When a body surfaces near a beach, people tend to suspect foul play. However, after a body was found near a beach in Fort Lauderdale, police discovered it was just a case of a man’s final request gone wrong. Daniel Scott Lasky’s dying wish was for his body to be left at sea, and since sea burials are legal, his widow consulted a company and fulfilled his request. Unfortunately, the body’s wrappings came undone and the body floated up to the surface, where a fisherman spotted it the next day…
Who knew migraines could give you an accent? Kay Russell is a British woman who developed a French accent after getting a severe migraine in January. Neuroscientists call this rare condition Foreign Accent Syndrome, which affects the part of the brain that controls word formation and speech, usually following a stroke or brain injury. There are only a few dozen cases in the world, one including another British woman who developed a Jamaican accent after a stroke…
It’s not unusual for people to cringe at Hannah Montana. But the Disney star gives a Florida girl seizures. The 12-year-old has a form of epilepsy that is set off by certain sounds, sights or sensations. In her case, certain sounds used to cause as many as 30 seizures a day, and a song by Hannah Montana was among the triggers. Luckily, she was diagnosed and now takes medication, and only has about one seizure a week. She also no longer listens to Hannah Montana…
It’s IHOP vs. IHOP. The International House of Pancakes has filed a lawsuit against a Kansas City, Mo., religious group called the International House of Prayer. The restaurant chain says it has used “IHOP” since 1973, and the religious group has been confusing the public by taking the acronym on as its own. The company says it decided to take legal action after the prayer group repeatedly refused to change its name. IHOP (the pancake house) isn’t asking for any money other than attorney fees and court costs. This legal matter may become even more scrambled than their eggs…
Koala bears with Chlamydia? No, this is not a joke, but a very serious problem for the Australian animal. Researchers say that 50 to 80 percent of koalas in Australia are infected with the disease, and experts say if a vaccine isn’t developed, Chlamydia may cause the species to become extinct. The disease has left 30 to 45 percent of females infertile, and many infected animals no longer have the energy to go on living. The disease spreads among koalas through male-male and male-female sexual contact, as well as orally from mother to young during child rearing. Scientists believe that while there has always been a prominence of Chlamydia in the bears, symptoms are only coming out now because the animals have been stressed in recent years due to loss of habitat…