Man sets new record - on an elephant's back

An American man set out to break another world record by doing the most Squat Thrusts recorded in history. And he did it while on the back of an elephant in Thailand. Ashrita Furman is actually no stranger to world records. By his own count, he currently holds 54 records and has held 144 in total, records like the fastest mile balancing a cue pool on his finger. "To me the real beauty of this record is that I did it on the back of a live elephant," he told the Associated Press. "I've had this dream of doing a record on the back of an elephant for many, many years but I've had no way of really accomplishing it until I came to Thailand."
(Click here to read the full article written by the AP's Jerry Harmer and to see photos of this stunt.)

Memorial Fund for "Earl" Character Helps Make-a-Wish Foundation

Once upon a time, a television character posted on a real-life Internet forum. Then that fictional character died. Now there is a real-life memorial fund set up in his name. On the hit NBC television series My Name is Earl, a character named Josh appeared on the Television Without Pity show forums in 2005, posting somewhat infrequently under the handle "whojackie". On January 18, 2007, an episode of the TV program airs and the Josh character dies in a murhpy bed accident. (Whoops. Uh, spoiler!) The next day, a post from the character Joy, using the "whojackie" account, announces to the "Wide Wide World of Web" that Josh has passed away. That's when someone from Glarkware contacted the Earl series creator, where he pitched treating Whojackie as a 'real' person and creating a WhoJackie Memorial Charity Drive in his honor. The creator said yes, and he chose the charity (Make a Wish) that people could donate to.

So now, you can go and donate money to a fund created for a fictional character, who posted on a website, and whose website now host the fund drive, only the money isn't going to anybody related to the show, but to Make a Wish. It's complicated, contrived, but very clever and a great way to get people involved with a charity.

To read all about this saga, click here for a in-depth explanation from the man who runs Glark Industries.

Woman dies next to her own grave

Truth can sometimes really be stranger than fiction... A woman in Amsterdam was visiting her husband's grave recently when she suffered a heart attack and died - right next to her own grave. Following the death of her husband, she had meticulously planned her own funeral and even carried a copy of her will around in her purse.
(Click here to read the full story)

Zoo to educate people on poop

The Miami Metrozoo has opened a new exhibit called "The Scoop on Poop," based on author/photographer Wayne Lynch's book about the way animals and humans use their waste. The exhibit includes information on tribes that use poop to cover their houses, people using it as fuel or fertilizer, and how long it would take an African elephant to excrete the equivalent of your body weight. The zoo spokesman thinks that this exhibit is a "cool message" and that everyone should be more educated on this subject.
(Click here to get the straight poop in the rest of the article.)

Standing room only: Fan uses stilts to watch game

American baseball's most prestigious championship series, the World Series, began this weekend. For one fan who wanted to see the action, he decided that paying the high ticket prices just wasn't for him. Instead, he donned 4-foot stilts and watched the game through the steel gates from the parking lot. 29-year-old Brian Harpster said that he could see the pitching, the outfield and any balls hit in play, though he could not see the batters. In case you were wondering, Harpster stuck with nonalcoholic beer to keep his balance. Which, considering the 7-2 score, we kind of hope we was a Cardinal's fan. If not, I'll bet he was ruing the decision to wear stilts.
(Click here to read the full story)

Brian Harpster on stilts. (Photo taken by AP photographer Jerry S. Mendoza)

Building changes address from '666' to '600'

Chicago is now a little less scary for many folks... For the folks who worked for Wheaton Park District, everyone always had an easy time remembering the address to their administration building: 666 S. Main Street. But several months ago, the building's address was quietly changed from 666 to 600. The Chicago Tribune is reporting that many vendors, suppliers and people were uncomfortable mailing to the address, because of the number 666. (Click to read the full story)

Happy 7515th Birthday, Earth!

I found this out at On Deadline: According to the Byzantine Empire, the world was created on September 1st, 5509 BC. Making today the birthday of our planet! How they came to this conclusion I don't think I'll ever understand, but it's an incredible holiday to think about. Just when was the planet created? Historians, genealogist and theologians have been scouring science and religion for centuries, trying to narrow the age down to the exact date and year. And yet, most societies cannot bring themselves to agree with each other on just how old earth is.

According to Wikipedia, various dates of creation include:

• August 11, or, August 13, 3114 BC, according to the Mayans.
• September 25, or, March 29, 3760 BC, according to Judaism.
• October 23, 4004 BC, according to many Young Earth Creationists.
• September 1, 5509, BC, according to the Byzantine Empire.
• September 1, 5509, BC, according to the Eastern Orthodox Church calender.

