Hi friends, I'm Scott and here is your weird news update featuring some of the odd, and fun things from the news. This is What a Weird Week. Fri. Oct 2 2026.
Show notes page is shownotes.page. Stream and Subscribe HERE.
10 Low Speed Chase results in tortoise being apprehended. 'no sense of urgency'
https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2026/09/28/tortoise-Jefferson-County-Colorado/9431790610409/ and video https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1398997041768715
https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2026/09/28/tortoise-Jefferson-County-Colorado/9431790610409/ and video https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1398997041768715
9 Dish soap as good as hospital disinfectant?!
https://studyfinds.com/dish-soap-cut-bacteria-on-used-medical-gear-as-well-as-hospital-grade-disinfectant/
https://studyfinds.com/dish-soap-cut-bacteria-on-used-medical-gear-as-well-as-hospital-grade-disinfectant/
8 Would you eat evil Ranch Dressing from a glow-in-the-dark bottle? Yes, of course you would.
7 Meet the most magnificent of the Fat Bears.
https://www.popsci.com/environment/backpack-fat-bear-week-winner-2026/ and video https://www.facebook.com/reel/4608262772776986
6 New shape invented. I'm calling it Shark Fin Throwing Star.
https://www.popsci.com/science/new-geometry-shape-polyhedron/ and video https://youtu.be/kA62TChjIFA?si=KcOBXejjMqRDrYrR&t=19
https://www.popsci.com/science/new-geometry-shape-polyhedron/ and video https://youtu.be/kA62TChjIFA?si=KcOBXejjMqRDrYrR&t=19
5 Should we change their name to Moodberries? (copyright 2026, Weird Week Inc.)
4 New Jersey road shark?! Yes.
https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2026/09/30/shark-flooded-road-Surf-City-new-jersey/2471790789410/ and video https://youtu.be/WD9ZH-iBlZE
https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2026/09/30/shark-flooded-road-Surf-City-new-jersey/2471790789410/ and video https://youtu.be/WD9ZH-iBlZE
3 Handstand ... while on fire.
https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2026/09/30/austria-guinness-world-records-handstand-full-body-burn/2261790782974/ and video link HERE.
https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2026/09/30/austria-guinness-world-records-handstand-full-body-burn/2261790782974/ and video link HERE.
2 AI image leads to charges in Singapore. Could this happen to you?
1 More Diamond Talk from the Diamond Park.
https://www.clickondetroit.com/news/weird-news/2026/10/02/arkansas-gem-hunter-says-he-found-what-may-be-a-1-million-diamond/ and pin here.
TRANSCRIPT for Season 7, Episode 40, published on 2 Oct 2026:
#weirdnews #odd #fun #interesting #strange #podcast
00:00
The fugitive captured after a low-speed chase. It was a tortoise. What a weird week. Hi everybody, it's Weird! This is like Crazy Boom Hill. Weird! Really weird, dude. Bigfoot eats out of my trash. Well, I got a great joke for you. The name is so wonderful. Weird! Oh! Hi friends, I am Scott. This is What a Weird Week, your Weird News Roundup. If you're new here, what we do every Friday as we record an episode going back through the news of the week, we pick out the fun stories, the weird stories, maybe a few of these you missed.
00:29
The oddities. You can get everything we talk about in more detail if you click our show notes page, which is show notes dot page. All our podcast stuff and ways to get in touch. Everything is there. Show notes dot page. At time of recording, it is Friday, October 2nd, 2026. 10. Number 10 is the tortoise that tried to make a break for it. Very slow break for it. The 100 pound tortoise, which, quote, attempted the world's slowest escape.
00:56
We linked to the article, we also linked to a video, so a little background. Animal control was called first. The 100 pound tortoise escaped a fenced in backyard. Slowly. Animal control was having a bit of trouble and so Colorado Sheriff's Department members showed up and we have the body cam footage. Want help carrying him? I was going say he's like... He looks stubborn. We can totally carry him.
