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

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132-year-old message in a bottle uncovered at Scottish lighthouse

An engineer conducting an inspection at a 209-year-old Scottish lighthouse discovered a message in a bottle dating back 132 years.

Ross Russell, a Northern Lighthouse Board mechanical engineer, removed some panels in a cupboard at Corsewall Lighthouse, located at the northern tip of the Rhins of Galloway, and spotted a bottle hidden inside the wall.

Russell and his team used some rope and a broom handle to fish the bottle out of its hiding place and opened it with the current lighthouse keeper, Barry Miller.

The team said the cork was stuck in place and had to be carefully removed using a drill.

"We all swore ourselves to silence if it was a treasure map," Miller joked to The New York Times.

Inside was a note dated Sept. 4, 1892, bearing the names of three engineers who had installed a light at the top of the 100-foot lighthouse as well as the names of three lighthouse keepers.

"It was so exciting, it was like meeting our colleagues from the past. It was actually like them being there," Miller told BBC News Scotland. "It was like touching them. Like them being part of our team instead of just four of us being there, we were all there sharing what they had written because it was tangible and you could see the style of their handwriting."

"You knew what they had done. You knew they had hidden it in such a place it wouldn't be found for a long, long time," he said.

The note reads: "This lantern was erected by James Wells Engineer, John Westwood Millwright, James Brodie Engineer, David Scott Labourer, of the firm of James Milne & Son Engineers, Milton House Works, Edinburgh, during the months from May to September and relighted on Thursday night 15th Sept 1892.

"The following being keepers at the station at this time, John Wilson Principal, John B Henderson 1st assistant, John Lockhart 2nd assistant.

"The lens and machine being supplied by James Dove &Co Engineers Greenside Edinburgh and erected by William Burness, John Harrower, James Dods. Engineers with the above firm."

Russell said he and his team would put the bottle back into its hiding place along with a message of their own.

"It was just a strange coincidence to find the note while working on the equipment described on the note," he said.

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St. Louis Zoo announces birth of baby Asian elephant

Nov. 25 (UPI) — The St. Louis Zoo in Missouri announced the birth of a male baby Asian elephant, the first of his species to be conceived via artificial insemination at the facility.

The zoo said in a news release that 17-year-old Asian elephant Jade gave birth to the baby boy at 4:32 a.m. Saturday.

The baby, named Jet, marks the first successful case of artificial insemination for an Asian elephant at the St. Louis Zoo and is the fourth generation of his family to live at the facility.

"We are thrilled to welcome this calf, which starts the fourth generation of our Asian elephant family at the zoo," said Tim Thier, the zoo's curator of mammals/ungulates and River's Edge, as well as the director of the St. Louis Zoo WildCare Institute Center for Asian Elephant Conservation. "Jade and baby are doing well and bonding."

The mother and new baby are being kept in an off-exhibit area and are expected to go on public display sometime in the spring.

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Circus performer breaks two world records on the aerial hoop

An Australian circus performer put her endurance to the test by breaking two Guinness World Records with an aerial hoop in a single day.

Charlotte "Charli" Meath, 23, took on the records for the most aerial hoop somersaults in one minute (female) and the longest duration shoulder blade hang on aerial hoop at her gym in Geelong, Victoria.

"I saw on my Instagram feed that someone did the aerial hoop somersaults record and it's a skill that I've been doing for about seven or eight years now and they're pretty easy for me so I thought why not change up my training, give myself a bit of a challenge and see how many I could do," Meath told Guinness World Records. "In training I got about 45 and the existing record was 47 so I trained then went for it."

She said the somersaulting record involved the danger of cramps in her hamstrings, as well as one other major obstacle: "I definitely get dizzy, I could barely stand up after it."

Meath managed to take the record with 53 somersaults.

She said the shoulder blade hanging record was all about endurance. She claimed the second record with a time of 63.18 seconds.

