The Top 10 'Most Curious' stories of 2008

The Most Curious box gathers up the more offbeat and diverting news items of the day. We've taken a note of the offbeat stories that diverted you the most

(AP Photo)

Thomas Beatie (righth), his wife Nancy and daughter Susan Juliette

Michael Moran

1: Look up tonight for a spectacular treat in the sky

Free entertainment on the biggest screen imaginable as the fullest full moon for years was enhanced by a display of shooting stars

2: Thomas Beatie a married man who used to be a woman is pregnant with a baby girl

The extraordinary story captivated many in March 2008, eclipsing even the report of his daughter’s birth,

Background

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Background

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Background

• The Top 10 'Most Curious' stories of 2008

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3: Boy, 7 goes on killing spree in zoo feeding reptiles to crocodile

An as yet un-named boy broke into the Alice Springs Reptile Centre and fed several rare reptiles to a crocodile, miraculously escaping being eaten himself in the process.

4: Google search finds seafaring solution

An ocean-going server farm for the internet search giant piqued the curiosity if maritime computer enthusiasts everywhere

5: Officials fell trees inscribed by US soldiers who fought for France

Trees carved with messages from the troops who took part in the D-Day landings were felled and turned into paper by their owner, sparking outrage among many who thought that the forest should have been preserved as an historical site.

6: Nuclear powered passenger aircraft to transport millions says expert

A long-distance airliner that produces no carbon emissions might seem the stuff of dreams, but according to Ian Poll, Professor of Aerospace Engineering at Cranfield university, and head of technology for the mysterious sounding Omega project, it could be achieved within 30 years by the simple expedient of outfitting aircraft with nuclear power plants.

7: Schoolboy hacker Omar Khan who upped his grades faces 38 years in jail

Changing exam resukts by hacking into a computer might seem a droll Ferris Bueller prank but for Omar Khan the same trick led to a possible 38 years in jail

8: Science close to unveiling invisible man

Invisibility devices, long the realm of science fiction and fantasy, moved a little close to reality this summer after scientists engineered a material that can bend visible light around objects.

9: British journalist covering Barack Obama caught on camera in drunk plagiarism rant

Adam Smith, who sometimes styles himself Steve Zacharanda, became the funniest thing about Barack Obama’s electoral victory after he was filmed, copiously refreshed, in the streets of Miami making unwise statements about his employers and his journalistic workflow.

10: US hunters claim to have found Bigfoot

Plenty of hoaxers have faked film of the elusive ape-man of the woods but only Rick Dyer and Matthew Whitton had the sheer effrontery to produce a ‘corpse’ of the phantom beast.

Burger King launches beef-scented body spray

Where's the beef? A new meat-scented body spray makes men the answer, courtesy of Burger King NEW YORK (AP) -- Looking to beef up your mojo this holiday season?

Burger King Corp. may have just the thing. The home of the Whopper has launched a new men's body spray called "Flame." The company describes the spray as "the scent of seduction with a hint of flame-broiled meat."

The fragrance is on sale at New York City retailer Ricky's NYC in stores and online for a limited time for $3.99.

Burger King is marketing the product through a Web site featuring a photo of its King character reclining fireside and naked but for an animal fur strategically placed to not offend.

The marketing ploy is the latest in a string of viral ad campaigns by the company. Burger King is also in the midst of its Whopper Virgins campaign that features an taste test with fast-food "virgins" pitting the Whopper against McDonald's Corp.'s Big Mac.

Burger King Holdings Inc. shares rose 15 cents to close at $20.53.

Rescuers Suspect Shark Grabbed Missing Snorkeler

A full-scale search is on for a man in Australia believed to have been taken by a shark while out snorkelling with his son.

Footage from Australia's Channel 7 of the shark thought responsible for the attack

Brian Guest, 51, was looking for crabs early on Saturday morning with his 24-year-old son off a beach in Port Kennedy, about 30 miles south of Perth, when he suddenly disappeared.

