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

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Man balances chair on his chin for 1 hour, 20 minutes

A serial Guinness World Record-breaker balanced a chair on his chin for 1 hour and 20 minutes to recapture one of his previously-held titles.

David Rush, who recently recaptured a similar record by balancing a ladder on his chin for 19 minutes and 11 seconds, originally earned the title for the longest duration balancing a chair on the chin at 1 hour and 8 minutes.

He lost the record to another balance expert who managed a time of 1 hour and 19 minutes.

"Over the past months, I have been training specifically to rebuild strength and endurance in my neck," Rush wrote online. "It is, quite literally, a pain in the neck. This record places constant load on the jaw, neck, and upper spine, and there is no moment of relief once the chair is in position. Every second requires active control."

Rush said he felt like he physically could have continued past the record-breaking mark, but the pain from holding position led to his ending his December 2024 attempt at 1 hour, 20 minutes and 30 seconds. Guinness World Records has now confirmed it was enough to recapture the title.

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Dallas 12-year-old achieves nuclear fusion after four years of effort

A 12-year-old Dallas student's four-year-long science project may have resulted in his becoming the youngest person to ever achieve nuclear fusion.

Aiden McMillan, a Dallas Independent School District seventh-grader, said he started work on his ambitious project when he was just 8 years old, and spent the first two years studying nuclear physics concepts before building his first prototypes.

He said it took some work to ensure his mother was comfortable with his tinkering.

"There were some alarm bells with my mom, yes, she was like, ' Whoa, whoa, whoa, take a step back, tell me exactly what could go wrong, and how it could go wrong and make sure it doesn't go wrong,'" McMillan told NBC DFW.

The project concluded with McMillan achieving nuclear fusion.

"We got neutrons, yeah," McMillan said. "Kind of tearing up about it cause it was like, hard to describe. It was like the end of a long, long journey."

McMillan is now applying to Guinness World Records to be recognized as the youngest person to achieve nuclear fusion. The record is currently held by Jackson Oswalt, a Tennessee native who successfully achieved nuclear fusion just hours before his 13th birthday in 2018.

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Serial underwear thief at New Zealand school identified as cat

A serial thief who has been stealing items including towels, shoes and underwear from a New Zealand school for over a year was finally caught on camera and identified as a literal cat burglar.

Marama Stewart, principal of the Apanui School in Whakatāne, said items had been mysteriously disappearing from the school for over a year, particularly during the season while the pool was in use.

"Initially we noticed single shoes and goggles and undies and towels left along the footpath into the school," Stewart told Stuff.co.nz.

The school posted a video to Facebook when the thief was finally caught on a security camera. The footage shows a black cat dragging a large towel across the playground.

"When a pair of togs [swimming trunks] and a towel went missing, my office lady checked the cameras for our wee offender and he was witnessed, and a large stash was found at the back of the PE shed," Stewart said.

She said the school's groundskeeper made contact with the cat's owner, who confirmed their pet was a notorious thief.

"Can we say his owner wishes that he remains anonymous? We're calling him Slinky Malinki," Stewart said.

She said the thefts are a learning opportunity.

"I think we're going to have a lot of fun writing stories about our own school's Slinky Malinki," she said. "And it might help our kids to remember to put their things in their bag!"

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Art student stuffs world's largest sock monkey in Britain

A student at Scotland's Glasgow School of Art used nearly 200 feet of corduroy fabric to create the world's largest sock monkey sculpture.

Emilia Evans-Munton, 22, said she started work on her massive plushie as a passion project for her degree show, and only later realized it might be the largest in the world.

"My dad pointed out it was probably the largest in the world and encouraged me to contact Guinness World Records," Evans-Munton told Guinness World Records.

The final sculpture, which was stuffed with 40 straw bales, measures 49 feet and 6 inches long.

"A large part of my sculpture practice is focused on scale, and making my adult audience feel small again in comparison to such a big object to encourage the (perhaps repressed) childlike fascination that exists in us all," she said.

The sock monkey also has massive buttons for eyes.

"I repurposed recycled scaffolding board/wood into the giant buttons for the eyes, which were 1.5 meters [5 feet] wide each," the artist said.

The sock monkey was introduced to the public at Field Maneuvers Festival in Norfolk, England. Visitors were encouraged to interact with the massive toy.

"The more bashed and deflated a soft toy is, the more it has been loved. The interaction from the audience allows the rediscovery of their love for their once-favorite toys, all the while showering the sock monkey with a newfound love," Evans-Munton said.

She said the sock monkey's stuffing has now been removed and it is in storage in her grandmother's attic.

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Illinois family's 33-year-old cockatiel is the oldest in the world

An Illinois family's 33-year-old pet cockatiel, named Sonny, was officially named the oldest bird of his species by Guinness World Records.

Sonny officially earned the record for oldest cockatiel living at the age of 32 years and 292 days old in October 2025, and he celebrated his 33rd birthday on January 10.

The bird's owner, Northbrook resident Janet Reicher, said Sonny came to live with her family when he was just a few weeks old in 1993. She said he quickly showed an aptitude for music and learned to whistle songs from Bridge over the River Kwai and the theme from the Andy Griffith Show.

"We used to do duets while I showered, and he sat on the vanity," Reicher told Guinness World Records. "He used to have a large vocabulary, but now it is just a few words with lots of baby babble."

She credited Sonny's good health and long life to a healthy diet and plenty of social engagement.

"He is a great companion to me," Reicher said. "He socializes with anyone that pays attention to him. My husband used to travel a lot, and Sonny kept me company and always made me laugh."

She said Sonny is paper trained, so he only has to go into his cage to eat seed, drink water and take naps.

"He usually spends waking hours outside of his cage, sitting on various size perches. In the evenings, he often sits on my knee while watching TV," she said.

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