The Stories:
Munch on Meat Crisps
A large food company in Britain has applied for a patent to produce slimming crisps made from meat. As a healthy option to a bag of potato chips, the meat made snacks are said to be thin, crunchy, high in protein and low in fat. The Cranswick food company are behind the development with Chief Executive, Bernard Hoggarth claiming “instead of snacking on a beef-flavoured crisp, which is deep-fried in oil, I'd rather have a piece of actual beef... I think it could take off.” Research suggests the meat chips would have 399 calories per 100 grams and a little over eight grams of fat. Regular potato chips can have up to 18 grams of fat and 540 calories per 100 grams. If all goes well with production, Mr Hoggarth anticipates the chips will be on sale by next year.
Pet Washing Machine
Japanese pet owners are keeping their dogs and cats clean with a specially designed vending machine to save money. Machines such as the Joyful Honda have been installed in supermarkets around Tokyo and can wash and blow dry your pet for less than six dollars compared to some pet stylists who can charge about 30 dollars. The whole process includes a shampoo, rinse and blow dry takes about half an hour and is alleged to be entirely safe. One user, Naka Honda, admitted his Yorkshire Terrier, Benji, was not a fan of the machine but would endure the wash as long as Naka was in his sight. One groomer who wanted to demonstrate the new machine even underwent a full wash and blow dry himself.
World’s Strongest Boy
Five-year-old, Giuliano Stroe, has been declared the world’s strongest boy. The young Romanian stunned TV viewers when he performed twenty amazing ‘air’ press ups, meaning his legs never touched the floor. Giuliano almost doubled the current record of twelve before stopping and has also become a worldwide sensation on the Internet. Father, Iulian, a gymnast himself, has been training his son since he could walk and revealed Giuliano had been “going to the gym with me ever since he was born...But he's still only a child and if he gets tired or bored we go and play." Last year, the world’s strongest boy performed an astonishing handstand stunt where he completed the fastest ever ten metre hand walk with a weighted ball between his legs. Woah!
It’s Raining Fish
Residents in a small desert town in the Northern Territory were stunned by a change in the weather which caused fish to fall from the sky. Across two days, hundreds of small, white fish, many still alive, descended on the town of Lajamanu. According to weather experts, the fish were sucked up in a thunderstorm before being released over the town which nearest river is over 520 kilometres away. Senior forecaster at the Australian Bureau of Meteorology, Mark Kersemakers, reported the thunderstorm "could have scooped the fish up to 40,000 to 50,000 feet in the air.” Kersemakers further described that once the fish are in the system, they become frozen and then drop from the sky. Lajamanu has been bombarded by fish three times in the past thirty years. At least the townspeople won’t go hungry!
Super Sword Swallower
The Australian performer, known as the Space Cowboy, has set a new world record by swallowing 18 swords at the same time. Chayne Hultgren beat his own 2008 record by swallowing each of the 71 centimetre long swords at a Sydney event. After practising the art since the age of sixteen and spending many hours training for the record breaking show, the 31-year-old claimed "Wow, I did it, it feels good, thank you very much.” The Space Cowboy described the method of his art where he stretches his "throat with hoses and use a few different techniques to basically enable me to do what, until now, has been impossible...You've got to practise a lot." Chayne continued to say the world record was one of his greatest life achievements.
Free Fried Creepy Crawlies
A theme park in England has been offering their visitors free dried insects as snacks. Chessington World of Adventures, in Surrey, has been distributing paper bags containing chocolate ant wafer biscuits, cheese and bacon flavoured crickets and chocolate covered larvae. General Manager of the park, David Smith, confessed he sampled the snack and said " if you can exercise mind over matter you will find that they are actually quite tasty. ‘I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!’ has uncovered a secret desire in many of us to try eating insects, so now is your chance.” If feedback from the free creepy crawly snacks is positive amongst guests, they will go on sale in the new Wild Asia area of the park. We think we will pass, even if they are for free!
