World's oldest beer recovered from shipwreck

Divers have recovered what's thought to be the world's oldest beer from a 200-year-old shipwreck in the Baltic Sea.

The find was made as researchers recovered drinkable Champagne from a Russian cargo ship which crashed in the 1780s.

The divers say they were surprised to find a handful of beer bottles during the salvage operation near the Aland Islands.

When one of the bottle just so happened to break, the divers tried some of the dark liquid and say they liked the taste.

However, experts doubt the old beer would still be drinkable… and that the divers might have been suffering from 'the bends' which could have impacted their taste-buds.

Dog Smoking

Puppy taught to smoke by 'bad pet owner' A pet owner in China has been accused of animal cruelty after he taught his new puppy to smoke cigarettes - with the result that the dog now smoke a pack a day.

23-year-old chef Zeng Ziguang said that he thought it would be funny to teach Little Black, his new puppy, to smoke when he bought him six months ago.

He said: 'At the beginning he hated the smell a lot. Then I trained him to get used to it by puffing the smoke onto his face frequently.'

Zeng, of Wuchang in Hubei Province, central China, used treats of food to train Little Black to put the cigarette in his mouth. Within a month, he says, the puppy was smoking.

'Now it can smoke a pack a day,' Zeng boasted.

But other residents of Wuchang haven't seen the supposedly 'funny' side of giving a puppy a deadly addiction, accusing Zeng - fairly reasonably, it has to be said - of being a 'bad pet owner'.

Plastic Trash Bricks

A plastic-recycling machine invented by Dunedin man Peter Lewis is spitting out the building blocks of a multimillion-dollar business.

The "Byfusion" machine has been 10 years in the making, but a working prototype at the Green Island landfill can swallow most types of raw plastic and turn it into compacted plastic bricks or other shapes.

The plastics - from drink bottles to meat packaging - went in one end of the cylindrical machine, which washed, dried and compacted the plastic, Mr Lewis said.

A brick emerged every 30-45 seconds, with each formed from 10kg of plastic.

The rock-hard bricks could be used for garden retaining or landscaping walls, and had other potential uses including shock absorbers behind crash barriers.

Consideration was being given to using the products to build hurricane and tsunami shelters in the Pacific Islands, or cheaper sustainable housing where wood was scarce, he said.

Dunedin-born Mr Lewis developed the machine while living in Queenstown a decade ago, but mothballed the project after failed attempts to market it in the United States in 2001 and Christchurch in 2003.

The machine was "ahead of its time" then, but he hoped it was now a viable solution to the piles of plastic flooding into New Zealand landfills.

Mr Lewis and his company, Bale Fusion Ltd, dusted off the project this year after being approached by Dunedin City Council solid waste manager Ian Featherston.

Mr Featherston said he stumbled across Mr Lewis' project while reading a waste management trade magazine.

He worked with the council's economic development unit and Dunedin's Business for Change cluster to bring the project south.

The council offered a $20,000 grant to help cover setup costs - paid for by a Ministry for the Environment waste minimisation levy - and cluster members also offered financial support.

Once fully operational, the machine would help the council meet waste minimisation targets and find alternative uses for some types of plastics - numbers 3-7 - that lacked lucrative recycling markets.

There would be "synergies" with the new recycling plant being built at the Green Island landfill.

It was hoped supporting the business would bring economic benefits to the city.

Source :- Otago Daily Times

New Chef has Stomach for the Job

A Chinese restaurant recruited a new chef by inviting applicants to slice a melon on a woman's stomach.

The hotel restaurant, in Hankou, Hubei province, put the knife skills of more than 15 candidates to the test.

A woman volunteer laid on a table, with her stomach covered with a thin sheet of plastic, while would-be chefs chopped up their melons.

"They had to chop the gourd into very thin pieces in a limited time," said a spokesman for the hotel.

The successful candidate, Chef Hu Gua, won the job by choping up his melon in less than a minute without hurting the woman.

