Interesting & funny news from around the world, Интересные и забавные новости со всего мира

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309 people don banana hats to break world record at Missouri museum

A Missouri museum gathered 309 people in banana hats to break an "a-peel-ing" Guinness World Record.

The City Museum in St. Louis took on the title for the most people wearing banana hats at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday.

An official Guinness World Records adjudicator was on site and confirmed the museum took the record with 309 participants.

"We gathered a bunch of friends to set the a-peel-ing Guinness World Records title for most people wearing banana hats with 309 participants! We couldn't have split this record without the help of Explore St. Louis, Slalom St. Louis, Rasta Imposta Costumes and, of course, YOU," the museum said on social media.

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Philadelphia Zoo announces hatching of its first Galapagos tortoise babies

The Philadelphia Zoo announced the hatching of four critically endangered Western Santa Cruz Galapagos tortoises, the first of their species to hatch at the facility in its history.

The zoo said the first egg hatched Feb. 27 and the others emerged from their eggs in the ensuing weeks. Zookeepers said they are still monitoring multiple eggs that could still hatch in the coming weeks.

The eggs were laid by Mommy, a tortoise estimated to be about 100 years old who is considered a key asset for the Association of Zoos and Aquariums Species Survival Plan. The father of the babies, Abrazzo, is also believed to be about 100 years old.

The hatchlings are scheduled to make their public debut April 23, which is also the 93rd anniversary of the day Mommy first arrived at the zoo.

"This is a significant milestone in the history of Philadelphia Zoo, and we couldn't be more excited to share this news with our city, region and the world," Jo-Elle Mogerman, the zoo's president and CEO, said in a news release. "Mommy arrived at the Zoo in 1932, meaning anyone that has visited the zoo for the last 92 years has likely seen her. Philadelphia Zoo's vision is that those hatchlings will be a part of a thriving population of Galapagos tortoises on our healthy planet 100 years from now."

Abrazzo came to the zoo in 2020, and Mommy has since laid four clutches of eggs, but the first three did not produce any viable hatchlings.

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Hawk captured after terrorizing English village for weeks

A Harris' hawk's reign of terror was brought to an end after being captured by a resident of the English village where it was blamed for an estimated 50 dive-bombing attacks on locals.

The non-native bird of prey has been blamed for dozens of attacks on the heads of unsuspecting residents, drawing blood in some cases. The Royal Mail said service in the area had been interrupted due to the risk to carriers.

The Harris' hawk, native to North and South America, was finally captured by appropriately-named resident Steve Harris, 40.

"It's a relief for us and the whole village," Harris, who caught the hawk in a cage in his back yard, told the BBC.

"It had been chasing me around the village when I went for a run, and when I got back it flew down to the top of my shed," he said. "The falconer had left me a cage. I was using it to protect myself and I got brave enough when the bird was about a foot away, and I threw it over the top of it, trapping it. I screamed out for the falconer to come and help, and he came and tamed it."

Harris said his children had been barred from playing outside their home for several days due to the presence of the aggressive raptor.

"We're about to pick the kids up from school. They're going to be delighted they can go into the garden," Harris told The Guardian.

Alan Greenhalgh, the falconer who helped Harris with the capture, said the bird is a young male and may have been acting aggressive due to being "hormonal."

Greenhalgh said the bird is "as fat as a barrel" after being fed by villagers in their attempts to capture it.

Another falconer, who gave his name as Wayne, is now taking care of the hawk. He said dried-out leather tags on the avian's feet indicate it has likely been on the loose for over a year.

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Cruise ship crew breaks world record with 1,391 Lego boats

A company celebrated the launch of its newest cruise ship by assembling 1,391 Lego ships and lining them up on the deck.

MSC Cruises took on the record for the longest line of Lego ships on the deck of its new flagship, the MSC World America, during the voyage from its shipyard in Saint-Nazaire, France, to its new home port in Miami, Fla.

The 1,391 ships were assembled and arranged by a team of about 1,500 crew members, ending with a line of Lego boats stretching 292 feet.

A Guinness World Records adjudicator was on deck to witness the attempt and certify the record.

A naming ceremony for the MSC World America is scheduled for Wednesday, and the ship will begin its inaugural Caribbean season Saturday.

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Kentucky restaurant intentionally filled with clean water to keep flood at bay

The owners of a Kentucky restaurant in the path of the Ohio river floods shared their unusual strategy for keeping the dirty water out: intentionally flooding the building with clean water.

Andrew Masterson, co-owner of Captain's Quarters Riverside Grille in Prospect, posted a live video to Facebook showing how he and his team are keeping the silty floodwater out of the building.

Masterson and the restaurant's employees used sinks, faucets and a well water pump to fill the restaurant with about 6 feet of clean freshwater to keep the filthy flood at bay.

"We disconnected kitchen equipment and electrical panels beforehand," Masterson explained in the video.

Masterson said that if the strategy continues to be successful, it could save the restaurant from expensive and time-consuming clean-up work.