Binman Olympics
Almost 500 desperate job seekers participated in a ‘Binman Olympics’ in South Korea with the hope of securing one of fourteen jobs. The civil service jobs are highly sought after in the town of Gumi which is suffering a severe economic crisis. To demonstrate endurance, contestants had to sprint carrying a twenty kilogram bag of rice. Other activities in the ‘Binman Olympics’ included racing against the clock to sweep one hundred metres of road and show how quickly they could dispose of dog poo using plastic bags and tongs. Family members and friends showed their support on the day with one woman, Kim Hye-ran claiming "If my husband gets the job our problems are over. I'll open a chicken restaurant next to our house”. Sweep, men, sweep!
Mega Egg Laying Hen
An Englishman claims his pet hen, Matilda, has laid an egg four times the size of a normal chicken egg. Matilda’s owner, Mark Cornish, reports the egg has a circumference of 21 centimetres and measures around nine centimetres in height. At first, Mark thought perhaps a goose had gotten into the chicken hutch by mistake and was “surprised” when he discovered the giant egg. According to Mark "It does not look as though a chicken would have laid it. The shell is paper thin” and believes it was also a surprise for Matilda who “has not been laying eggs that long.” Despite Matilda’s mega effort, she missed out on making the world record list which is currently held by an egg measuring a whopping 31 centimetres around the long axis, over 22 centimetres around the short and weighing almost 340 grams. Just think of the omelette it would make!
Jet Pack Invented
A company in New Zealand has started production of a commercial jet pack. Martin Aircraft Company, in Christchurch, claims people will be able to fly almost two metres high at speeds of up to 96 kilometres per hour and they won’t even need a pilot license. With the aim to develop 500 jet packs a year, inventor Glenn Martin, hopes they will sell for around 80,000 dollars each. Weighing less than 115 kilograms, the jet pack features a 200 horsepower dual-propeller pack and is capable of travelling 48 kilometres in just half an hour. Chief Executive of Martin Aircraft Company, Richard Lauder said “This could be life-saving stuff” and believes the jet pack could be perfect for emergency services, private users and even the military.
Leaves and Grass Diet
A 50-year-old Chinese man recently revealed he has survived for two years on a diet of leaves and grass. Li Sanju lives in the Niuwei village, Guangdong province, and claims he looks no different to other people in the village and is perfectly content with his strange diet. Leaf eating Li said he was inspired after watching a television show that proposed “a man can live more than 10 days without food but just water, so I thought I would try living on the natural things near my home." Originally, Li tried eating grass in a field, but after it made him sick he switched to plants in the mountain behind his home. Other than his initial illness, Li believes the leaves and grass diet has no side effects apart from him smelling like grass. Li must save a lot of money on groceries too!
Hotel of Cards
An architect in America has set a new world record for the largest house of cards. The replica of the Venetian Macau hotel and casino in China, the largest hotel in the world, was created by Bryan Berg inside the venue. Measuring ten metres by three metres and weighing 272 kilograms, Bryan used 218,792 playing cards to make his masterpiece, that’s over 4,000 decks! It took 44 days to complete the card creation and Bryan did not use any glue or tape during the construction process. Berg described the record breaking project as “the most ambitious project I have undertaken to date...It's like a real construction project because you have to engineer every single adjacency and every support.” Berg has beaten his own Guinness World Record set in 2004 for the largest house of cards after building a replica of Cinderella’s castle for Walt Disney World.
