The Design Museum in London has included a "DIY meal kit" featuring steaks that could be grown from a diner's own human cells among the nominees in its Beazley Designs of the Year exhibit. Developers of the Ouroboros Steak envision that an individual will be able to harvest cells from their own cheek and feed them with serum derived from donated blood that has expired, Dezeen reported. After about three months, the steaks would be fully grown. "People think that eating oneself is cannibalism, which technically this is not," said Grace Knight, one of the designers. Researcher Orkan Telhan added, "Our design is scientifically and economically feasible but also ironic in many ways," he added. [Dezeen, 11/13/2020]

Inexplicable

Officers from Utah's Department of Public Safety were helping the Division of Wildlife Resources count bighorn sheep from a helicopter on Nov. 18 when a shiny object in the desert landscape caught their eye. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, turn around, turn around," one of the biologists shouted, according to pilot Bret Hutchings. KSL reported the crew landed and found a 10- to-12-foot-high silver monolith planted in the ground and tucked into a red-rock cove. After joking about extraterrestrials, the crew decided it looked manmade and took pictures, chalking it up to "some new wave artist ... a big '2001: A Space Odyssey' fan," Hutchings mused. [KSL, 11/21/2020]

Collateral Damage

Police in Corvallis, Oregon, said Dylan Milota was high on marijuana when he crashed the 2019 Tesla S he was driving at more than 100 mph into a utility pole on Nov. 17, breaking the pole and spraying hundreds of small batteries through the windows of two nearby residences. One landed on a bed, starting a fire in the bedsheets, KMTR reported. A tire from the car struck the second story of a nearby apartment building so forcefully it broke water pipes inside the wall, destroying the bathroom on the other side and causing flooding in the lower level, police said. Citizens were warned not to pick up any stray batteries, which can stay hot for up to 24 hours and release toxic fumes. Milota fled on foot but was quickly apprehended and charged with various offenses. [KMTR, 11/19/2020]

News You Can Use

-- College student Benjamin LaRose of Millis, Massachusetts, is recovering from third-degree burns he suffered at an outdoor party with friends this fall when someone used hand sanitizer as an accelerant in the fire pit they were gathered around, Boston25 reported. "It was rather sudden how quick it reacted," LaRose said, "very much like napalm," catching his leg and shorts on fire and requiring skin grafts to treat the burns. LaRose's pediatrician, Dr. Lester Hartman, warned of the dangers of using hand sanitizer and then being exposed to open flames: "Alcohol is very volatile and explosive ... and people that are doing a barbecue or even lighting a cigarette or lighting a candle" need to let the alcohol evaporate first. Or, experts say, use soap and water. [Boston25, 10/5/2020]

-- "Do not let moose lick your car," say the flashing electronic signs along roads in Jasper (Alberta) National Park, where park spokesman Steve Young told CNN: "(Moose are) obsessed with salt. ... They usually get it from salt lakes in the park, but now they realized they can also get road salt that splashes onto cars." Officials say if moose become accustomed to licking cars, they'll lose their fear of vehicles, putting the animals in danger. In Jasper, where drivers often stop to get photos of the moose, officials recommend driving away if the animals start to approach. [CNN, 11/22/2020]

Awesome!

Josua Hutagalung, 33, was working outside his home in Sumatra in August when he got a surprise delivery: A meteorite crashed through his roof and landed outside. "When I lifted it, the stone was still warm, and I brought it into the house," the coffin-maker told local media. United Press International reported the 4.5-pound meteorite was a rare variety, valued by experts at almost $1.9 million, which attracted American expert Jared Collins, who paid more than $1 million for the rock. "I have also always wanted a daughter," Hutagalung said, "and I hope this is a sign that I will be lucky enough now to have one." He also plans to donate some of the funds to his local church's new building project. [United Press International, 11/18/2020]

Compelling Explanations

French police in Lannion, Brittany, became suspicious when they spotted a man lurking near a parked car at a time when France's COVID-19 lockdown rules required him to be at home on Nov. 20. Upon questioning, the 39-year-old unnamed man produced the legally required "attestation," including his full name, the time he left home and his written-in reason for being out: to "smash a guy's face in." Local police chief Daniel Kerdraon said, "He was trying to fulfill the letter of the law, in his own way," The Guardian reported, "but we told him his reason for going out was not valid." He was fined not only for violating the curfew but also for being drunk in public. [The Guardian, 11/23/2020]

Bright Idea

Matthew Piercey, 44, has been indicted on 31 federal felony counts related to a suspected Ponzi scheme, but when FBI agents tried to arrest him in Redding, California, on Nov. 16, he took off, authorities said. NBC News reported agents followed him to Lake Shasta, where Piercey pulled a $1,200 Yamaha 350LI Seascooter out of his vehicle, then disappeared into the frigid water, spending about 25 minutes "out of sight underwater where law enforcement could only see bubbles," Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Hales wrote in court papers. The agents waited him out and arrested him when he resurfaced. Piercey faces up to 20 year in prison if convicted. [NBC News, 11/17/2020]

