• Violinist Performs During Her Brain Surgery

    Diagnosed with essential tremor 20 years ago, classical violinist Naomi Elishuv would shake uncontrollably while she played her string instrument. Essential tremor is a disorder that affects the nervous system and causes rhythmic shaking. Unfortunately, over time the rate of tremors increased to the point that they interfered with her ability to perform, forcing the musician to quit her job playing for the Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra.

  • College President Will Face Off Against Students in Video Game Challenge for Free Textbooks

    Most colleges encourage students to study hard and to avoid most time-consuming distractions in order to focus on their studies while on the path to a degree. The president of Columbia College in Columbia, Mo., however, is using a popular distraction to drum up school spirit and encourage camaraderie on campus. For his inaugural year, President Scott Dalrymple, PhD, is challenging students to go up against him in a battle of wits, aggression, and video game prowess. Dalrymple is obsessed with acclaimed football-themed video game Madden NFL ‘15 and has decided to take on the best of the best among his students. The grand prize? Free textbooks, paid for by Dalrymple. On average, textbooks for the year can cost more than $1,000. The gamer president said that he wants to encourage camaraderie among students and uplift the school spirit at the start of his tenure.

  • Japanese Festival Puts the 'Fun' in Planning Your Own Funeral

    Sampling commercial products comes in many forms, from tasting new foods and drinks or test-driving cars to trying out the latest video games. How about sampling your own funeral and getting a taste of your last goodbye before you're placed six feet under or cremated, depending on your preference. Whether you think it's cool or creepy, it's happening. And it's big in Japan.

  • Wedding Planner Fakes Ceremony to Propose to Girlfriend

    If you ask almost any married man, he'll say that prepping for the big proposal was either easy-breezy or a nerve-racking nightmare. Half the battle is perfect timing, not to mention the need for genuine originality. But what if you already have a leg up by working in the wedding industry, with knowledge of proposals you've heard about or helped to create. How do you propose to the one you love and make it more amazing than the stories you know? One wedding planner was stuck with this question recently and executed something extra-special. He decided to fake a separate wedding, which would act as the perfect stage for his own proposal.

  • Manila Cafe Caters to Dogs

    Typically, fine dining establishments get the big bucks by creating and serving delicious meals for discriminating customers, but have you ever heard of a café for the dogs?

  • Jon Heder Channels Napoleon Dynamite to Lend Support to Ailing Fan

    A 12-year-old fan of the cult comedy "Napoleon Dynamite" was treated to a big surprise by the film's leading man, actor Jon Heder. Leukemia patient Mary Elizabeth Paris is currently awaiting a bone marrow transplant at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, in Georgia. Meanwhile, she's been constantly watching the 2004 hit movie to lift her spirits. Mary had mentioned to one of her favorite nurses that the cult comedy was one of her top movies, so the nurse brought in the DVD for her the following day. After getting wind that Mary was a devotee of the flick, Heder decided to give her one of the best "get well" messages of all time.

  • Artist Creates Surreal Masterpieces Using Actual Photos and Digital Manipulation

    How's this for a warped sense of reality? Swedish artist Erik Johansson weaves the real with the surreal in collages that implement veritable landscapes and bizarre visual conundrums. The result: out of this world. A large portion of each piece of Johansson's artwork is real. The key to tweaking it all into something colorful and whimsical is that the he takes hundreds of photographs for a single piece, and then he incorporates raw materials and other objects and uses graphics software to push and pull the boundaries. The end products of his work are lifelike scenes that prompt viewers to question where reality ends and fantasy begins.

  • Burger King Introduces a Burger with Black Bun, Sauce, and Cheese in Japan

    Blackboard. Blackberry. Black widow. But a black burger? Yup. A dark-colored hamburger — that isn't burnt — is now being sold in Japan by fast-food giant Burger King. Called the Kuro Burger, it features a black bun, meat with black pepper, and black cheese. The bread and cheese contain bamboo charcoal, popular in Japanese cuisine. The sandwich also has an onion-and-garlic sauce made dark with squid ink. But don't be alarmed — squid ink is commonly used for cooking, food coloring, and flavoring. The other use is confined to the ocean.

  • Did a Man in a Scarf Overshadow the iPhone 6 and Apple Watch Announcements?

    One of the most anticipated global tech announcements of the year took place Tuesday at the unveiling of the iPhone 6 and the Apple Watch, which were hotly anticipated by fans and consumers alike and could potentially change the game in the smartphone universe, once again. But a surprising star at the big release of Apple's new gadgets is the infinity scarf worn by Dutch gaming executive Tommy Krul, which we have coolly dubbed the "iScarf."

  • Theft Suspect Fails to Pull Off ATM Robbery With Industrial Forklift

    While the United States has plenty of clever criminals, there's no shortage of stupid crooks with a big plan. Some of those offenders seem to ignore the finer details in creating their very own lottery win. Some will even employ all kinds of creative methods and tools to steal things. But making off with a piece of construction equipment valued at $135,000 — to break into an ATM — would be a new low. Early Monday morning in Jacksonville, Florida, employees at a Synovus Bank branch arrived to discover a bizarre scene. A 10,000-pound variable reach forklift was lodged in the building's drive-through ATM. Apparently the ATM had sustained damage overnight from repeated attempts to crash it open.

