What a Weird Week gets you caught up on the odd, interesting, strange, fun, and weird news that happened this week. Ten stories in 15 minutes!
See https://www.shownotes.page or "What a Weird Week" where you get podcasts.
See https://www.shownotes.page or "What a Weird Week" where you get podcasts.
Hi friends, I'm Scott and this is What a Weird Week, a look at the odd, interesting, strange, fun and weird stories that made news this week. See bottom of shownotes page for a transcript of the podcast episode. To Subscribe/ get in touch/ other/ see www.shownotes.page.
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These are the shownotes for Season 7, Ep 8 first published Feb 20, 2026.
Thanks for rating and reviewing along with subscribing!
These are the shownotes for Season 7, Ep 8 first published Feb 20, 2026.
10 An injured cormorant in Germany with a fishing hook stuck in its beak sought help by pecking at the window of a hospital's emergency room (Look: Bird with fishing hook stuck in beak visits emergency room for help - UPI.com). Hospital staff and firefighters then captured the bird, removed the hook, and released it back into the wild. See https://youtu.be/Jp18YJ25kcA and read https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2026/02/18/germany-bird-fish-hook-hospital-emergency-room/3011771427779/
9 Researchers at the University of Maryland have developed "Smart Underwear," a sensor-equipped device to track flatulence, and are now seeking volunteers to wear it for a study (Researchers develop 'Smart Underwear' to track a wearer's farts - UPI.com). The data will be used to build a "Human Flatus Atlas" to establish an objective baseline for normal gas patterns in adults.
see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFyYScTfNqo and read https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2026/02/16/University-of-Maryland-Smart-Underwear-flatulence-farts/5281771261699/
read https://www.glasgowtimes.co.uk/news/25862323.glasgow-school-art-graduates-work-enters-guinness-world-records/ and listen to this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZmTYXBAE5s and see it here https://youtu.be/1ZqrRauaJds
7 Sydney Water has confirmed a massive fatberg, estimated to be the size of four buses, stuck under a wastewater plant. (Fatberg 'the size of four buses' found under Sydney wastewater plant - UPI.com). A multi-billion dollar, 10-year overhaul has been proposed to address the issue. For the uninitiated, a fatberg is a blockage in a sewer system made from a collection of fats, oils, and greases.
watch this https://youtu.be/akK815xGipg?si=nwLCJkyHY8torU_i and read this https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2026/02/11/australia-massive-fatberg-Malabar-wastewater-plant-poop-balls/3871770828715/
*NOTE: it's never great when a url contains the phrase 'poop-balls' so viewer discretion advised.
*NOTE: it's never great when a url contains the phrase 'poop-balls' so viewer discretion advised.
6 Raising Cane's has filed a lawsuit against its Boston landlord, who is attempting to evict the restaurant over complaints that it "smells like chicken fingers" (Raising Cane’s files lawsuit as landlord tries to evict them for chicken smell - Dexerto). The chain alleges the landlord is using the odor dispute as a pretext to alter lease terms, despite having already spent over $200,000 to mitigate the smell.
read https://www.dexerto.com/food/raising-canes-files-lawsuit-as-landlord-tries-to-evict-them-for-chicken-smell-3317611/
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TRANSCRIPT!
10 Bird goes to hospital seeking treatment.
See https://youtu.be/Jp18YJ25kcA and read https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2026/02/18/germany-bird-fish-hook-hospital-emergency-room/3011771427779/
1 Do solar flares trigger earthquakes? There is some disagreement on this.
read https://www.livescience.com/planet-earth/solar-flares-may-be-triggering-earthquakes-controversial-study-claims
read https://www.dexerto.com/food/raising-canes-files-lawsuit-as-landlord-tries-to-evict-them-for-chicken-smell-3317611/
5 Baby pigeons are rarely seen because they remain in high, secluded nests on buildings and bridges for over a month after hatching (Why do we never see baby pigeons in cities? The scientific explanation - SciencesBrief). By the time these young birds, known as squabs, leave the nest, they have already grown their adult feathers and are difficult to distinguish from mature pigeons.
