StrangeSights

• Insects already form part of the diet of an estimated two billion people but they may well be on even more menus in the future as experts look to alternative means of feeding people. The Food and Agriculture Organisation says that insects (and there are about a million known species) could provide a “readily available source of nutritious and protein-rich food”. To whet your appetite, the most consumed insects at present include beetles, caterpillars, bees, wasps and ants, and grasshoppers, locusts and crickets. But there are many issues that need to be dealt with first - including legal hurdles against eating insects in many countries. For more, see www.fao.org.

• A Canadian astronaut has created the first music video recorded in space, singing the David Bowie song, Space Oddity, while free floating inside the International Space Station. Chris Hadfield made the video, which has gone viral, a few days before he returned to earth after his six month stint in space. The astronaut did alter some of Bowie’s lyrics to better suit his circumstances.

• A Zimbabwean man surprised mourners when he reportedly came back to life. One of those at his funeral noticed one of the man’s legs twitching and called an ambulance. The man, who had suffered from long illness before his funeral, has no recollection of the event.

• A four-year-old boy has reportedly been elected mayor of a town in Minnesota in the US. Dorset’s mayor is apparently chosen through the process of drawing a name out of a hat and this year it was Mayor Robert ‘Bobbie’ Tufts turn. The good news is that Mayor Tufts apparently does like talking to the townspeople.

• A German travel agency is reportedly selling tickets for an comet fly-past. Bonn-based Eclipse Travel has joined with charter agency Air Partner and airline Air Berlin to offer 88 people the chance to be among those on a two hour flight aimed at giving them a relatively close-up view of comet Pan-STARRS as it passes within 100 million miles of Earth on 16th March. The plane will zig-zag at a height of 11,000 metres where the atmosphere is clearer and cleaner (and hopefully above the clouds).

• Could your grass do with a coat of paint? Pictures have reportedly emerged from the town of Chengdu in China’s south-west showing local government workers spray-painting some grass green with a chemical solution called the ‘Top Green Turf Greening Agent’. The dye - which is apparently non-toxic - has also been used in a range of other localities including golf courses.

• If you see a Yeti while in the Himalayas, you may capture or film them but do not shoot them (unless you need to in self-defence). Such was the advice issued by the US Embassy in Nepal in 1959. A memo released by the National Archives in the US late last year detailed a series of three regulations for would-be Yeti hunters to abide by. They include the amount needed to be paid to the Government of Nepal for a permit to hunt the Yeti (5000 rupees); that the Yeti should not be shot at; and, that any news and reports which may “throw light” on the existence of the creature should be surrendered to the Nepalese Government.

• It takes the idea of life on the road to whole new level. When authorities announced plans to build a four lane highway running through where a five storey apartment building stands, the families - with the law on their side - refused to leave. So they simply built the freeway around it - leaving the multi-storey property on a small island in its midst. One of the residents at the property, located in eastern China, was reported as saying that the government didn’t offer enough compensation for them to move. To see the house, which is known as a Nail House (and for link to the full story), follow this link to our Pinterest page…

• Want a multi-tasking baby? Then the ‘Baby Mop’ might be just what you’ve been looking for. Essentially a romper suit (or ‘onesie’) with mop fringes attached, the baby mop enables your baby to clean the floor while crawling about it. The idea reportedly came from a Japanese spoof ad, according to the company that produces it - US website BetterThanPants - and since it’s release, sales have gone through the roof. They say not only will the baby mop teach your baby a strong work ethic and give them a good workout, it will also save you “lots of money on house cleaning costs”.

• It’s the low cost hotel that takes pride in a bad reputation. A low priced hostel in Amsterdam - the Hans Brinker Budget Hotel -says it has been “proudly disappointing travellers for forty years”. Its website boasts that levels of comfort in the hotel are “comparable to a minimum-security prison”, noting that the “Hans Brinker also offers some plumbing and an intermittently open canteen serving a wide range of dishes based on runny eggs”. Other features at the hotel include “a basement bar with limited light and no fresh air”, “an elevator that almost never breaks down between floors” and “the Hans Brinker Budget Hotel, Amsterdam Luxury Ambassadorial Suite (featuring the Hans Brinker’s one and only bath-tub).” The self-critical marketing campaign has reportedly proved something of a hit with its rather brave clientele.

