The Tech Revolution
The California Public Utilities Commission voted in early August to allow Cruise and Waymo to offer paid driverless rides to customers during the day, The New York Times reported. On Aug. 15, as Paul Harvey, 74, looked on, a Cruise vehicle in San Francisco drove into a city paving project and became stuck in wet concrete. “I thought it was funny,” Harvey said. “It illustrated how creepy and weird the whole thing is to me.” Rachel Gordon with the San Francisco Department of Public Works noted that no one was hurt, but added, “That portion of the road has to be repaved at Cruise’s expense.” Paul Leonardi, a professor of technology management at the University of California, Santa Barbara, chalked up the experience to a teaching moment: “It needs to experience a diverse set of use cases so it can learn, and driving into wet concrete is one of those use cases.” [NY Times, 8/17/2023]
Clothing Optional
At Stoke Fruit Farm on Hayling Island in England, the sunflowers have been in full bloom for several weeks. The colorful fields offer a perfect background for photo shoots, but, the BBC reported, the farm has seen an “increase of reports of naked photography taking place” since July 28. “People are having fun and taking pictures for their Instagram but we just ask that they keep their clothes on,” said Sam Wilson, who runs the site. In an Aug. 11 Facebook post, the attraction cautioned that “this must not happen during our public sessions please.” One commenter said her son “got a right eyeful” after stumbling across a woman wearing just a thong. “Should have seen his face!” [BBC, 8/17/2023]
It’s (Not) a Mystery
When the European Space Agency shared a composite photo taken by the James Webb Telescope in late July, highlighting two actively forming stars, another shape in the photo caught the attention of Earth-bound gazers: an orange formation in the shape of a question mark. Kai Noeske, ESA communication program officer, explained to NPR what scientists think the shape is: “a group or a chance alignment of two or three galaxies. The upper part of the question mark looks like a distorted spiral galaxy, maybe merging with a second galaxy.” Galaxy mergers result in “all kinds of beautiful shapes and structures,” said Macarena Garcia Marin, a Webb project scientist. They are “a normal phase in the life and evolution of galaxies.” [NPR, 8/17/2023]
Questionable Judgment
An unnamed man called his dangerous stunt “a joke” after being arrested in Ostrobothnia, Finland, Sky News reported on Aug. 9. The man allegedly stored 26 pounds of dynamite in his friend’s two cars before calling the owner and telling him. The owner wasn’t laughing: He alerted police, who evacuated nearby buildings. “In addition to the dynamite, detonators were also confiscated from the cars,” said Tony Rauma, detective chief inspector with the Ostrobothnia Police. The jokester told police he did not intend to blow up the cars, and links to terrorism have been ruled out. [Sky News, 8/9/2023]
Bright Idea
Officials in New Delhi, India, are preparing for the G20 summit next week, and no detail has been left unaddressed, Reuters reported. For example: Rhesus monkeys are a menace on many of the city’s streets, often attacking pedestrians. The monkeys cannot be harmed or removed by law, so the government has installed life-size cutouts of langurs — bigger primates with black faces — around the city to scare the monkeys away. The New Delhi Municipal Council has also employed “30 to 40” people who mock the langurs’ sounds so that the monkeys will believe they are real. “We … are already seeing a positive impact,” said Satish Upadhyay, the vice-chairman of the NDMC. [Reuters, 8/31/2023]
Send your weird news items with subject line WEIRD NEWS to WeirdNewsTips@amuniversal.com.
News of the Weird is now a podcast on all major platforms! To find out more, visit newsoftheweirdpodcast.com.
NEWS OF THE WEIRD
© 2023 Andrews McMeel Syndication.
Reprinted with permission.
All rights reserved.