read https://sciencesbrief.com/why-do-we-never-see-baby-pigeons-in-cities-the-scientific-explanation/
4 A new study suggests that for adults over 65, mentally demanding activities like puzzles and reading are more effective at slowing cognitive decline than physical exercise alone (Crossword Puzzles Protect Older Brains From Decline Better Than Exercise, Study Suggests). The research found that while physical activity by itself had no significant effect on the rate of mental decline, engaging in a wide variety of activities was linked to better brain health in midlife.
read https://studyfinds.com/crossword-puzzles-protect-older-brains-cognitive-decline-better-than-exercise-study/
3 DUDE Wipes has launched "Morning Grind," a new line of flushable personal care wipes infused with real coffee oil (Coffee-Infused Flushable Wipes : DUDE Wipes Morning Grind Flushable Wipes). The product is designed to offer the aromatic scent of coffee and provide a potential boost of alertness while freshening up.
read https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/dude-wipes-morning-grind-flushable-wipes
pin: https://pin.it/5wFBHtbgp
2 Bad Date Bears is a new line of plush collectibles inspired by universal dating experiences, featuring characters with unique personalities and backstories aimed at adult collectors (Dating-Inspired Plush Collectibles : Bad Date Bears). The collection, which launched at the New York Toy Fair, includes characters like "Situationship Steve" and comes in packaging designed to look like a dating app profile.
read https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/bad-date-bears
honorable mention: New models reveal that a giant gravity anomaly under Antarctica is getting stronger, driven by the slow movement of rock deep below the surface (Giant Gravity Anomaly Under Antarctica Is Getting Stronger, Scientists Reveal : ScienceAlert). The research suggests this gravitational depression has existed for at least 70 million years and may have influenced the growth of the Antarctic ice sheet.
read https://www.sciencealert.com/giant-gravity-anomaly-under-antarctica-is-getting-stronger-scientists-reveal
honorable mention: While positive affirmations can sometimes have a small beneficial impact on well-being, scientific evidence suggests their effects are not universal and depend heavily on the individual and their circumstances (Do Positive Affirmations Really Work? A Psychologist Explains The Science : ScienceAlert). The practice also carries risks, such as promoting toxic positivity, and alternatives like self-compassion may be more effective for building resilience.
1 A controversial new study claims that solar flares may trigger earthquakes by altering electrical forces within Earth's crust (Solar flares may be triggering earthquakes, controversial study claims | Live Science). However, other researchers are skeptical, arguing the study's model is overly simplified and that a direct link between solar activity and earthquakes has not been proven.
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TRANSCRIPT!
00:00
The bird sought treatment at a local hospital. What a weird week. Hi, everybody. It's weird. This is like crazy. We're really weird. They're foot deep out of my trash. Well, got a great joke for you. It was so wonderful. Weird stuff. Hi, friends. I'm Scott. This is a show we call What a Weird Week. And if you're new here, we do the fun news, the odd news, not the serious news, but the strange ones.
00:26
that maybe were in your headlines or maybe they went under the radar for you this past week. We count down 10 of the weird news stories of the week and we accompany everything with show notes, pictures, videos, that kind of stuff. If you go to our show notes page, you can find all that show notes dot page. This is our episode for Friday, February 20, 2026. Number 10. Number 10 is that bird which.
00:52
It would appear showed up for treatment at a local hospital. This is a cormorant in Germany. It had a fishing hook stuck in its beak and it went to the hospital. It went to the emergency room and pecked on the glass. It's pecking on the window. People didn't notice it at first. Then eventually it got the attention of hospital staff and the bird seemed very calm as they approached the bird and tried to capture the bird to treat it.
