Winckler's Wacky World:The Big Flush

The future of drink-driving, robot fish save the world, inappropriate smiling, sheep thrills, son of a gun, boys' toys and funky funghi.

Share
+More

The Big Flush

Zimbabwe: In Bulawayo city on Monday officials urged all residents to join the "big flush" and help Zimbabwe's second city clear toilet waste that accumulated in sewers during days of water outages. businessweek.com

The future of drink-driving

In what's claimed as a world first, the Tullibardine distillery in Perthshire has linked up with a spin-off company from Napier University in Edinburgh to turn whisky "leftovers" into fuel for vehicles. bbc.co.uk

Robot fish save the world

Would-be terrorists hoping to sneak weapons and other contraband through U.S. ports on and in the hulls of ships may be thwarted by a robotic tuna fish under development for the government.

The BIOSwimmer robofish is able to overcome so-called position-keeping problems experienced by traditional underwater robots that are powered by vertical and horizontal thrusters, according to the David Taylor, program manager for the robot at the Department of Homeland Security's Science and Technology Directorate. nbcnews.com

Smile of the viper

The terrifying-sounding 'Shaanxi Discipline Inspection Committee' has conducted an investigation into Yang Dacai, Secretary of Party General Branch and Chief of Shaanxi Administration of Work Safety, who reportedly 'smiled inappropriately on the spot of the “8.26” serious traffic accident and wore many luxury watches'  chinahush.com

It's a ram-raid!

A flock of sheep cause havoc as they barged their way into Alpine ski shop, presumably just after a sheep-thrill. The owners of a shop were left gobsmacked when the eighty animals flocked to their store in an Austrian ski resort. dailymail.co.uk

Son of a gun

A flight attendant with a permit to carry a handgun forgot to leave her weapon at home Sunday morning, leading to the accidental discharge of the gun by a police officer at Philadelphia International Airport. philly.com

Boys' toys

Bob the Builder. Jimmy Neutron. Lego Man. Sid the Science Kid. Handy Manny. The science-loving, tower-building cartoon heroes popular among kids today are all boys, or -- I suppose, in the case of Lego Man -- men. So are about 90 per cent of America's engineers. San Francisco-based entrepreneur Debbie Sterling wants to change that statistic. theatlantic.com

Magic Mushrooms

The acoustic properties of wood infected by a certain funghi seem to be just what violin-makers desire. Dr Schwarze had some violins made from the infected wood and discovered that they sounded like a Stradivarius. economist.com

React Now

Day In a Page

Read Next
 

Britain should prosecute terrorist suspects, not play shady games of geopolitics

Dr Nafeez Mosaddeq Ahmed
Brave Ingrid engaged a man holding a meat cleaver in conversation until police arrived  

The bravery of women shames men

Janet Street-Porter
Andrew Mitchell: 'It's no good feeling hard done by'

Andrew Mitchell: 'It's no good feeling hard done by'

In his first interview since 'plebgate', the former Chief Whip opens up just enough to concede that, in politics, you have to take the rough with the smooth
Corruption and the FCO: Blue skies, white sands, dark clouds

Corruption and the FCO: Blue skies, white sands, dark clouds

Special report: Met police call for criminal inquiry into former diplomat's Cayman Islands rule
Fallen angel: Winona Ryder on bouncing back from her decade in the wilderness

Fallen angel: Winona Ryder bounces back

She owned the 1990s... but then she disappeared. Now, Ms Ryder is back with quite the bang in her latest role, as the wife of a notorious real-life Mob hitman.
Roman Polanski shakes Cannes Film Festival

Roman Polanski shakes Cannes Film Festival

The director's new film, 'Venus in Fur', is one of the raciest on offer
Rev Richard Coles: 'I don’t have any concerns that God is cross with me for being gay and eventually the Church won’t either'

Rev Richard Coles on the Church and homosexuality

The mellifluous, erudite and witty Coles is the nation's most pop-culture-friendly priest
'Baghdad likes to live from crisis to crisis': Civil war looms in Iraq

Patrick Cockburn: Civil war looms in Iraq

The governor of Kirkuk - one of the country's most violent but successful provinces - fears the worst
Written on the body: Tattooists at pains to point out their artistic credentials

Written on the body

Tattooists at pains to point out their artistic credentials
Conquering Everest: 60 facts about the world's tallest mountain

Conquering Everest: 60 facts about the world's tallest mountain

The IoS marks the sixtieth anniversary of Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay first reaching the peak of the highest mountain on Earth
A new, and irreversible, Dust Bowl looms

Rupert Cornwell: A new, and irreversible, Dust Bowl looms

The destructive power of tornadoes will be as nothing once the Great Plains' vast underground water reserve dries up
Every creature's needless death diminshes us all

Philip Hoare: Every creature's needless death diminishes us all

A 60 per cent decline in our national species should alarm us, yet few of us act. But to mind more about animals would reflect well on society
Killing with kindness: Burma's religious battleground - and the monks at the heart of it

Killing with kindness: Burma's religious battleground

Six years ago, the world cheered the monks behind Burma’s Saffron Revolution. Now, a horrific new eruption of religious slaughter is being blamed on a 'Buddhist Bin Laden'.
Let's take it outside: Bill Granger's Bank Holiday feast

Let's take it outside: Bill Granger's Bank Holiday feast

You can’t always depend on the weather – but you can avoid the pitfalls of the British barbecue by preparing an elaborate outdoor feast indoors ahead of time...
The Calvin report: Stirring Champions League final shows how far English game must advance

The Calvin report

Stirring Champions League final shows how far English game must advance
10 big questions for the British & Irish Lions to answer

10 big questions for the British & Irish Lions to answer

Warren Gatland's squad fly Down Under aiming to do justice to the expectations – and hoping the Wallabies stay in the pub
The Last Word: Golf must end the hypocrisy before its halo slips totally

The Last Word

Golf must end the hypocrisy before its halo slips totally