Chef Hu told the Changjiang Business Daily that he had been very confident before the recruitment test.

But he added: "I still felt a bit nervous when it came to is as it was the first time I ever chopped up something on a woman's belly."

One of the judges commented: "Hu did such a god job - you could tell he had been in the trade for more than 10 years."

Source :- Orange.co.uk

Giant Hailstones

A Giant hailstone in South Dakota smashes US record, ahem, hailed as the biggest ever.

What’s more, the man who found the ginormous icy object said that it had melted a bit while it was evaluated.

America’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration committee declared that the hailstone, found in the town of Vivian on July 23, measures a whopping eight inches in diameter and weighs a hefty one pound, 15 ounces.

The committee says the South Dakota ice chunk breaks records set by hailstones discovered in Nebraska and Kansas.

Ranch hand Leslie Scott says the hailstone was about three inches bigger when he found it. Scott says he put it in the freezer but that he couldn't prevent some melting because of an hours-long power outage that followed the storm.



Source :- Metro

Marry Me

Graffiti artist Stuart Barrie engaged his skills in the pursuit of love – proposing to his girlfriend in metre-high letters sprayed on a wall.

The 37-year-old popped the question to Lucy Rutherford by writing ‘Will you marry me?’ on the side of a youth centre.

‘I wanted to do something different,’ said Stuart, ‘something bigger than most proposals, something unexpected.’

Miss Rutherford had no idea what was waiting for her when she was led to the wall in Tiverton, Devon, last week.

‘It was a complete shock – I didn’t have a clue,’ said the 33-year-old.

‘It’s very romantic. I think I’ve got mouth-ache from smiling so much.’

Miss Rutherford gave her formal reply by spraying ‘Yes’ next to her fiance’s question.

Giant Grass Sofas Growing Around Britain

A dozen huge grass sofas have been installed at tourist attractions around the UK -- in a bizarre bid to get couch potatoes out of the house.

The sofas - some of which are 30ft long - are the idea of the National Trust and are made from a base of straw which has been watered and trimmed to size, and covered in a green grass blanket.

Bosses came up with the odd idea after it was revealed the average family spends 43 hours a week sat on their sofa, even in the summer.

Each sofa is also positioned in a 'outdoor living room' and took just over a month to grow… meanwhile, your sofa at home has probably got something growing behind it.

The West Midlands was named the region with the most sofa-bound families, followed jointly by the North West and Yorkshire – spending 50 and 47 hours a week on the couch respectively.

The Sofa living rooms can be found at:
Plas Newydd, Wales
Little Moreton Hall, Cheshire
Wimpole Hall, Cambridgeshire
Gibside, Tyne & Wear
Kingston Lacey, Dorset
Sudbury Hall and the National Trust Museum of Childhood, Derbyshire
Uppark House & Garden, Sussex
Osterley Park & House, London
Rowallane Garden, Northern Ireland
Packwood House, Warwickshire
Lanhydrock, Cornwall
Wembury Point, Devon




Source :- National Trust

World First Full Face Transplant Man

Oscar Gun accident victim shows off world's first full facial transplant

The first man ever to have a full face transplant appeared in public yesterday.

As he returned home from hospital four months after his ground-breaking surgery, the 31-year-old bravely showed his new face to photographers.

The Spanish farmer, known only as Oscar, had been horribly disfigured five years ago in a shooting accident.

This prevented him breathing normally and made it difficult to swallow or speak.

But after two years of planning, a team of 30 doctors started work on him in March, in an operation which was to last 24 hours.

The transplant, at a Barcelona hospital, included complete facial skin and muscles, eyelids, nose, lips, upper jaw, all his teeth, the palate, cheekbones and lower jaw.

As he was discharged, Oscar said: 'I'm very happy to be here and I wanted to express my gratitude to the hospital and medical team and to all donors in Spain, especially the family of the man whose face I received.'