"The hardest part about these records was probably training them in my own time before the attempt because I just had myself to motivate me, I didn't have anyone else yelling at me or cheering me on," she said.

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Deer wearing high-visibility vest seen wandering British Columbia town

Nov. 26 (UPI) — Residents of a northern British Columbia community are trying to solve the mystery of a local deer seen wandering around wearing a high-visibility vest.

Andrea Arnold, a McBride resident who works as a reporter for the Rocky Mountain Goat newspaper, snapped photos when she spotted the deer walking around wearing the unusual garment.

"They're everywhere around town, but this one was wearing high-vis. I did a double, triple take like, 'Wait, what am I actually seeing here?'" Arnold told CTV News.

Local resident Joe Rich, who also spotted the deer, said the animal would not have been able to don the vest without help.

"It's zipped right up," he told CBC News.

Rich said someone "had to tackle this thing and put the jacket on it. At first I thought maybe it got tangled up in it, but on second glance, that's not the case."

Sgt. Eamonn McArthur with the B.C. Conservation Officer Service said an investigation has been opened and officers are determining what, if anything, to do about the vest-wearing deer.

"I don't even want to speculate on how that might have happened. They're not predisposed to wearing clothes" he said. "Even if you can get close enough to the wildlife to put it in a sweater or a jacket or boots or what have you, we recommend highly against that."

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'Walking Dead' superfan's collection earns Guinness World Record

A Saudi Arabia man earned a Guinness World Record for his collection of 3,053 different pieces of memorabilia related to comic book and TV franchise The Walking Dead.

Dammam resident Rashid Al-Olayan transformed part of his home into a The Walking Dead museum, featuring toys, books, games, statues and artwork stemming from the comic book series, the AMC series and its spin-offs.

"I believe The Walking Dead franchise is the best out there," Al-Olayan told Guinness World Records. "Who doesn't love a zombie show? It's the perfect show for me."

Al-Olayan's collection began in 2015 with a set of action figures depicting Michonne, played by Danai Gurira, and her pet zombies.

His collection now encompasses 3,053 items and even includes some screen-worn costume pieces from the franchise.

"I believe the characters in the show and comic books are relatable, you will cheer for them and want them to survive, but unfortunately in this show you lose a lot of the main characters," Al-Olayan said. "But that's part of the reason we love the show, because you don't know what's going to happen next."

Several of the pieces in his collection have been autographed by actors from the series, and Al-Olayan said he is hoping to one day get Robert Kirkman, the writer and co-creator of the comic book series, to sign some of his items.

"As long as there are some pieces that I don't have, I'm going to aim to get them all," he said. "My goal is to get every single thing and I won't stop until I achieve it."

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World's largest iced latte served in 11-foot-high cup

Nov. 27 (UPI) — Social media star Nick DiGiovanni teamed up with Dunkin' to break the Guinness World Record for the largest iced latte.

DiGiovanni, a chef and social media influencer with multiple Guinness World Records titles, filled an 11-foot-high Dunkin' cup with ice, milk and espresso to take on the record.

Guinness World Records confirmed the resulting 276-gallon beverage was the world's largest iced latte.

The massive latte was then portioned out into smaller cups and served to more than 300 employees at Dunkin's corporate office in Massachusetts.

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SAUDI ARABIA IS ALL SET TO CONSTRUCT THE WORLD’S LARGEST SPORTS STADIUM

Saudi Arabia has been unveiling quite a few impressive constructions and structures recently, and they don’t seem to be slowing down. They recently announced another project – a massive and impressive stadium that is supposed to be the world’s largest once constructed. It is designed to mimic a seed germinating in the desert. Populous unveiled the plans for the stadium called the King Salman Stadium and Masterplan. It will be located in Riyadh, near a big park area that is under construction at the moment.

The stadium will include a circular building consisting of segmented sections with green walls and green roof spaces. The roof will also include walking paths. It will be able to seat over 92,00o, making it the largest stadium in Saudi Arabia and one of the largest in the world. It will contain the main seating, a royal box, hospitality skyboxes, and lounges.

