A new study by Queen’s University in Belfast, Northern Ireland shows that right-handedness is popular among female cats. Researchers worked with cat owners, collecting data on 24 male and 20 female domesticated cats. In a press released, the research team stated that they tracked when cats used their left or right paws when going up or down stairs, over objects, and whether they slept on the left or right side of their body. Male cats showed a strong preference for their left paws, while females gravitated towards their right. One explanation for this paw discrepancy is hormones and brain structures between the sexes, but the team cannot definitely conclude this without further research.
The Doc Brown of Montreal
A man in Montreal didn’t discover time travel, but did play an elaborate prank on local police. The man created a replica of a DeLorean (aka Doc Brown’s time machine from Back to the Future), out of snow and ice. He built the sculpture in the snow removal zone outside his home. A police officer was duped by the car and called another officer for support. Eventually the two cops realized that they had been fooled. They left a fake parking ticket for the owner, that said, “You made our night hahahahaha :).” Sadly, the cool DeLorean sculpture was plowed down by sanitation workers the following day.
All that glitters
President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump requested a painting by Vincent van Gogh, “Landscape with Snow” (1888), from the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York City. They had plans to hang it in their private living room quarters. But, Guggenheim Museum Curator Nancy Spector had another plan. In an emailed response, Spector suggested another piece of art for President Trump – an 18-karat, fully functioning, solid gold toliet. The piece of art, “America,” by contemporary artist Maurizio Cattelan, is fully interactive and is meant as a work of satire to take a shot at the excess of wealth in the good old U.S.A.
Break a leg
Despite having a dismal approval rating, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is the first NJ governor to have left office without breaking any of his legs – beating a decades long tradition that seems fitting for New Jersey. In 1999, then-governor Christine Todd Whitman broke both bones in her right leg while skiing in Switzerland. In 2004, former Gov. Jim McGreevy broke his leg in a fall in Cape May, which was follwed by Jim Corzine breaking his leg in a car crash in 2007. The ultimate question is how did Chris Christie of all people beat a decades long curse? The world may never know.
High times at the elementary school
Show and tell may never be the same. A New Mexico 5th-grader decided she’d bring some candy to school and share it with her friends. Unfortunately, the gummies she brought in were not meant for kids, reports the Albequerque Journal and the Washington Post, but were THC edibles owned by her grandfather. The gummies in question, marketed as “Incredibles,” each contain more than 100 mg of THC — for comparison, High Times recommends starting with 10-25 mg when eating edibles. The 9-year-old told her school nurse she ate 5 of them, or more than 500 mg. No word on how the parents — or grandpa — are handling the 5th-grader’s presumably bad trip, but the Albequerque Journal reports the kid’s doing fine now.
But was the car drunk?
A Culver City, California, driver had a novel excuse to officers when he struck a firetruck while drunk: He wasn’t driving; the car was. According to the Washington Post, the driver said his Tesla electric vehicle “was on autopilot,” and thus he didn’t need to be sober. Officers disagreed, and the man was jailed on suspicion of DUI. “Authorities have not identified the driver of the Tesla that crashed into the firetruck,” the Post reports. “They say no one — not even autonomous vehicle drivers — is allowed to be drunk behind the wheel of a car, no matter how advanced its safety features.” How long until that changes? Probably not until after this guy’s court date.
The Night They Burned Old Taco Down
When a beloved Taco Bell in Montgomery, Alabama, burned down last week, Friends Katie James and Russell Dowis, who eat a lot of fast food, decided to hold a candlelight vigil for the burned out shell of a Bell. James says,“I, in about10 minutes… made a Facebook event, and titled it ‘Candle light vigil for Taco Bell,’” The vigil was held Sunday and there was no hotter ticket in town: About 100 people came to remember “the okay customer service and long wait line for the oh so delightful baja blasts and 5 dollar quesadilla box.”
D’OH (nut)
A North Carolina man who made headlines when he was caught for break-ins after winning a doughnut-eating contest has been arrested again. And this time he’s accused of stealing from a doughnut shop. The Virginian-Pilot newspaper reports 27-year-old Bradley Hardison of Elizabeth City was charged Thursday with stealing from a Dunkin’ Donuts in November. The Virginian-Pilot reported that in 2014, Hardison won a doughnut-eating contest put on by Elizabeth City police while he was wanted on suspicion of several break-ins. Investigators said they arrested Hardison after his win prompted further scrutiny, and he was convicted, according to the paper.
Not Your Buddy
A Florida police department shared the text conversation between an officer and a person who mistakenly messaged the wrong number seeking marijuana. The Gainesville Police Department posted screenshots to Facebook showing what happened when the unidentified person mistakenly sent a text message to a police officer with the department. “Hey do you have bud I might need some,” the initial message reads. The officer responds by sending a picture of a Gainesville Police Department badge and the message: “I think you have the wrong number. Drugs are bad for you.” “Oh my god,” the person responds with a wide-eyed emoji, “I’m so sorry.”
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