Doctors at the Vall d'Hebron Hospital said Oscar's face does not resemble that of the donor, whose identity has not been revealed.

He has regained feeling in most of his face and is able to speak, drink liquids and eat soft foods.

His family said that he is looking forward to sitting down and eating a meal at home with them, and to hunting and fishing again, two of his favourite hobbies.

Oscar's sister, who was with him yesterday, said: 'We are very happy and content and very grateful to the hospital because now he can start his new life.

'He is looking forward to doing the normal little things in life again, the things we do every day without having any problems - things like walking down the street without people looking at him five times.

'He's looking forward to sitting down with his family and having a family meal.

'He's very comfortable with his face, he feels very good. He used to love hunting and fishing and he wants to hunt and fish again.'

Photographs of the patient before his surgery revealed the extent of his facial injuries from the accident. He was left with no nose and no upper lip and his lower jaw was shattered.

The operation, led by Dr Joan Pere Barret, involved doctors from 14 departments including plastic suroutgery and burns, infectious diseases, psychiatry and clinical psychology and microbiology and parasitology.

Just a few days after the operation, Oscar was able to admire his new face in the mirror. He was able to begin shaving shortly afterwards.

Movement is also returning. He can now move his eyebrows, upper eyelids, jaw and external cheek muscles.

Previous face transplants carried in France, Spain, the U.S. and China were only partial.

Isabelle Dinoire was the first to receive one in France, in 2005, after being savaged by her dog.

Doctors transplanted a triangle of facial tissue around her nose and the mouth including muscles, arteries and veins.

But in Oscar's case the entire face was transplanted, including the entire facial tissues, muscles and the eyelids.

He had suffered a number of setbacks including two acute rejections in the four months since surgery.

However, his doctors described Oscar's recovery as 'excellent'.

He is having speech therapy, physiotherapy and facial therapy to help him recover full movement in his facial muscles, which will take another 12 to 18 months.

He began a soft food diet a month ago and started speaking two months ago.

Like all transplant patients he faces the prospect of taking powerful drugs for the rest of his life to help prevent infection.

Dr Barret said: 'It was a very brave thing to face everyone today because he is a quiet man who wants to live a normal life.

'He has been very isolated and wants to do what all young men want to do. He is single, he wants to go out with his friends and have fun.'









Source:- Fox News

Please give me a job

A jobless man who stood for hours in the pouring rain with a 'Please give me a job' sign was stunned when a passing businessman offered him one on the spot.

After spending the last two years out of work, 23-year-old Mark Wheeldon was fed up of living on benefits and concocted a plan to get him noticed on the job market.

He decided to stand on one of the busiest roundabouts in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffs, and advertise himself to passing motorists during the morning rush hour.

So nervous was he about the job hunt mission that he lay awake all night before rising at 5am in the morning to create a sign from a piece of cardboard.

But he was flabbergasted when, after nearly three hours spent standing in a torrential downpour, timber factory director Vince Champion came to his rescue.

He spotted Mark on his way to work and returned to collect him, giving him an interview straight away and offering him the job just 20 minutes later.

After a shower, Mark found himself making frames at the Smart Timber Frame Company by midday.

Mark, of Newcastle-under-Lyme, had failed to find work after spending the past two years caring for a former partner who suffers from rheumatoid arthritis.

The former mechanic, painter and decorator and butcher's assistant said: 'I was planning to stay until the evening rush hour and then keep coming back until someone gave me a job.

'I had been everywhere looking for work but I'd had no luck, so I thought I may as well as just go down to Basford Bank on the A500 and stand by the traffic.

'I had been out of work for so long, looking after my partner and doing all the little things for her like brushing her hair.

'All that time I had been looking for a job, but because I had been out of work for so long I had no current experience or references.

'One day, I decided to make a fresh start and get my life back on track. I stayed awake all night just thinking about what I was going to do.

