Tuesday, April 26, 2011
ODDLY ENOUGH
‘Corpse flower’ at Hawaii zoo emits a rotten-meat smell
HONOLULU
Hundreds of people turned out at a Hawaii zoo on Easter Sunday to get a whiff of a flower that smells like rotting flesh.
Officials at the zoo in Hilo told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser that the “corpse flower” smells like rotten meat that has been sitting out for a while.
The flower is on loan from an anonymous donor. It arrived in mid-April and began emitting its unusual smell Saturday.
In its Indonesian homeland of Sumatra, the flower infrequently emits its smell to attract carrion beetles to what they believe is rotting flesh. The beetles move from one flower to the next, pollinating them in the process.
But without other flowers of its kind or beetles, a botanist stepped in and used pollen imported from New York.
In Chicago, burglars steal hair from beauty-supply business
CHICAGO
Chicago police have a real head-scratching case on their hands as they try to root out who stole human hair from a beauty-supply company.
Police say the theft of what they consider a “very valuable” amount of hair was taken early Sunday by burglars of the Beauty One shop.
Authorities say the culprits pried open a huge steel door that had been secured with two deadbolt locks, then swiped the hair.
No dollar amount for the hair was given, and there was no immediate explanation why thieves would want it.
A police sergeant says he’s been to a lot of robberies, but never one involving hair.
Associated Press