01:25
So what's going on in that video is people are helping to lift the tortoise, get the tortoise back. Tortoises name is Lard and the 100 pound tortoise was just too much for one person to handle. Even though not getting away fast was still sort of wanting to go one direction and home was the other direction. Eventually the crisis was averted and Lard was returned home.
01:55
Welcome home, Lord. Number nine is the hospital disinfectant versus dish soap write up. There's a study and we link to a write up about it. They pitted. looked at how well different things cut bacteria on medical equipment. A certain kind of what they describe as powerful medical disinfectant up against dish soap. You know, dish soap. Well, it turns out there's no clear winner. This disinfectant and the dish soap.
02:25
Both did well. It's not like no clear winner because they're all terrible. No clear winner because dish soap, disinfectant and alcohol, 70 % alcohol, all did pretty good cutting the bacteria. So based on this study, are we going to switch to dish soap? No. But if you're in a situation where you ran out of disinfectant or it's scarce for some reason, then you know, dish soap you're in. You're going in the game.
02:56
That's me sort of talking to Dish Soap like I'm a coach and Dish Soap is a player. Number eight. In a very crowded competitive world of dressings, sauces, condiments, to get your name out there and make some headlines is quite an accomplishment. So I don't use the term publicity stunt as some sort of disrespect. Shout out to the promotional team at Hidden Valley Ranch for getting in the headlines with their spooky ranch dressing.
03:25
That is our number eight story. Spooky Ranch. It's Hidden Valley Ranch dressing, but it is black and it comes in a glow in the dark bottle for Halloween time. And this portion of the program not sponsored, but that's kind of like how many people will keep that glow in the dark bottle forever. I think I would keep that glow in the dark bottle forever. Eat the delicious ranch. But I'm keeping that bottle.
03:51
I think that's a meat publicity stunt or promotional idea. And depending where you're hearing this, it may not be easily available to you, but I will link to more information. Again, not sponsored or whatever. Just respect to the promotional team behind Spooky Ranch. Number seven is the culmination to Fat Bear Week 2026. We do have a champion. If you're not familiar with Fat Bear Week around this time of year, it has become a tradition for this national park in Alaska.
04:21
United States of America, planet Earth, to share images of bears. And then you vote for your favorite bear and they whittle it down to one champion fat bear. These bears become enormous as they prepare to hibernate. Well, the champion this year, thank you for your votes. Bear number 89 or backpack is another name. Bear number 89 will go by backpack, got his name because as a cub he would ride on the back of his mother. Now.
04:49
The fattest of the bears, the most marvelous and magnificent of the fat bears. Backpack or bear number 89 is the champion fat bear 2026. If you want to see images, we will link to this in the show notes. Number six. All right, number six. We're going to try to get through this. I believe it warrants a position on this program as a weird news item, but it's not going to be easy to get through because we're trying as an audio program to describe a brand new shape.
05:19
A mathematician has invented a brand new shape. If you don't have a chance to click the images, we will link to all of this. I want you to imagine a shark fin throwing star. That's the shape. I think I nailed it. I'm calling it shark fin throwing star. So I did not realize that mathematicians and people in the field were still discovering new shapes. I guess that would make sense, but I never thought about it. I thought we had all the shapes. It turns out we didn't.
05:48
Now we have the shark fin throwing star. has 26 edges. I'm going to stop there. My, think we nailed it with shark fin throwing star. Let's move on. But if you want the link, you can click show notes dot page number five for number five. I was all ready to convince everyone around me to change their name to mood berries. When I read about this study involving blueberries and older adults taking blueberries. So the study was
06:17
Older adults having the equivalent of a couple of cups of blueberries every day for three months. And then they were going to look at their mood and I was like, oh, well, blueberries are good for you. Come on. This is going to be a wonderful study. Moodberries. Let's change their name to moodberries. But it turns out the study, first of all, only 18 people finished the trial, they say. So did all three months all the way through. 18 people. Not a big study. And the blueberry people and the placebo people both had
06:46
some positive results as far as their mood went. But very similar. Couldn't tell whether it was blueberries or placebo. That kind of wipes out that theory that they're mood berries. So more research is needed. Also, where I live, blueberries have gone up in price a lot. Now, perhaps it's different where you are. I live not a far drive from what is called, I think, the blueberry capital of Canada or perhaps a world, perhaps a universe. I don't know.
