said, Feralo and Casbohm — who were not related to Douglas Layman, 80, but lived in his home — loaded his corpse into the front seat of a car “in such a manner that he would be visible to bank staff” and drove through his bank, where they used his card to withdraw $900. The bank had allowed the women to withdraw from his account before, as long as he was with him. Having secured the funds, the women then dropped Layman’s body at the Ashtabula County Medical Center emergency room “without providing any information about the man or themselves,” police said. They were able to identify the women and question them. The women, both of whom have significant priors, said Layman died at home. [The Smoking Gun, 3/7/2024]
Creme de la Weird
Arthur “Jack” Schubarth, 80, of Vaughn, Montana, pleaded guilty on March 12 to two felony wildlife crimes after the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks conducted a yearslong investigation, Business Insider reported. Schubarth was accused of buying, selling, and breeding “alternative” livestock, such as mountain sheep and mountain goats, for captive hunting operations. Between 2013 and 2021, court documents said, he conspired with others to create a large hybrid species of sheep that would garner higher prices from shooting preserves. To do so, he brought parts of Marco Polo argali sheep from Kyrgyzstan to the U.S. without declaring them. His other crimes include forging veterinary documents and shipping hybrid semen to other breeders. He faces jail time, fines, and supervised release. [Business Insider, 3/14/2024]
Recurring Theme
It’s baaaackkk. In the waning days of 2020, a tall silver monolith popped up in various locations in California, Texas, Romania, and elsewhere. Now, Wales Online reports, it’s back. The 10-foot-tall tower, which appears to be stainless steel, turned up near Hay-on-Wye in Wales around March 10, when Richard Haynes came across it while he was out for a run. “I thought it … might be a scientific media research thing collecting rainwater. But then I realized it was way too tall and strange for that. It was hollow and I imagine … light enough for two people to carry it up and plant it in the ground,” Haynes said. Stay tuned. [Wales Online, 3/11/2024]
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NEWS OF THE WEIRD
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