01:21
They got the hook, the fishing hook out of the bird's beak and the cormorant was released into the wild. I love this story and I know it doesn't make logical sense or whatever their science. Sure. Tell me a bird can't read the sign, which read hospital, but still a little part of me is like that bird knew exactly what they were doing. And I cannot wait to watch the Disney Pixar treatment of this one. Fantastic. We do link.
01:51
to some photos and more details if you click the show notes or go to show notes dot page. Number nine is about some research into flatulence and underpants. So PG 13 maybe or I don't know. We need a different thing. It's not like saucy, but we need some kind of a warning if you have kids who would just launch into some sort of fart joke avalanche when they hear this story. Well, to you.
02:20
young comedy enthusiasts, I encourage it. But perhaps mom or dad, parent, legal guardian, maybe they don't have time to hear all 1000 fart jokes that you have ready to go. Researchers at the University of Maryland have developed what they're calling in the article, Underwear, which is underpants equipped with sensors to track when you pass gas flatulence. And now they need people to step up.
02:48
and start passing gas so that they can gather some data. They're trying to figure out what is normal, set some sort of passing gas baseline. And so your help is needed on this. Maybe it's not you. Maybe it's somebody you know who finally can give back to science, make a worthwhile contribution to science through flatulence. Number eight is the enormous sock monkey.
03:16
that was made by a Glasgow School of Art graduate. It was first in the headlines last year because it was enormous and it was a wonderful photo. A giant sock monkey, 15 meters. So times three, what's that? Around 45 feet, 46 feet, somewhere in there. The pictures are all from either a drone shot or up high looking down onto the sock monkey. It's very impressive. They set it up in what they call a car park, which
03:46
where I'm from, we would call a parking lot, I think. Same thing, I'm pretty sure. So first it was an art installment, 45 foot sock monkey in the parking lot. But then somebody was like, it's possible this is the largest sock monkey in the world. And that's why it's back in the headlines. It turns out that person was correct. It is the largest sock monkey in the world, officially now in the Guinness Book of World Records, the Glasgow sock monkey. Number seven is gross. So just a heads up and...
04:15
I don't want to do this story, but it is weird. And we have taken our solemn vow to cover the weird ones. So this is the fatberg that was found underneath the Sydney wastewater plant, Australia, planet earth. is a fatberg the size of four buses. And if fatberg is kind of a new term for you, first of all, congratulations, I think that's a win. Secondly, if fatberg is what
04:42
they call a blockage in the sewer that is made from fat and other gross things. And this one grew to the size of four buses. We link to more information about the fatberg and I will warn you again, PG-13 or trigger warning or whether it's gross. And also right in the URL from United Press International, the official news story URL contains
05:12
the phrase wastewater plant poop balls. So somebody snuck that into the URL. I guess one good thing is when you click that, you know what you're getting into. m six is about a location of the restaurant Raising Canes. I do not have a Raising Canes where I'm at, East Coast Canada. And perhaps if you're in the same situation, Raising Canes, delicious French fries and delicious chicken, chicken fingers, chicken nugs.
05:40
If you want to elaborate more on Raising Canes, please reach out. Maybe it's your favorite place. But I think I'm in the ballpark there. You get the idea. The location of Raising Canes in Boston that popped up in the headlines, according to the article, they've filed a lawsuit against their Boston landlord. The landlord is trying to evict the restaurant over complaints that it smells like chicken fingers. I should hope so. I should hope that any quality Raising Canes location
06:10
It's going to smell like chicken fingers, isn't it? Anyway, for the legalities of it there, you can click the article. I'm no lawyer. I want to say I could be called on to testify as an expert on fried chicken fingers, but one side is saying is stinking up the place. You need to get out. The rest of the tenants don't appreciate it. And then the other side is like, are you kidding me right now? You just want to get rid of us. That's my I've never gone to law school summation.
