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Today's Paper | December 23, 2024

Published 24 Jun, 2023 07:41am

The weekly weird

Motorised trash can reaches 55 mph

A British engineer unofficially broke a world record when he took his motorised trash can up to speeds of 55 mph.

Michael Wallhead bought the wheeled trash canfrom Facebook marketplace for about $25, and then made nearly $900 worth of modifications, including a Suzuki GP125 two-stroke engine, magnesium go-kart wheels, a rear axle, a five-gear box, a chassis, a steering damper and an extra wheel at the front.

Wallhead took his wheelie bin to Elvington airfield in North Yorkshire, England, where he was clocked at an average speed of 54.9 mph. The current Guinness World Record forfastest wheelie binstands at 45 mph and was set by Andy Jennings in May 2021.

Evidence from his attempt has been submitted to Guinness World Records and he expects to hear back in a few weeks.

Mount Washington records its snowiest June

A New Hampshire mountain known for its extreme weather conditions has recorded its snowiest June in 91 years of record-keeping.

Snowfall atop Mount Washington recently brought the total amount to 8.4 inches (21.3 centimetres) for the month of June, according to the Mount Washington Observatory. But with a return to warmer weather, nearly all of it melted after a few days. Statistically speaking, the last snowfall of the season typically occurs in early to mid-June most years.

The observatory is at the summit of the Northeast’s highest mountain, at 6,288 feet.

Transformers fan collects 5,150 pieces of memorabilia

AJ Ard, who first captured the Guinness World Record for the largest collection of Transformers memorabilia in 2017 with 1,313 items, revealed to the record-keeping organisation that his collection has now grown to 5,150 pieces.

Ard’s new record coincides with the release of the latest film in the franchise, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts.

Ard’s love of the Autobots and their Decepticon rivals began when the original animated series premiered in 1984. The collection is now housed in three separate rooms, which each represent an era of the franchise. Ard, an artist, has also started designing his own Transformers, which he hopes will eventually become a part of the franchise’s official canon of characters.

‘Dr Deep’ resurfaces from underwater after 100 days

Dr Joseph Dituri, a uni­versity professor, set a new record for the longest time living underwater without depressurisation during his 100 days long stay at Jules’ Undersea Lodge, in a Key Largo lagoon.

He submerged on March 1 and resurfaced from a 100-square-foot habitat located 22 feet underwater on the morning of June 9.

“It was never about the record,” Dituri said. “It was about extending human tolerance for the underwater world and for an isolated, confined, extreme environment.”

Dituri, who also goes by the moniker “Dr Deep Sea,” holds a doctorate in biomedical engineering and is a retired US Naval officer.

Published in Dawn, Young World, June 24th, 2023

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