It will also hold 2,200 VIP seats and 300 “VVIP” seats. It will be integrated with internal screens, climbing walls, gardens, and an aquatics center with an Olympic-sized swimming pool, and a small athletic stadium. The stadium will also include a running track. The structure is heavily inspired by Saudi Arabia’s natural landscapes, and it will resemble seeds emerging from the Earth, thereby showcasing the country’s initiative to encourage sports participation.

“Inspiration for the design is drawn from Saudi Arabia’s mesmerizing natural landscape, with the symbolic concept of each venue within the masterplan representing a seed that germinates, cracks the earth, and emerges as a dynamic yet seemingly natural intervention,” said Populous. “The planting of these ‘seeds’ symbolizes Saudi Arabia’s commitment to nurturing and growing sports participation across the country, from the grassroots to the elite level.”

The stadium is expected to be completed in late 2029, and it will function as the primary headquarters for the national soccer team. The King Salman Stadium and Masterplan is a part of a whole bunch of stadiums that are currently being constructed in Saudi Arabia – they’re being designed by Populous as well.

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Officer crawls 50 yards through pipe to rescue kitten in Florida

Animal welfare officers in Florida came to the rescue of a kitten heard crying from inside a drainage pipe.

Escambia County Animal Welfare said an employee with the Escambia County Sheriff's Office heard the kitten's calls coming from inside a drainage pipe near the Escambia Regional Juvenile Detention Center.

Lead Animal Welfare Officer Sgt. Merideth Roberson responded to the location and initially tried to use videos of a mother cat to lure the feline closer to the opening.

"I played mama cat noises again, then I saw his beady little eyeballs way at the end of the tunnel," Roberson said in a news release.

The kitten declined to come any closer, so Roberson donned a headlamp and climbed into the drain. She said she had to crawl about 50 yards to reach the kitten.

"I was a little scared crawling down in there," she said. "I'm just super thankful that I've had the opportunity to do things like this and that I've received training to do my job the best that I can do."

The kitten, now named Pipes, was taken to a veterinarian for a check-up and will soon be available for adoption at the Escambia County Animal Shelter.

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Kentucky man's lottery numbers hit big after 9 years

Nov. 27 (UPI) — A Kentucky man won a lottery jackpot worth $25,000 a year for life after using the same set of lucky numbers for nine years.

Lexington resident Billy Glenn told Kentucky Lottery officials he played the same set of numbers in the Lucky For Life drawing for nine years and seven months.

Glenn said the numbers represent anniversaries and jersey numbers from his favorite Major League Baseball players.

His numbers finally came up in the Nov. 19 drawing, earning him the second prize sum of $25,000 a year for life.

"I've just been waiting for the dream," Glenn told lottery officials.

He said his prize money will go toward paying off debt and doing some projects around the house.

"This is a nice little reset," Glenn said.

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USFWS equipment found covered in living 'blob of jelly'

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Midwest Fisheries Center shared photos of a telemetry receiver found covered in a living "blob of jelly."

The center said on social media that researchers hauled the receiver up to the surface and were surprised to see it covered in a "blob of jelly" comprised of "thousands of animals."

"Pectinatella magnifica, also known as the Magnificent Bryozoan (what a name!), forms large colonies, sometimes bigger than a basketball," the post said.

An individual creature, called a zooid, is smaller than a sesame seed and resembles "a tiny horseshoe with tentacles," researchers wrote. "These zooids live together in dense, jelly-like masses where they feed and reproduce."

The center conceded the animals "might look strange and maybe even a little gross," but they are a natural part of the underwater ecosystem and pose no danger to people.

"This blob will die and decompose over winter, but its offspring will float away and form new colonies elsewhere next summer," the post said.

Researchers said it was the first time that a telemetry receiver had been found covered in such a colony, although the devices have previously played host to animals including "insects, snails, mussels, crayfish and even the occasional madtom."

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