• Think you look like Superman? Or perhaps it’s Batman that you reckon you resemble? Whichever you choose, it’s now possible to create an action figure of your favorite superhero complete with your face. Online firm Firebox say they just require you to send through two photos of your face - one from the front and one from the side. They will then use these to create a custom made head bearing your face which can be put on top of your favorite action figure character - everyone from the Joker to Catwoman. The figures could make a great conversation piece - after all they all come with a supplied plinth upon which to stand, and, where they will “remind you (and others), who you really are”. You can see a picture on Sight’s Pinterest page here…

• Can’t decide between a pizza and a cheeseburger? Why not have both. Pizza Hut’s Middle Eastern stores have reportedly released a new pizza which features 12 mini cheeseburgers placed on top. There are apparently no plans to introduce the Crown Crust Pizza to the US as yet. You can see a picture of the pizza on Sight’s Pinterest page here…

• It’s all a bit exciting - well, for these towns anyway. The Scottish town of Dull recently reportedly announced that it was seeking to become a twin town to the US town of Boring. The twinning, which apparently becomes official on 5th May, was the brainchild of a Scot who cycled through the town of Boring - which was named after its founding family.

• Nothing like having a back-up plan. Authorities in Japan are taking the Scouts’ motto of ‘Be Prepared’ to the next level - they’ve reportedly proposed building an entire back-up city for Tokyo should it be hit by an earthquake or natural disaster again. To be called the IRTBBC (Integrated Resort, Tourism, Business and Backup City), it’s been proposed that the city will be built on a 1,236 acre site 300 kilometres west of Tokyo and will provide accommodation for 50,000 residents and 200,000 workers who will commute from nearby Osaka.

• The “world scariest bridge” has reportedly opened on the top of Tianmen Mountain in China. The bridge, a narrow, 200 foot long glass-bottomed walkway, is suspended from the side of a cliff 1,220 metres above sea level. Opened last month, it’s creation comes in the wake of a similar glass-bottomed walkway known as the Skywalk, which projects over the Grand Canyon (and the Eureka Skydeck, of course!).

• It’s an unusual crime prevention measure. A priest in Lodz, Poland, has been blessing manhole covers after town authorities asked him to do so to stop them being stolen by scrap metal thieves. All 4,000 of the town’s manhole covers were blessed at a church service.

• Scientists have reportedly said they are 95 per cent sure that the mythical snow-monster, the yeti, is living in Siberia in Russia. A recent two day expedition in the region found “irrefutable evidence” of the existence of the yeti, it was claimed by the Kemerovo government which oversees the region. This included footprints and hairs. The conference had attracted scientists and enthusiasts from as far afield as Canada and the US, Sweden and Estonia. The yeti, also known as the abominable snowman and sasquatch, are also said to exist in the Himalayas and in North America.

• Don’t worry about trying to get the ball back. News has swept around the world of a golf course in Brisbane which has a rather unusual hazard - half a dozen bull sharks in the course’s 21 hectare lake. The shark’s, then juveniles, reportedly moved into the lake at the Carbrook Golf Course when the nearby Logan River flooded in the 1990s. The golfers are apparently unfazed - the club now hosts a monthly competition called the Shark Lake Challenge.

• Getting the silent treatment for your local traffic director? It could be because, like in the Venezuelan capital of Caracas, they’ve reportedly employed 120 professional mimes to take on the job. Wearing clown outfits, the mimes were charged with reprimanding bad drivers in a bid to encourage politeness on the road. And they’re apparently not alone with mimes being put to good use in controlling traffic and pedestrians in Brazil and Colombia.

• A self-styled superhero in the US city of Seattle has reportedly had his nose broken while trying to break up a fight. Phoenix Jones, part of a group of at least nine called the Rain City Superhero Movement, wears a superhero outfit including a mask and body armour when he patrols the streets of the city. Others in the group include Gemini, Catastrophe and Thunder 88. Jones, who goes by the moniker ‘Guardian of Seattle’, was apparently injured when he saw the makings of a brawl and intervened. The group is apparently part of a growing movement in the US called the Real Life Super Heroes (or RLSH).

• When the local council said it was considering closing down the Stony Stratford Library near Milton Keynes in the UK, locals took umbrage and launched a somewhat unusual protest. They reportedly borrowed out all 16,000 of the library’s books. The Friends of Stony Stratford Library have also launched a Facebook page in their protest to keep it open.

• A cat has been ordered to sit on a jury in the US. Tabby Sal’s owners reportedly told Boston authorities that a mistake had been made when the cat was summoned for jury service but were apparently told it still had to attend. The cat had been listed as household resident on a recent census.