WTF News: It's Weird, True and Funny

Here's your weekly digest of the most Weird, True and Funny News from the across the globe.

We start off with this news report of 'Human Barbie', Valeria Lukyanova being blasted for promoting eating disorders amongst British teenagers.

The 23-year-old Ukrainian model, who promotes 'breatharianism,' a way to live only on light and air, and is an active member on pro-anorexia websites, and is apparently followed a by huge number of young girls who crave for tiny waist figure, the Daily Star reported.

A spokeswoman of the eating disorder charity, B-Eat said that messages on web were unhealthy as well as unrealistic, and youngsters needed to be aware of such dangers.

The warnings come, after an inquiry found that 15-year-old Eleanor Holmes from Liverpool had hanged herself post visiting the "proana" forums.

WTF news...

A hot dog topped with kobe beef, lobster and Louis XIII cognac worth $100 (Rs 6123) has been named the 'world's most expensive hot dog'.

The exclusive Dragon Dog created by Vancouver-based restaurant Dougie Dog, is soaked in 2,000 dollars vintage cognac and topped with fresh lobster and kobe beef seared with olive and truffle oil, and has been officially recognized by Guinness World Records as the world's most pricey hotdog, the New York Daily News reported.

The President of Dougie Dogs, Dougie Luv, said that his intention was to come up with something super tasty but also high-end, at the same time, staying true to the traditional identity of the hot dog.

The dish, which was launched in January 2012, is available when ordered at least 12 hours in advance, and has been tried by 1090 people so far.

WTF news...

An Austrian cyclist has successfully finished the fastest ever cycle of the Himalayas in 38 hours 40 min.

Jacob Zurl started the fastest ever cycle of the Himalayas near Leh, Ladakh on August 4 and cycled in the high altitude area, which is very difficult for mind and body.

The road was quite extreme, as 50 percent of it was asphalt and he even had to freezing streams and slushy areas to complete the feat, and his crew had to measure his oxygen saturation every hour.

Though his arms and body were hurting badly, the 26-year-old extreme cyclist thanked his girlfriend Greta for supporting him in completing the journey that is usually completed by experienced cyclist s in two weeks.

WTF news...

A new survey has revealed that 44 percent women plan their next beach vacation around a wedding or a bachelorette party.

Vikram Malhi, GM, South and Southeast Asia, Expedia said that this fun survey by Expedia reveals exciting findings regarding how the looking beyond the frontiers for a beach vacation, Expedia.co.in reported.

According to the Expedia Flip Flop Survey 2014, while men were ahead in taking a beach vacation last year at 74 per cent (women at 67 per cent), women took the lead in taking international vacations at 60 percent (men at 47per cent).

WTF news...

A 9-year-old boy from Florida fought off 400lb alligator and miraculously survived with minor injuries.

James Barney Jr, who had been riding his bike with friends before deciding to swim in a restricted area of Lake Tohopekaliga in Florida, sustained 30 marks from the nine-foot creature's claws and teeth, the Independent reported.

The kid's father said that the all the marks were non-life-threatening, and he underwent surgery for his wounds to be "cleaned up, stapled and stitched".

Barney said that he didn't initially realize what was happening as the reptile approached him and reached down to go grab it and felt its jaw, its teeth and didn't know what to do, so he immediately reacted and hit a couple of times.

He added that finally he had enough strength left to pry its jaw open a little.

WTF news...

A vending machine in Westfield Chatswood in Sydney, Australia dispenses hot salami or margherita pizzas in less than three minutes.

Restaurateur George Pompei's latest Italian-made import, called Pizza Gio, which costs 40,000 dollars, is 2m by 1.78m brown boxcooks and dispenses 11 inch 12 dollars full-sized pizzas, News.com.au reported.

Pompei said that the quality was the same as his Bondi restaurant Pompei's, where dough was made using stoneground flour, natural yeast, extra virgin olive oil and sea salt and rested for 48 hours, which is then rolled, topped with organic passata and Italian mozzarella, and par-baked in a stone oven before being blast-chilled.

The machine, which takes cash or credit card, then bakes the ordered flavour, can hold 84 pizza s and when it runs low, even sends a message to the restaurateur's phone and he can head over to stock it up.

WTF news...

A new study has come up with a mathematical equation, which claims to predict 'happiness.'

Researchers at UCL have developed an equation, which accurately predicts exactly that overall wealth accumulated during the experiment was not a good predictor of happiness, it was moment-to-moment happiness depended on the recent history of rewards and expectations.

The study of 26 subjects investigated the relationship between happiness and reward, and the neural processes that lead to feelings that are central to the conscious experience, such as happiness.

The research also measured participant's neural activity during the task using functional MRI and from these data, and scientists built a computational model in which self-reported happiness was related to recent rewards and expectations. The model was then tested on 18,420 participants in the game 'What makes me happy?' in a smartphone app, developed at UCL called 'The Great Brain Experiment'.

It was found that the subjects were happy while they played the smartphone game, even though they could win only points and not money.

The team used functional MRI to demonstrate that neural signals during decisions and outcomes in the task in an area of the brain called the striatum can be used to predict changes in moment-to-moment happiness. The striatum has a lot of connections with dopamine neurons, and signals in this brain area are thought to depend at least partially on dopamine. These results raise the possibility that dopamine may play a role in determining happiness.

