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

A rarely seen deep sea fish is found in California, and scientists want to know why

A rarely seen deep sea fish resembling a serpent was found floating dead on the ocean surface off the San Diego coast and was brought ashore for study, marine experts said.

The silvery, 12-foot-long (3.6-meter) oarfish was found last weekend by a group of snorkelers and kayakers in La Jolla Cove, north of downtown San Diego, the Scripps Institution of Oceanography said in a statement.

It’s only the 20th time an oarfish is known to have washed up in California since 1901, according to institution fish expert Ben Frable.

Scripps noted that oarfish have a mythical reputation as predictors of natural disasters or earthquakes, although no correlation has been proven.

Oarfish can grow longer than 20 feet (6 meters) and normally live in a deep part of the ocean called the mesopelagic zone, where light cannot reach, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Swimmers brought the La Jolla Cove oarfish to shore atop a paddleboard. It was then transferred to the bed of a pickup truck.

Scientists from NOAA Southwest Fisheries Science Center and Scripps planned a necropsy on Friday to try to determine the cause of death.

Three bison escape from Connecticut farm, four bison return

The owner of a Connecticut farm said three bison that escaped earlier this week came back on their own — with a fourth bison in tow.

Amanda Maresca, whose family owns 3B Ranch in North Branford, said three bison escaped by knocking over a section of wire fence on Sunday, and all three animals returned to the farm on their own Tuesday night.

Maresca said the returning bovines were accompanied by a newborn baby bison.

"What we've been kind of saying was that the bison went on maternity leave," she told CT Insider.

The Guilford Police Department hailed the return of the missing bison in a Facebook post.

"These fluffernators had a few eventful days out, meeting and greeting the locals, learning about the rules of the road (everyone knows buffalo have the right of way at every intersection now), and finally they decided that it was time to take a nap in the comforts of their own pasture," police wrote.

Maresca said she is hoping to involve the public in choosing a name for the bison baby.

Swansea postcard dating back 121 years finally arrives

When staff at a building society in Swansea received their mail on Friday, they were surprised by what they discovered.

In among their usual savings and mortgage-related deliveries was a postcard dating back more than 120 years.

The message on the card reads: "Dear L. I could not, it was not possible to get the pair of these. I am so sorry, but I hope you are enjoying yourself at home. I have got now about 10/- [shillings] as pocket money not including the train fare so I am doing alright. Remember me to Miss Gilbert and John. With love to all from Ewart."

Among those who have contacted the building society is a relative, believed to be the great niece of Miss Lydia Davies, the postcard's intended recipient.

"We haven't got to the bottom of how it ended up back in the circulation of the Royal Mail and how it came to us with a stamp that is the best part of 125 years old, it's got Kind Edward [VII] on it," Mr Darby added.
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"So we're still intrigued by how it's gone back into the system. We guessed it may be someone was doing a house clearance, guessed it was maybe still a house and thought the owner may like it as a keepsake.

"It's come back into our ownership and we want to make sure it gets to the right place, be it the local archive, or if possible Lydia's surviving family."

A black and white image of the artist Edwin Henry Landseer's painting The Challenge, the postcard is believed to have been sent by a man called Ewart, with the postmark of Fishguard, Pembrokeshire.

The postmark is marked AU23 03, which would likely relate to the date 23 August 1903.

A family historian who replied to the building society after it posted the picture on Facebook said they had found a 14-year-old Lydia at 11 Cradock Street in the census of 1901.

World's oldest living man celebrates 112th birthday

The world's oldest living man is celebrating his 112th birthday Monday at the care home where he lives in England.

John Alfred Tinniswood was born Aug. 26, 1912, just over four months after the sinking of the Titanic and six months after Arizona became a U.S. state.

Tinniswood was dubbed the world's oldest living man by Guinness World Records earlier this year and is now celebrating his 112th birthday at his care home in Southport.

"It didn't affect me in any way really, to be honest with you," Tinniswood told Guinness World Records of attaining the title. "Personally, it doesn't mean a thing."

He was similarly nonchalant about turning 112.

"In all honesty, no different. I don't feel that age, I don't get excited over it. That's probably why I've reached it. I just take it in my stride like anything else," he said.

Tinniswood said he doesn't really know the secret to his longevity.

"I can't think of any special secrets I have. I was quite active as a youngster; I did a lot of walking. But to me, I'm no different. No different at all," he said.

