Weird News

Elon Musk seems ready to start putting microchips in people's brains, 'cause his company aiming to do just that is hiring ... wanting someone who can head up clinical trials. 👀

The richest man on earth has a company called Neuralink, which aims to treat people with neurological diseases and afflictions -- like paralysis -- and get them moving again ... or more specifically, help them move things with nothing but the power of their minds.

It's a fascinating field, and Neuralink is trying to break through here with tech that'll go right into folks' craniums ... which they seem to be getting closer to now, as the company is currently hiring for a Clinical Trial Director ... one who'll presumably be working on humans.

Up until now, Neuralink's brain chip studies have been limited to monkeys and pigs -- and based on results they've shown off, it seems to be as magical as it is hyped.

Take this macaque, for example, which Neuralink says got one of their chips implanted. In the video, it looks like the primate is using a joystick to play a video game that tests hand-eye coordination -- but soon you realize, it's doing it all with its mind ... 'cause the control stick isn't connected to anything. It's simply there to act as fake-out for the animal.

That's what Elon and co. wanna do for humans who've lost function in their hands or legs -- based on their vision, those people will be able to control electronics (like phones and such) with nothing but a thought, and at lightning quick speed too. They've even talked about being able to download memories ... not just in your noggin, but like ... into robots and stuff.

The possibilities, they say, are endless.

Now, this was all teased a couple years back, but now that Neuralink is actively hiring for a Clinical Trial Director and Coordinator -- it appears they're on track for Elon's timeline ... the guy said he wanted to get chips into real-life noodles by sometime this year.

You can read the listings for yourself to see who exactly they're looking for -- but it's obvious they're taking this mission seriously ... and want the best and the brightest working on it.

San Francisco 49ers star Nick Bosa appeared to relieve himself right on the bleachers at a high school football stadium ... and TMZ Sports has the pic.

The Niners -- who are set to face off against the Green Bay Packers this weekend -- practiced at a local Bay Port H.S. on Friday in order to adjust to the anticipated weather conditions before the big matchup ... and at some point, 24-year-old Bosa seemingly had to go #1.

Bosa just recently cleared concussion protocol ... and will be set to line up against Aaron Rodgers and Co. on Saturday in the divisional round of the playoffs.

The game is set to go down at Lambeau Field at 5:15 PM PT ... with a shot at the NFC Championship Game on the line.

Jeff Daniels doesn't just have friends in low places -- a newly discovered, and pretty damn vicious, worm now bears his name ... and tarantulas everywhere are quaking in their boots!!!

Here's the dirty lowdown ... scientists discovered a new species of parasitic worm that's particularly deadly to the hairy spiders and decided to name it Tarantobelus jeffdanielsi. If you're wondering why Jeff, you probably haven't seen his 1990 flick, "Arachnophobia."

In the movie, Jeff's character saves a town from an invasion of deadly spiders ... and the scientists at UC Riverside must be fans of the cult classic.

The actor clearly digs his new place in the animal kingdom, saying ... “Honestly, I was honored by their homage to me and Arachnophobia. Made me smile. And of course, in Hollywood, you haven’t really made it until you’ve been recognized by those in the field of parasitology.”

BTW, jeffdanielsi do some pretty nasty things once they infect tarantulas -- the spiders' limbs are slowly paralyzed ... making them walk on their 8 tiptoes, and their mouths and fangs are rendered useless. They eventually starve to death.

President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris' wax figures are now on public display ... and it's a historic moment.

Madame Tussauds New York revealed the sculptures Tuesday as part of their "Oval Office" experience ... and it's the first time the famous wax museum immortalized a Veep.

As you can see, the resemblance here is uncanny ... MT really has this thing down. Biden and Harris are dressed in replica outfits from Inauguration day -- smiling as they stand on opposite ends of the Resolute desk.

The White House should be pretty damn satisfied with the final result here. Fact is, we've seen some of these displays go south. Just ask the Beyhive!!!

Madame Tussauds even accessorized Biden with a pair of his trademark aviator shades. 😎

Tradition calls for the famed wax museum to give this treatment to each U.S. president, but we've never seen them extend the honor to a VP ... until Harris.

Will Smith ripped a fart so hard during a workout with the NFL's Miami Dolphins he asked if there was a shower around ... and the hilarious chain of events is all on video.

The actor was getting stretched out for a training session with the Dolphins when he seemed to relax just a tad too much, suddenly breaking wind with a loud fart ... and drawing tons of laughs from everyone in the room.

Will's chalking it up to what was in his cup, saying ... "training with the Miami Dolphins was going great until that morning coffee snuck up on me."

Yes, we've all been there ... only difference is, Will had an entire camera crew capturing his every move.

