StrangeSights

• Feeling peckish? Like to try some FSR or perhaps a UGR-E would be more to your liking? Such, according to a report in The Age, are the latest ration offerings developed by the Combat Feeding Directorate for the US military, joining the MREs (Meals Ready to Eat) already on offer. FSRs for those who don’t know, are First Strike Rations (designed for patrols on the move), while UGR-E stands for Unitise Group Ration-Express, described as “kitchens-in-a-box” which can feed up to 18 soldiers.

• Danes are apparently getting cranky with Swedish furniture company Ikea. Reports that a Danish academic has analysed an Ikea catalogue and found that the company names its prestige items - beds, tables and chairs - after Swedish, Finnish or Norwegian places while using Danish place names for less salubrious items like doormats, have sparked claims of “Swedish Imperialism”. For shame.

• It might seem the stuff of an over-the-top Bond movie but Swiss company Rinspeed has created an underwater concept car - the sQuba - which can travel to a depth of 10 metres. The car looks like any other open-top sports car. Occupants wear wet suits and breathe through integrated scuba equipment. Company boss Frank Rinderknecht admits the 1977 Bond movie The Spy Who Loved Me was partly behind the car’s inspiration.