Of course, if you subscribe to the Big Bang theory, then the earth is approximately 13.7 ± 0.2 billion years old.

Is the Ice Maiden in danger of melting?

Peru's famous "Ice Maiden," the frozen mummy of an Inca girl who was sacrificed to the gods 500 years ago may be at right for melting due to the country's humidity. Dampness was detected inside the mummy's glass-enclosed refrigeration compartment by an expert from the Smithsonian Institute. (Interestingly enough, the expert noticed the condensation while on vacation in the country.)

According to the expert - who was not named - the mummy could deteriorate beyond repair within five years if the problem is not corrected. A group of specialists will be inspecting the mummy next week to see if there was already any damage.

The "Ice Maiden," or, Momia Juanita, is a 15th century Inca mummy of a 12-to-14-year-old girl who experts believe died between 1440 and 1450. She was discovered in southern Peru in 1995 and has toured the United States and Japan, in addition to being displayed in Peru. Momia Juanita is one of the most well-preserved mummies found to-date. (Wikipedia this!)

Overseas company to market odor-eating walls

In something that could very well impact your life, Japanese lavatory equipment maker Toto Ltd. is ready to launch the industry's first odor-decomposing wall material on August 10. This special material can absorb the "toilet odor" for photo-catalytic decomposition, according to Todo. The company said that tests confirmed that the material can reduce residual ammonia to one-sixteenth of the original amount. The wall cost about 210,000 yen, or, about $1,825 dollars, and is available in white, beige or pink. Why spend money on a high-tech air freshener when your wall can do all the work for you? (Read the full article)

This post is good for 36 hours

On television, news only seems to have relevance from anywhere between ten minutes to a few hours. After that, people already know the story and what to know more about something else. But what about the internet? According to the academic paper, "The Dynamics of Information Access on the Web," the answer is surprisingly long: 36 hours. Actually, it takes 36 hours for half of the total readership of an article to have read it.

The study also concluded that Internet users do not read news articles evenly throughout the day. Instead, they read in "bursts." So basically, some will see a story right away, while others won't see it for a few hours. (read the full article)

We want to use that story to segway into a note about what we cover and what we don't cover. Since many of you view this site at different times, and depending on when I work I update at different times, I try not to go for the big stories. The war between Israel and Lebanon? Such news stories have extremely time-dated material in them. We don't like time-dated material so much here, because it just doesn't work for this one particular site. You may only view this site once a week, but we still want to give you information you can use and find valuable, and not think "oh, that was so last Tuesday!".

It's not to say that we already knew what the study reported, but, we were already "programming" along those same basic principles. We've long given up on being a news "source." Rather, we are a news "supplement," adding to what you have already seen or read on the news throughout the day. And we like to do that with flashy graphics. Alot.

Accused witch exonerated, 300 years later

Virginia's governor Timothy Kaine recently exonerated Grace Sherwood, a woman who was tried by water and accused of using her witching powers to cause a woman to miscarry. "I am pleased to officially restore the good name of Grace Sherwood," Kaine wrote in a letter that was read aloud by Virginia Beach Mayor Meyera Oberndorf before a local re-enactment of the ducking. "With 300 years of hindsight, we all certainly can agree that trial by water is an injustice." Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of this story is that the legal system sometimes really does move slowly. Three hundred years? Incredible. (Read the full article)

Celebrating Independance Day

Happy Independance Day from the Twin Institutes! For coverage on how one small Michigan city celebrated the holiday, stay tuned to the Epsilon Institute for exclusive photographs you won't find anywhere else. Have a safe and happy holiday everybody!

Amsterdam to open "Chocolate Factory" theme park

Amsterdam's tourism industry just got a little bit sweeter. Recently, city officials announced that the city will build a theme park dedicated to chocolate and inspired by Roald Dahl's children's book "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory." The main part of the "sweets park" will be located underground, in a disused railway tunnel which was handed over by the city of Amsterdam in a ceremony on Thursday.

When it opens in two to three years, it will feature a glass elevator and a chocolate fountain, similar to the book. It will also produce small amounts of chocolate. The project will cost an estimated 20 million euros. Amsterdam has a rich part in chocolate history, laying claim to the birthplace of the hydraulic cocoa press, which introduced eatable chocolate into the market, in addition to baking and drinkable varieties. (Read the full article)