A bird brought new meaning to "deuce" at a tennis competition in Australia this week ... by crapping all over Reilly Opelka during a match!!!

It all went down at the Melbourne Summer Set ... when a bird decided to do its business right on the (ironically enough) #2 seed's hat during the second set against Maxime Cressy.

Opelka -- the #26 player in the world -- was immediately ticked off by becoming a human toilet ... walking over to the chair umpire in hopes of switching out his hat.

"Sorry, I just got s*** on," Opelka told the umpire as his sweaty locks draped over his eyes. "I can't see, a bird s*** on me. What do you want me to do?"

What unfolded over the next few minutes was nothing short of a movie -- Opelka tried wearing a different hat, but was told the logo on it was too big.

Next, the judge suggested wearing his coach's hat -- but Opelka refused to wear a different brand.

Even a ball boy tried to come to the rescue -- offering his Australian Open lid to the player, but it wouldn't fit his head.

Eventually, a match official brought out a tournament-approved hat for him to wear and asked if he wanted it swapped with a different hat in his locker room ... which Opelka accepted.

With the tragedy at the Naples Zoo, it's heartening to know one of the rarest tigers in the world was born at the London Zoo, and to celebrate, the zoo has started a naming contest.

The baby is a Sumatran tiger ... they are few and far between ... an endangered species.

The cub came into the world on December 12 ... and the birth was recorded on a "cubcam" in the enclosure.

You gotta watch ... the cub's mom, 10-year-old Gaysha, is seen cleaning her baby and then watching it take first steps.

There are only around 300 Sumatran tigers in the world, so this birth is a big deal.

The ZSL London Zoo wants people to throw a proposed name in the hat -- from regulars at the zoo to strangers, all suggestions are welcome.

The birth announcement comes just a day after a horrific event at a zoo in Naples, Florida, where a custodian went rogue and apparently stuck his hand in a tiger's cage, either to feed or pet the animal. The tiger, Eko, clamped onto his arm, police were called and they ended up shooting and killing the tiger.

H&M's store in NYC has been shut down while the clothing retailer investigates a disturbing photo claiming to show hoodies crawling with dozens of tiny bugs.

Twitter user @Madesonee_ posted the photos Wednesday, explaining, "I work at the H&M in the Oculus at World Trade & today a customer discovered lice on a rack of hoodies."

The 3 images showed a close-up of several light-colored hoodies covered with insects.

She continued, "They're not closing the store nor are they notifying employees of the problem. The section was just blocked off."

It apparently didn't take long for H&M brass to find out about the post, because they released a statement hours later, reportedly saying, "Out of an abundance of caution we have closed the H&M store at Westfield World Trade Center in order to investigate fully."

South Carolina Coach Shane Beamer either loves mayo, or he's got a strong stomach ... as evidenced in the BUCKET of the condiment he was doused in after his team's victory.

The Gamecocks took down North Carolina 38-21 in the Duke's Mayo Bowl Thursday, and part of the victory celebration for the winning team included Beamer getting a mayo bath.

Apparently, a mass quantity of mayo can get heavy, as it took two people to lift it -- and slightly drop it -- over Beamer's head ... but he took the whole thing like a champ and with a smile on his face.

It's not the first time the Duke's Mayo Bowl has gotten some post-game-celebratory attention ... it was back in 2020 when Wisconsin took the trophy -- and then shattered it into a million pieces -- that garnered the game some big-time coverage.

This time, it's just a little less glass to tidy up, and much more mayo.

Stephanie Matto says she's earning 6 figures just from farting into jars ... but all that gas is taking a bit of a toll on her health, both mentally and physically.

If ya thought buying NFTs was weird, the "90 Day Fiancé" star tells TMZ ... she's already banked about $100,000 from selling her jarred farts to fans, but her process almost put the artist in the hospital.

Stephanie tells us she usually sets aside 2 or 3 days a week to work on her hustle, eating foods typically associated with being gassy ... like beans and fiber bars.

While it sounds like easy money, Stephanie says she recently ate way too many fiber bars and it nearly sent her to the emergency room!!!

No rest for the flatulent though -- although fans keep clamoring for product, Stephanie says she's only going to keep her biz going as long as she feels up to it, and as long as the checks keep coming.

What's really interesting about this convo is ... she's straight-faced the whole time, even while explaining why which she puts a flower petal inside each jar. Serious stuff.

Rosanna Scotto got a special surprise from a 4-legged guest on Monday ... when a horse took a leak during a live interview.

Scotto was wrapping up a segment for "Good Day New York" with Manda Kalimian and her horse Pila. Clearly unable to hold it in, Pila let loose ... and splashed urine all over the ground, sending Scotto scrambling to save her stilettos.