07:14
There's a giant blueberry on the side of the road and can buy blueberries. They've gone up in price. Two cups of blueberries every day for three months. That would be a lot of money. Maybe two cups of the placebo if it has the same effect. Might be a little cheaper. Anyway, more research needed. I'm not a scientist. If you want to read the article, we'll link to that in the show notes. four. Number four. I would have sworn to you that it was AI or fake. Just seeing the headline, I was like, I'm not clicking on that. Fake, super fake.
07:43
Well, it turns out I was wrong. Again, it was real. The shark swimming on the road in New Jersey. This is Surf City, Long Beach Island, New Jersey. This happened on September 26th. So at time of recording a few days ago, September 26th, 2026, there was a nor'easter, a big storm, New Jersey area, and flood water started to rise and spill onto the street. A fellow named Drew got video of a shark swimming past the house.
08:12
Going up a driveway briefly. And then eventually returning to the ocean. A shark expert identified the shark in the video as a smooth dogfish. They say it's harmless. So here's my thing. They say it's harmless. Sure it's harmless. But what if it's a scout? For future angry sharks. I've seen that movie. I know a sharknado is possible at any time. And scientists will scoff.
08:41
And then the sharks will form the sharknado and we're doomed. We're doomed if that dogfish was just a scout for future shark invasion. Number three. Want to point out that this is not a world record. Maybe you should try. Please do not try. Why did I even say maybe? Do not try this, please. This is somebody doing a handstand for a world record. And maybe you're good at handstands and you're like, Scott, I can do this.
09:10
The handstand is only 47 seconds, maybe that seems attainable I could not do that I can't do a handstand for four seconds But maybe you're like I've got the upper body strength for this business 47 seconds, let's go But this world record was doing the handstand for 47 seconds while on fire A stuntman did a handstand while he was on fire For 47 seconds
09:37
And the flames do tend to go towards the feet. I wasn't sure how... where would the flames go. They do tend to go up towards the feet when you're doing a handstand while on fire. I'm gonna stop there. We'll link to images and the whole write-up if you want to click the show notes. Congratulations to Phil from Slovenia. A stunt coordinator and gymnast. And I'm sorry if only your friends call you Phil. Phil, that's all I could pronounce of your name and I didn't want to mess it up. Maybe I'm just making it worse.
10:07
Congratulations on your world record! two! I don't know if you've ever used AI, the artificial intelligence, to make an image. Oh, you have? Oh, 100 % of us have done that. Okay. So we're all on the same page. And 100 % of the time, it's hilarious. Those fake images with AI. So hilarious. I don't know for sure if this will have ramifications across the entire globe. But if this sort of thing catches on...
10:37
All of us who have made an AI image, an hilarious AI image, we are all in trouble. It's curtains. Here's what happened. This is in Singapore and a fellow, allegedly, you know, innocent until proven guilty, but a fellow has been charged. Here's kind of the timeline of what happened. An image started circulating of a crocodile in a reservoir. Singapore.
11:03
A reservoir, a recreational area where people would kayak and go jogging and that sort of thing. A saltwater crocodile in there. The image got attention. People started contacting the authorities and saying, we think there's a crocodile in there in this lovely recreational area. Authorities investigated. They determined it was a fake image. They called the police and now a fellow has been charged in Singapore.
11:31
The charges are communicating a false message and obstructing the course of justice. It could be years in prison and thousands in fines. The article says the man intends to plead guilty. That's where we're at right now. I'm not worldly wise at all. Like I'm the opposite. I'm unworldly dumb or whatever. I read that it's very rare to have crocodile sightings in Singapore, but they have been on the increase.
12:01
That's what I read. Maybe this is a wake up call for all of us using the hilarious AI to generate images. Maybe, just maybe, we should pump the brakes. one is a write up from the Associated Press from Laura Turbay. Laura, nicely done. One of our favorite topics on this program is the Crater of Diamonds State Park in Arkansas.
