The weekly weird

Published February 1, 2025

Record set for an underwater photoshoot

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A photographer and a model broke their own Guinness World Record with help from a diving expert by conducting a photo shoot at a depth of 163.38 feet. Canadians Steven Haining and Ciara Antoski underwent months of technical training, gas blending and decompression practice so they could break their own record with a photo shoot at the Hydro Atlantic shipwreck off the coast of Boca Raton, Florida, the US.

Haining snapped photos while Antoski served as the model at a depth of 163.38 feet, smashing their own previous title.

Designer creates the world’s largest sandal

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A British-Nigerian fashi­on designer aimed for a Guinness World Record by creating a massive sandal measuring 10 feet, 4.2 inches wide and 26 feet, 8.8 inches long.

Liz Sanya spent 72 hours constructing the giant clog-style sandal at Pixel Park in Lekki, Lagos. Sanya’s finished clog has been submitted to Guinness World Records as the world’s largest sandal.

The record is currently held by a team of artisans from Municipio De Sahauyo, Mexico, who created a traditional sandal measuring 10 feet, 1.65 inches wide and 24 feet, 5.31 inches long.

Rats destroy drug evidence in Houston

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Houston police and city officials revealed that ‘drug-addicted rats’ are destroying evidence in storage lockers. Mayor John Whitmire stated that narcotics stored in lockers are attracting rats, which damage the evidence while feasting on the drugs, including 400,000 pounds of marijuana.

Despite hiring exterminators, the rodent issue persists. So far, only one active case, involving hallucinogenic mushrooms, has been affected. The problem extends to New Orleans, where rats and cockroaches are also damaging drug evidence.

The world’s largest ice maze

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The Minnesota Ice Festival’s 18,148.88-square-foot ice maze has been officially certified as the largest in the world by Guinness World Records.

The maze features 8-foot-high walls and multiple twists and turns, and took the record from a Buffalo, N.Y., ice maze that covered an area of 13,000 square feet in 2010.

Construction on the maze at TCO Stadium in Eagan began December 1, and gravel and plywood were spread out across the field to protect the turf.

The maze was then constructed from 3,452 blo­cks of ice, each weighing about 425 pounds. The maze was completed January 4 and ice sculp­tures and lights were then installed prior to a visit by a Guinness World Records adjudicator.

Published in Dawn, Young World, February 1st, 2025

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