06:39
what's going on with raisin canes. I don't want to take sides on this one. don't understand the law and I'm sure there's more to this story. I feel like some people would pay extra to live near the chicken finger smell. mean, am I wrong? Maybe I'm wrong. All I want to do now is eat chicken fingers. Number five is from Science Brief and they did an article about like a deep dive into pigeons. Why do you never see baby pigeons? And I read the headline and I was like,
07:09
Oh yeah, I never see baby pigeons, even though every city is full of pigeons. It's because, I mean, if you want to read the whole article, it is wonderful, but I'll give you the TLDR. Baby pigeons stay up in the nest, up high, where they're safe, and they only come down after they look like they're grown up. So they blend right in. They might be young swinging pigeons, but you or I can't tell. We're not pigeon experts. They blend right in with the grown up pigeons.
07:39
And that's why you never see baby pigeons. I don't know, thought it was interesting. Number five story this week. um Number four is the battle between crossword puzzles and exercise. I didn't know there was a battle between crossword puzzles and exercise, but I'm fully invested now. So according to a new study that we linked to for adults over 65, mentally demanding activities like doing a crossword better at slowing cognitive decline.
08:09
than doing exercise. Now, I'm no expert on any of this. I would encourage you to read the article we linked to it. I would not say you're supposed to stop exercising. That's not the purpose of this study. But doing a crossword, doing some brain teasers, that is supposed to be good for your brain health. And I'm not 65 yet, but I look forward to a future where I can choose between exercise, which
08:38
not my favorite thing to do or doing a crossword, a delightful crossword puzzle. Maybe this is great news for you too. Or perhaps somebody you know would want this information. can click the show notes or go to show notes dot page. Read more again. I'm not a medical professional. Number three. Number three is a product that has not paid for product placement in this show, but we're going to talk about it because it's weird. And to me, this is, I,
09:07
I don't want to say gross, but... I said gross, but, didn't I? Okay, let's just move on. The folks at Dude Wipes have launched a new line of flushable personal care wipes infused with coffee called the Morning Grind. Morning Grind wipes have real coffee oil in them. They say it will boost potential boost of alertness while you freshen up.
09:37
I'm not sure the science on it. I believe I have mentioned already in this program. I'm not a scientist. I should just get a button and wear it. I am not a scientist, but I would encourage you to read the article. Although the article is not scientific either about whether a wipe with coffee in it will boost your alertness. The article is more like a press release, sort of. This might just be one of those things, you know, an attempt to get publicity.
10:04
I'll put the link in the show notes. Number two is the bad date bears. They have been on some of these trending websites and in the news this past week, the bad date bears are plush animals that you can collect, give to your friends perhaps, and they're all inspired by dating scenarios. It's kind of funny. I guess they were at the New York toy fair. They launched there now in the headlines because
10:33
Well, one of them is Situation Ship Steve. That's one of the bad date bears. Maybe you know someone who was in a Situation Ship. Maybe they would like the Situation Ship Steve bad date bear. It's possible they were in the headlines because we're in that window around Valentine's Day. And these are certainly a funny Valentine's gift or perhaps Galentines or Browentines. You know, if you knew people who went through some bad dates.
11:03
and they needed something funny to perk them up. Bad date bear. Situationship Steve, on the way to the rescue. Honorable mention. Honorable mention. There is a giant gravity anomaly under Antarctica. And I thought maybe that was worth an honorable mention. There's a write-up in Science Alert about it. I thought, uh-oh, what's happening? But I guess it's been there for 70 million years. It's existed for at least 70 million years. So I guess it's not a new
11:34
kid on the block, new gravity anomaly kid on the block. It's an old kid, gravity anomaly kid. Another honorable mention. This one is about positive affirmations. According to some research written up in Science Alert, whether positive affirmations work or not. And it gets complicated quickly. You know what we're talking about. Like you look in the mirror and you say, I'm good enough. People like me or
12:03
just don't let them see you cry. positive affirmations sometimes can have a small beneficial impact on your wellbeing, but it looks as though the evidence is kind of pointing towards the effects are not universal for sure. Doesn't help everybody and really depends a lot on you. What type of individual you are and what your circumstances are. And then the article gets into, can positive affirmations hurt you?