Not So Cleverest Man in the World
A Russian man believed to be the world’s cleverest man has refused a one million dollar prize for solving one of the toughest puzzles in mathematics. Dr Grigory Perelman, is 44-years-old and lives as a recluse in a cockroach filled unit in St Petersburg. The US Clay Mathematics Institute offered the prize for solving the Poincare Conjecture but Perelman simply said through a closed door "I have all I want. I'm not interested in money or fame. I don't want to be on display like an animal in a zoo.” Dr Perelman submitted his solution on the internet but refused to attend Madrid to receive the prestigious Fields Medal from the International Mathematical Union four years ago. The Poincare Conjecture was over one hundred years old when Perelman revealed the solution which has the potential to help determine the shape of the universe
Robo-Hawk Hits the Sky
A robotic hawk has been suggested as the answer to potentially deadly collisions between birds and planes by airport bosses in Rio de Janeiro. The robo-raptor has been tested near the airport to determine whether it can scare away flocks responsible for “bird strikes” which can damage the turbines and other parts of planes. The company managing Brazilian airports, Infraero, said bird strikes have increased by 45 per cent in the past two years and can result in emergency landings or crashes. The robo-hawk can fly up to 300 metres, has a top speed of 48 kilometres per hour and mimics the flying pattern of a predator. It is hoped the imitation bird will scare the real birds away from airport runways but cause them no harm.
Figure Eight Egg
A hen in China has reportedly laid a soft-shelled egg in the shape of a figure eight. Owner, Mrs Dong, suspected something strange after hearing some unusual noises coming from the hen one evening. Mrs Dong, who lives in Shijiazhuang, northern China's Hebei province said she “had never heard anything like it before. When I approached she stopped making the noise but as soon as I left she started again”. The following morning, Mrs Dong went to check on the hen only to discover the “weird-shaped egg in the hen's cage”. Rather than sell or make an omelette out of the figure-eight-shaped egg, Mrs Dong plans to keep it preserved in a box. Professor Wu Yuefeng, of Hebei University's Life Science department, confessed it was a very rare shaped egg and would probably have been due to a “lack of calcium in the hen's diet which has prevented it from creating a hard shell."
Upside-Down House Opens
An upside-down house has become the latest tourist attraction in Germany. Featuring an upside-down kitchen, bathroom, living room and bedroom, the house stands on a pointed roof and is supported by steel beams in the attic. Built on the grounds of a zoo in Gettorf, the strange house was created by a local carpenter, Gerhard Mordhorst, and his colleagues, Gesellse Splettstober and Manfred Kolax. The creators described the project as one of the “craziest” they have ever had to complete with Mr Mordhorst saying "It was a challenge for us...You had to constantly think of the mirror image." The most challenging room to put together was the bathroom because of bulky items such as the shower. There were 50 separate pieces screwed into the floor-ceiling including beds, tables, a microwave and pictures with the men even hand sewing the bed linen in place.
Celebrating Digits
Indian man, Haramb Ashok Kumthekar, is proud to have 12 fingers and 14 toes which have put him in the local record books. Rather than feel self conscious about having six fingers on each hand and seven toes on each foot, Haramb has embraced his additional digits. The 24-year-old is the unofficial record holder for the most number of fingers and toes on a living person as technically some of his fingers are attached so are not fully classified as separate digits. The official Guinness World Record is held by fellow Indian, Devendra Harne, who has 12 fingers and 13 toes. Not to worry, Haramb is recognised in the Indian equivalent to the Guinness Book of World Records known as the Limca Book of Records. Admitting at times it can make things difficult, like buying shoes; Haramb suffers from the medical conditional polydactlyism but maintains a very positive outlook on life!
Art Career Built From Lego
An artist in New York is due to open his first major exhibition featuring masterpieces made from Lego building blocks. After spending ten years creating the Lego art, Nathan Sawaya is proud to unveil his Brick by Brick exhibition revealing that "everyone has a connection to Lego at some point. They've played with it or their kids have played with it." Some of the pieces of Nathan’s artwork include life-size three dimensional sculptures consisting of around 35,000 bricks which have been individually glued together. In the past, such sculptures have sold for over thirty thousand dollars. Based on the human body, Nathan’s large Lego art will be displayed in Manhattan's Agora Gallery which he described as a “significant development for me and my art. I've had exhibitions before, but it's the first time I've taken my work to the high end of the art world.”
