T. Rex skull to be auctioned

A Tyrannosaurus rex skull is expected to sell for $15 million or more at auction in New York. The 200-pound (91-kilogramme) skull fossil, nicknamed Maximus, is being sold by a person who wants to remain anonymous.

The skull was excavated in 2020 and 2021 in Harding County, South Dakota, where other T. Rex skeletons were found, said Cassandra Hatton, Sotheby’s head of science and popular culture. She called the area “the world capital for T. Rexes.”

The 6 1/2-foot (2-metre) fossil is about 76 million years old and still has most of the external skull bones and numerous teeth. It has two large puncture holes which are evidence of a big fight, and marks on the skull are interesting to study “because they give us an idea about what life was like during the Cretaceous period,” Hatton said.

20-year-old solves 6,931 Rubik’s cubes in 24 hours

George Scholey, a 20-year-old Rubik’s cube enthusiast in Britain broke a Guinness World Record by solving 6,931 of the puzzles in 24 hours.

He live-streamed his attempt from a London hotel room as he took on the record for most rotating puzzle cubes solved in 24 hours. Scholey’s attempt was timed to coincide with Guinness World Records Day, and broke the record of 5,800, which was set by Eric Limeback of Canada in 2013.

Scholey is the reigning British cubing champion and ranked as one of the top-rated speedcubers in the world by the World Cube Association.

“The hardest part of the record was hitting the 12 hours’ mark,” Scholey told Guinness World Records. “I felt pretty drained and everyone else was so excited.” Scholey was disappointed to not make it to 7,000.

Man ties three pairs of shoes in under 10 seconds

A shoe-typing specialist from Spain earned a Guinness World Record when he tied the laces of three pairs of shoes in under 10 seconds.

Guinness World Records said Alvaro Martin Mendieta took on the record for fastest time to tie three pairs of shoelaces in a bow in Vaciamadrid.

Mendieta tied the laces of all six individual shoes with a total time of 9.99 seconds. The success of the attempt was confirmed on Guinness World Records Day.

Mexican city builds 74-foot, 4.87-inch catrina figure

Guinness World Records announced the city of Puerto Vallarta earned the record for the tallest calavera catrina when it unveiled the towering skeleton for Dia de los Muertos, Mexico’s Day of the Dead.

The traditional Dia de los Muertos skeleton figure, measuring 74 feet and 4.87 inches tall, was installed at the Faro del Malecon, a retired lighthouse that serves as one of the city’s most popular landmarks. It took over a year to design and build the catrina, a process spearheaded by local artist Alondra Muca.

The skeleton is composed of metal and fiberglass. The catrina is dressed in a blue garment made by a team of local seamstresses.

The catrina will be disassembled soon and the dress fabric will be donated to local seamstresses and dressmakers.

Published in Dawn, Young World, November 26th, 2022