12:33
And they talk about toxic positivity, which does not sound good. They also offer some alternatives though, self-compassion instead of affirmations, self-compassion. I think just before we get to number one, we should try a self-compassion. Let's do this one together. I am going to, you can repeat it. I am going to cut myself some slack today. I am not going to
13:02
compare my show to other good shows. Maybe positive affirmations work for you. Perhaps you want to read more. We put a link in the show notes or you can go to our show notes page, show notes dot page. one is a controversial one from the live science and the science stories don't always do so well in our metric. But this one controversial and it's about solar flares, maybe causing earthquakes.
13:32
That seems like something you would see in a Marvel movie. So a little bit, I'm like kind of believing it, but I guess it's quite a controversial take. Researchers are proposing this, that solar flares interact with the electrical forces within the Earth's crust and we get earthquakes. It's controversial because many other researchers are saying no, there's no link. Nothing's been proven, but I bet even those
14:01
I'm not a scientist. I bet even those researchers would say, it does seem plausible in the Marvel universe. Hey, I'm going to stop there. There's a long article and we link to it in Live Science. You can click the thing or click our show notes page, show notes dot page. It's sciency. All righty. So we put everything we talked about today on our show notes page at show notes dot page. You can find everything about our podcast there too. Thanks a lot for listening.
14:31
Coming back next Friday with 10 more weird things from the news on What a Weird Week!
The bird sought treatment at a local hospital. What a weird week. Hi, everybody. It's weird. This is like crazy. We're really weird. They're foot deep out of my trash. Well, got a great joke for you. It was so wonderful. Weird stuff. Hi, friends. I'm Scott. This is a show we call What a Weird Week. And if you're new here, we do the fun news, the odd news, not the serious news, but the strange ones.
00:26
that maybe were in your headlines or maybe they went under the radar for you this past week. We count down 10 of the weird news stories of the week and we accompany everything with show notes, pictures, videos, that kind of stuff. If you go to our show notes page, you can find all that show notes dot page. This is our episode for Friday, February 20, 2026. Number 10. Number 10 is that bird which.
00:52
It would appear showed up for treatment at a local hospital. This is a cormorant in Germany. It had a fishing hook stuck in its beak and it went to the hospital. It went to the emergency room and pecked on the glass. It's pecking on the window. People didn't notice it at first. Then eventually it got the attention of hospital staff and the bird seemed very calm as they approached the bird and tried to capture the bird to treat it.
01:21
They got the hook, the fishing hook out of the bird's beak and the cormorant was released into the wild. I love this story and I know it doesn't make logical sense or whatever their science. Sure. Tell me a bird can't read the sign, which read hospital, but still a little part of me is like that bird knew exactly what they were doing. And I cannot wait to watch the Disney Pixar treatment of this one. Fantastic. We do link.
01:51
to some photos and more details if you click the show notes or go to show notes dot page. Number nine is about some research into flatulence and underpants. So PG 13 maybe or I don't know. We need a different thing. It's not like saucy, but we need some kind of a warning if you have kids who would just launch into some sort of fart joke avalanche when they hear this story. Well, to you.
02:20
young comedy enthusiasts, I encourage it. But perhaps mom or dad, parent, legal guardian, maybe they don't have time to hear all 1000 fart jokes that you have ready to go. Researchers at the University of Maryland have developed what they're calling in the article, Underwear, which is underpants equipped with sensors to track when you pass gas flatulence. And now they need people to step up.
02:48
and start passing gas so that they can gather some data. They're trying to figure out what is normal, set some sort of passing gas baseline. And so your help is needed on this. Maybe it's not you. Maybe it's somebody you know who finally can give back to science, make a worthwhile contribution to science through flatulence. Number eight is the enormous sock monkey.
