UPI NewsTrack Quirks in the News

Nun takes direct approach to stop cursing

DETROIT, Dec. 10 (UPI) -- A Michigan nun stunned her students by telling them they were no longer allowed to say swear words, then saying the words so they would know what she meant.

After hearing that swear words were being used on the playground, Sister Kathy Avery of St. Clare of Montefalco Catholic School in Grosse Pointe Park took a direct approach to stop children from cursing, the Detroit Free Press reported Monday.

She held the fifth through eighth-graders after mass and informed them of her zero-tolerance policy for swearing before launching into a list of every swear word that was banned from school grounds, including the non-swear words "boring" and "stupid."

"It got a little quiet in church," Avery said. "Sometimes I think children don't know what words to use, they use them because they've heard them from other people."

"I think they knew that I drew the line," she added.

Avery said she isn't surprised that her approach worked, she had already done the same thing in two previous schools, in Sioux City, Iowa, and Pikesville, Ky.

Sensor fabric could benefit bra makers

WOLLONGONG , Australia, Dec. 10 (UPI) -- Researchers at Australia's University of Wollongong said they have developed an "intelligent fabric" that could lead to the production of more comfortable bras.

The researchers said as many as 80 percent of women are thought to be in danger of pain or nerve damage from not wearing the right bra. They said their new fabric includes built-in sensors that detect movement while walking or jogging, The Telegraph reported Monday.

"Our results show that the fabric sensors are suitable to monitor breast motion and brassiere function," the researchers said.

They expressed hope that the new fabric will help bra designers to test how well their products perform and in what ways they can be improved.

"Brassiere designers will have the ability directly to assess the effects of changes to each brassiere component," they said.

Mountain lion ruins hot tub session

DEADWOOD, S.D., Dec. 10 (UPI) -- A South Dakota woman eased into her outdoor hot tub and cornered a mountain lion crouching less than a foot from her head.

Marlene Todd told the Rapid City (S.D.) Journal that as she settled into the warm swirling water she heard a rustling noise and saw the big cat looking at her from outside the tub.

The animal was apparently as startled as she was, the newspaper reported Sunday.

Todd said she had the encounter with the mountain lion Thursday. She said the cat was trapped between the tub and the stairs to her deck and had to jump up onto the edge of the tub to escape.

"We locked eyes, and it kicked off of the hot tub and ran away."

Todd called police, who said the cat was likely either stalking deer or had sought out the radiating warmth of the hot tub on a cold morning.

"It could have been way bad if it would have slipped and fell in the tub with me," Todd said. "I now know what a goldfish feels like in a bowl when the cat is looking at it."

Novelty items defused for British troops

LONDON, Dec. 10 (UPI) -- The British Forces Post Office ordered that 650 Christmas crackers -- novelty items that make a popping sound -- be defused before going to the military.

The crackers, which create tiny explosions when a tab is pulled, were bound for British troops serving in combat areas, but the post office said they could not be accepted on "safety" grounds until they were defused, it was reported Monday.

"Christmas crackers are classified as dangerous air cargo and therefore require special handling," a Ministry of Defense spokesman told the Telegraph.

"The troops will just have to go 'bang' themselves when they pull them," said Ian Dalzel-Job of the Scots Guards Association, which is heading the effort to send Christmas care packages to the troops.