Cognac from 1696 confirmed as the oldest in existence

The Guinness World Records team has certified a Cognac produced by Jules Robin and Company in 1696 as the oldest in existence.

The Cognac has been preserved in a remarkable bottle made of cut lead crystal glass, with the name of the producer and the vintage engraved into the mount.

This bottle features an accompanying green stone base with gilded letters, an engraved glass and a stopper.

They are all housed in a glass dome, which has helped the ensemble stay in mint condition over the past 328 years.

In 1696, Louis XIV was at the height of his power in France, having ended the Nine Years’ War by signing the Treaty of Turin.

King William III was still on the throne in England after seeing off an assassination attempt from Jacobite conspirators.

French and English forces were battling it out for supremacy in North America, while troops from the Republic of Venice and the Ottoman Empire were clashing near Andros.

The Cognac industry was maturing by that point. The popular spirit can trace its roots back to the 16th century, when Dutch traders would visit the southwest of France to buy wine and other goods.

Unfortunately, the wine struggled to stay fresh on the long voyage back to the Netherlands, so French producers began double distilling wine, which led to the creation of Cognac.

Distillation techniques had improved by the end of the 17th century, and brandy from the Cognac region was recognised as superior to eaux-de-vie produced elsewhere.

This is the only known bottle from the 1600s still in existence. The producer gave it to Edmond Jaulin, one of the co-founders of the Jules Robin brand, and it eventually found its way into a private collection in France during the 1950s.

The bottle was rediscovered in 2018, and it was acquired by its current owner for an undisclosed sum. It was thought to be the oldest Cognac in existence, and that status has now been confirmed by Guinness World Records.

The Guinness World Record was previously held by a Cognac from Gautier, which was distilled in 1762, so this bottle has broken the record by 66 years.

That bottle fetched almost $150,000 at auction in 2020, by which point it was referred to as ‘the oldest Cognac vintage ever sold at auction’.

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Boy smashes 3,500-year-old jar, museum invites him back

A curious 4-year-old boy accidentally smashed a 3,500-year-old jar while his family was touring a museum in Israel.

The boy, who was not identified, was near the entrance of the Hecht Museum in Haifa Friday when the family came across a crockery that dates back to the Bronze Age, roughly from 2200 and 1500 BC.

The boy's father, identified by only his first name Alex, said his son "pulled the jar slightly" because he was "curious about what was inside." The tug was enough to send the jar falling, crashing into pieces on the museum floor.

"[I was] in shock," Alex told BBC News, saying his first thought was, "It wasn't my child that did it."

The museum said the artifact was not encased in glass or additional protection because of its belief that people should enjoy his historical items without obstructions.

"There are instances where display items are intentionally damaged, and such cases are treated with great severity, including involving the police," the museum said, according to NBC News.

"In this case, however, this was not the situation. The jar was accidentally damaged by a young child visiting the museum."

The museum said the jar, which was designed to carry such goods as olive oil and wine, appeared to have been made in the Canaan region and predated King Solomon and King David.

Despite the damage, the museum said they believed the jar could be restored and returned to be displayed once again. To show there are no hard feelings, the museum invited the child and family back for an organized tour.

Soaked kitten rescued from Ohio car wash

Employees rescued a soaked kitten found lost inside an Ohio car wash, and the feline has now been dubbed Turbo Rinse.

The Fayette Regional Humane Society said on social media that Kierra Mills, team lead at Ultimate Shine Car Wash in Washington Court House, found the kitten in the turbo-blaster area of the wash during a routine inspection.

"I heard a kitten meowing and followed the sound until I found him. He looked terrified, soaking wet and shaking, so I brought him inside our main office and began drying him off as quickly as I could," Mills said.

Workers theorized the orange-and-white tabby may have been tucked up underneath a vehicle that came in for a wash.

"When the car entered the wash, the powerful turbo blasters likely flushed the kitten out from its hiding spot and into the path of the high-pressure water jets," the post said.

The kitten, now dubbed Turbo Rinse, was taken to the Fayette Regional Humane Society, where he was found to be uninjured.

"This could have ended very differently if not for the attentiveness of the car wash staff," said Brad Adams, chief humane agent at the FRHS. "It's a reminder to always check under your vehicle, especially if you have cats or kittens on your property."

Turbo will be made available for adoption once he has been vaccinated, neutered and microchipped.

