Kangaroo tries to enter phone repair store
A kangaroo’s attempt to stomp into an Australian cellphone repair store failed after it bumped into a glass door. Daisy’s Phone Repairs last Monday shared surveillance video of the kangaroo hopping up to the business before running into the clear barrier. “Had an unusual customer skip by today for a phone repair,” the store said.
The bewildered kangaroo quickly hopped back from the store front before looking around and hopping along to another store. “Got talking to her and she said her joey’s had dropped the family iPad and they needed it for school tomorrow,” Daisy’s Phone Repairs said. “She’d been to some of our competitors and was hopping mad at the high prices, so she thought she’d jump on our latest iPad deal!”
Wildlife Rescue Fraser Coast volunteer Natalie Richardson told the Fraser Coast Chronicle she received calls reporting the kangaroo was “scared and stressed” as it was spotted outside of other local businesses.
Volunteers hoped to tranquilise the injured kangaroo and take it in for treatment, but were unable to track it down before nightfall.
(UPI)
$2m worth of gold down Swiss sewers each year
Scientists reported that millions of dollars worth of gold and silver float through Switzerland’s sewer systems every year. A study by environmental chemists Eawag discovered 1.5 million francs worth of gold and silver each are lost through sludge from wastewater treatment plants in addition to rare earth metals such as gadolinium and the heavy metal niobium.
“Trace elements are increasingly widely used in the high-tech and medical sectors — for example, the transition metal tantalum and the semimetal germanium in electronic components, niobium and titanium in alloys and coatings, or gadolinium as a contrast medium and in luminous paints,” the study said. “While the ultimate fate of the various elements has been little studied to date, a large proportion is known to enter wastewater.”
Eawag said that distribution of the trace amounts of precious metals varies greatly throughout the country but were elevated in Jura, likely due to the presence of the watchmaking industry. Scientists determined it’s not worthwhile to recover the trace amounts of the elements outside of exceptional cases. “The recovery of metals from wastewater or sludge is scarcely worthwhile at present, either financially or in terms of the amounts which could be extracted,” the study said. The concentrations of elements pose no risk to the environment as most cases lay below harmful limits.
(UPI)
Minnesota gardener grows world’s largest carrot
A gardener in Minnesota set a massive record by growing the world’s largest carrot in his second attempt. Christopher Qualley earned a spot in the Guinness World Record Book with a massive 22.44-pound carrot grown at his farm in Otsego.
Qualley intentionally set out to grow the world’s largest carrot and said “soil, seed, weather and a little luck” were the keys to his success. “I am relatively new to this hobby and my strategy was to imitate what all of the experienced growers across the world were doing,” he said. “The number one thing that every single top grower says is that your soil is the most important thing, so that is what I focused on. Without the proper soil, your giants will never reach their potential.”
Qualley edged out the previous largest carrot, which weighed 20.1 pounds, and has now turned his sights toward growing a record-breaking pumpkin or tomato. “I feel I have what it takes right now to potentially grow a world record tomato,” he said. “This year, I weighed a 7.07 lb tomato, which is about 1.5 lbs less than the world record. There have only been about 10 to 15 tomatoes over 7 lbs grown in the world, so I know I am in the ball park for that record.”
The gardener said he opted to replant the massive carrot instead of eating it, but his mother-in-law did manage to grab a bite. “Her claim to fame is that she is the only person in the world to actually eat a piece of the world record carrot,” he said.
(UPI)
Russian president gets another puppy as gift
Another summit, another dog. Russian President Vladimir Putin recently added a puppy to the litter of canine companions he’s received as gifts. This one is a Central Asian Shepherd bestowed by the President of the ex-Soviet nation of Turkmenistan.
Turkmenistan President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov presented Putin with the puppy as a birthday gift. Putin, an avid dog lover, turned 65 years old on October 7.
Putin cuddled Verny, which is Russian for “loyal,” and kissed the pup on the head during a meeting in the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi.
Putin previously received a Bulgarian shepherd named Buffy from Bulgaria’s premier in 2010 and an Akita named Yume from a Japanese official in 2012.
Konnie, a black labrador of Putin’s, who was famous for terrifying German Chancellor Angela Merkel, died a few years ago. Putin received Konnie as a gift from a Russian official in 1999.
The Russian leader has also been given horses and even a tiger.
(Yahoo)