Watch as Old as Time
A firm in Switzerland have designed an exclusive watch containing real dinosaur bones. Makers, Louis Moinet, have created 12 limited edition watches with a price tag of over three hundred thousand dollars each. Being dubbed the ‘Time Explorer’, each special watch has had fragments of genuine Jurassic dinosaur bones inserted into the watch face. Reports indicate the bones are from a Diplodocus, a giant vegetarian dinosaur which once would have measured over 27 metres long and weighed about 20 tonnes. One enthusiast of the fancy timepiece said "It's amazing that you really do have a genuine piece of dinosaur on your arm". Furthermore, to make the ‘Time Explorer’ just that extra bit fancy, the Swiss company have surrounded the bones with 18 carat white gold and 56 baguette diamonds.
Nuts For Squirrel Pie
Customers at a pub in York are going crazy for the latest menu item – squirrel pie with mash. Owners of the Black Swan, Andy and Stephanie Cross, had already been serving game such as rabbit, pigeon and hare but have recently added squirrel to the list. Mrs Cross revealed the new meal has had a positive and overwhelming response with some customers “calling especially to see if we had it on”. The grey squirrels are supplied to butchers by gamekeepers who capture the particular breed in the hope to protect Britain’s native red squirrel. According to the squirrel servers, the dish “tastes like a strong rabbit - just a more meaty taste” with Mr Cross claiming the brave idea came from his wife who “read something about it and then unearthed some recipes”. The new squirrel serving has proved so popular in the pub that Andy and Stephanie have sold out and are waiting for supplies.
Harry Potter Cloak Created
A group of scientists in Europe appear to have been inspired by the Harry Potter series and developed a prototype ‘invisibility cloak’. The researchers, from the German Karlsruhe Institute of Technology and Imperial College London, believe they can hide three dimensional objects by bending light waves. Recently, the scientists used photonic crystals to conceal a small bump on a gold surface. The ‘invisibility cloak’ will be the first to potentially work on three dimensions as previous cloaks have only been able to affect two dimensional objects. Leader of the research, Tolga Ergin, is thrilled about the development and said the devices are "a beautiful and exciting benchmark to show what transformation optics can do... mankind has always thought about being invisible.” According to Mr Ergin, it will be years before the technique could be applied to large objects or people but, we can still dream!
Jump Aboard
A woman from West Yorkshire who introduced rabbit jumping to England claims the sport is becoming more and more popular. After being inspired by a breeder in Sweden, Maureen Hoyle, a retired office worker, invented Rabbit Jumping UK making it the country’s one and only rabbit jumping club. Maureen reports the rabbits love the sport and are “very agile... a lot of people are surprised by what they can do.” During the competitions, the rabbits have to clear a particular jump without touching it. Maureen reveals there are more serious competitions where “the obstacle has a delicately balanced weight at the top which will fall if the rabbit makes contact. That will add a penalty to the rabbit's total time.” Champion rabbit jumpers can reportedly clear heights of almost one metre.
Newsflash: Humans Are Aliens
According to a British scientist, all humans are aliens. That’s right, Professor Chandra Wickramasinghe of Cardiff University, claims new research supports the idea that human life started outside of Earth. The evidence has been published in Cambridge University’s International Journal of Astrobiology and shows microbes from outer space arrived on Earth from comets 3,800 million years ago. The microbes then “multiplied and seeded” to create human life as Professor Wickramasinghe said “we are all aliens...We are thus part of a connected chain that extends over a large volume of the cosmos.” The so-called “panspermia” theory was championed in the 1960’s by Professor Wickramasinghe and his late colleague Sir Fred Hoyle, however, they do not have a definite concept of how human life began in the first place. Do Do Do Doooo....