The Way the World Works

Evidence of election rigging in New Zealand's Bird of the Year competition has set organizers all atwitter, NPR reported. Officials at Forest & Bird, a conservation organization, noticed that more than 1,500 votes in the annual event had come from one email address on Nov. 9, all in favor of the spotted kiwi. "That is an amazing bird," spokeswoman Laura Keown said, "but ... these votes had to be disallowed, and they've been taken out of the competition." The disqualification cleared the way for the competition's eventual winner: the kakapo, or moss chicken, a rare nocturnal bird and the world's only flightless parrot. [NPR, 11/14/2020]

Signs of the Times

-- Alexios Gerakis, 37, a candlemaker in Thessaloniki, Greece, has updated his Santa Claus candles for 2020 with blue surgical masks covering the big elf's beard. "Because of the times, we are trying to convey a message that health comes first, then everything else," Gerakis told Reuters Television. His snowmen candles also sport masks. [Reuters, 11/18/2020]

-- And in Lajosmizse, Hungary, confectioner Laszlo Rimoczi can't keep up with the orders after he added tiny marzipan surgical masks to his chocolate Santas. He has simplified the design, Reuters reported, and has increased production to about 100 Santas a day in his rural workshop. Father Christmas "will have to wear a mask because Santa has to show a good example to people," Rimoczi said. [Reuters, 11/21/2020]

Passers-by were reported to be incredulous at signs posted since mid-September outside Trillade elementary school in Avignon, France, asking parents to refrain from throwing their children over the locked gate when they are late to school. "Parents who arrived after the ringtone literally threw their children away," Principal Sanaa Meziane told La Provence with a nervous laugh. "It hasn't happened that many times ... but we preferred to take the lead." While there were no injuries, the practice alarmed school officials enough to create the signs, which feature an adult stick figure tossing a child-sized stick figure over the gate. [La Provence, 11/9/2020]

Uniform Complaints

-- The BBC reported that Police Constable Simon Read of the Cambridgeshire Police will be the subject of a misconduct hearing on Nov. 25 after being accused of switching prices on a box of doughnuts in February. Read, shopping at a Tesco Extra store while on duty and uniformed, allegedly selected a $13 box of Krispy Kreme doughnuts and replaced its barcode with one from the produce section that lowered the price to 9 cents, then went through the self-checkout line. In papers filed before the hearing, Read was said to bring "discredit upon the police service ... because a reasonable member of the public ... would be justifiably appalled that a police officer had acted dishonestly and without integrity." [BBC, 11/17/2020]

-- San Juan, Puerto Rico, police officer Fernando Leon Berdecia, 46, is accused of stealing $1,300 worth of merchandise from a Home Depot on Nov. 16 while wearing his uniform. The Associated Press reported Puerto Rico Police Chief Henry Escalera said Leon has been suspended from the department, and a court date has been set for Dec. 2. [Associated Press, 11/17/2020]

Fake News

Readers of Radio France Internationale's website were alarmed to learn on Nov. 16 of the passing of dozens of world leaders and celebrities, The New York Times reported. Obituaries for Queen Elizabeth II, Clint Eastwood, soccer legend Pele and about 100 others were posted on the broadcaster's website, and it was several hours before the notices were removed. The station issued a statement apologizing to "those concerned" and noting that the prewritten obituaries were accidentally posted as the website was moved to a new content management system. [New York Times, 11/18/2020]

Line Crossed

Typo, a gift and stationery retailer in Australia known for its tongue-in-cheek merchandise, is drawing fire from moms and dads Down Under after marketing a Christmas ornament that features a small elf holding a sign that says, "Santa isn't real," 7News reported. One dad posted that the item led to an awkward discussion with his son and encouraged other parents to "complain and get these things taken off the shelves." The store said the ornament, which is part of its "naughty" line, has been removed from Typo's in-person and online stores. "Sometimes we do make mistakes," a spokesperson admitted. "We certainly don't want to take the fun out of Christmas for anyone, especially after the year we've all had." [7News, 11/11/2020]

Awesome!

