The weekly weird

A giant root vegetable earns a world record

Gloucester resident Graham Barratt broke a Guinness World Record for heaviest celeriac, with his 13-pound root vegetable.
“It’s either weight or length for a giant veg, but it’s not beauty. Some of them are quite ugly,” Barratt joked in an interview.
Barratt also brought other giant vegetables to the Malvern Autumn Show, including a cucumber that was just short of earning him a second record.
“I weighed it today, and it weighed 29 pounds. The world record is 30 pounds,” he said.
Blue lobster rescued from grocery store tank

A New York aquarium rescued a rare blue lobster discovered in a supermarket tank among standard-coloured crustaceans. Danielle Morales spotted the unusual lobster while shopping and alerted the Via Aquarium in Schenectady.
The aquarium then collected Bandit, who is now in quarantine and will later join other lobsters. Rare lobster colours, often caused by genetic mutations, can range from orange to blue.
Cassidy Livingston from the aquarium speculated that Bandit’s unique shade might be influenced by his diet, noting that a high shrimp intake can affect coloration.
The world’s brightest flashlight

The IMALENT MS32 is the world’s brightest flashlight, capable of producing an astonishing 200,000 lumens — more than any other commercially available flashlight.
This powerful LED flashlight can illuminate areas up to 1,618 metres away, equivalent to the brightness of 100 car headlights. Users have found that it not only reaches 200,000 lumens at startup, but can maintain about 40,000 lumens for up to 40 minutes. On its lowest setting of 80 lumens, its massive battery can last up to 345 hours.
Equipped with an advanced cooling system, the MS32 operates without overheating. Priced at $749.95, it’s considered one of the most expensive flashlights.
Archaeologist’s message in a bottle found 200 years later

Students at an archaeological site in France discovered a message in a bottle from an archaeologist who worked there 200 years ago. While conducting an emergency dig at a Gaulish village threatened by erosion, the students found the bottle inside an earthenware pot.
Guillaume Blondel, head of the town’s Regional Archaeology Service, opened the bottle to find a note from P.J. Féret, who excavated the site in January 1825. The message mentioned his ongoing investigations in the area known as the Cité de Limes. Blondel described the moment as “absolutely magic,” noting that time capsules are rare in archaeology. Local records confirmed that Féret was a prominent archaeologist during his time.
Published in Dawn, Young World, October 19th, 2024