12:30
United States of America, planet Earth. If you're unfamiliar, is a state park where it's like $15 admission. You're allowed to fill a bucket with rocks and keep whatever stuff you find in there. And people find diamonds. That's the other thing. Truth in advertising. The name of the place is Crater of Diamonds. People find diamonds. In a world where truth in advertising is so rare. And I'm sorry, advertisers, but you know I'm right. Truth in advertising rare. Name of this place.
13:00
Crater of Diamond State Park, people find diamonds. Our number one story is a write-up about a fellow named Jack, who is a diamond digging enthusiast and claims in this article, he also live streams, he has a social media, you know, he'll live stream. Let's see if we can find a diamond, you know, he claims to have found a diamond, six carat diamond worth a million dollars. It's described as roughly the size of a fingernail. So Jack,
13:30
The diamond enthusiast says it's worth a million dollars. Somebody else in the article says maybe a quarter of a million dollars. Still pretty good. It's a hobby. You like doing it. You go out, you're getting some fresh air, all that. And then at the end of the day, a diamond worth $250,000. Not too shabby. As always, we'll link to that in the show notes. You can go to shownotes.page.
13:57
That is going to be all she wrote for this week's What a Weird Week show. I appreciate you being here and we're back again next Friday with 10 more weird things from the news on What a Weird Week. The show is over.
The fugitive captured after a low-speed chase. It was a tortoise. What a weird week. Hi everybody, it's Weird! This is like Crazy Boom Hill. Weird! Really weird, dude. Bigfoot eats out of my trash. Well, I got a great joke for you. The name is so wonderful. Weird! Oh! Hi friends, I am Scott. This is What a Weird Week, your Weird News Roundup. If you're new here, what we do every Friday as we record an episode going back through the news of the week, we pick out the fun stories, the weird stories, maybe a few of these you missed.
00:29
The oddities. You can get everything we talk about in more detail if you click our show notes page, which is show notes dot page. All our podcast stuff and ways to get in touch. Everything is there. Show notes dot page. At time of recording, it is Friday, October 2nd, 2026. 10. Number 10 is the tortoise that tried to make a break for it. Very slow break for it. The 100 pound tortoise, which, quote, attempted the world's slowest escape.
00:56
We linked to the article, we also linked to a video, so a little background. Animal control was called first. The 100 pound tortoise escaped a fenced in backyard. Slowly. Animal control was having a bit of trouble and so Colorado Sheriff's Department members showed up and we have the body cam footage. Want help carrying him? I was going say he's like... He looks stubborn. We can totally carry him.
01:25
So what's going on in that video is people are helping to lift the tortoise, get the tortoise back. Tortoises name is Lard and the 100 pound tortoise was just too much for one person to handle. Even though not getting away fast was still sort of wanting to go one direction and home was the other direction. Eventually the crisis was averted and Lard was returned home.
01:55
Welcome home, Lord. Number nine is the hospital disinfectant versus dish soap write up. There's a study and we link to a write up about it. They pitted. looked at how well different things cut bacteria on medical equipment. A certain kind of what they describe as powerful medical disinfectant up against dish soap. You know, dish soap. Well, it turns out there's no clear winner. This disinfectant and the dish soap.
02:25
Both did well. It's not like no clear winner because they're all terrible. No clear winner because dish soap, disinfectant and alcohol, 70 % alcohol, all did pretty good cutting the bacteria. So based on this study, are we going to switch to dish soap? No. But if you're in a situation where you ran out of disinfectant or it's scarce for some reason, then you know, dish soap you're in. You're going in the game.
02:56
That's me sort of talking to Dish Soap like I'm a coach and Dish Soap is a player. Number eight. In a very crowded competitive world of dressings, sauces, condiments, to get your name out there and make some headlines is quite an accomplishment. So I don't use the term publicity stunt as some sort of disrespect. Shout out to the promotional team at Hidden Valley Ranch for getting in the headlines with their spooky ranch dressing.