His 24-year-old son told police he saw a "commotion" in the water before his father vanished. He quickly swam to shore and sounded the alarm.

"It's believed he's been taken by a shark," Western Australia state police Sergeant Greg Lambert said.

Witnesses spoke of seeing flashes of fins in the area and the water was coloured by blood.

The beach was immediately closed, and police on jet skis, several marine rescue patrols and at least three helicopters began scouring the waters for the missing father of three.

Searchers have found a piece of a wet suit believed to be that of the missing swimmer in the water, not far from where he vanished, Sgt Lambert said.

Aerial footage of the shark believed to have taken the missing man was shown on Australian television.

The 6-mile beach is a popular swimming location and there were many people out because of the early morning warm weather conditions.

The son saw a shark in the area and lost sight of his father. It is presumed at this stage to be a shark attack. The information from witnesses suggests this is a confirmed shark attack.

Sergeant Peter Whitney, Western Australia Police

If Mr Guest has been taken by a shark, it would be the second such incident in Australia this year.

A shark in April killed a 16-year-old boy who was bodyboarding with a friend off Australia's eastern coast.

Separately on Saturday, a kayaker fell into the water off a Sydney beach as a great white shark swam just feet away.

Video footage of the incident showed nearby fishermen pulling the man into their boat and two other kayakers sidling up to the side of the vessel for safety as the shark circled for several minutes before swimming away

Man blows himself up after smoking while attached to ventilator

A CHRONIC smoker blew himself up when he lit a cigarette while using an oxygen ventilator to help him breathe.

The 75-year-old man was admitted to the Prince of Wales Hospital in Hong Kong on Sunday with severe facial burns after lighting up in his home while the ventilator's plastic tubes were still running to his nose.

The man relies suffers from lung disease, caused by his smoking, and relies on the oxygen tank to stay alive.

The South China Morning Post reported the man's doctor said the man knew he shouldn't smoke while the ventilator was going, but took the risk because his cigarette craving was so intense.

GPS, hidden cameras watching over Baby Jesus

When Baby Jesus disappeared last year from a Nativity scene on the lawn of the Wellington, Fla., community center, village officials didn't follow a star to locate him.

By ERIC GORSKI

AP Religion Writer

J PAT CARTER / AP

When Baby Jesus disappeared from the creche in front of the Wellington, Fla., community center_village officials did not follow a star to locate him. A GPS device had been mounted inside the ceramic figure.

When Baby Jesus disappeared last year from a Nativity scene on the lawn of the Wellington, Fla., community center, village officials didn't follow a star to locate him.

A GPS device mounted inside the life-size ceramic figurine led sheriff's deputies to a nearby apartment, where it was found face down on the carpet. An 18-year-old woman was arrested in the theft.

Giving up on old-fashioned padlocks and trust, a number of churches, synagogues, governments and ordinary citizens are turning to technology to protect holiday displays from pranks or prejudice.

About 70 churches and synagogues eager to avoid the December police blotter jumped at a security company's offer of free use of GPS systems and hidden cameras this month to guard their mangers and menorahs.

Others, like the Herrera family of North Richland Hills, Texas, took matters into their own hands. Upset after their teeter-totter was stolen, the family trained surveillance cameras on their yard and was surprised when footage showed a teenage girl stealing a baby Jesus worth almost $500. Police have obtained the tape.

"They took the family Jesus," said Gloria Herrera, 48, a Catholic. "How can anybody do that?"

For two consecutive years, thieves made off with the baby Jesus figurine in Wellington, a well-off village of 60,000 in Palm Beach County, Fla. The ceramic original, donated by a local merchant, was made in Italy and worth about $1,800, said John Bonde, Wellington's director of operations.

So last year, officials took a GPS unit normally used to track the application of mosquito spray and implanted it in the latest replacement figurine. After that one disappeared, sheriff's deputies quickly tracked it down.