"We're happy to be a part of the community and grateful for the work of the humane society," Ultimate Shine Car Wash Site Manager Jessica Bellomy said.

Red pepper spill on California highway turns into 'bee-mergency'

A red pepper spill on a California highway turned into a "bee-mergency" situation after a signpost struck by the truck carrying the produce was found to contain a massive hive.

The California Highway Patrol's Santa Maria responded alongside the Santa Maria Fire Department when a semi truck pulling a flatbed trailer overturned on Highway 101 Wednesday morning and spilled its load of red peppers across lanes of traffic.

Crews working to remove the wreckage and clean up the crushed red peppers discovered a sign pole that had been struck and damaged by the truck contained thousands of bees whose hive was now exposed to the elements.

Robert Dias from Swarm Catchers was summoned to the scene and used a special vacuum to safely gather the bees for relocation.

"Talk about a sweet rescue," the CHP wrote on social media. "Thanks for making sure things didn't get too sticky out there, Robert!"

No injuries were reported from the crash or the ensuing bee rescue.

Viking Age stone figurine unearthed in Iceland — but no one can agree on which animal it is

The small, four-legged figurine is carved out of stone, but it's unclear which animal it depicts.

Archaeologists in Iceland have discovered what may be a rare Viking Age toy carved out of stone, but it's anyone's guess as to which animal it depicts.

The figurine, which experts dated to between A.D. 940 and 1000, was found at the Fjörður excavation site in Seyðisfjörður, Iceland. It's a small, four-legged animal with a chipped ear carved from local stone.

Most of the team thought the animal was a pig, Ragnheiður Traustadóttir, director of the Antikva archaeological team that unearthed the toy, told Live Science. This isn't far-fetched, since Vikings used domesticated pigs for meat. Two team members, however, interpreted it as a bear, and while bears are not native to Iceland, at least 600 polar bears (Ursus maritimus) have been reported on the island since human settlement began to today. But when pictures of the figurine were posted on Facebook on Aug. 13, many Facebook users became convinced that it represented an Icelandic dog.

"Children are not so visible in the Viking Age, so this is an amazing find," Traustadóttir said. The director sees a pig and is skeptical about the Icelandic dog interpretation, as she says the face doesn't match the animal. "I owned an Icelandic dog for 14 years," Traustadóttir said. "I'm not sure."

The Fjörður excavation, named after the historical Fjörður farm, began in 2020 ahead of the planned construction of avalanche protection walls in Seyðisfjörður and was supposed to last only two years. But the excavation revealed so much that Traustadóttir is now in her fifth summer there.

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New Seamount and Previously Unknown Species Discovered in High Priority Area for International Marine Protection

VALPARAISO, Chile – A team of oceanographers led by Schmidt Ocean Institute have discovered and mapped a new seamount on the Nazca Ridge in international waters, 900 miles off the coast of Chile. The Nazca Ridge, an underwater mountain chain, along with the adjoining Salas y Gómez Ridge, is one of several global locations under consideration for designation as a high seas marine protected area.

The seamount discovery is one of many from a 28-day expedition to the international waters of the Nazca Ridge led by Schmidt Ocean Institute in partnership with Ocean Census and the Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping/Joint Hydrographic Center at the University of New Hampshire.

The newly discovered underwater mountain is over 1.9 miles (3109 meters) tall and supports a thriving deep-sea ecosystem. In addition to mapping the seamount, the team conducted an exploratory dive with an underwater robot on one of the mountain’s ridges, finding sponge gardens and ancient corals.

The team mapped and explored nine additional unprotected features on this Southeast Pacific underwater mountain range. One of the mountains harbors a pristine coral garden consisting of deep-sea corals that provide shelter for an array of organisms such as rockfish, brittle stars, and king crabs. With an area of approximately 800 square meters, this coral garden is about the size of three tennis courts.

Beyond mapping seamounts to high resolution and conducting ROV surveys, the team captured the first camera footage of a live Promachoteuthis squid, a genus that is so rare that only three species have been described based on only a few collected specimens, several of which are from the late 1800s. Until now, the squid genus has only been characterized from dead samples found in nets. They also documented a Casper octopus, the first time this species has been seen in the Southern Pacific. Two rare Bathyphysa siphonophores, commonly known as flying spaghetti monsters, were also seen during the expedition.