Toddler buys Austin Healey Sprite on eBay with her father`s smartphone

Oregon - 14-month-old Sorella Stoute has already picked the car she wants. The Portland toddler managed to successfully bid for a 1962 Austin Healey Sprite on eBay after playing with her father`s smartphone last month. The first her father knew of her secret shopping spree was when he received an email from eBay congratulating him on the winning $225 bid. At first, the Oregon couple were not sure whether they could afford to take on the car, which needs a lot of work. However, they have decided to keep it and Mr. Stoute plans to do it up in time for Sorella`s high school graduation or 16th birthday. His wife, Christiana,said: "It comes with two engines. They`re both in the back seat." More

9-year-old girl becomes youngest US chess master

Massachusetts – Only three years or so since first picking up the game of chess, 9-year-old Carissa Yip can already look down at 93 percent of the more than 51,000 players  registered with the U.S. Chess Federation.
She has risen so far up the rankings that she has reached the expert level at  a younger age than anyone since the chess federation began electronic record-keeping in 1991, a new level she reached in recent weeks.
Her father, Percy, who taught her until she began beating him within a year, said she could reach master level in as soon as a year.
She later demonstrated her ability by playing with her back to the board, reading her moves to her father and keeping track of the whole board in her  head.
She has been called an intimidating player in an ironic way, because she’s  far short of even 5 feet tall. More

Bounce house explodes on top of kids

BOISE - An inflatable bounce house at Julia Davis Park exploded Saturday, injuring six children. Ada County Paramedics and Boise Fire Department responded to the park. They say the children were found trapped inside the bounce-house, with the walls folded in on top of them. But paramedics say the children`s injuries were minor and that they were able to treat and release them on scene. More

Giant Corpse Flower with odor of rotting flesh blooms next door to US Capitol

The long wait is finally over for visitors who have been yearning for a whiff of a giant flower that smells oddly like rotting flesh. Titan arum, a giant rainforest plant that has been dubbed the "corpse flower" for its terrible smell, finally started blooming Sunday afternoon at the U.S. Botanic Garden next to the Capitol. Experts had been anticipating its bloom for more than a week and extended the garden`s hours for visitors each night. Garden officials expect peak smell to occur early Monday morning, and the flower to remain open for an estimated 24 to 48 hours. Then it will begin to collapse on itself. The last corpse flower to bloom at the U.S. Botanic Garden was in 2007. More

Mysterious hum driving people crazy around the world

It creeps in slowly in the dark of night, and once inside, it almost never goes away. It`s known as the Hum, a steady, droning sound that`s heard in places as disparate as Taos, N.M.; Bristol, England; and Largs, Scotland. But what causes the Hum, and why it only affects a small percentage of the population in certain areas, remain a mystery, despite a number of scientific investigations. Reports started trickling in during the 1950s from people who had never heard anything unusual before; suddenly, they were bedeviled by an annoying, low-frequency humming, throbbing or rumbling sound. More

China deploys elite gaggle of geese police

China - Police forces in rural corners of Xinjiang province have been sending geese officers out on patrol since earlier this year, according to a report on the Chinese language website of the state-run People`s Daily newspaper. The People`s Daily said the "sharp, keen and brave" animals were proving an invaluable tool in Xinjiangs war on crime and were now being actively promoted across the region. Law enforcement agents described the geese as a new "highlight of stability maintenance work" and said they had proved themselves "better than dogs" in tackling crime. "Geese are very brave. They spread their wings and will attack any strangers entering someone`s home," said Mr Zhang, the local police chief. More

Lawn mower backfires - Sets house on fire

Maine - A house owned by a local high school teacher was significantly damaged Tuesday after a fire broke out in the basement while a 16-year-old boy, Lucas Ashmore (Picture),was trying to start a riding lawn mower. Craig Bowden, chief of the local fire department, said Tuesday that the lawn mower backfired in the basement as the boy, who does not live at the home, was trying to get it started a few minutes before 1 p.m. As the fire spread, the boy went outside, closing the basement door behind him, and then quickly walked around the house to the front door and back inside to make sure all the doors and windows upstairs were closed before going back outside again, the fire chief said. The boy told firefighters who arrived at the house a few minutes later that he did this to help deprive the fire of oxygen. The fire chief said the teen`s actions seemed to have the desired effect and limited the spread of the fire. More