Pandas Return Home to Learn Chinese
A three-year-old panda named Mei Lan is set to return to China from America to learn the Chinese language. Director of the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding, Huang Xiangmin, revealed they have created a website where people can volunteer to teach Mei Lan to understand Chinese directions. Volunteers must also be able to speak fluent English as Mei Lan “may take some time to get used to the switch” says Xiangmin. Pandas Mei Lan and Tai Shan were loaned by China to the Atlanta zoo and Washington DC zoo, respectively, with the agreement they would be returned after two years. However, with the popularity of the two pandas, the American zoos requested to have their stay extended. An additional year later, Mei Lan and Tai Shan have now been arranged to board a special plane referred to as the ‘Panda Express’ and fly over fourteen hours home to China.
Celebrities Are Cheesy
Prudence Staite, a food artist, has created celebrity sculptures out of cheese and displayed them at the Kings Road Gallery in Chelsea, London. Prudence has turned artists Cheryl Cole, Dita Von Teese and President Barack Obama into life sized models made from LowLow cheese. Previously, Prudence has created other food art including replicas of famous paintings from jelly beans, famous faces on pizzas and even a life-sized chocolate room. To create the cheese sculptures, Prudence turned to LowLow mature cheese which “lends itself fantastically well to being modelled and shaped.” The cheesy celebrity’s have been renamed as Chedda Cole, Dita Von Cheese and Low-Bama with Prudence explaining the celebrities “embody part of our celebrity culture today.” Sounds tasty!
Tough Guy Obstacle Course
Over 5,000 contestants showed up to a Staffordshire farm to face an obstacle course referred to as the world’s “most dangerous taste of mental and physical pain". The annual Tough Guy contest was held in Perton where participants tested themselves against rain, mud, ice and fire. The assault course was over twelve kilometres and featured underwater tunnels, barbed wire fences, fire walks, nets, walls, a zipline and even an electric fence known as ‘The Tiger’. People from all over the world including Australia, New Zealand, China and Japan took part in the rainy event. With many bruised bodies and a few broken bones, event organiser, Mouser Wilson, reported “people attempt the course as a journey of self discovery.” Liam Posthewaite, a contestant from Bristol, described the event as the most difficult thing he had “ever physically done...but the sense of achievement is so satisfying that it's worth the pain.”
Connection With Crocs
Shaun Foggett and his family share their home with some unusual tenants. Shaun, a 30-year-old father, keeps Britain’s largest collection of crocodiles and alligators in the back garden of his semi-detached house where he lives with fiancée, Lisa Green and their three children. According to Shaun, they own 24 of the reptiles as pets including endangered Black Caymans, Cuban crocodiles and a Chinese alligator that all live in a specialised enclosure set at a tropical temperature. In two years, Shaun has raised almost $800,000 with the hope to build Britain’s first crocodile zoo, however, he needs to find a location big enough to accommodate. Although it costs Shaun over $14,000 a year to feed the snappy reptiles, ever since he was a kid he has “been interested in crocodiles...They're amazing animals." Shaun also reveals even his three children "have no fear at all.”
Unpleasant Pheasant
A North Yorkshire village is being terrorised by a pheasant that is trapping residents in their homes and attacking people in the street. The bird, living in Newsham, has harassed men, women, children, dogs, prams and even cars. Reports claim one local, Sonia Hall, was attacked by the pesky pheasant while she was walking with her grandson Jacob. Sonia’s son, Charles Hall, reported she “tried to beat it off with her handbag but from what she said it is quite vicious." Meanwhile, according to Sonia’s partner, Robin Leonard, even the postman is scared to enter the village “in case the pheasant attacks him." As funny as it may sound, the chairman of Newsham Parish Council, Bob De'Ath is concerned for the safety of the town as the bird is “terrorising the whole village.” Bob has contacted the RSPCA for advice on the attacking pheasant.