Sensing opportunity in that kind of success story, New York-based BrickHouse Security is offering up to 200 nonprofit religious institutions a free month's use of security cameras and LightningGPS products it distributes.

Chief executive officer Todd Morris said the idea was born after a few churches asked about one-month rentals instead of longer contracts that are the norm. The first 20 or so applications came from synagogues, he said.

Rabbi Yochonon Goldman of Lubavitch of Center City, a Philadelphia-area branch of the Chabad Lubavitch movement, signed up even though his previous biggest scare involved the wind knocking down a menorah.

"People are very security conscious, and this is simply a precaution," said Goldman, who will put a GPS on one menorah and a camera on another. "It's sad ... but it's the reality we're faced with."

As members of a minority religion, Jews are probably hit harder when their religious symbols are vandalized, said Deborah Lauter, national civil rights director for the Anti-Defamation League.

"If Baby Jesus is removed, it tends to be seen as a prank," Lauter said. "Vandalism or theft of a menorah is just more sensitive. You feel like you're really being targeted for your religion."

The ADL identified 699 incidents of anti-Semitic vandalism in 2007, consistent with recent years.

So far in 2008, Baby Jesus has appeared in several police reports. At First United Methodist Church in Kittanning, Pa., a baby Jesus was stolen and replaced with a pumpkin. In Eureka Springs, Ark., someone who absconded with a plastic baby Jesus from a public display last week also took the concrete block and chain that was supposed to act as a deterrent.

Previously, stolen Jesus figurines have also been defaced with profanity or Satanic symbols.

The incidents raise a question: Is stealing Baby Jesus harmless juvenile fun, or anti-Christian?

"I suspect most of it is childish pranks," said attorney Mike Johnson of the Alliance Defense Fund, a conservative Christian legal group. "Clearly, there are adults with an agenda to remove Christ from Christmas. But they tend to occupy themselves with the courts and courtroom of public opinion."

Stephen Nissenbaum, a retired history professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and author of "The Battle for Christmas," views the thefts as neither innocent vandalism nor religious hate crimes.

"What it means is that it's OK to go around violating even pretty important norms, as long as real human harm isn't being done," he said. "It's not exactly devaluing Christianity, but it is sort of a ritualized challenge to it. It could be Christian kids doing it - and on Jan. 2 they become good Christians again."

4-foot reptile sightings spike

FORT WALTON BEACH - In the dark, a shadowy figure looked ominous to some residents on Marshall Court.

It was an alligator, they told Fort Walton Beach police.

Police investigated the incident but found nothing startling in a fenced-in area around an apartment complex.

The "alligator" was actually a 4- to 5-foot-long broken tree limb.

The people who called police had spotted the limb from a second-floor window, and "could not see very well due to low light," an officer wrote in his report.

A 4-foot alligator was, however, lassoed in Destin last week. It was relocated to Blackwater Creek.

And in related wildlife news, a 4-foot boa constrictor was caught inside a garbage can at Wholesale Nation on Dec. 1. When no one from Panhandle Animal Welfare Services or the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission could respond, police took it to the station for safe keeping.

Firefighters called to rescue plastic owl

RAYLEIGH, England, Dec. 10 (UPI) -- An animal protection officer and the fire brigade called out to rescue an owl in Rayleigh, England, only to learn the owl was a fake.

The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals said an officer was sent to the scene after a mailman reported seeing an owl on a telephone pole that hadn't moved for days, the Daily Mail reported Wednesday.

The officer observed the owl for hours and eventually called the fire brigade to mount a rescue. It was not until firefighters were preparing to deploy aerial platforms that residents informed the rescuers that the owl was a plastic decoy put in place by a telecommunications firm to scare off smaller birds.

"It is not the first time we have been called to rescue an animal that isn't real but we'd rather be safe than sorry," society spokeswoman Klare Kennett said.