Eric Pfeiffer

When 26-year-old former rugby player Chris Burch suffered a massive stroke during a freak training accident, his doctors and family said they feared his life would be changed forever. It turns out they were correct but in a way they never imagined. The previously straight Birch came out of his accident as a gay man.

Birch says that when he regained consciousness after his injury that he had lost interest in women. Since then, Birch has not only left his then-fiancé, moved in with another man, quit playing rugby and became a hairdresser: 

He was taken to hospital where his fiancée and family spent days waiting anxiously at his bedside before he delivered the shocking news. Mr Birch recalled: ‘I was gay when I woke up and I still am. It sounds strange but when I came round I immediately felt different. ‘I wasn’t interested in women any more. I was definitely gay. I had never been attracted to a man before – I’d never even had any gay friends.‘But I didn’t care about who I was before, I had to be true to my feelings.’

Japan’s Ministry of Defense unveiled a world’s first ever “spherical flying machine,” which weighs less than a pound and only costs $1,400 to produce from commonly available spare parts.  

This LA Times blog says the orb looks like the flying drone used to train Luke Skywalker’s lightsaber skills in “A New Hope,” but it actually looks more like a speedier version of the interrogation droid used by Darth Vader to torture Princess Leia in the same film.  

Of course, the orb’s intended usage is much more benign, designed to assist in search and rescue missions where more traditional drones cannot reach. The flying orb is pretty tough as well, it can take a direct hit and stay on its navigational path, thanks to onboard gyroscopes that help control its direction. 

Click on the image at the top of this post to watch a video of the orb in action.

10 years ago, a fourth-grade boy in St. Louis was nearly “eaten alive” after being attacked by a wild dog. And now, some in the area say the threat has returned in force:

Alderman President Lewis Reed is sounding the alarm. “I’ve witnessed packs of dogs, 10 and 15 dogs running together, and I’ve seen all these dogs I’m talking about they don’t have collars, they don’t have tags, these are truly wild dogs,” he said.

The alleged problem has reportedly gotten so bad that some parents have begun escorting their children to school while carrying golf clubs for protection. However, Health Director Pam Walker says that while the city has reported 360 dog bites this year, the cases stem from dogs with registered owners:

“Bite cases are owned dogs. They keep talking about this like it’s packs of feral dogs running through the city, we don’t,” she says.

Walker said the city would like to hire additional dog catchers to help deal with the problem but that government officials are struggling to come up with the $500,000 required for the project.

A video posted by 21st Ward Alderman Antonio French that supposedly shows a feral dog “menacing” a pair of school children doesn’t live up to the hype. In the actual video, the dog appears shy, running away from French, who pursues it with his video camera while screaming. You can wach the video here and judge for yourself.

England’s lack of dental hygiene has been a running joke for decades but it appears that poor cleaning habits now extend to their cell phones as well after researchers in the UK found that one in six mobile phones are contaminated with E Coli:

Researchers said that 16% of the devices were contaminated with E coli, which can cause food poisoning, most probably because people fail to properly wash their hands after going to the toilet. The study by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and Queen Mary, University of London, also found that Britons tend to lie about their personal hygiene.

While 95% of the 390 people surveyed said they washed their hands with soap where possible, 92% of mobile phones and 82% of hands were contaminated with bacteria.

The highest level of contaminated phones were found in London, with a full 41 percent showing at least traces of human fecal matter. It just goes to show that while your new iPhone may be the sh*t, it’s probably also covered in it.

A supposedly secure building used by the LA Police Department to train SWAT officers was recently burglarized, resulting in the theft of about 30 high-powered weapons, including 21 MP5 submachine guns and 12 large caliber handguns. LAPD Deputy Chief Michael Downing calls the theft “embarrassing,” and “a lesson learned,” for the department. The first lesson learned? Don’t leave a box of 30 high-powered weapons out in the open for criminals to steal:

The building was donated to the LAPD and was modified inside to resemble typical spaces in which the SWAT team might need to deal with a suspect. There is no alarm system or any surveillance cameras set up in the building, which is located about a mile away from the SWAT offices. Some officers say they do not know why the weapons were not left at those offices up until the time of the scheduled training exercises.

The one possible saving grace in this story is that the weapons were designed to fire blanks, though experts note that it is relatively easy to convert them for regular ammunition fire.

Nguyen Thi Phung is only 26, but an allergic reaction to seafood has made her skin appear to have aged 50 years in just a matter of days.

The Vietnamese woman said she has been wearing a mask in public for the past five years to hide her condition, but recently agreed to speak with the media for the first time. Doctors have been working with Phung to determine the cause of her extremely rare condition:

Some have argued that the condition is lipodystrophy - a rare syndrome that causes a layer of fatty tissue beneath the surface of the skin to disintegrate while the skin itself continues to grow at a startling pace.

The syndrome with no cure leaves its victims with loose folds of skin all over their bodies, wrinkled faces and the gaunt features of people decades their senior.

Phung and her husband Nguyen Thanh went to a local pharmacy after her condition first manifested but were too poor at the time to seek proper medical treatment. The couple remain married and Thanh says his wife’s condition has not diminished his love for her. Earlier this month, a local hospital finally agreed to see Phung and offer free treatment. They’ve promised to send her to the HCMC Dermatology Hospital if they are not able to diagnose her condition. For her part, Phung says that while the condition has obviously affected her exterior appearance, it has not affected her actual health in any measurable way:

Phuong said: “We considered that it was our destiny and I quit treatment in 2009. Now I always wear a face mask whenever I go out.

“The skin on my face, chest and belly have folds like an old woman who has given birth several times although I have never had a child.

“But the rapid-aging syndrome hasn’t affected my menstrual cycle, hair, teeth, eyes and mind.”

Oregon surfer Doug Nilback was out 50 yards from the shore, trying to catch a morning wave when a 10 foot great white shark suddenly emerged from underneath his surf board:

 

Looking down, he could see a dorsal fin in front of his feet as he stood on what he described as 10 feet of back as wide as his surfboard and as black as his own Neoprene wetsuit. A tail thrashed back and forth and the water churned around him like a depth charge went off.

“It was pretty terrifying just seeing the shape emerge out of nothing and just being under me,” he told The Associated Press on Wednesday. “And the fin coming out of the water. It was just like the movies.”

Coast Guard member Jake Marks was nearby Nilback when the incident took place. He didn’t see the actual shark, but saw Nilback standing on top of the ocean with the water churning around him. Both men began racing for the shore, when Marks said he saw a large, black shadow swim between them just underneath the surface of the water:

Niblack had paddled out about 20 yards beyond them, when the swell dropped and his board hit something solid. He kicked down with both feet, trying to stand up so he wouldn’t get thrashed by the next wave, and found himself standing knee deep in water too deep for standing. “When I put my hands down on it, it felt rubbery like Neoprene, like a wetsuit,” he said. “There was a moment there when everything was going on, I just kind of made my peace. I honestly thought I was going to die. Then paddling back in, I was praying the whole time. Like, ‘Don’t let it be following me.’