11 votes

Offbeat Fridays – The thread where offbeat headlines become front page news

Posted by mycketforvirrad
Tags: ask.discussion, recurring.weekly, offbeat fridays, offbeat

Tildes is a very serious site, where we discuss very serious matters like libreoffice, engagement and rube goldberg machine. Tags culled from the highest voted topics from the last seven days, if anyone was keeping tabs.

But one of my favourite tags happens to be offbeat! Taking its original inspiration from Sir Nils Olav III, this thread is looking for any far-fetched offbeat stories lurking in the newspapers. It may not deserve its own post, but it deserves a wider audience!

14 comments

  1. [3]
    mycketforvirrad
    Link
    Arctic region of Norway asks EU Commission for 26-hour day Politico – Claudia Chiappa – 10th April 2024

    Arctic region of Norway asks EU Commission for 26-hour day

    Norway’s northernmost region has asked the European Commission to grant it permission to establish a time zone with 26-hour days.

    The bizarre plan, promoted by a local town mayor in the Arctic Circle near the Russian border, aims to boost local values, increase family time and attract new residents to the region. All nice ideas, but in practice, the details remain at best fuzzy.

    Politico – Claudia Chiappa – 10th April 2024

    8 votes
  2. [3]
    fefellama
    Link
    3 Men Rescued from Pacific Island After Writing ‘Help’ With Palm Leaves Saw this yesterday and thought of this thread. Apparently that cliche movie thing of writing ‘HELP’ or ‘SOS’ out of...

    3 Men Rescued from Pacific Island After Writing ‘Help’ With Palm Leaves

    Saw this yesterday and thought of this thread. Apparently that cliche movie thing of writing ‘HELP’ or ‘SOS’ out of miscellaneous objects on the beach when you’re stranded on a deserted island happens A LOT more frequently than I imagined (which was next to never).

    5 votes
    1. [2]
      adutchman
      Link Parent
      Same here. 3 times in the last decade is a lot more than I expected.

      Same here. 3 times in the last decade is a lot more than I expected.

      2 votes
      1. fefellama
        Link Parent
        4 times! There's this one from a few days ago, then another one from the same island in 2020. Then another two separate events in 2016, in April and August. I find it funny that two of them wrote...

        4 times! There's this one from a few days ago, then another one from the same island in 2020. Then another two separate events in 2016, in April and August.

        I find it funny that two of them wrote HELP while two wrote SOS. A few more incidents and we'll be able to start tracking which word is more effective. Also, all four happened during years with Olympics. Be on the lookout for another headline like this in 2028 since clearly that must be a factor.

        4 votes
  3. [8]
    JCPhoenix
    Link
    Hyper-sexual "zombie cicadas" that are infected with sexually transmitted fungus expected to emerge this year - CBSnews.com

    Hyper-sexual "zombie cicadas" that are infected with sexually transmitted fungus expected to emerge this year - CBSnews.com

    Trillions of cicadas will emerge across several U.S. states this spring in an event one expert dubbed "cicada-geddon." Not only are more cicadas than usual expected this year, but some of them will be "zombie cicadas" that are infected by a sexually transmitted fungus that makes them hyper-sexual.

    Once the cicadas emerge from the ground, they molt into adults, and within a week to 10 days, the fungus causes the backside of their abdomens open up. A chalky, white plug erupts out, taking over their bodies and making their genitals fall off.

    Kasson said the reason the cicadas might be able to ignore the fungus is that it produces an amphetamine, which could give them stamina.

    "But there's also something else unusual about it," he said. "There's this hyper-sexualized behavior. So, males for example, they'll continue to try and mate with females — unsuccessfully, because again, their back end is a fungus. But they'll also pretend to be females to get males to come to them. And that doubles the number of cicadas that an infected individual comes in contact with."

    4 votes
    1. [7]
      DefinitelyNotAFae
      Link Parent
      Cicada broods are one of the things with nature that I just cannot vibe with. This story plus the fact that they urinate enough to create a rain-like effect is enough to keep me inside for all of June

      Cicada broods are one of the things with nature that I just cannot vibe with. This story plus the fact that they urinate enough to create a rain-like effect is enough to keep me inside for all of June

      4 votes
      1. [4]
        first-must-burn
        Link Parent
        I am with you. When they swarm here (Western PA, US), it is a constant racket. One year we were in a park for an end of school event and they were swarming (or whatever you call it) and while I...

        I am with you. When they swarm here (Western PA, US), it is a constant racket. One year we were in a park for an end of school event and they were swarming (or whatever you call it) and while I was standing there chatting with other parents, one called up my shoe and into my pants leg. That's a hard no. Mostly I am thankful they don't bite or sting.

        4 votes
        1. [3]
          DefinitelyNotAFae
          Link Parent
          I have a memory from being a kid of riding my bike on a local trail and one flying into the side of my head with enough force to knock me off my bike. Might have been fear that did half that work...

          I have a memory from being a kid of riding my bike on a local trail and one flying into the side of my head with enough force to knock me off my bike. Might have been fear that did half that work but it was the WORST.

          Also the trees just scream from dawn til dusk.

          6 votes
      2. [2]
        JCPhoenix
        Link Parent
        Yeah I remember when the brood last emerged in my area (Kansas City). I was still living at home with my parents in the suburbs and they were loud all day, all night, for days. I live in the city...

        Yeah I remember when the brood last emerged in my area (Kansas City). I was still living at home with my parents in the suburbs and they were loud all day, all night, for days.

        I live in the city now, though in a more residential, SFH-dominated neighborhood, and while there are trees and lawns and stuff, it's not the same as the suburbs where there are swaths of forested areas. So I wonder if it'll be different. Not that it matters; it's disgustingly hot and humid here in the summer, so I just don't go out anyway.

        1 vote
        1. DefinitelyNotAFae
          Link Parent
          I'm moving to a new house and so I don't know what the cicada situation will be there yet. And so now it's an even bigger stress

          I'm moving to a new house and so I don't know what the cicada situation will be there yet. And so now it's an even bigger stress

          3 votes