03:25
That is our number eight story. Spooky Ranch. It's Hidden Valley Ranch dressing, but it is black and it comes in a glow in the dark bottle for Halloween time. And this portion of the program not sponsored, but that's kind of like how many people will keep that glow in the dark bottle forever. I think I would keep that glow in the dark bottle forever. Eat the delicious ranch. But I'm keeping that bottle.
03:51
I think that's a meat publicity stunt or promotional idea. And depending where you're hearing this, it may not be easily available to you, but I will link to more information. Again, not sponsored or whatever. Just respect to the promotional team behind Spooky Ranch. Number seven is the culmination to Fat Bear Week 2026. We do have a champion. If you're not familiar with Fat Bear Week around this time of year, it has become a tradition for this national park in Alaska.
04:21
United States of America, planet Earth, to share images of bears. And then you vote for your favorite bear and they whittle it down to one champion fat bear. These bears become enormous as they prepare to hibernate. Well, the champion this year, thank you for your votes. Bear number 89 or backpack is another name. Bear number 89 will go by backpack, got his name because as a cub he would ride on the back of his mother. Now.
04:49
The fattest of the bears, the most marvelous and magnificent of the fat bears. Backpack or bear number 89 is the champion fat bear 2026. If you want to see images, we will link to this in the show notes. Number six. All right, number six. We're going to try to get through this. I believe it warrants a position on this program as a weird news item, but it's not going to be easy to get through because we're trying as an audio program to describe a brand new shape.
05:19
A mathematician has invented a brand new shape. If you don't have a chance to click the images, we will link to all of this. I want you to imagine a shark fin throwing star. That's the shape. I think I nailed it. I'm calling it shark fin throwing star. So I did not realize that mathematicians and people in the field were still discovering new shapes. I guess that would make sense, but I never thought about it. I thought we had all the shapes. It turns out we didn't.
05:48
Now we have the shark fin throwing star. has 26 edges. I'm going to stop there. My, think we nailed it with shark fin throwing star. Let's move on. But if you want the link, you can click show notes dot page number five for number five. I was all ready to convince everyone around me to change their name to mood berries. When I read about this study involving blueberries and older adults taking blueberries. So the study was
06:17
Older adults having the equivalent of a couple of cups of blueberries every day for three months. And then they were going to look at their mood and I was like, oh, well, blueberries are good for you. Come on. This is going to be a wonderful study. Moodberries. Let's change their name to moodberries. But it turns out the study, first of all, only 18 people finished the trial, they say. So did all three months all the way through. 18 people. Not a big study. And the blueberry people and the placebo people both had
06:46
some positive results as far as their mood went. But very similar. Couldn't tell whether it was blueberries or placebo. That kind of wipes out that theory that they're mood berries. So more research is needed. Also, where I live, blueberries have gone up in price a lot. Now, perhaps it's different where you are. I live not a far drive from what is called, I think, the blueberry capital of Canada or perhaps a world, perhaps a universe. I don't know.
07:14
There's a giant blueberry on the side of the road and can buy blueberries. They've gone up in price. Two cups of blueberries every day for three months. That would be a lot of money. Maybe two cups of the placebo if it has the same effect. Might be a little cheaper. Anyway, more research needed. I'm not a scientist. If you want to read the article, we'll link to that in the show notes. four. Number four. I would have sworn to you that it was AI or fake. Just seeing the headline, I was like, I'm not clicking on that. Fake, super fake.
07:43
Well, it turns out I was wrong. Again, it was real. The shark swimming on the road in New Jersey. This is Surf City, Long Beach Island, New Jersey. This happened on September 26th. So at time of recording a few days ago, September 26th, 2026, there was a nor'easter, a big storm, New Jersey area, and flood water started to rise and spill onto the street. A fellow named Drew got video of a shark swimming past the house.
08:12
Going up a driveway briefly. And then eventually returning to the ocean. A shark expert identified the shark in the video as a smooth dogfish. They say it's harmless. So here's my thing. They say it's harmless. Sure it's harmless. But what if it's a scout? For future angry sharks. I've seen that movie. I know a sharknado is possible at any time. And scientists will scoff.