He said he remains concerned that the floodwaters could enter the restaurant through windows, doors or ductwork if the water levels outside reach higher than 6 feet.

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NASA offers $3M in competition to recycle human poop in space

NASA is offering $3 million to anyone who proposes technology to solve an unusual problem: recycling feces and other human waste in space.

The space agency's LunaRecycle Challenge calls on members of the public to propose a technological means of recycling astronauts' feces, urine and vomit on the moon and during long-haul space flights.

There are currently 96 bags of human waste that were left behind on the moon by astronauts from the Apollo missions, and the aim of the LunaRecycle Challenge is to prevent adding to the stinky space stash.

The chosen technology will be put to use on future space missions, including hypothetical long-term outposts on the moon.

"NASA is committed to sustainable space exploration. As we prepare for future human space missions, there will be a need to consider how various waste streams, including solid waste, can be minimized — as well as how waste can be stored, processed, and recycled in a space environment so that little or no waste will need to be returned to earth," NASA said on its website.

NASA is currently reviewing the first round of proposals to decide which ones will move on to the next phase of the competition. The team who comes out on top at the end of the competition will be awarded $3 million.

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British teenager hand-draws 1,300-page flip-book

A British teenager broke a Guinness World Record by hand-drawing a flip-book that went on for 1,300 pages.

Max Budgen, 17, of Petersfield, Hampshire, told Guinness World Records he drew his flip-book, titled Thunder Strikes, over the course of several days.

"The record attempt itself took place over a number of days. I'd sit down on my desk, at school, on trains and I'd draw," he said.

The finished flip-book earned him the title for the most pages in a hand-drawn flip-book.

"Some of the toughest moments that I encountered whilst attempting this record, I think is the fact that flip books usually are meant to be short, snappy and interesting narratives," he said.

"By the time I was on page 500 or so, I was getting rather bored and running out of ideas. But, nevertheless, I reminded myself that world records aren't meant to be easy. So I persevered and carried on."

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Weirdest finds inside unclaimed luggage include 'Goonies' script, glass eye

Unclaimed Baggage revealed its annual "Found Report," detailing the most unique and expensive items found inside lost luggage that went unclaimed.

The retailer, which takes possession of unclaimed bags after a 90-day search for owners and redistributes the items for sale, charity or recycling, said some of the most bizarre items handlers have come across in the past year include a freeze-dried chicken foot and a script from the 1985 film The Goonies.

Other unusual items included a toilet seat, a glass eye, an uncut sheet of $2 bills, an Ice Spice Chia Pet, a replica suit of medieval armor, a 1944 letter signed by Eleanor Roosevelt, a jar of whiskey containing a preserved rattlesnake, a cuckoo clock, a silicone pregnancy belly, a cheery-shaped toilet brush, an antique magician's top hat and an antique mustache curler.

Some of the most expensive finds include a $39,000 diamond ring, a $20,000 Rolex watch, a $5,000 pair of embroidered Levi's jeans and a $9,100 Louis Vuitton handbag.

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Alaska woman's nearly 3-inch mouth gape breaks world record

An Alaska woman had her massive mouth measured by a dentist and broke a Guinness World Record with her 2.98-inch gape.

Ketchikan resident Marie Pearl Zellmer Robinson said she always knew she had a large mouth, but hadn't considered it might be a world record until she saw a video of the previous record-holder, Samantha Ramsdell, whose mouth gape was measured at 2.56 inches in 2021.

"I just watched the videos a few times. I'm like, 'Huh, that's funny. I could fit that kind of stuff in my mouth too! Hey, I wonder if I can beat her,'" Robinson told Guinness World Records.

Robinson's dentist measured her mouth gape at 2.98 inches, earning her the title for the largest mouth gape (female).

"I've always kind of known I had a big mouth," she told the Ketchikan Daily News. "I talk a lot, and apparently I do have a physically big mouth, but we never really did anything about it. It was always just kind of a joke that I could fit two, you know, three and a half Jenga blocks in my mouth, type of concept, when you're kids."

Robinson said she doesn't show her mouth off as much now that she's an adult.

"When I do, it kind of creeps people out," she said. "That's a creepy jaw!"

She said earning the title was a sort of redemption for her, after she missed out on joining an attempt for the world's largest Wellington boot race in 2013 because she couldn't get the day off work.

"Now I get to join the rest of them and have a Guinness World Records title with a lot of other people in town," she said.

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Deer wanders into YMCA in Kentucky

Police in Kentucky responded to the local YMCA to eject an unusual "trespasser" — a deer.

The Louisville Metro Police Department said on social media that officers responded to the Chestnut Street YMCA on a report of "a trespasser refusing to leave."

"When officers arrived on scene, we were met with a subject literally staring at us with a 'deer in the headlights' look," the post said. "To our surprise, the YMCA doesn't offer memberships to deer. Who knew?"

The post included a video of the deer being escorted back outdoors.

Police said they have seen an increase in reports of deer wandering into urban areas, likely due to recent floods.

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