Lucky for all involved, the Fox 5 host had a good sense of humor about it, laughing the incident off, she later wrote on Instagram, "Is it #goodluck when a #horse #pee on you? Happy #monday #horseofinstagram #peelikearacehorse"

The NY host had actually been interviewing the two about saving wild horses, in honor of National Day of the Horse on Monday.

We may have another UFO sighting on our hands -- and this one sure seems legit, seeing how there's no explanation for what the heck all these lights in the sky are.

Check out this wild video obtained by TMZ, which appears to show multiple giant orbs in the heavens above Chino Hills, CA -- circling each other and moving in strange, eccentric patterns ... with no light source coming from down below, per an eyewitness, anyway.

We're told this was shot a couple days ago, on Dec. 9, around 9 PM. The woman who filmed it tells us her grandson was taking the trash out, when he looked up and saw this ... which prompted the rest of the family to come out and take it all in.

The witness says she thought there was a grand opening happening, but they couldn't trace any such event nearby ... and as they mention on camera, there's no beam coming from down below. Seems the lights are really up there, generated by something in the clouds.

The crazy part is, we're told that after about 30-40 mins ... these things completely disappeared, without a trace.

There doesn't seem to be any explanation that we could find for what we're seeing here -- it's a mystery. Of course, one answer could be ... this is a UFO. Or lots of them, more like. One might even call them a fleet -- which is what one pilot recently says he saw as he was flying high above civilization himself.

A pilot was joined by more than just other commercial airline flights over the Pacific Ocean during a recent trip, recording what he believes was an entire fleet of UFOs.

The video, believed to have been recorded in the last few weeks, shows between 9 and sometimes up to 12 of the bright objects. You can see some light up and dim at random periods, but their pacing and speed seem to remain consistent.

According to reports, the pilot was flying at about 39,000 feet ... you can hear him say, "That is some weird s***. That is something flying," as the lights continue to grow and move.

Doubters believe the lights could be anti-missile flares shot from another plane or even ship below ... but there's no proof yet to support that either.

The published sighting comes on the heels of the Dept. of Defense announcing the launch of a UFO task force. The new government initiative has been hit with plenty of criticism from skeptics who believe the move is simply The Pentagon wanting to control and hide reported sightings.

Turns out, Joey Chestnut can inhale shrimp just as fast as he can hot dogs ... 'cause the eating legend went beast mode on shrimp cocktail this weekend, guzzling 17 pounds of the appetizer in 8 minutes!

The 38-year-old accomplished the wild feat in the eighth annual World Famous St. Elmo Shrimp Cocktail Eating Championship in Indianapolis on Saturday -- and the gross/amazing scene was all captured on video.

In footage of the event, you can see hundreds pulled up to the contest to watch Chestnut eat -- and "Jaws" did not disappoint.

After a countdown, Chestnut -- who holds 40-plus eating contest world records -- grabbed a handful of shrimp and chomped down so quickly, the announcer said he had put away pounds of the dish in a matter of seconds.

Chestnut eventually destroyed the competition ... eating 17 pounds and 1.6 ounces of the seafood. And, according to the official event results, he beat second place by almost three full pounds!!

The most staggering part about it all? Chestnut has actually beaten this mark before -- in 2018, he chomped down 18 pounds and 9.6 ounces of the shrimp at the competition.

Things could have ended much worse for a family's dog had it not been for a pane of glass stopping a hungry mountain lion from making it dinner.

The video, taken by a woman in Colorado, shows her dog named Dash frozen in fear as the mountain lion spots it from outside. The mountain lion seems puzzled by the barrier, trying different ways to get in, even tapping on the glass with its paw.

You can hear the fear in the woman's voice as she records and tries to get Dash away from the door, without any luck. The dog is clearly terrified, not moving.

Rep. Tim Burchett is not happy about the Pentagon starting up a new agency to head up UFO research -- because he, like others, sees it as more secrets ... and less transparency.

The Tennessee congressman gave his thoughts on the matter Wednesday on Capitol Hill, and to put it frankly ... he ain't a fan of the move, especially since it felt like things were finally coming to light after decades of keeping this type of talk on the DL.

In Rep. Burchett's eyes ... the Pentagon is only going to keep asking for more funding (from Congress) without giving up the goods on what they know, and the House member thinks going down that road is plain foolish.

That's pretty much what UFO expert Jeremy Corbell told us just last week about this ... he called it a shadow operation that's being presented as something the Defense Dept. is taking seriously -- when he thinks it's the exact opposite in practice.

Now, as for why the DoD would rather sweep this under the rug further -- Burchett has a theory. It all has to do with "industrial complexes" and societal institutions that would probably crumble if we learned the truth about what's out there.