News of the Weird: Tape keeps tacos in check

Students at Johns Hopkins University are putting their expensive education to good use. Whiting School of Engineering students have invented Tastee Tape for their school's Engineering Design Day, United Press International reported. The chemical and biomolecular engineering students hope their invention will help themselves and others make their favorite foods less messy by taping burritos, tacos and other dishes closed, keeping the fillings inside. "All its ingredients are safe to consume, are food-grade, and are common food and dietary additives," said team member Tyler Guarino. They are in the process of obtaining a patent.

Police in Irvine, Calif., were tipped off on May 17 by neighbors to a suspicious vehicle belonging to Yasmine Kambour, 37, and Chris Huynh, 44, of Garden Grove. The 2008 Mercedes-Benz C300 looked innocent enough, but, as NBC4-TV reported, it had some unusual features that James Bond might have appreciated. "The suspect vehicle was something out of a 007 movie," police posted on Instagram. "Officers discovered a device that would flip the vehicle's license plate with the push of a button and an elaborate gas siphoning device that transferred fuel directly into the vehicle's gas tank." They also found burglary tools, evidence of ID theft and stolen property.

Kingsland, Ark., is the birthplace of Johnny Cash, and the town has honored him with a silhouette of the Man in Black on its water tower, the Wichita Eagle reported. But when Betty Graham, water office manager, arrived at her office early on May 11, she noticed what she first thought was a leak from the tower. Later she realized a sharpshooter had hit the tank right at Cash's sweet spot, creating the illusion that the famous singer is relieving himself. Graham said it could take at least a week to repair the damage. In the meantime, comments on a local Facebook page ranged from "would be a better tourist attraction than Old Faithful" to "Someone here knows who did this. I hope they'll come forward and turn the vandal in." "People think it's funny, but a lot of hard work and effort went into getting the grant to get this painted," Graham said.

Ayumi Takada, 37, of Tokyo, has been compared to Elastigirl from "The Incredibles" because of her incredibly elastic earlobes. Oddity Central reports that Ayumi can stretch her earlobes up to 4.5 centimeters, or about 1 1/2 inches — enough to, say, wrap them around a selfie stick. "The earlobe naturally bounces right back into place straight away," she said.

For Alexander Leszczynski, 22, of North Redington Beach, Fla,, it wasn't enough to be charged with wire fraud, bank fraud and money laundering, the Tampa Bay Times reported. The U.S. Attorney's Office in Tampa claimed he made up charitable entities to receive Payroll Protection Plan loans and trying to deposit fake checks to the tune of $2.7 million, among other schemes. But wait, there's more. "When he discovered that the money had been frozen, he producing a fabricated pardon purportedly signed by former President Donald Trump," the U.S. Attorney's Office said.

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