Tag Archives for California

DNA in unflushed toilet snares California burglary suspect

Another good reason to always flush. 😉

A California burglary suspect has been arrested after police say he left a key piece of evidence at the crime scene when he forgot to flush the toilet.

Investigators say Andrew Jensen’s sample in the toilet bowl at the home in Los Angeles suburb of Thousand Oaks matched DNA on an FBI database.

The 42-year-old was arrested on 28 July nearly a year after the residential burglary in October 2016.

Police said they collect any type of evidence left behind at crime scenes.

Let that be a lesson to us all. 😉

11-Year-Old Homeschooled Boy Graduates from College with 3 Different Degrees

11-Year-Old Homeschooled Boy Graduates from College with 3 Different Degrees

11-year-old child prodigy Tanishq Abraham is in the news for graduating from college with not one, not two, but three different degrees. The talented kid from California made headlines last year as well, for completing high school at the age of ten and earning a congratulatory letter from President Barack Obama. And now, just a year later, he’s finished college with three associate degrees.

Last week’s graduation ceremony at the American River College in Sacramento was attended by Tanishq’s parents – his mother Taji, a vet, and his father Bijou, a software engineer. His sister Tiara, also a child prodigy, was present as well. They cheered for Tanishq as he was awarded associate degrees in math and physical sciences, general science, and language studies. He wore a rainbow colored scarf that his grandmother had knit specially for the occasion, and a cap with his favorite Toy Story-quote: ‘To Infinity and Beyond.”

Good on ya, kid!

World’s Longest Burning Light-Bulb Has Been On for 113 Years

Minus some power failures and a move and one other outage.

centennial-light-bulb2

With most of us having to replace light-bulbs every few months, it’s amazing that the Centennial Light-Bulb at Fire Station No. 6 in Livermore, California, has been burning continuously ever since 1901.

The exact date the centennial bulb was turned on is unknown, although its birthday is usually celebrated on June 18. However, we do know that it has been alight 24 hours a day since then, shining a dim light over the fire engines. Apart from the few power outages it has faced in the last 113 years, the unbreakable light-bulb has only had two breaks – one in 1976, when it was moved from one fire station and installed in another, and one in 2013, when it was off for 9 3.4 hours. When the bulb was moved, almost 40 years ago, people were so cautious not to break it that they severed the cord, instead of unscrewing it, and transferred it with a full police and fire truck escort. The whole business lasted just 22 minutes, after which it was back to business as usual.

The impressive light-bulb is apparently an improved hand-blown incandescent lamp with carbon filament. Debora Katz, a physicist at the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., has conducted extensive research on the centennial light-bulb and what makes it so special, using a vintage light bulb from Shelby Electric Co. that is a near replica of the Livermore lamp. “The Livermore light bulb differs from a contemporary incandescent bulb in two ways,” says Katz. “First its filament is about eight times thicker than a contemporary bulb. Second, the filament is a semiconductor, most likely made of carbon. When a conductor gets hotter, its ability to conduct electricity goes down. When the Shelby bulb gets hotter, it becomes a better conductor of electricity.”

[…]

The centennial light-bulb has been recognized by Guinness World Records as being the longest burning light-bulb in the world. It has generated so much interest that the people at Fire Station 6 installed a live-cam focusing specifically on the incandescent lamp, which refreshes every 10 seconds. Interestingly, the light-bulb has apparently outlasted 3 cameras, and a UPS unit.

They sure don’t make them like they used to…

Pet parrot with British accent disappears from owner’s home, returns four years later speaking Spanish

Will S.' Random Weirdness Blog

Funny.

Monday, October 13, 2014, 3:36 PM – A pet parrot that spoke with a British accent when it disappeared from its home four years ago has been reunited with its owner — and the bird now speaks Spanish.

The Daily Breeze reported Sunday the reunion was brought about by a Southern California veterinarian who mistook the African grey parrot for her own missing bird.

Teresa Micco tracked Nigel’s microchip to Darren Chick, a Brit who lives in Torrance.

Little is known about Nigel’s whereabouts the past four years, but Chick says the bird’s British accent is gone and it now speaks Spanish.

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