08:41
And then the sharks will form the sharknado and we're doomed. We're doomed if that dogfish was just a scout for future shark invasion. Number three. Want to point out that this is not a world record. Maybe you should try. Please do not try. Why did I even say maybe? Do not try this, please. This is somebody doing a handstand for a world record. And maybe you're good at handstands and you're like, Scott, I can do this.
09:10
The handstand is only 47 seconds, maybe that seems attainable I could not do that I can't do a handstand for four seconds But maybe you're like I've got the upper body strength for this business 47 seconds, let's go But this world record was doing the handstand for 47 seconds while on fire A stuntman did a handstand while he was on fire For 47 seconds
09:37
And the flames do tend to go towards the feet. I wasn't sure how... where would the flames go. They do tend to go up towards the feet when you're doing a handstand while on fire. I'm gonna stop there. We'll link to images and the whole write-up if you want to click the show notes. Congratulations to Phil from Slovenia. A stunt coordinator and gymnast. And I'm sorry if only your friends call you Phil. Phil, that's all I could pronounce of your name and I didn't want to mess it up. Maybe I'm just making it worse.
10:07
Congratulations on your world record! two! I don't know if you've ever used AI, the artificial intelligence, to make an image. Oh, you have? Oh, 100 % of us have done that. Okay. So we're all on the same page. And 100 % of the time, it's hilarious. Those fake images with AI. So hilarious. I don't know for sure if this will have ramifications across the entire globe. But if this sort of thing catches on...
10:37
All of us who have made an AI image, an hilarious AI image, we are all in trouble. It's curtains. Here's what happened. This is in Singapore and a fellow, allegedly, you know, innocent until proven guilty, but a fellow has been charged. Here's kind of the timeline of what happened. An image started circulating of a crocodile in a reservoir. Singapore.
11:03
A reservoir, a recreational area where people would kayak and go jogging and that sort of thing. A saltwater crocodile in there. The image got attention. People started contacting the authorities and saying, we think there's a crocodile in there in this lovely recreational area. Authorities investigated. They determined it was a fake image. They called the police and now a fellow has been charged in Singapore.
11:31
The charges are communicating a false message and obstructing the course of justice. It could be years in prison and thousands in fines. The article says the man intends to plead guilty. That's where we're at right now. I'm not worldly wise at all. Like I'm the opposite. I'm unworldly dumb or whatever. I read that it's very rare to have crocodile sightings in Singapore, but they have been on the increase.
12:01
That's what I read. Maybe this is a wake up call for all of us using the hilarious AI to generate images. Maybe, just maybe, we should pump the brakes. one is a write up from the Associated Press from Laura Turbay. Laura, nicely done. One of our favorite topics on this program is the Crater of Diamonds State Park in Arkansas.
12:30
United States of America, planet Earth. If you're unfamiliar, is a state park where it's like $15 admission. You're allowed to fill a bucket with rocks and keep whatever stuff you find in there. And people find diamonds. That's the other thing. Truth in advertising. The name of the place is Crater of Diamonds. People find diamonds. In a world where truth in advertising is so rare. And I'm sorry, advertisers, but you know I'm right. Truth in advertising rare. Name of this place.
13:00
Crater of Diamond State Park, people find diamonds. Our number one story is a write-up about a fellow named Jack, who is a diamond digging enthusiast and claims in this article, he also live streams, he has a social media, you know, he'll live stream. Let's see if we can find a diamond, you know, he claims to have found a diamond, six carat diamond worth a million dollars. It's described as roughly the size of a fingernail. So Jack,
13:30
The diamond enthusiast says it's worth a million dollars. Somebody else in the article says maybe a quarter of a million dollars. Still pretty good. It's a hobby. You like doing it. You go out, you're getting some fresh air, all that. And then at the end of the day, a diamond worth $250,000. Not too shabby. As always, we'll link to that in the show notes. You can go to shownotes.page.
13:57
That is going to be all she wrote for this week's What a Weird Week show. I appreciate you being here and we're back again next Friday with 10 more weird things from the news on What a Weird Week. The show is over.