Dog Lover Will Live in Animal Shelter for 35 Days

England – Sean Le Vegan, a dog lover from Manchester, England, will spend over a month in an animal shelter enclosure  to raise awareness about the plight of stray dogs and encourage people to adopt rather than buy canine pets.
Sean, a 35-year-old web-designer and volunteer at the Manchester and Cheshire Dogs’ Home, believes spending 35 days and nights in a cage is a good way to attract attention to the hideous plight of homeless dogs.
It’s also a great way to raise some much-needed funds for the dog shelter, as he plans to broadcast his challenge on the internet with webcams and charge $7.50 per subscription.

House has neighbors green with envy

China - Agriculture expert Sheng Xiugi has his neighbors green with envy - after converting the outside of his house into a five-story orchard. Sheng, 55, started growing a couple of tomato plants on his balcony but now harvests whole crops of grapes, eggplants, plums and vegetables around the house. "It is all organic and delicious." Sheng said. "If I want some fruit or vegetables all I have to do is open a window and pick some." More

A 4-year-old was saved by a woman from drowning - 9 years later that boy saved the woman's husband at the same beach

When Roger Lausier was four years old, he wandered off from his mom at the Salem, Massachusetts beach. He paddled around for awhile, but then a powerful undercurrent pulled him out.

He would have drowned, but a woman swam out and pulled him back to shore. She revived him and saved his life. She also refused all rewards for her heroic act and left happy to have helped. Nine years later, Roger was thirteen and a very experienced swimmer.

He was tracking a shoal of bluefish when he heard a woman screaming her husband was drowning. Roger saw the woman's husband floundering in the water after falling from his boat. Roger paddled his inflated raft over to the well-built guy and grabbed his hand.

He held him above water until another boat got to them and was able to help bring the guy to shore. It wasn't until a presentation later that Roger found out that the man he saved was the husband of the woman who saved his life nine years earlier at the same beach.

Alligator crashed picnic, ate all the burgers

Florida – Photographer Rodney Cammauf had just settled into a spot near the water in Homestead, Florida, when an alligator crashed his picnic and ate all the  burgers.
The 68-year-old and his friends were apprehensive when the alligator came up  out of the water and headed right for them, and so they ran.
But once the gator  started snapping up the burgers, Cammauf slipped back and started snapping photos.
In Florida, feeding alligators is illegal, not only because they develop a taste  for burgers, but because they lose their fear of approaching humans, especially  in areas where people commonly go. More

New social ‘petwork’ for your dog or cat

UK – There’s a new social network in town and it’s for pet-lovers only.
Yummypets aims  to bring pet owners together and become the social network, or “petwork,” for  pets.
Launched in the UK in May this year, Yummypets was founded in France in January 2012 and now boasts more than 150,000 French members and some 20,000 in  the UK, with 600 brands and organizations interacting on the site.
With an  anticipated launch in the U.S., Canada and Brazil in the next 12 months,  Yummypets expects to bring features like partnerships with local merchants and  vets to the rest of the world. More

Black bear scales 10-foot fence to visit Zoo

The Knoxville Zoo had an unexpected break-in Monday night from a wandering black bear.
While zoos are always alert to keep their exotic animals safely inside their habitats, they rarely experience a wild animal the size of a bear wanting to get inside their boundaries.
It was about midnight when a zoo ranger spotted a young black bear scaling the 10-foot-high chain-link and barbed wire of the zoo’s perimeter fence.
A neighbor had alerted the zoo a bear had been seen in the Chilhowee Park area, zoo spokeswoman Tina Rolen said. More