03:16
that was made by a Glasgow School of Art graduate. It was first in the headlines last year because it was enormous and it was a wonderful photo. A giant sock monkey, 15 meters. So times three, what's that? Around 45 feet, 46 feet, somewhere in there. The pictures are all from either a drone shot or up high looking down onto the sock monkey. It's very impressive. They set it up in what they call a car park, which
03:46
where I'm from, we would call a parking lot, I think. Same thing, I'm pretty sure. So first it was an art installment, 45 foot sock monkey in the parking lot. But then somebody was like, it's possible this is the largest sock monkey in the world. And that's why it's back in the headlines. It turns out that person was correct. It is the largest sock monkey in the world, officially now in the Guinness Book of World Records, the Glasgow sock monkey. Number seven is gross. So just a heads up and...
04:15
I don't want to do this story, but it is weird. And we have taken our solemn vow to cover the weird ones. So this is the fatberg that was found underneath the Sydney wastewater plant, Australia, planet earth. is a fatberg the size of four buses. And if fatberg is kind of a new term for you, first of all, congratulations, I think that's a win. Secondly, if fatberg is what
04:42
they call a blockage in the sewer that is made from fat and other gross things. And this one grew to the size of four buses. We link to more information about the fatberg and I will warn you again, PG-13 or trigger warning or whether it's gross. And also right in the URL from United Press International, the official news story URL contains
05:12
the phrase wastewater plant poop balls. So somebody snuck that into the URL. I guess one good thing is when you click that, you know what you're getting into. m six is about a location of the restaurant Raising Canes. I do not have a Raising Canes where I'm at, East Coast Canada. And perhaps if you're in the same situation, Raising Canes, delicious French fries and delicious chicken, chicken fingers, chicken nugs.
05:40
If you want to elaborate more on Raising Canes, please reach out. Maybe it's your favorite place. But I think I'm in the ballpark there. You get the idea. The location of Raising Canes in Boston that popped up in the headlines, according to the article, they've filed a lawsuit against their Boston landlord. The landlord is trying to evict the restaurant over complaints that it smells like chicken fingers. I should hope so. I should hope that any quality Raising Canes location
06:10
It's going to smell like chicken fingers, isn't it? Anyway, for the legalities of it there, you can click the article. I'm no lawyer. I want to say I could be called on to testify as an expert on fried chicken fingers, but one side is saying is stinking up the place. You need to get out. The rest of the tenants don't appreciate it. And then the other side is like, are you kidding me right now? You just want to get rid of us. That's my I've never gone to law school summation.
06:39
what's going on with raisin canes. I don't want to take sides on this one. don't understand the law and I'm sure there's more to this story. I feel like some people would pay extra to live near the chicken finger smell. mean, am I wrong? Maybe I'm wrong. All I want to do now is eat chicken fingers. Number five is from Science Brief and they did an article about like a deep dive into pigeons. Why do you never see baby pigeons? And I read the headline and I was like,
07:09
Oh yeah, I never see baby pigeons, even though every city is full of pigeons. It's because, I mean, if you want to read the whole article, it is wonderful, but I'll give you the TLDR. Baby pigeons stay up in the nest, up high, where they're safe, and they only come down after they look like they're grown up. So they blend right in. They might be young swinging pigeons, but you or I can't tell. We're not pigeon experts. They blend right in with the grown up pigeons.
07:39
And that's why you never see baby pigeons. I don't know, thought it was interesting. Number five story this week. um Number four is the battle between crossword puzzles and exercise. I didn't know there was a battle between crossword puzzles and exercise, but I'm fully invested now. So according to a new study that we linked to for adults over 65, mentally demanding activities like doing a crossword better at slowing cognitive decline.
