Standing room only

A budget South American airline is wondering whether its customers would be willing to trade savings for the most basic amenity in the industry: a seat. In an interview with the Miami Herald, VivaColombia founder and CEO William Shaw said his company is studying whether passengers would be willing to fly standing up rather than sitting down as a way to make travel less expensive. “Who cares if you don’t have an inflight entertainment system for a one-hour flight? Who cares that there aren’t marble floors … or that you don’t get free peanuts?” Shaw told the paper. Ryanair, the Irish discount airline, proposed a similar bus-with-wings approach in 2010, but civil air authorities rejected it.

Height of confusion

Volvo’s self-driving car project has run into a roadblock that might mean trouble for its Australian market. The Swedish carmaker says its “Large Animal Detection System” designed to prevent collisions with caribou, deer, and elk has been flummoxed by kangaroos. Volvo officials say that when a kangaroo jumps, it confuses the system. “When it’s in the air, it actually looks like it’s further away, then it lands and it looks closer,” Volvo technical manager David Pickett told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. The Australian government estimates there are more than 16,000 road collisions with kangaroos every year.

Car quack

Researchers at a South Korean university have suggested that carmakers replace the blare of a car’s horn with the sound of a duck quacking. Scientists from Soongsil University in Seoul said that while a traditional car horn is effective at garnering attention, a duck quack could perform the same task without annoying other passersby. “Our new klaxon sound can immediately alert the pedestrians of the danger while also reducing the unpleasantness and stress of the sound,” professor Myung-Jin Bae said.

Card in hand

A man in Sydney, Australia, has gone to extremes to make sure he never forgets his transit card. He had it surgically implanted into his left hand. The man, who legally changed his name to Meow-Ludo Disco Gamma Meow-Meow, claims to be a bio-hacker. “My goal is to have frictionless interaction with technology,” he said. “It gives me an ability that not everyone else has, so if someone stole my wallet I could still get home.” Meow-Meow acknowledged he may run into trouble with transit authorities: Tampering with the transit cards violates the terms of service.

Smoke and fire

Mike Tingley of Grand Blanc Township, Mich., destroyed his garage when he tried to expel a bee hive from the property on July 3. The problem was his choice of method: fireworks. He reportedly was using the fireworks to try to create a smoke bomb to pacify the bees when he lost control of the situation and created a fire. Neighbors dialed 911 when they heard fireworks exploding over the roof of the burning building. Tingley told reporters the garage is a total loss, but that “everyone is safe and that’s the main thing.” Everyone—that is, except for the bees.

Coin tosser

A Chinese woman hoped to bring good luck to a flight she was about to take on June 27. Instead she brought a lengthy delay. The superstitious 80-year-old woman’s supposed charm? Coins, several of them, which she tossed into the plane’s engine. Only one of the coins actually entered the engine, but it was enough to force a five-hour delay as mechanics checked for damage. One Chinese social media user quipped, “Grandma, this is not a wish fountain with turtles.” According to Chinese reports, authorities didn’t give the woman jail time because of her age.

Fire starter

A truck ignited and started a brush fire on I-82 in Washington state on July 3. That was unusual enough. Even more ironic was the type of truck that caught fire: a Richland, Wash., fire truck. According to fire officials, the driver of the wildfire fighting unit was able to escape the vehicle, but the flames from the engine bay spread to the grassy shoulder of the highway and caused a stoppage in traffic in both directions on I-82 before Richland firefighters were able to control the fire. The driver suffered no injuries, but the department says the truck is a total loss.

Bad news bear

The Chisago County, Minn., Sheriff’s Office would like motorists in the county to stop pulling over and taking selfies with a dead bear. Officials with the sheriff’s office tweeted a warning on July 4 after receiving multiple reports of motorists stopping to take pictures with a bear carcass on Highway 8. Hours later, sheriff’s officials tweeted out another reminder, this time asking locals not to try to perform CPR on the dead bear.

Joining the fun

A noise complaint from a neighbor drew police in Asheville, N.C., to the scene of a Slip ’N Slide party on July 2. But rather than bust the children playing, the two officers decided to join in. Officer Carrie Lee donned a black trash bag and took the first trip down the slide. Officer Joe Jones split an inflatable raft with a local kid for the second ride. After taking a ride—and determining that the partiers were breaking no laws—the two officers left without issuing any tickets.