Twenty concerned citizens in Norman, Oklahoma, turned out on Nov. 17 to help George Simmons, an arborist from Idaho, continue the search for his missing pet raccoon, an effort that had stretched into its second week and included support from the Norman Fire Department, which deployed its thermal imaging technology. Coonsie had accompanied Simmons when he traveled to Oklahoma to help cut trees around power lines after a freak October ice storm, KFOR reported, but Coonsie got loose in Nov. 6, and Simmons says he won't return to Idaho until he locates her. He has been overwhelmed with gratitude for the Norman residents who are helping him look for Coonsie every night: "I've been all over the United States and never seen the hospitality like I have here," Simmons said. At presstime, Coonsie was still missing. [KFOR, 11/17/2020]

Finders Keepers

Douglas Allen Hatley, 71, of Lakeland, Florida, was arrested on Nov. 16 after the Florida Highway Patrol said he found a metal light pole by the side of the road in Tampa and tried to sell it to Eagle Metals Recycling. The Tampa Bay Times reported the recycling center turned him away because he didn't have documentation for the pole, and officers responding to reports of a 1997 Camry with a pole twice its length strapped to the top pulled him over soon afterward. Hatley told troopers a highway maintenance worker "gave it to me." He was charged with third-degree grand theft. [Tampa Bay Times, 11/17/2020]

Bad Behavior

Police in Middlesbrough, England, are asking for the public's help in locating those involved in an apparent egg fight at a local Tesco supermarket during the two minutes of silence meant to honor fallen servicemembers on Nov. 8. Most shoppers at the store on Remembrance Sunday stood still and quiet for the observence, but one customer continued shopping and talking, reported Metro News, and objected when asked to be quiet. "We were all stood still, observing the two minutes' silence when we heard lots of screaming and shouting," one witness said. Police noted "a man allegedly assaulted two women ... following a verbal altercation." [Metro News, 11/9/2020]

Bright Idea

Two recent graduates of the Sydney Grammar School in Australia hatched a plan to skirt COVID-19 restrictions on large gatherings to host a graduation party while their parents were out of town. Outdoor gatherings are limited to 30 people, and indoor events are capped at 10, the Daily Mail reported, but up to 150 guests can attend weddings if they follow social distancing protocols. On Nov. 12, the unnamed best friends "married" in a backyard ceremony and planned a 150-person party to follow, until their parents caught wind of the event online and returned to put an end to it: "We shut down the planned private celebratory event as soon as we found out about it, and thankfully, nobody was put at risk," one of the lads' dad said. [Daily Mail, 11/18/2020]

Unclear on the Concept

Charlene Stanton passes a book donation box in the Roxbury Park neighborhood of Johnstown, Pennsylvania, on her daily walks, and told WTAJ on Nov. 18 that lately she's become concerned about the bags of raw meat she regularly sees left hanging on the side of the box. She has seen both fresh and frozen meat left at the box, and someone keeps taking them, which alarms her "because so many ... illnesses could be caused by leaving meat out unrefrigerated." Officials suggest donating food to a food bank, rather than leaving it at a book collection site. [WTAJ, 11/18/2020]

Oops!

The mayor of Oudenburg, Belgium, said it was not the city's intention that new Christmas decorations it installed resemble an iconic part of the male anatomy. City officials had set out to create lighted columns that looked like candles, the Daily Mail reported, but decided to do something different and placed blue spheres on top instead of flames. "I only realized (they looked phallic) when they were illuminted," Mayor Anthony Dumarey said. "I see the funny side of it myself (and) I see no reason to remove or replace them ... we will have the country's most talked-about Christmas lights this year." [Daily Mail, 11/19/2020]

Engineers at Japan's Gifu University have developed a robotic device that re-creates the experience of holding another person's hand -- without the other person. "My Girlfriend in Walk" attaches to the user's forearm, and the metal hand is covered with a soft, gel material that simulates human skin, even allowing custom fragrances to be added to the artificial sweat. A heater provides warmth and a pressure sensor duplicates the strength of the wearer's grip, according to Oddity Central. An accompanying smartphone app can emit sounds including footsteps, breathing and the sound of clothes rubbing against skin. [Oddity Central, 11/5/2020]

Schemes

-- Kimberly Ragsdale's apparent plan to get free food at a Chick-Fil-A in Rockmart, Georgia, ended in her arrest on charges of impersonating a public officer on Nov. 5. According to police, Ragsdale, 47, of Dallas, had repeatedly visited the restaurant, telling workers she was an FBI agent and threatening to arrest them if they didn't serve her a complimentary meal. Ragsdale continued her charade, the Associated Press reported, telling arresting officers her credentials were electronic and talking "into her shirt like she was talking into a radio," the arrest report noted. Rockmart Police Chief Randy Turner said in a statement to news outlets, "You will not hear a real officer demand a meal anywhere." [Associated Press, 11/9/2020]

-- Two men have been arrested on suspicion of conning an unnamed doctor in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh into paying $41,600 for an "Aladdin's lamp" that the sellers promised would bring him "wealth, health and good fortune." The two con artists even conspired to conjure a genie from the lamp, which turned out to be one of the men, to convince the doctor of its authenticity, the BBC reported. According to local police, the con men had duped other families in the same way. [BBC, 10/31/2020]

Awesome!