Old Man Judo
George Kerr, a 72-year-old pensioner, has become one of only seven living people to hold Judo’s highest rank. The Scottish man was named a tenth Dan black belt at a ceremony held by the International Judo Federation in Paris. Honouring Kerr’s contribution to the sport, he was deemed one in five non-Japanese recipients of the award. Mr Kerr, who even runs a Judo club for 200 young people, claimed he was “humbled and proud to be the first Scotsman to receive this award.” As an inaugural member of the Scottish Sports Hall of Fame since 2002, Kerr has written many books on Judo and its techniques but has no plans to slow down in life. Dedicated Kerr claimed he “will never retire. I just don't work as hard as I used to work but retiring is not on my horizon."
Finders Weepers
Two men in China found a major discovery of more than twenty priceless antiques in an ancient tomb recently. But, what Feng and Zheng of Guying town in the Henan province did not realise was the immense value of the antiques. After the two men sold the collection for just pennies, they soon discovered just one of the pottery pieces was worth almost $180,000 alone. Feng and Zheng reported they found the tomb while hunting hares in a nearby field and “saw a 50 centimetre diameter opening in the field.” The ancient tomb was revealed to have dated back to the one thousand year old Sui Tang Dynasty but Feng claimed “the collector said the pottery meant nothing, so we virtually gave it away.” Selling the entire collection for just over one and a half thousand dollars, we can imagine Feng and Zheng will be more careful with any future finds.
Freaky Floating Fish
A goldfish that has spent the last five years swimming around upside down has stunned his owner, Richard Gordon from Gosport, Hants. According to Gordon, after taking ownership of the Japanese coldwater fish six years ago from his grandson, he was shocked to discover the fish, named Horatio, floating on his back in the 12 inch wide glass fish tank. The 62-yar-old claimed the first time he saw the funny floating fish he believed Horatio “was dead... I was going to flush him away. But I flicked the glass and he started swimming again.” Gordon also reported that when it comes to feeding time, Horatio has no problems swimming up to get the food but “then swims back down again and rolls over and floats upside down once more.” The freaky fish is believed to float in the same area below the filtration system where the water holds the most oxygen but Gordon also considers Horatio might just be “a bit lazy.”
Robo-Hawk Hits the Sky A robotic hawk has been suggested as the answer to potentially deadly collisions between birds and planes by airport bosses in Rio de Janeiro. The robo-raptor has been tested near the airport to determine whether it can scare away flocks responsible for “bird strikes” which can damage the turbines and other parts of planes. The company managing Brazilian airports, Infraero, said bird strikes have increased by 45 per cent in the past two years and can result in emergency landings or crashes. The robo-hawk can fly up to 300 metres, has a top speed of 48 kilometres per hour and mimics the flying pattern of a predator. It is hoped the imitation bird will scare the real birds away from airport runways but cause them no harm. 
Nuts For Squirrel PieCustomers at a pub in York are going crazy for the latest menu item – squirrel pie with mash. Owners of the Black Swan, Andy and Stephanie Cross, had already been serving game such as rabbit, pigeon and hare but have recently added squirrel to the list. Mrs Cross revealed the new meal has had a positive and overwhelming response with some customers “calling especially to see if we had it on”. The grey squirrels are supplied to butchers by gamekeepers who capture the particular breed in the hope to protect Britain’s native red squirrel. According to the squirrel servers, the dish “tastes like a strong rabbit - just a more meaty taste” with Mr Cross claiming the brave idea came from his wife who “read something about it and then unearthed some recipes”. The new squirrel serving has proved so popular in the pub that Andy and Stephanie have sold out and are waiting for supplies. 
Free Fried Creepy Crawlies A theme park in England has been offering their visitors free dried insects as snacks. Chessington World of Adventures, in Surrey, has been distributing paper bags containing chocolate ant wafer biscuits, cheese and bacon flavoured crickets and chocolate covered larvae. General Manager of the park, David Smith, confessed he sampled the snack and said " if you can exercise mind over matter you will find that they are actually quite tasty. ‘I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!’ has uncovered a secret desire in many of us to try eating insects, so now is your chance.” If feedback from the free creepy crawly snacks is positive amongst guests, they will go on sale in the new Wild Asia area of the park. We think we will pass, even if they are for free!
