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

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Bear wanders into California teacher's classroom

A teacher at a California school was preparing for the upcoming start of the school year when her classroom was visited by an intellectually curious black bear.

Elaine Salmon, a teacher at Peak to Peak Mountain Charter School in Pine Mountain Club, said she left her classroom to make some copies in the office and returned to find a black bear occupying the room.

Salmon closed the bear inside the room, trapping her cellphone in the classroom.

"I went back to the office to call my husband, Ian," Salmon told KERO-TV. "My first thought was, is it gonna do any damage? I have a brand new floor and I already have my decorations up."

Salmon's husband arrived and held the door open, allowing the bear to escape.

The teacher said the only damage was to an earthquake kit.

"We usually have an earthquake kit where they have snacks just in case of an emergency and he went through that," Salmon said.

School officials said they are now planning to replace the door handles with more bear-resistant opening mechanisms.

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Man hooks up 444 video game consoles to a single TV

A dedicated gamer from Saudi Arabia earned a Guinness World Record by hooking up 444 video game consoles to a single TV.

Ibrahim Al-Nasser of Riyadh told Guinness World Records he uses an Excel spreadsheet to keep track of which switch boxes and converters he needs to turn on to play each console.

He said the set-up has 444 consoles, more than 30 RCA switchers, more than 12 HDMI switchers and various other modes of connection.

"After a while, I noticed that I had a big stack of gaming consoles that I couldn't play," Al-Nasser said. "The TV ports are limited, and if I wanted to play, I could either unplug the existing console or I could keep everything and add more switchers and more converters."

"By adding more switchers, the idea came to my mind to connect all of the gaming consoles I have to the TV then contact Guinness World Records because this project is unique."

He said the set-up requires careful cable management.

"A very important thing, if you notice here, the cables are almost hidden," he said. "I used all the tools available in the market in order to organize the cables. Also to have a set up that's not only to play, it's like a museum and that's why this set up and this record took so much time from me."

The consoles include a Magnavox Odyssey, an Xbox 360, a Nintendo Switch, a Wii U and even some extremely rare consoles like the Super A'Can.

"For me, the best gaming console of all time, No. 1 always, forever, Sega Genesis," he said.

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Texas woman's tongue is the world's widest at 3.11 inches

A Texas woman was awarded a Guinness World Records title for the surprising contents of her mouth — a 3.11-inch-wide tongue.

Brittany Lacayo told the record-keeping organization she decided to apply for the title after learning about the former record-holder, Emily Schlenker, whose tongue measured 2.89 inches wide.

Lacayo's tongue is exactly as wide as the average length of an adult woman's tongue: 3.11 inches.

Her tongue is actually one in wider than it is long when measured from the epiglottis, the flap of cartilage located behind the tongue.

"It is neat and kind of funny," Lacayo told Guinness World Records.

The male version of the record belongs to American Brian Thompson, whose tongue measures 3.49 inches wide.

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Daredevil skis off 18,753-foot cliff to break Guinness World Record

A British daredevil broke a Guinness World Record by skiing off a 18,753-foot cliff and parachuting to the ground.

Joshua Bregmen, 34, earned the title of the world's highest altitude ski-BASE jump when he completed the stunt on Mera Peak in the Himalayas.

Bregmen said he and his team spent two weeks preparing for the record by scouting the jump spot and clearing debris to ensure a smooth ski.

"The dream was to do several nice S-turns and ski eloquently off the cliff, but in reality, all we had was just a humble rock-filled runway at an exit height of nearly 6,000 meters," he told Guinness World Records. "I did some nice, heavy breathing before the jump through exhaustion and lack of oxygen, but this just added to the exhilaration, especially with Everest in the backdrop."

Bregman's record attempt was aimed at raising money for charity and increasing awareness of human trafficking in Nepal.

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Origins of black ring in the sky over Virginia a mystery

Several Virginia residents captured video when a mysterious black ring was seen floating in the sky over the Williamsburg area.

Multiple witnesses in the Hampton Roads region reported seeing the black ring in the sky shortly after 11 a.m. Tuesday, and multiple people captured photos and videos of the unusual phenomenon.

The ring vanished within a few minutes.

Seemingly similar blacks rings have been spotted in other locations in the past, with fires and explosions being cited as the likely cause.

The James City County Fire Department said it was unaware of any reports of incidents that could have caused the ring at the time of the sightings.

Ricky Mathews, a meteorologist for WAVY-TV, said the cause was likely pyrotechnics or similar incident of concentrated fire causing a smoke ring to rise. Fellow meteorologist Steve Fundaro hypothesized it might have resulted from an industrial process.

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Hurricane Debby leads to discovery of WWII-era message in a bottle

A Florida woman cleaning up debris washed ashore by Hurricane Debby made an unexpected discovery — a message in a bottle dating back to World War II.