'When I got up the next morning, I wasn't put off by the rain in the slightest. When you are desperate for work you will do anything to find a job.

'The whole time I was stood there I was just hoping that someone, anyone, would stop and ask for my number. It was all I could think about. I was freezing and soaked to the skin.

'When Vince pulled up I was over the moon that someone had finally stopped to speak to me.

'And when he offered me the job, I couldn't believe I had found one so quickly.

'Now that I'm here, it's a job I really enjoy. I get on with everyone and I get to work with my hands. My bosses are great and I'm really looking forward to building a career here.'

Vince explained how he had been driving to fetch bacon sandwiches for colleagues when he spotted Mark standing on the roundabout.

He said: 'I was on my way to work at about 8am and I saw Mark standing in the pouring rain, holding a placard which read: "Please give me a job".

'I thought if someone could stand there in that deluge - and it was absolutely torrential rain - then they must be determined to find a job. My attitude was the he would be an asset to any company.

'There are not many unemployed people who would have done that and I thought that anyone who wanted a job that much deserved a chance.

'When I brought him back to the office was so soaked through that a little puddle formed under his chair while I interviewed him.

'I spoke to him for about 20 minutes and then offered him the job on the spot. I was really impressed by his determination and he has the right kind of attitude that we want here.

'Now he's getting on brilliantly and fitting right in with all the other employees. I wish more people could show the same kind of determination to find work as he did.'

A Toy Story Fan Name Buzz Lightyear

Steve Bolton wanted to prove he was the world's biggest Toy Story fan… so he officially changed his name to Buzz Lightyear.

The mechanic from West Bromwich says he loved the first two movies so much, he wanted to do something special for the launch of Toy Story 3.

But rather than simply getting in line to be one of the first to see the Pixar movie, 26-year-old Steve decided to officially change his name.

He contacted UK deed poll service and paid to have his name altered so it can now say "Buzz Lightyear" on his credit cards, bills and passport.

Yes, that means he now gets to tell staff at airports he's going "to infinity and beyond." We're sure that won't get old anytime soon.

Speaking of his name change Buzz said: "I'm a massive fan of Toy Story, they are my favourite films and I've always thought Buzz would be the ultimate action hero - if he wasn't a toy.

"But its a great name, a great film and my girlfriend is going to love telling people she's going out with Buzz Lightyear.

"Her and my mates have told me before that I've got a cheesy grin and chin like Buzz, so perhaps it's a fitting name change.

"I hope kids will ask me for my autograph. It's going to feel great signing my name Buzz Lightyear and introducing myself to people at parties."

A spokesperson for the UK Deed Poll Service said: "Steve seems to be a dedicated fan and we were more than happy to help him out with his name change.

"It is an unusual one and we hope it brings him a lot of fun and luck in life."






Source :- Newslite Via Acid Cow

Matt Moniz 50 States Peaks in 50 Days

If all goes according to plan, late today 12-year-old Matt Moniz will reach the summit of Mauna Kea, Hawaii’s highest point at 13,796 feet.

While this is quite a feat in and of itself, when Matt reaches the top of that inactive volcano, he will have topped off another amazing feat: having climbed the 50 highest peaks in all 50 states, in fewer than 50 days.

"It's been an amazing experience," Matt told CBS News from his Boulder, Colo. home before his flight to Hawaii. "It’s a big risk, but we take it seriously and make sure all of our gear is right."

Backed by corporate sponsors and running more than a week ahead of schedule, Matt, his father and a support team are on-track to break the speed record for climbing all 50 peaks. The clock started ticking on June 3, when they reached the top of Mt. McKinley in Alaska.

Since then, they have criss-crossed the country to the tallest point in every state. They made it to the top of six of the smaller peaks in one day. Other peaks have taken several days to climb.

"It kind of evens out," Matt said.

He is climbing to raise money for his best friend, 10-year-old Ian Hess, who suffers from pulmonary arterial hypertension, a disease that restricts blood flow to the lungs, resulting in breathlessness and fatigue. He compared the disease to feeling like you have high-altitude sickness all the time.

