"weird" news and stories

A lot of people think New Yorkers live in their own little bubble.

Well, you know, sometimes it's a big bubble.

A friend called Saturday morning to ask if we knew about the pop-up restaurant opening in Brooklyn -- "you know, in the giant, see-through bubble." We sat straight up in bed, ran to our laptop to see the link he sent us and gasped.

It was called the "Spacebuster," and we challenge you to find the child of the '80s who could resist such a thing. A team of German architects-slash-artists have been hosting events in the billowing plastic beast -- its goal is to create spontaneous communities in urban landscapes -- since 2006, and this is her virgin trip to the U.S. (local Slashfoodies can meet her at a formal reception on Tuesday).

The Eighteenth, a roaming underground monthly dinner club, was in charge of a menu that included endive, a bone-broth soup, polenta and an ile flotante. We brushed off the $27 fixed-price menu without a second thought. What is money in a bubble? We pictured a night free of the elements New Yorkers continually battle -- pollution, traffic, stench -- short of major natural disaster, nothing could touch us in a bubble! Upon realizing the evening would be staged in the quiet courtyard of a Gothic can factory, we were sold.

Continued with a photo gallery after the jump.

So. Diet Coke kills sperm on contact. We thought you should know.

We feel sort of shocked, and also sort of remarkably unshocked.

Scientist Deborah Anderson and her team have been awarded one of this year's Ig Nobel Awards from Improbable Research for their work on both Coca Cola Classic and Diet Coke's contraceptive qualities.

Will this knowledge ever come in handy? Well, with a desperate situation and a little yoga, anything is possible. Never say never, right? Okay, yeah, maybe this once.

Other things we bet kill sperm: Jagermeister, Ramen Noodle broth, Tang, and everything at Taco Bell.

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A word to the wise. If you've just stolen the box of doughnuts you're eating, it is probably not particularly smart to offer said doughnuts to the officers who are investigating the robbery.

If you're planning on having a heart attack, doing so in a restaurant where a college student majoring in cardiovascular technology works is probably a good way to go.

The 85 chickens that were let loose in a Philadelphia high school have found a home at the Fox Chase Farm, where they'll be able to graze for bugs and lay eggs to their hearts' content.

Two German airmen are being court-marshaled after trying to start a sausage-making company in which they used human blood. They were found out when one of their fellow soldiers inquired to a superior as to whether the venture was permissible or not. [via Yumsugar]

A new grocery store in the Giant chain opened Willow Grove, PA yesterday that is the size of two football fields and has a babysitting center, a cooking school, an on-site nutritionist and valet grocery pick-up. Who knew that grocery stores were becoming the next place for family entertainment.

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It's Leap Day, and zoos and animal organizations across the world are kicking off "Year of the Frog," which aims to highlight the impact of global warming and pollution on our amphibian friends. In honor of the cause, here's a rundown of some notable frog-themed foods (though nothing containing actual frog, that seemed a bit crass):

Freddo Frog - An Australian treat since the 1930s, this chocolate cartoon frog is made by Cadbury and comes in different flavors and fillings. Weird note: I bought an aquatic frog from the pet store when I was seventeen and named him Freddo, with no knowledge of the Australian candy connection. Guess it's just a good name for a frog. Freddo's still alive.

Haribo Frogs - the white, marshmallowy underbellies are my favorite part of these lime-flavored German gummies.

Frogaroni - frog-shaped pasta, in regular and spinach green.

Frog Cake - Little sponge cakes coated in fondant and decorated with froggy features are a specialty of the South Australian city of Adelaide.

Any other favorites?

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Broccoli forests sprouting from powdered cumin soil. A cauliflower coral reef. A pea pod boat drifting on a sunset sea of pink salmon.

London photographer Carl Warner constructs elaborate landscapes made completely of food, from mozzarella clouds to an entire village sculpted from chunks of Parmesan. There's a photo gallery of his work up on the BBC website. It looks look ultra-time consuming and amazingly cool.

We clearly have a deep-seated fascination with edible landscapes - think about the candy testing room in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, with its lollipop plants and chocolate river, or the lunch pail trees in Return to Oz. Or remember the town of Chewandswallow, where it rained juice and snowed mashed potatoes in Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, a seminal text for the (4-year old) budding foodie?

Anyway, check out the photos. They'll have you gnawing on the nearest tree limb.

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