Massive matchstick Eiffel Tower denied record over technicality

A Frenchman spent eight years assembling over 700,000 matchsticks into a 23-foot-tall replica of the Eiffel Tower has been denied the Guinness World Record because he didn’t use commercially available matchsticks.

Richard Plaud poured roughly 4,200 hours of work, since 2015, to painstakingly glue 706,900 matchsticks into 402 panels to assemble the impressive structure. But as he was getting ready to complete the project, Plaud learned that his Eiffel Tower model wasn’t eligible for a Guinness Record because he used regular and headless matchsticks. Initially, Richard Plaud used store-bought matchsticks, but found the process of removing the flammable heads of the matchsticks too ‘fastidious’, so he used headless matchsticks, which he acquired from a matchstick company, to speed up the process, but it also made his dream go up in flames.

Chilli-infused ‘Hot ice latte’ proves a big hit

A coffee shop in Ganzhou, China’s Jianxi Province, has found success with a bizarre but innovative drink that combines the traditional ice latte with dried chillies and chilli powder.

Jingshi Coffee launched its now-famous ‘hot ice latte’ back in December, as a tribute to Jianxi Province’s famously fiery cuisine. Those brave enough to have tried it claim that the drink is a bit more spicy than regular lattes, but not unpleasant.

The people of Jianxi Province consume the hottest food in all of China, so the new hot ice latte is definitely at home there.

90,000-year-old human footprints found in Morocco

An international team of archaeologists examining boulders in Larache, Morocco, in June 2022, stumbled upon an exciting find — 85 ancient human footprints pressed on the beach. The two trails of intact prints are estimated to be around 90,000 years old, the first such tracks found in North Africa and also among the oldest attributed to modern humans. Close examination concluded that the 85 prints were made by at least five individuals, which included children, adolescents and adults.

The footprints were preserved due to a combination of factors such as the rocky platform that is covered in clay sediments, which created good conditions to preserve the tracks on the sandbar while the tides rapidly buried the beach.

The details of the fascinating discovery were published in the journal Nature in January 2024.

Zoo parrots learning clean talk

The Lincolnshire Wildlife Park said in January that its eight profane parrots were moved in with its flock of 92 more polite birds in the hopes that the badly behaved birds would pick up some more family-friendly words and sounds. The parrots seem to be doing well after a few weeks with the rest of the flock.

While the parrots have not been heard using any of the really crude language, people are still walking up to the enclosure and swearing in front of the parrots, hoping they will copy the words.

Published in Dawn, Young World, March 9th, 2024