"We’re trying to raise awareness so either we can get a cure or we can raise money for all the bills," Matt said.

So far, his efforts have brought in $25,000 for Ian’s medical care.

"He’s pretty psyched about it," Matt said.

This isn’t the first time Matt has climbed for this cause. Last summer, he climbed all 14 of Colorado’s 14,000-foot peaks. His adventure was featured on "The Early Show".

"I couldn’t be more happy," said Matt’s father, Mike Moniz. "I’m sure it will fill the rest of our life with great stories and memories."

After the climb, Matt and his family plan a week of rest on Hawaii’s beaches. His next adventure: seventh grade.

Source :- CBS News

Russian Gadget Hackwrench Religion

Russian Cult Worships Female Cartoon Character Gadget Hackwrench Sometimes really weird cults born, like this one the Sect of Gadget Hackwrench one.

“She is the divine being, the most untouched and perfect sibling of the great God on Earth”, say one of the participants. “Why I love her? It’s stupid question, how I can’t love the Godess?”. “She is strict, cute, optimistic and her level of technical knowledge is unachievable for a mortal being.” those are just a few of the testimonies of the sect followers.

And if you didn’t recognize the hero - that’s a Disney mouse cartoon. a group of Russian fans of Gadget Hackwrench have created a new religion, with the above mentioned cartoon character as the idol. They pray to posters of her, gather to talk about how incredibly great she is, compose songs about her, and spread stickers of Miss Hackwrench















































Source :- English Russia

Man Designs Toilet Car

A family in Colorado will never again have to worry about toilet breaks on the road after designing a twin-bowl toilet car.

It took four years and three prototypes for Dave Hersch to perfect his design, inspired by a small 'Hot Wheels' toy car.

It features a 6.5hp motor capable of driving two adults at 30mph and holds six toilet rolls and a magazine rack.

Dave told Rex: "The first version was literally a toilet on top of a go cart. It didn't last past the first turn. The toilet slid off and broke into a million pieces on the road. Porcelain is very fragile I have learned.

"The second version was still a single toilet but had some features like a bolted down toilet, brakes, and a toilet seat. That version didn't make it past the first ride by my friend who flipped it and broke the toilet again."

"Finally the current model was built to be foolproof. Adults take photos and kids jump up and down with excitement. It's a great way to meet all the people in my neighbourhood without all the typical grown-up formalities."

Man sings song to sharks

When someone told Andy Brandy Casagrande IV he could go swimming with sharks, he thought they said singing.

National Geographic producer and underwater cinematographer Andy - a self-confessed shark enthusiast - puts himself in the role of a great white shark in the folky, tongue in cheek music video.

The National Geographic film-maker was so concerned about the fate of the Great White Shark, he wrote a song about it and decided to ‘sing’ it among the sharks, without a cage, off the Mexico coast.

Now the video of Andy serenading the sharks with The Great White Shark Song has been screened at film festivals around the world and gained a cult following.

Lizzie Velasquez

Lizzie Velasquez She eats every 15 minutes to stay alive‎ weighs just four stone and has almost zero per cent body fat but she'll be the first to tell you she's not anorexic.

University student, 21, eats every 15mins but weighs the same as an eight-year-old from Austin, Texas, actually eats every 15 minutes just to stay healthy.

The Texas State University student has a condition that is so rare, there are only three known cases in the world. It prevents her from gaining weight even though she eats up to 60 small meals a day.

She consumes between 5,000 and 8,000 calories a day but her weight has never tipped over 4.3 stone.

'I weigh myself regularly and if I gain even one pound I get really excited,' 5ft 2ins Lizzie said.

'I eat small portions of crisps, sweets, chocolate, pizza, chicken, cake, doughnuts, ice cream, noodles and pop tarts all day long, so I get pretty upset when people accuse me of being anorexic.'

