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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Kentucky man wins $291,010 lottery prize thanks to a mistake

An Ohio man said a mistake he made while buying his usual Rolling Cash 5 lottery ticket led to his winning a $291,000 jackpot.

The Avon Lake man told Ohio Lottery officials he meant to buy tickets bearing his usual numbers for seven consecutive days, but accidentally purchased one ticket with his chosen numbers and six auto pick tickets — all for the same drawing.

One of his auto pick tickets, bearing the numbers 1-14-20-35-37, scored the $291,000 Rolling Cash 5 Jackpot in the Feb. 10 drawing. He also matched three numbers on another line of the ticket, earning an additional $10.

"Sometimes a mistake is quite favorable," the player said.

The winner said his prize money will allow him to quit driving for a ride-share service to spent more time with his wife. He said it will also help him to pay off his house, cover his wife's medical expenses and take care of other debts.

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Researchers develop 'Smart Underwear' to track a wearer's farts

University of Maryland researchers designed "Smart Underwear" to track and measure flatulence — and they are seeking volunteers to wear them.

Brantley Hall, an assistant professor in the Department of Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics, led a team of scientists in creating the small device that snaps into a wearer's underwear and uses electrochemical sensors to track intestinal gas.

Hall said the device specifically records releases of hydrogen.

"Think of it like a continuous glucose monitor, but for intestinal gas," Hall said in a news release.

Santiago Botasini, an assistant research scientist at the school, led a study that found healthy adults produced flatus — passed gas — an average of 32 times a day, with individual variations reaching as much as 59 or as low as 4. Their findings were reported in the journal Biosensors and Bioelectronics: X.

Hall said doctors previously thought the average to be around 14, a number he attributed to the difficulties involved in measuring and self-reporting without the use of Smart Underwear.

"Objective measurement gives us an opportunity to increase scientific rigor in an area that's been difficult to study," Hall said.

The researchers are now working on a Human Flatus Atlas to objectively measure gas releases across hundreds of patients using Smart Underwear. The project will develop a baseline for normal adult flatulence patterns.

"We don't actually know what normal flatus production looks like," Hall said. "Without that baseline, it's hard to know when someone's gas production is truly excessive."

The team is seeking participants who fall into three categories developed from Botasini's team's research: Zen Digesters, those who consume high fiber diets yet pass gas rarely; Hydrogen Hyperproducers — "simply put, people who fart a lot;" and Normal People, those who fall between the other two categories.

"We've learned a tremendous amount about which microbes live in the gut, but less about what they're actually doing at any given moment," Hall said. "The Human Flatus Atlas will establish objective baselines for gut microbial fermentation, which is essential groundwork for evaluating how dietary, probiotic or prebiotic interventions change microbiome activity."

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Florida aquarium's resident manatee is the oldest on record

A resident of a Florida aquarium confirmed to be at least 71 years old has been certified as the oldest manatee ever by Guinness World Records.

The record-keeping organization said Romeo, a resident at the Gulfarium on Okaloosa Island, was found in the wild in 1957 and was estimated to be 2-5 years old, making him at least 71 years old in 2026 — and likely a few years older.

Romeo spent most of his life at the Miami Seaquarium, moved to Zoo Tampa in 2023 and arrived at the Gulfarium in 2025.

"We are so honored to be caring for Romeo. He has touched so many people and been such an inspiration for ocean conservation for so many years. To be able to carry on that legacy for his species with him here at the Gulfarium is such a pleasure," Patrick Berry, president of the Gulfarium, told Guinness World Records.

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Logan Paul's rare Pokémon card auctioned for record-breaking $16M

A rare Pokémon card famously owned by online celebrity-turned WWE wrestler Logan Paul was auctioned for a record-breaking $16,492,000.

The Pikachu Illustrator card was one of only 39 produced as prizes for a 1998 contest and is the only one to be graded a 10 by Professional Sports Authenticator.

The card became the world's most expensive Pokémon card when Paul purchased it for $5,275,000 in 2021. He famously wore the card around his neck when he made his debut at WWE's WrestleMania in 2022.

Paul put the card up on the block via online auction house Goldin, and it sold to AJ Scaramucci for $16,492,000, making it the most expensive Pokémon card sold at auction and the most expensive trading card sold at auction.

A Guinness World Records adjudicator was present at the close of the auction to confirm the records.

The Pikachu Illustrator card was designed by Atsuko Nishida, the graphic designer who created Pikachu for the first line of Pokémon video games.

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Loose dog crosses the finish line at Olympic skiing event

Skiers competing in the qualifying round of the women's cross-country team sprint at the Winter Olympics in Italy crossed the finish line with an unregistered competitor: an escaped dog.

The dog, a Czech wolfhound, was recorded by NBC Sports' cameras as it followed Croatian skier Tena Hadzic across the finish line, eliciting cheers from the spectators.

"The biggest cheer of the day and it's not for any of the skiers so far," an announcer observes in the footage shared to the official NBC Olympics account on X.

The canine turned out to be a Czech wolfhound named Nazgul, after the ringwraiths from The Lord of the Rings.

Nazgul's owner told NPR the 2-year-old dog is "stubborn, but very sweet."

"He was crying this morning more than normal because he was seeing us leaving - and I think he just wanted to follow us," the owner said. "He always looks for people."

Nazgul was safely returned home after making his photo finish.

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