-- Mayor Yutaka Umeda of the Japanese town of Yamato was puzzled when his name started trending on social media after the U.S. presidential election, but he is now hoping his newfound fame will help him "promote the town," United Press International reported. The extra attention online came because the Chinese kanji characters used to spell Umeda's name can also be pronounced "Jo Baiden" -- strikingly similar to U.S. President-elect Joe Biden. "Although there are differences in the positions of a U.S. presidential candidate and the mayor of Yamato ... our passion is the same," Umeda said. [United Press International, 11/10/2020]

-- A couple hiking in Ingersheim in northeastern France in September came across a tiny aluminum capsule that turned out to contain a message in German dropped by a carrier pigeon 110 years ago, CNN reported. Curator Dominique Jardy at the nearby Linge Memorial museum, dedicated to a battle between French and German forces in 1915, determined the message was sent from one German officer to another, detailing military exercises taking place in the area. The find, Jardy said, "is really very, very, very rare," and the message will go on display at the museum. [CNN, 11/9/2020]

Bright Ideas

In September, police in Ceske Budejovice in the Czech Republic, where a 9 p.m. curfew has been imposed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, came upon a man pulling a toy plush dog behind him late at night in the town's center, Idnes.cz reported. "I'm walking a dog here. I'm not doing anything illegal here," the man told officers. Walking a dog is permitted after curfew, but the police gave him a warning and sent him and his "pet" on their way. [Idnes.cz, 10/30/2020]

People With Issues

Police in Fruitland Park, Florida, arrested Ronni Leigh Kimberlin of Leesburg on Oct. 31 on charges of theft and disturbing a grave after she allegedly repeatedly removed items left at her ex-husband's grave by his fiancee. The grieving fiancee first complained to police in late September, records show, saying items missing from the grave included a pair of $250 sunglasses, hanging LED lights, hanging planters, artificial flowers, a ring and assorted other items, all valued at more than $400. Kimberlin denied involvement, WKMG reported, but the arrest affidavit noted an ex-roommate came forward saying she was with Kimberlin when she stole the items, and police found some of the missing planters at Kimberlin's brother's home. [ClickOrlando.com, 11/3/2020]

Recent Alarming Headlines

Police in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, continue to investigate two explosive incidents in area port-a-potties, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported. No one was injured in either explosion, the first of which occurred Nov. 5 in Lawrenceville and was strong enough to blow apart the toilet and damage a nearby home, police said. The second came on Nov. 10 in East Allegheny. Pittsburgh's Bomb Squad and Crime Unit is working to determine what types of explosives were used and whether the events are related. [Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 11/10/2020]

Government in Action

Indonesia has the highest death toll from COVID-19 in Southeast Asia, and officials there are getting creative with punishments in addition to fines for not complying with mask laws. Metro News reported on Nov. 11 that regional governments are forcing scofflaws to do pushups, pull weeds, clean riverbeds and dig graves for coronavirus victims. Coffeeshop owner Evani Jesselyn of Jakarta said she was given a choice of paying a fine or cleaning public toilets after she was caught not wearing a mask in her car. [Metro News, 11/11/2020]

Wrong Place, Wrong Time

Motorists in Woodbury County, Iowa, started alerting State Conservation Officer Steve Griebel on Nov. 9 that hundreds of ducks had been killed after mistaking wet roads for wetlands, KCRG reported. The ducks, including bluebills, mallards, buffleheads and teal, were migrating south and landed on the wet pavement in parking lots and on highways, where the next day Griebel said he counted more than 200 that had been hit by unwitting drivers. [KCRG, 11/10/2020]

The Entrepreneurial Spirit

In China's Lishui City, Zhejiang Province, 27-year-old Luo Qingjun has found his calling as a "bad uncle" for hire by parents wanting him to scare their children into obedience, Oddity Central reported. Luo creates a short custom video, using the child's name and making scary faces while threatening them to behave. "If you don't do your homework, don't eat and don't go to sleep, I will take you away!" Luo warns on one video. One happy customer posted, "My 3-year-old son was scared at first sight, and he was immediately obedient." [Oddity Central, 11/3/2020]

Recurring Themes

More than 22,000 votes were cast in the race for mayor of Rabbit Hash, Kentucky, on Nov. 3, and the winner, with 13,143 of those votes, was Wilbur Beast, a French bulldog, Fox News reported, beating out Jack Rabbit the beagle and Poppy the golden retriever. Rabbit Hash's mayoral election is a fundraiser for the town historical society, with each dollar buying one vote. Mayor Beast’s spokesperson/owner, Amy Noland, thanked his supporters for their vote of confidence and encouraged them to reach out on social media, where Beast will be “all ears.” [Fox News, 11/4/2020]