08:09
than doing exercise. Now, I'm no expert on any of this. I would encourage you to read the article we linked to it. I would not say you're supposed to stop exercising. That's not the purpose of this study. But doing a crossword, doing some brain teasers, that is supposed to be good for your brain health. And I'm not 65 yet, but I look forward to a future where I can choose between exercise, which
08:38
not my favorite thing to do or doing a crossword, a delightful crossword puzzle. Maybe this is great news for you too. Or perhaps somebody you know would want this information. can click the show notes or go to show notes dot page. Read more again. I'm not a medical professional. Number three. Number three is a product that has not paid for product placement in this show, but we're going to talk about it because it's weird. And to me, this is, I,
09:07
I don't want to say gross, but... I said gross, but, didn't I? Okay, let's just move on. The folks at Dude Wipes have launched a new line of flushable personal care wipes infused with coffee called the Morning Grind. Morning Grind wipes have real coffee oil in them. They say it will boost potential boost of alertness while you freshen up.
09:37
I'm not sure the science on it. I believe I have mentioned already in this program. I'm not a scientist. I should just get a button and wear it. I am not a scientist, but I would encourage you to read the article. Although the article is not scientific either about whether a wipe with coffee in it will boost your alertness. The article is more like a press release, sort of. This might just be one of those things, you know, an attempt to get publicity.
10:04
I'll put the link in the show notes. Number two is the bad date bears. They have been on some of these trending websites and in the news this past week, the bad date bears are plush animals that you can collect, give to your friends perhaps, and they're all inspired by dating scenarios. It's kind of funny. I guess they were at the New York toy fair. They launched there now in the headlines because
10:33
Well, one of them is Situation Ship Steve. That's one of the bad date bears. Maybe you know someone who was in a Situation Ship. Maybe they would like the Situation Ship Steve bad date bear. It's possible they were in the headlines because we're in that window around Valentine's Day. And these are certainly a funny Valentine's gift or perhaps Galentines or Browentines. You know, if you knew people who went through some bad dates.
11:03
and they needed something funny to perk them up. Bad date bear. Situationship Steve, on the way to the rescue. Honorable mention. Honorable mention. There is a giant gravity anomaly under Antarctica. And I thought maybe that was worth an honorable mention. There's a write-up in Science Alert about it. I thought, uh-oh, what's happening? But I guess it's been there for 70 million years. It's existed for at least 70 million years. So I guess it's not a new
11:34
kid on the block, new gravity anomaly kid on the block. It's an old kid, gravity anomaly kid. Another honorable mention. This one is about positive affirmations. According to some research written up in Science Alert, whether positive affirmations work or not. And it gets complicated quickly. You know what we're talking about. Like you look in the mirror and you say, I'm good enough. People like me or
12:03
just don't let them see you cry. positive affirmations sometimes can have a small beneficial impact on your wellbeing, but it looks as though the evidence is kind of pointing towards the effects are not universal for sure. Doesn't help everybody and really depends a lot on you. What type of individual you are and what your circumstances are. And then the article gets into, can positive affirmations hurt you?
12:33
And they talk about toxic positivity, which does not sound good. They also offer some alternatives though, self-compassion instead of affirmations, self-compassion. I think just before we get to number one, we should try a self-compassion. Let's do this one together. I am going to, you can repeat it. I am going to cut myself some slack today. I am not going to
13:02
compare my show to other good shows. Maybe positive affirmations work for you. Perhaps you want to read more. We put a link in the show notes or you can go to our show notes page, show notes dot page. one is a controversial one from the live science and the science stories don't always do so well in our metric. But this one controversial and it's about solar flares, maybe causing earthquakes.
13:32
That seems like something you would see in a Marvel movie. So a little bit, I'm like kind of believing it, but I guess it's quite a controversial take. Researchers are proposing this, that solar flares interact with the electrical forces within the Earth's crust and we get earthquakes. It's controversial because many other researchers are saying no, there's no link. Nothing's been proven, but I bet even those
14:01
I'm not a scientist. I bet even those researchers would say, it does seem plausible in the Marvel universe. Hey, I'm going to stop there. There's a long article and we link to it in Live Science. You can click the thing or click our show notes page, show notes dot page. It's sciency. All righty. So we put everything we talked about today on our show notes page at show notes dot page. You can find everything about our podcast there too. Thanks a lot for listening.