Suzanne Flament-Smith, 46, of Tampa, said she was picking up trash on Bayshore Boulevard in Safety Harbor when the bottle caught her eye.

"There was sand in it, but you could clearly see the writing," she told People. "You could see the beautiful penmanship, The letter was almost rolled outside, so you could see the writing. It stood out."

Flament-Smith opened the bottle and discovered the letter was accompanied by sand, a coffee stick, a bullet casing and a miniature cannonball.

"We opened the letter and you could see it was really faded. So some of it you can make out and you could see the letterhead on it," she said.

The letter, dated March 4, 1945, has a letterhead marked "United States Navy, Amphibious Training Base in Little Creek, Virginia."

"Dear Lee, Received your letter yesterday, was glad to hear from you," the letter opens.

Flament-Smith said much of the letter is too faded to read, but the writer, who may have been named Chris or Jim, details starting at "radio school" and promises to write again the next day.

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Museum exhibit explores mysterious 'Kentucky Meat Shower' of 1876

A Kentucky museum's new exhibit is dedicated to one of Bath County's most mysterious historical events: the so-called Kentucky Meat Shower.

The Bath County History Museum exhibit details the March 1876 event, which is said to have occurred when Olympia Springs resident Rebecca Crouch was outside with her grandson and chunks of red meat rained down from the sky.

A preserved piece of what is believed to be the meat that fell from sky was preserved at Transylvania University in Lexington, and the school returned the jar of flesh to Bath County to serve as the centerpiece of the museum exhibit.

DNA tests on the preserved meat have been inconclusive, leading to multiple different theories about the cause of the meaty rain.

"One includes, there's a weather pattern where winds will pick up small fish and frogs, and I think it's called an up-spout, and then they lay them down in another place," Kurt Gohde, a professor at Transylvania University, told WLKY-TV. "For me, the vulture vomit theory is the only one that feels possible."

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Screen-matched 'Indiana Jones' fedora sells for $630,000

The famous fedora sported by Harrison Ford in 1984's Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom fetched the swashbuckling sum of $630,000 at auction.

Memorabilia company Propstore said the heroic hat was among the more than 450 items up for bids in its US Entertainment Memorabilia Live Auction.

"This fedora was made specifically for the second installment of the Indiana Jones series and matches film shots, production stills and behind-the-scenes footage of Ford in the village set on location in Sri Lanka, in the mine cart chase shot at Elstree Studios, and in the river sequence shot in the U.S.," the auction listing states.

The hat was part of the personal collection of Dean Ferrandini, a stunt performer who also wore the hat while doubling for Ford in the film.

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Nationwide shares most unusual pet insurance claims of the year

Insurance company Nationwide announced the finalists for this year's Hambone Award, which celebrates the most unusual pet insurance claims of the year.

The Hambone Award, named in honor of a dog who ate an entire holiday ham while stuck in a refrigerator, aims "to shed light on the everyday and sometimes bizarre incidents that can befall our beloved pets."

This year's finalists include Archie, a New Jersey dog who injured his paws when he broke through a vintage plate glass door while trying to alert his family of the mail carrier's arrival, and Bear, a Pennsylvania corgi who bit into a bottle of nail adhesive and effectively glued his mouth shut.

A New Jersey parrot named Clover also made the list after a growth spurt caused toenails on her feet to hook together.

A Florida dog named Irma suffered from gastrointestinal issues that turned out to have been the result of eating metal wire pieces believed to be from a barbecue brush, and a Virginia dog named Gordon swallowed two large rocks from her owner's garden.

Rounding out the finalists is Lambeau, a North Carolina dog who ate more than 250 jigsaw puzzle pieces.

All of the pets nominated for the award have made full recoveries. Members of the public can vote for the favorite of the finalists through Thursday, with the winner set to be announced Aug. 27.

"Every year, the Hambone Award celebrates the recoveries of our pet nominees, made possible by the dedication of their pet parents and the expertise of their veterinary healthcare teams," Jules Benson, vice president of pet health and chief veterinary officer for Nationwide, said in a news release. "We applaud both and continue to focus on supporting them as they provide pets with the care they need."

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Man builds 54-level house of cards in 8 hours

A card-stacking expert broke a Guinness World Record by creating a 54-level house of cards in just 8 hours.

Bryan Berg, a trained architect who started breaking card stacking records in 1992, needed a ladder to complete his card tower, which he topped with his Honor Magic V3 phone for good measure.

Guinness World Records Adjudicator Thomas Bradford confirmed Berg, who did not use glue or any other form of extra support for his attempt, broke the record for the tallest house of cards in 8 hours.

Berg also holds the overall record for the tallest playing card structure, 25 feet and 9 inches, which has stood since 2007.

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