WTF news...

A Danish diver has broken the record for holding his breath for 22 minutes under water with his head submerged in a pool in London.

Stig Severinsen, who is also known as 'The man, who doesn't breathe' uses the technique of "State of Zen" to control his breathing, the Daily Star reported.

After breaking the record, the 41-year-old said that he actually felt quite ok and the only time he felt troubled was before the dive but he gets into his zone once after diving underwater.

Stig explained that the heart rate drops, blood pressure changes and the mind shifts which helps alter the brainwave activity alters and one could feel in perfect happy balance with their life.

WTF news...

Germany has become the penis enlargement capital of the world, as more men preferred going under the knives to boost their penis length in the country as compared to rest of the world.

According to figures from the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (ISAPS), there were 15,414 penoplasty operations performed worldwide last year, out of which 2,786 operations were in Germany, but not necessarily all were performed on German men, the Mirror reported.

The German Centre for Urology and Phalloplasty Surgery charges 7,600 pounds to enlarge penis size by up to 6cm and girth by 3cm.

The data also revealed Venezuela with 473 operations, followed by Spain with 471 operations, as the next highest to Germany.

WTF news...

A Mexican soap star has posted a picture of a jar apparently containing two of her ribs after she admitted she had them surgically removed to make her thinner.

Singer and actress Ariadna Thalia Sodi Miranda -- known as Thalia -- has kept the rumour of her "rib removal" alive for years. Last week she surfaced the rumour once again by mentioning it during a talk show interview, NewsCorp reports.

Recently, Thalia, who is known for her roles in Filipino soap operas, posted a photo to Instagram with the caption, "To all my loving Filipino fans, here is the proof I love My Famous Ribs, I kept them with me all these years. And the saga continues..."

On August 13, she took to Instagram again, this time to quell the rumour by posting the same photo, this time saying: "Nop.. not mine!"

WTF news...

Brazilian women are being forced to undergo virginity tests when seeking jobs in the education sector, which has sparked a lot of outrage amongst women's rights advocates.

The Public Prosecutor's Office in Sao Paulo is already investigating why women are being asked to either submit to gynecological tests or prove their virginity in order to apply for state jobs, the Huffington Post reported.

It was reported that women are being asked to undergo the tests before applying for a job posting at the state Education Department and women under 25 who are not sexually active have also been asked to provide a doctor's note confirming their virginity.

The gynecological exams, used to screen for certain cancers, are part of a long list of health tests that the Brazilian government may ask of job applicants for coveted state jobs, but the recent requirements for virginity tests has been perceived as invasive.

Advocate Ana Paula de Oliveira Castro said that this kind of tests violates women's rights, as it's a very intimate information that a woman has the right to keep and its absurd to continue with these demands.

Several government spokespeople have also criticized the requirement, with one federal official saying it runs contrary to the constitution, however, the state government has required the tests since at least 2012.

WTF news...

Houston based 'space burial' company will be launching a new service, wherein the owners can send their beloved dead animal companions into space.

The service called Celestis Pets, which would initiate in fall 2014, would be offering four packages to memorialize the pets, ranging from the $1,000 Earth Rise package, which gives a round-trip mission to space in a memorial urn you get to keep upon his return to Earth, to the $12,500-plus Luna and Voyager packages, which sends your pet to the moon, CNet reported.

The company also runs programs that send human remains into space.

WTF news...

Embroiled in a case of copyright violation, Wikipedia has reportedly refused to take down the picture of a monkey which was clicked using the camera of a British wildlife photographer.

However, the picture was not taken by photographer David Slater but by the monkey himself, reported The Huffington Post.

In 2011, Slater spotted a crested black macaque in Indonesia and set up his camera to click a photo. Suddenly, the monkey snatched the camera and started to take selfies. The photos became viral and ended up on Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons, a website owned by the Wikimedia Foundation which provides royalty free photos to internet users around the world.

While Slater asked Wikipedia to take down the photo because the copyright belongs to him, Wikipedia refused to do so by arguing that the photo was technically taken by the monkey and not him.

Accusing Wikipedia of having a communistic view of life, Slater later said that he is aggrieved over the situation.

Meanwhile, Wikipedia has retorted by saying that since, a monkey cannot own the copyright therefore, there's no one who owns the copyright and the image falls into the public domain.

WTF news...

A company in Illinois hassles its employees by allowing them just 6-minute bathroom breaks in a day.

Teamsters Local 743 has filed a complaint against the employers of WaterSaver Faucet Company with the National Labor Relations Board for regulating the number of bathroom breaks, ABC News reported.

According to the Teamsters' statement, WaterSaver Faucet Company had installed equipment to electronically monitor the production staff's washroom use, where employees were needed to key in and out of the bathroom during work hours.

Nick Kreitman, Teamsters Local 743's staff attorney, said that 19 of approximately 90 employees were disciplined last month for "excessive washroom" use, where no one has been suspended or terminated, but warnings were issued.

WaterSaver Faucet claimed the incident as "mischaracterised by union leadership" and said that any person may go to the washroom at any time they need, but it should be noted that union leadership previously had agreed to a policy regarding washroom use, and even suggested language for it.

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