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 dolly parton, tim curry and algorithms. Tags culled from the highest voted topics from the last seven days, if anyone was topical.

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!

10 comments

  1. [2]
    stewedrabbit
    Link
    A nice visual presentation of trains running on Wednesday 10th of June It's hard to stop watching :)

    A nice visual presentation of trains running on Wednesday 10th of June
    It's hard to stop watching :)

    9 votes
    1. updawg
      Link Parent
      That's cool, but I was disappointed to see that it has zoomed in versions of certain cities (e.g., Chicago) without showing their rapid transit systems.

      That's cool, but I was disappointed to see that it has zoomed in versions of certain cities (e.g., Chicago) without showing their rapid transit systems.

      1 vote
  2. mycketforvirrad
    Link
    Japan enlists 1,800 people to drag a 360-tonne castle keep using ropes and rollers The Guardian – Gavin Blair – 25th August 2026

    Japan enlists 1,800 people to drag a 360-tonne castle keep using ropes and rollers

    To chants of “so-re, so-re”, about 1,800 people came together in northern Japan over the weekend to pull a 360-tonne castle keep a little more than two metres closer to its original resting place as part of ongoing renovations.

    Rotating teams of 80 people heaved on 30-metre ropes as the keep of Hirosaki Castle in Aomori prefecture edged closer to its destination. On Saturday participants towed the building – which has been set on rails – 1.13m, while on Sunday it was shifted another 1.09m.

    The Guardian – Gavin Blair – 25th August 2026

    8 votes
  3. [2]
    chocobean
    Link
    One 'absolutely prolific' male bird is keeping his species alive in the U.K. CBC Aug 2026

    One 'absolutely prolific' male bird is keeping his species alive in the U.K.

    'He's at the top of his game,' conservationist says of 10-year-old Montague's harrier

    "He'll fly to, like, a thousand feet in the air and then he'll do these amazing twist and turns flashing his wings," Thomas said. "The females will then appear. They will chase him around."

    This year, Thomas said, three females were fighting for AU's attention.

    "The three had a big fight, and they got down to two. And then the two stayed, and nested with him.

    AU fathered six chicks between his two mates, four female and two male.

    The six new hatchlings are spread evenly among two nests, roughly one kilometre apart in a top-secret location, somewhere on a British farm.

    Only the scientists and the landowners know where the nests are located, and the researchers constructed barriers around them to protect the baby birds from predators and other threats.

    "This is one of the most exciting birds we have in the U.K. and to work on it is a dream every single day," Thomas said.

    CBC Aug 2026

    4 votes
  4. [4]
    patience_limited
    (edited )
    Link
    Based on your zodiac sign, which milk chocolate bar are you? This is the most nonsensical, frivolous, and absurd clickbait quiz headline I've seen in a while, and so I thought I'd share it with...

    Based on your zodiac sign, which milk chocolate bar are you?

    This is the most nonsensical, frivolous, and absurd clickbait quiz headline I've seen in a while, and so I thought I'd share it with the discerning Tildes readership. It combines two clickbait topics I feel obliged to mock with relish - astrology and "which ___ represents you" questions.

    For the record, I'm not an American milk chocolate bar that contains nearly homeopathic quantities of cocoa products - 70% for me.

    Have fun!

    3 votes
    1. [3]
      DefinitelyNotAFae
      Link Parent
      I do like a KitKat, even if I think it's bullshit. But then I'm a Capricorn so of course I think it's bullshit. However it's not a quiz, and just a 1-to-1 bar-to-sign match. I am underwhelmed and...

      I do like a KitKat, even if I think it's bullshit. But then I'm a Capricorn so of course I think it's bullshit.

      However it's not a quiz, and just a 1-to-1 bar-to-sign match. I am underwhelmed and feel I was promised more.

      /hj

      4 votes
      1. [2]
        patience_limited
        Link Parent
        A friend of my spouse's, who actually made her living from astrological and Tarot readings, once did mine. She just looked at me, said "All that Virgo...", and left it at that. Of course Virgos...

        A friend of my spouse's, who actually made her living from astrological and Tarot readings, once did mine. She just looked at me, said "All that Virgo...", and left it at that. Of course Virgos don't believe in astrology. 😉

        And Snickers bars are just disgustingly sugary even if they do have minuscule nutritional value from the peanuts.

        2 votes
        1. DefinitelyNotAFae
          Link Parent
          I eat candy for the sugar but I don't like nuts and caramel in my chocolate so I'm the oddball

          I eat candy for the sugar but I don't like nuts and caramel in my chocolate so I'm the oddball

          3 votes
  5. chocobean
    Link
    (Burmuda's) tiny snails were once feared extinct. Now, scientists say, ‘they’re doing absolutely brilliantly’ CBC , Feb 2026

    (Burmuda's) tiny snails were once feared extinct. Now, scientists say, ‘they’re doing absolutely brilliantly’

    They’re doing especially well at their first re-introduction site, Nonsuch Island, a 16-acre nature reserve that Bermuda senior biodiversity officer Mark Outerbridge calls “a living museum of pre-colonial Bermuda.”

    “Nonsuch is home to many of our rarest and most endangered flora and fauna and is the subject of regular conservation management,” Outerbridge said in an email. “Public access is limited to minimize human impacts and non-native species are continuously controlled.”

    CBC , Feb 2026

    3 votes