StrangeSights

• It was an unusual idea as far as Valentine’s Day’s gifts go. The Bronx Zoo in New York offered lovers the chance to name a Madagascar hissing cockroach after their beloved for a small donation and more than 5,700 took up the offer for $10, raising more $57,000 to save wildlife around the world. “We are thankful to everyone who believed that naming a roach after a loved one was more romantic than chocolate or roses,” said zoo spokesperson John Cavelli. The zoo, officially known as the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Bronx Zoo, has more than 58,000 of the roaches living in its Madagascar! exhibit. It says that while the naming opportunity is now closed for this year, they’ll be looking to do it again next year.

• Spectacular natural rock terraces in New Zealand - referred to as the eighth wonder of the world - have reportedly been rediscovered at the bottom of a lake on the North Island. The Pink Terraces had been one of the island nation’s key tourist attractions until they disappeared when Mount Tarawera erupted in 1886. Scientists now believe they have found them 60 metres under Lake Rotomahana after sending in underwater vehicles to capture images. The terraces are the largest silica terraces in the world.

• Building a backyard bird house can be a good project to undertake with the kids. A Canadian, however, has taken the craft to the next level, creating a series of bird hotels with one reportedly boasting as many as 103 rooms and a swimming pool. Toronto resident John Looser came up with the idea of building the “extreme birdhouses” after a car accident led to an early retirement and now creates them for a living, selling his hand-made birdhouses (prices range well into the thousands of dollars) and the plans to make them.

• A US designer has come up with a new way to keep your face warm - a woolly hat that comes complete with an attached woolly beard to cover the chin and cheeks. The hat and beard combo, available from www.beardhead.com come in a range of styles: from a ‘Viking’ complete with horns on the hat to the long grey beard of the ‘Grandpa’ through to the ‘Lumberjack’ and the pink ‘Bunny’.

• That noisy kid on the plane bothering you? Ban them, ban them all! A survey for the Business Travel & Meetings Show happening in London next week revealed that a massive 74 per cent of business travellers, when asked what annoys them first about first class travel, answered children. Eighteen per cent said what annoyed them most was people who had been upgraded for free when they’d paid the full fare, 15 per cent wanted more privacy from the plebs in economy and 12 per cent thought they received only an economy class service even when they’d paid for first class. The news has sparked calls for adults only cabins in planes.

• UK artist Aaron Savage has recreated famous album covers in Lego. Covered artists include Bruce Springsteen, the Bee Gees, David Bowie and Blondie. Follow this link to see if you can guess which albums the covers represent…