Fire crackers
FIREFIGHTERS were called to a tortilla chip factory in Austin, Texas, after the snacks spontaneously combusted time and time again.
Several pallets of food waste 鈥� presumably from the extra spicy variety 鈥� set fire to themselves at the unnamed factory, following a new disposal method that 鈥渄idn鈥檛 work out so well鈥�, according to a Facebook post from the Austin Fire Department.
Advertisement
鈥淭ortilla chips are big business around these parts,鈥� it said. 鈥淪o imagine how distressed we were to be called to a fire at a tortilla chip factory earlier this week鈥� not once, but twice!鈥�
If ever there was a time to heap generous portions of cool salsa onto hot chips it was this, but the firefighters opted to quench the flames with traditional water hoses instead.
Story reel
, hugely popular story about an ocean voyage that culminates in a spectacle of death in icy water? Not James Cameron鈥檚 Titanic, but the premier cinematic experience of 1848 鈥� now returning to theatres in the US.
鈥溾�滿ajor champions are growing younger,鈥� announces The Daily Telegraph. 鈥淚 knew that golf was good for us,鈥� says Bruce Denness, 鈥渂ut I didn鈥檛 know it was that good鈥濃��
The Grand Panorama of a Whaling Voyage 鈥楻ound the World is North America鈥檚 longest painting, so long that it is kept on five spools rather than in a frame. All great sagas need good source material, and the Panorama has 388 metres of it, in the form of painted cotton cloth. The side-scrolling adventure details the four-year voyage of whaling vessel Kutusoff, which set off from Massachusetts in 1841.
A travelling show, the mural was drawn between two spools as the co-creator (and former Kutusoff crew member) Benjamin Russell narrated the events to an audience. Following restoration work, the epic has now gone on display at the New Bedford Whaling Museum in Massachusetts.
With a running time of 2 hours, the cloth-reel Panorama is snippy compared to today鈥檚 Hollywood epics, but at least the heavyweight format of this buccaneering tale offers excellent protection against piracy.
Night light
THE UK is wilting in an unseasonable summer, and many organisations are keen to help citizens through the shimmering haze to autumn. Lightfoot describes itself as 鈥渁 fresh, vibrant and highly innovative cleantech engineering company鈥�, and has tackled an important question for motorists: 鈥�?鈥�
Paul Trewavas, who spotted the post, notes that part of the answer reads: 鈥淭hough it seems hard to believe in our current heatwave, the British climate rarely offers more than 48 hours of consecutive sunshine, so it鈥檚 unlikely you鈥檒l always have the aircon on鈥�.
鈥淕iven that the whole of the UK lies south of the Arctic circle,鈥� says Paul, 鈥淚 don鈥檛 find it at all hard to believe that we never get 48 hours of consecutive sunshine.鈥�
Off colour
A ZOO in Egypt has been accused of painting black stripes on two donkeys in an attempt to pass them off as zebra.
Student Mahmoud Sarhan snapped a photo of one of the cryptids during a visit to the International Garden municipal park in Cairo. With long ears and what looks like crudely-daubed stripes (complete with paint smudges around the head), the effect was more basic than Batesian mimicry.
The director of the zoo, Mohamed Sultan, denied trying to make an ass of his customers, insisting to local radio Nogoum FM that the zebra were legitimate. With such airbrushing on offer, are we setting unrealistic beauty standards for natural zebra?
The green man
have demanded greater representation from the BBC, protesting that their views should be included in the broadcaster鈥檚 faith-based Thought For The Day slot on Radio 4.
Druid Stuart Jeffrey is campaigning for change, pointing out that although only 0.2 per cent of Britons identify as pagans according to 2011 census data, the slot features speakers from religions such as Buddhism and Judaism, which represent 0.4 and 0.5 per cent of Britons respectively.
A compelling argument, although Feedback is moved to add that in the same census, 0.7 per cent of Britons identified themselves as Jedis. Could they compel the BBC to include Master Yoda鈥檚 homilies on current events? As he might have said: do or do not 鈥� there is no try.
Boxing clever
A DISCOVERY of some gravity: 鈥渋t looks like the Chinese have almost cracked anti-gravity,鈥� says Margaret Selby. The shipping label on her new lawnmower cites a gross weight of 7.6 kilograms and a net weight of 9.2 kg.
鈥淏y putting my lawnmower into a large cardboard carton, they have reduced its weight by 17 per cent,鈥� she says.
Packaging that reduces the weight of the contents would certainly be a boon to delivery companies such as Amazon. Of course, it might also encourage sending small items in ridiculously oversized packages. Perhaps Amazon has its hands on this technology too.
You can send stories to Feedback by email at feedback@newscientist.com. Please include your home address. This week鈥檚 and past Feedbacks can be seen on our website.