Lizzie was born four weeks prematurely weighing just 2lb 10oz. Doctors found there was minimal amniotic fluid protecting her in the womb.

'They told us they had no idea how she could have survived,' said Lizzie's mother Rita, 45, a church secretary.

'We had to buy dolls' clothes from the toy store because baby clothes were too big.'

Doctors could not make a diagnosis so they prepared Lizzie's parents for the worst.

'They told us she would never be able to walk, talk or have a normal life,' said Rita who has two other children with Lizzie's father Lupe, 44. Lizzie's siblings Chris, 12, and Marina, 15, are both of average height and weight.

Despite the grim prognosis Lizzie's brain, bones and internal organs developed normally but she was always very small.

At the age of two she was still only 15lbs - the same as the average five-month-old baby.

'I was normal but really, really tiny,' said Lizzie, who underwent numerous tests at the St David's Medical Centre in Austin with inconclusive results.

Doctors speculated Lizzie might have the genetic disorder De Barsy syndrome but soon ruled it out as it became clear she did not have learning difficulties.

'They kept on trying to figure out what was wrong with her but we treated her like any other child,' said Rita.

Born with two brown eyes, when Lizzie was four the right began to cloud and change hue. Doctors then discovered she had gone blind in that eye.

'They still don't know why it happened but now I have one blue and one brown eye.'

Lizzie was taken to see genetic experts but they still could not diagnose her.
At the age of six, Lizzie's doctors began encouraging her to eat plenty of fat, carbohydrates and sugar.

'They told me to 'just go for it' with anything I wanted at any time,' said Lizzie, who carries food in her handbag and keeps a big stash under her bed in her flat.

In high school Lizzie made friends and gradually came to accept her appearance.

'I started to think: 'Well this is me, like it or lump it,'' said Lizzie.

'I was always the one at the top of the pyramid during cheerleading,' she added.

Lizzie has a weak immune system and has been in hospital many times after catching numerous illnesses.

At 16 Lizzie almost died when her appendix ruptured and at 19 she had a massive blood transfusion because her blood cells were not multiplying properly and she was critically anaemic.

'I was so weak I couldn't get out of bed,' she said.

'My doctors had no idea how I was still alive. I only had half the normal amount of blood in my body but after my transfusion I felt like a new person, it was great.'

Lizzie's case has fascinated doctors all over the world and she is part of a genetic study run by Professor Abhimanyu Garg, M.D. at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas.

Professor Garg and his team now believe Lizzie may have a form of Neonatal Progeroid Syndrome (NPS) which causes accelerated ageing, fat loss from the face and body, and tissue degeneration. People with PRS often have triangular and prematurely aged faces with a pointy nose.

He said: 'I am aware of a small number of people that have similar conditions to Lizzie but each case is slightly different.

'We cannot predict what will happen to Lizzie in the future as the medical community are yet to document older people with NPS.

'However Lizzie is lucky to have healthy teeth, organs and bones so the outlook is good. We will continue to study her case and learn from her.'

Lizzie doesn't take medication but she relies on vitamin supplements and iron to stay healthy. It is thought she should be able to conceive naturally without passing the condition to her children.

She added: 'I do all the things my friends do, shopping, movies and parties.

'But I hate it when people stare, or make comments. When I meet new people I have to say: "Hi, I'm Lizzie and I have this rare syndrome, I am NOT anorexic."'

Currently there is no cure but her doctors predict if Lizzie keeps eating she has a bright future ahead of her.

She insisted: 'I'm happy the way I am and this syndrome has made me the person I am'

Lizzie hopes to become a motivational speaker when she graduates.

'I want to make a positive difference in people's lives and show them that you can get through most hardships if you are strong, positive and have a sense of humour,' she said.

Lizzie has also co-authored a book about her incredible experiences. It is due to be released in late September and will be available on Amazon.Watch Pictures Small Video documentary movies in youtube