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Mushrooms Grow in Man’s Blood After Injection
A man is still recovering after he injected psychedelic “shroom tea” into his own veins. Doctors say the fungus began to grow in his bloodstream.
Live Science reports that the man was treated for multisystem organ failure and ultimately spent 22 days in the hospital—eight of which were spent in the intensive care unit.
The 30-year-old victim reportedly suffers from bipolar disorder and opioid dependency. He read online that psychedelic psilocybin mushrooms are being used experimentally to treat some mental health conditions and decided to conduct his own experiment.
The man reportedly boiled down some of the illegal mushrooms into a tea. He then filtered the tea through a cotton swab before injecting it into his own bloodstream. In the days that followed, the man began to experience nausea and lethargy. He began to suffer bouts of diarrhea, jaundice and vomiting blood. His family found him and took him to the emergency room. Doctors were unable to communicate with the man. His organs, including his liver and kidneys, were failing.
His blood tested positive for a bacterial infection with the microbe Brevibacillus and a fungal infection with the magic mushrooms. He was put on antifungal and antibiotic medication and placed on a ventilator after his lungs failed.
A doctor working on the case wrote that the incident “underscores the need for ongoing public education regarding the dangers attendant to the use of this, and other drugs, in ways other than they are prescribed.”
The patient was released from the hospital but is continuing to receive antifungal and antibiotic treatments.
Man Drives Tank Through Neighborhood
A number of Florida residents are questioning the motives of a neighbor who drove a military-style tank through the streets of a residential neighborhood.
According to CBS 4 in Miami, the South Florida community of Palmetto Bay was thrown into panic and confusion last week when a resident began driving a camouflaged British tank through the streets.
After investigating, the tank-driver’s neighbors discovered that it wasn’t actually illegal to drive the tank on residential streets, although it might seem disconcerting. The tank’s guns were reportedly not in operation.
“Is his purpose to, what, intimidate or just show off?” asked 30-year resident John Gonzalez. “Probably just to show off, but I would have to disagree with that. If I get a vote, I’ll vote against it.”
A Palmetto Bay code enforcement officer investigated the incident. The tank allegedly caused some damage to a curb that it drove over. The Village of Palmetto Bay is now investigating whether the resident was in compliance with city codes. The curb damage was reported to county officials, who will have to determine if the driver will be held responsible.
“For the most part it’s unusual to say the very least, and with the present state of politics, it’s concerning,” said fellow resident James Woodard.
Woman Tricks Her Way Out of Jail
Alaskan police are searching for a woman who escaped custody by convincing her guards that she was someone else.
According to Alaska’s News Source, Lori. A. Declusin was in custody for allegedly violating a protection order when she pretended to be a woman named Brittany Palmer, her cellmate. Palmer was scheduled to be released on Jan. 10. Officers claim that Delcusin signed several release forms using Palmer’s name before being released.
Authorities were originally calling the incident an “erroneous release” but have since reclassified it as an escape, a felony offense. “Once the escape was discovered officers searched the area but were unable to locate her,” wrote the reporting officer.
Authorities are encouraging Alaska residents to be on the lookout for Delcusin. Anchorage Police Department says the fugitive was in custody for allegedly Violating a Stalking Order.
Hacker Takes Control of Sex Devices
A hacker reportedly took control of a number of internet-connected penis chastity cage devices and demanded Bitcoin ransoms to return control to their owners.
Vice reports that last year Qiui, the China-based manufacturer of a sexual device meant to prevent users from experiencing an erection called a “chastity cage” accidentally left its app’s API exposed, giving hackers the ability to gain remote access to users’ devices. The chastity cages were connected to the internet to allow users to control them through a smartphone app.
One unnamed victim said he was contacted by a hacker who demanded 0.02 Bitcoin (currently valued at more than $750) to unlock his device. “Fortunately I didn’t have this locked on myself while this happened,” the victim told reporters.
A U.S. distributor for Qiui said the exploitable flaw was fixed on the most recent version of the device’s app.
Forgotten Password Keeps Man From Millions
A California programmer says he can’t remember the password that would give him access to a Bitcoin wallet worth about $220 million.
The New York Times reports that San Francisco resident Stefan Thomas is in possession of a small hard drive that contains 7,002 Bitcoin. The only problem is that he can’t remember his password to unlock the drive, and he only has two tries left.
Thomas put the cryptocurrency on an IronKey drive years ago. The drive gives users 10 attempts to enter a password before it seizes up permanently. Thomas reportedly lost the piece of paper on which the passcode was written years ago and has since made eight attempts to unlock the drive. Each attempt has failed.
“I would just lay in bed and think about it,” Mr. Thomas said. “Then I would go to the computer with some new strategy, and it wouldn’t work, and I would be desperate again.”
Around 20 percent of the existing 18.5 million Bitcoin (currently valued at around $140 billion) is reportedly lost or unrecoverable.
