Definitely not “Saved by the Bell”
A man from Vermont learned that looking up clips from 1990s sitcom “Saved by the Bell” and driving on the open road don’t exactly mix. The man sideswiped a police car while trying to find an episode of the TV show on the internet. The 55-year-old was arrested after he hit a Thetford Police Department squad car on Interstate 91. The officer of that vehicle was aiding another motorist at the time. The man didn’t notice and continued driving for a short distance. Luckily, he stopped the car before he was charged with “fleeing the scene of a crash.” But what episode enraptured the 55-year-old man? “Screech’s Spaghetti Sauce,” an episode from 1992 in which Screech makes a hit spaghetti sauce during a campus TV show. The man’s court date is July 31.
Power Wheels DUI
A 25-year-old woman from South Carolina won’t be charged with driving under the influence for driving a Power Wheels electric toy truck down the road. Instead, she’s charged with public intoxication. Officers stated that she was driving about a mile from her home in Walhalla, South Carolina when they stopped her. Why did this 25-year-old woman decided to take a drive in a Power Wheels truck? Probably the booze. But maybe childhood nostalgia? No, it was definitely the booze.
Ultratank
A motor enthusiast in Russia has done the impossible and created a tank-car hybrid. The man took a Bentley Continental GT sedan and customized it with tank treads instead of wheels. It took the man about seven months to create the vehicle that he named, “Ultratank,” after several off-road tests and numerous technical challenges in creating the Franken-car creation. Right now, he’s in discussions with authorities in his hometown of Saint Petersburg, Russia, to make his Ultratank street legal.
The baby naming company
A new start-up company wants you to pay them for naming your baby. Future Perfect, a start-up founded by two moms who bonded on the playground over their respective children’s unique names, offers packages starting at $100 to help new parents pick out names for their children. The company even has a 15-minute “namestorming session” over the phone as well as more expensive packages that include a list of 10 suggested first names and 10 suggested middle names for a newborn.
Apocalyptic traffic signs
A digital traffic sign in Houston, Texas, was hacked and displayed apocalyptic messages warning humanity about its Tuesday luncheon appointment with climate catastrophe and imminent extinction. The sign, which is located off Waugh Drive and Allen Parkway in Houston, read flashing messages that stated, “Global warming at work,” “Warning: Hurricane Human,” “Triassic weather ahead,” and everyone’s favorite hit, “We are the asteroid.” It’s still unclear how the hacker gained access to the sign. But that person isn’t alone. Signs along a North Carolina highway were also hacked in May 2018, but those messages warned of “idiots on bikes” prior to the start of a local Ironman competition instead.
A piece of Ludwig
Ever wanted a lock of Classical composer Ludwig van Beethoven’s hair? Well, it’s scheduled to be auctioned off in Great Britain, more than 200 years after Beethoven gave it to a contemporary of his, Anton Halm, as a gift for Halm’s wife. The story doesn’t end there. Halm originally tried buying a lock of Beethoven’s hair from a third party, which ended up being goat hair. So, Beethoven gave him his hair himself. The lock of hair from the 19th century musician/composer is expected to be a high bidding item and could sell between $15,000 and $19,000.
Cat politics
A Pakistani politician’s press conference went awry when he and other politicians appeared on a livestream with a cat filter, making them appear with animated cat ears and whiskers. Shaukat Yousafazi, a regional minister in northwest Pakistan, was streamed on the official Tehreek-e-Insaf party’s page, according to CNN. The party released a clarification, citing human error by “one of our hard-working volunteers” and pledged to avoid such goofy accidents in the future. But for Yousafzai, this was definitely a laughing matter. He told Agence France-Presse, “I wasn’t the only one — two officials sitting along me were also hit by the cat filter.”
Bread wear
A laboratory at the University of Borås in Sweden has a response to bread wasted by Swedish supermarkets every year — make bread into yarn. The scientists aim to also solve global textile production problems with the gluten thread. The process starts by mixing all the excess bread together and placing it in a bioreactor to grow a special kind of fungus. The researchers separate the fungal cell walls from the proteins. The biopolymers in the cell walls can then be spun into a textile.
Boneheads
Human bodies are starting to change. The culprit? Smartphones. Younger people are starting to develop strange bony spikes just above their necks, which researchers believe is due to hours spent scrolling on smartphones at uncomfortable angles. The human head weighs about 10 pounds and tilting it forward to look at memes can add strain on the neck. The human body responds to this strain by laying down new bone, leading to a spiky bump on the neck.