14:31
Coming back next Friday with 10 more weird things from the news on What a Weird Week!
10 Bird goes to hospital seeking treatment.
See https://youtu.be/Jp18YJ25kcA and read https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2026/02/18/germany-bird-fish-hook-hospital-emergency-room/3011771427779/
9 Science needs your flatulence!
see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFyYScTfNqo and read https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2026/02/16/University-of-Maryland-Smart-Underwear-flatulence-farts/5281771261699/
see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFyYScTfNqo and read https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2026/02/16/University-of-Maryland-Smart-Underwear-flatulence-farts/5281771261699/
8 Giant sock monkey
read https://www.glasgowtimes.co.uk/news/25862323.glasgow-school-art-graduates-work-enters-guinness-world-records/ and listen to this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZmTYXBAE5s and see it here https://youtu.be/1ZqrRauaJds
read https://www.glasgowtimes.co.uk/news/25862323.glasgow-school-art-graduates-work-enters-guinness-world-records/ and listen to this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZmTYXBAE5s and see it here https://youtu.be/1ZqrRauaJds
7 Sydney Fatberg is estimated to be the size of four buses.
watch this https://youtu.be/akK815xGipg?si=nwLCJkyHY8torU_i and read this https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2026/02/11/australia-massive-fatberg-Malabar-wastewater-plant-poop-balls/3871770828715/
***NOTE: it's never great when a url contains the phrase 'poop-balls' so viewer discretion advised.***
watch this https://youtu.be/akK815xGipg?si=nwLCJkyHY8torU_i and read this https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2026/02/11/australia-massive-fatberg-Malabar-wastewater-plant-poop-balls/3871770828715/
***NOTE: it's never great when a url contains the phrase 'poop-balls' so viewer discretion advised.***
6 Restaurant "smells like chicken fingers" lawsuit.
read https://www.dexerto.com/food/raising-canes-files-lawsuit-as-landlord-tries-to-evict-them-for-chicken-smell-3317611/
read https://www.dexerto.com/food/raising-canes-files-lawsuit-as-landlord-tries-to-evict-them-for-chicken-smell-3317611/
5 Baby pigeon mystery solved!
read https://sciencesbrief.com/why-do-we-never-see-baby-pigeons-in-cities-the-scientific-explanation/
4 Puzzles versus Exercise?!
read https://studyfinds.com/crossword-puzzles-protect-older-brains-cognitive-decline-better-than-exercise-study/
3 Flushable wipes infused with coffee?!
read https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/dude-wipes-morning-grind-flushable-wipes
2 Bad Date Bears!
read https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/bad-date-bears
honorable mention: giant gravity anomaly under Antarctica is getting stronger,
read https://www.sciencealert.com/giant-gravity-anomaly-under-antarctica-is-getting-stronger-scientists-reveal
honorable mention: Be careful with those positive affirmations!
read https://sciencesbrief.com/why-do-we-never-see-baby-pigeons-in-cities-the-scientific-explanation/
4 Puzzles versus Exercise?!
read https://studyfinds.com/crossword-puzzles-protect-older-brains-cognitive-decline-better-than-exercise-study/
3 Flushable wipes infused with coffee?!
read https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/dude-wipes-morning-grind-flushable-wipes
2 Bad Date Bears!
read https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/bad-date-bears
honorable mention: giant gravity anomaly under Antarctica is getting stronger,
read https://www.sciencealert.com/giant-gravity-anomaly-under-antarctica-is-getting-stronger-scientists-reveal
honorable mention: Be careful with those positive affirmations!
read https://www.sciencealert.com/do-positive-affirmations-really-work-a-psychologist-explains-the-science
1 Do solar flares trigger earthquakes? There is some disagreement on this.
read https://www.livescience.com/planet-earth/solar-flares-may-be-triggering-earthquakes-controversial-study-claims
Scotty and Tony Radio Show Contact Links at NEWCOUNTRY969.CA/SCOTTYANDTONY.