  • Russian Driver Captures Tornado's Destruction on Dashcam

    Car crashes happen all the time due to extreme weather. And a lot of people face death, straight in the eye, and live to talk about. But there's no other way to describe this video other than "miraculous." During a full-fledged tornado in Bashkiria, Russia, a man driving out of his garage evades death by a narrow margin — and it's all recorded on his trusty dashcam. Dashcams are extremely popular in Russia, where millions of drivers use them for surveillance, evidence in court, as well as a precautionary tool against police corruption or insurance fraud. Unfortunately, you can't prosecute Mother Nature or any sort of god for this unspeakable act.

  • Detroit Fire Departments Make Do With Soda Can Alarms

    It's no secret that the city of Detroit has been suffering through financial tough times for decades with ongoing budget cuts and debt. It's the largest city in the United States to ever declare bankruptcy, with legal proceedings still continuing. Those affected by those cuts include city service-workers such as the Detroit Fire Department firefighters, who have been using unusual, creative, low-tech practices to deal with the lack of resources and technology. In fact, things have gotten so bad that unlike most modern fire stations across America, which have computerized alert systems for emergencies, many Detroit stations use soda cans filled with metal screws, or sometimes pocket change, and fax machines. When an emergency call comes in, an antiquated fax expels a sheet of paper, knocking a cola can off the top of the machine — that's it, that's all. And it's strangely efficient.

  • OSU Marching Band Gives Big Shout-Out to Classic TV

    The Ohio State University Marching Band just might be "The Best Damn Band In The Land," a moniker it often gives itself. This past weekend at halftime during the Buckeyes' first home game of the college football season, against Virginia Tech, the 225-member marching band paid tribute to cable network TV Land. Even though the Buckeyes lost the game to the Hokies 35-21, the band still scored — bigtime.

  • Your Unfriendly Neighborhood Spider-Dog

    Arachnids, aka spiders, may be a kind of insect that can keep other insects in check or may be the subject of classic children's literature, such as "Charlotte's Web," but to many people, spiders just downright make skin crawl. Eight legs and the potential to inject poison can have that effect. But in the case of comic book hero Peter Parker, popularly known as the amazing Spider-Man, a radioactive spider was the genesis of his superpowers — and Marvel Comics' golden goose. Now what about a real-life prank involving these web spinners? Not just any small trick with plastic joke bugs but something completely planned — with props and captured by amateur videographers. And throw in a canine-sized faux arachnid with human-sized webbing for good measure. Just imagine the horror. Or not.

  • Joan Rivers: The Queen of Comedy, Remembered on Social Media

    Veteran comedian Joan Rivers passed away on Thursday afternoon surrounded by friends and family. She was 81. On Aug. 28, Rivers was rushed in critical condition to Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City after an emergency call that she was in cardiac arrest during throat surgery at a clinic. The E! television host was placed on life support, where her condition fluctuated. She died Thursday.

  • Guy Parodies Ladies' Tinder Profile Photos

    If you're one of the millions of women looking for love or a quintessential Cinderella story on Tinder, you may want to watch out, or at least limit the amount of sexy snapshots you post to your alluring profile. Why? Because you could be the next victim of the self-professed Australian "artiste" who calls himself "Tindafella."

  • 7-Week-Old Hears for the First Time in Moving Video

    The worlds of TV, movies, music, and basic human communication all rely on the innate physical abilities to see and hear. But how many people actually recall their reaction to hearing sound for the very first time? This moment was captured in a heartwarming video of Lachlan Lever of Victoria, Australia, when he received the gift of hearing after getting hearing aids at just 7 weeks old. Lachlan has had moderately severe sensorineural hearing impairment in both ears since birth.

  • Woman in India Marries Dog to Ward Off Evil

    Many people have asked for a hand in marriage, but what about a paw? This sounds like a whole new spin on the tradition of prearranged marriages in some countries. In a remote part of India, young Mangli Munda is marrying a stray dog to fight off evil spirits that her family believes she has. The dog was found by the woman's father. The big wedding was taken care of by the 18-year-old's parents, to the dismay of the wife-to-be. Munda wasn't pleased with her parents' selection of a groom, saying, "I am not happy with this marriage."

  • Meet the Newest Sensational Sourpuss. And She's Not Grumpy

    Even if you're not a cat lover, you're probably familiar with Friskies spokes-kitty, Internet sensation, and all-around grouch Grumpy Cat, whose real name is Tardar Sauce. Launching into fame in 2012 and making several media appearances, she was the highest paid and most influential cat of that year, with an estimated net worth of almost $100 million.

  • Queen Elizabeth Thinks Selfies Are Strange

    Even after waiting several hours near Buckingham Palace, you'd be lucky to catch a glimpse of the queen of the United Kingdom. But now it's even cooler if you can get a selfie with her. And she's not too happy about it if you do. In the modern age of self-absorbed cellphone photography and social media postings (and very awkward moments), the British monarch is having a hard time adjusting to this mainstream medium.