A Chinese man was shocked to discover the dog he had raised from a pup was actually a rare Arctic fox.

Zhang, of Tunkou, bought what he thought was an all-white Pomeranian dog for £60 a year ago on a business trip.

But he found the dog hard to tame, it would often bite him and had several unusual traits, he told the Wuhan Evening Post.

"It can’t bark but instead makes little ‘em em’ noises, and its tail has been growing longer and longer," he said.

"The most annoying thing is that starting this summer, the dog became very smelly. Even when we gave it a daily shampoo bath, the smell was still strong."

Zhang took his ‘dog’ to a local zoo for answers, and it turned out the dog is actually an Arctic fox, a protected rare species.

He has now donated the animal to the zoo. (Wuhan Evening Post)

ShareThis

The world’s first refrigerated beach is being created in Dubai so tourists don’t burn their feet.

A computer-controlled system of coolant-filled pipes under the sand will keep temperatures comfortable, reports The Sun.

The beach will be created next to the new Palazzo Versace hotel in the Arab state.

Guests wanting to chill out in summer heat hitting 50°C (122°F) will also have a cooled swimming pool and a gentle breeze generated by huge blowers.

Bosses hope the gimmicks at the hotel, due to open late next year or early 2010, will attract some of the 800,000 Brits who visit Dubai each year.

British firm Hyder Consulting is overseeing the construction. The five-star hotel is linked to the Versace fashion brand and aims to attract designer-conscious clients.

Soheil Abedian, president of the company that owns the Palazzo Versace, said: "This is the kind of luxury top people want."

But Rachel Noble, of Tourism Concern, said: "Dubai is like a bubble world where the things that are worrying the rest of the world, like climate change, are simply ignored so people can continue destructive lifestyles." (The Sun)

ShareThis

A Chinese schoolboy had an amazing escape after being shot through the eye with an arrow by a pal.

Teachers at Jiutai City school believe the young archers were practicing on their own when the accident happened.

The arrow went through 11-year-old Liu Cheong’s eye socket, completely through his head and was only stopped by the back of his skull.

"If the arrow had been shot with just a bit more force, it would have come out the back of his head," said doctors at Jida Hospital in Changchun, eastern China.

The boy only survived because the arrow miraculously missed his brain.

Surgeons spent four hours removing the 16 inch arrow which had sunk more than four inches into the boy’s head. They had to cut away part of it just to get him in the CT scanner.

After brain scans and x-rays, doctors began to cut away parts of his skull to remove the arrow without damaging optic nerves or brain tissue.

His parents have been warned he still faces a risk of infection and may need further ops. The teammate who shot him, a 13-year-old girl called Yan Shin, is being treated for shock.

"It is a miracle he survived the accident," said one medic. (ananova.com)

ShareThis

A British design company has launched a new product to help children concentrate at school – pre-chewed pencils.

The company, called Concentrate, says the pencils look like they have already been chewed making pupils less likely to put them in their mouths.

And they say this is a cheap but effective way of encouraging youngsters to get their teeth into their lessons instead.

Concentrate specialises in products to help kids at school and identify why they get distracted or are unable to focus in class, claim the chewed end encourages them to get thinking straight away.

"We know it’s daft but just get down to some concentrated thinking and who knows what might happen," said company boss Mark Champkins.

"We began to look at the reasons that children might be distracted, uncomfortable or unable to focus in lessons – and we set about designing some simple, cost-effective products to address some of the problems." (roundup)

ShareThis

A restaurant in China is using the image of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein to promote its spicy chicken wings.

The Passion Barbecue Chicken Wings, in Shenyang, says its seasonings are a challenge for customers, just like Saddam was to the US and UK.

It features a picture of the despot, who has tried and executed for crimes against humanity, outside the building and more pictures inside.

A restaurant spokeswoman told the Liao Shen Evening Post: "Saddam loved challenges, and eating our spicy chicken wings also requires courage, so it’s a good match."

Passer-by Qian Lianghui said he found the sign funny because he could not figure out the relationship between chicken wings and Saddam.

And local elementary teacher Fu Lei said: "It’s novel but clever, better than just using beautiful models on the sign."

But a social science researcher said the restaurant should focus more on the quality of its food service than "gimmicks". (Liao Shen Evening Post)

ShareThis

Archaeologists have found a piece of string that is 8,000 years old.

The four-and-a-half inch long string was made from tough stems of honeysuckle, nettles or wild clematis twisted together.

Marine archaeologists discovered it when they found a flooded Stone Age settlement just off the coast of the Isle of Wight.

The team, led by Gary Momber of the Hampshire and Wight Trust for Maritime Archaeology, cut small blocks of the sea floor out for analysis after seeing the wooded remains of the settlement by chance.

The string was buried in one of them. The find is remarkable because the fibres, made of organic matter, would usually decay quite quickly.

Now the results have been published in British Archaeology magazine whose editor Mike Pitts described it as a "fantastic find".

He said: "I don’t think the average person realises what an important piece of technology string has been over the ages." (British Archaeology)

ShareThis

A cat in China has overcome its fear of water to become the newest member of its local winter swimming club.

The black cat has no name but has become a celebrity among the 200 members of the Changjiang River Winter Swimming Club in Chongqing.

It swims at least 50 metres each day in the cold and broad river, reports the Chongqing Business Daily newspaper.

Club member, Sang Changjiang, said the cat had been swimming with the club for four months – even though it’s only six months old.

It’s talent for swimming was discovered one afternoon when a club member accidentally knocked the cat into the river when diving into the water from a boat.

"We knew the cat was terrified of water and thought it might drown in the swirling river. But it swam furiously to get close to the boat and was rescued," said Sang.

From then on, club members always took the cat swimming with them, and after only ten days it could swim by itself without assistance.

"Each afternoon around 4pm, we would take it to swim and it has become part of its daily life," added Sang.

After its daily dip, the cat licks itself dry then falls asleep on a sofa on the boat, owned by a club member, which is its home. (Chongqing Business Daily)

ShareThis

Villagers in China are flocking to see a giant stone flower which they believe appeared in the woods after heavy rainfall.

Forestry rangers in Meilan village, Jinfeng town, say an elderly villager found the stone flower a month ago when he was collecting firewood deep in the forest.

And villagers have now built a path through the woods to the site because so many people have come to see it for themselves – even though experts have assured them it’s a fossil.

Village head Ran Zaizhong says the site used to be buried by soil and forest until a heavy rain caused a mountain slide and made the stone flower suddenly appear.

“It’s a gift from nature,” said Ran, revealing that township officials are to protect and develop the stone flower as a local scenic attraction.

However, geologist Dr Meng Youyan, who studied pictures of the ‘stone flower’, says the so-called petals are in fact 300 million-year-old chert nodules. (ananova.com)

ShareThis

A schoolboy is raking in £30,000 (逾148萬台幣) a month from a business he runs in his spare time.

Gary Cooper, 16, employs four staff selling mobile phones and gadgets on the internet, reports The Sun.

During the day he studies for four A-levels at Southend High School for Boys in Essex. But before and after lessons he runs his business.

Gary, who believes the firm will make its first £1million in a few years, pays himself £500 a month and is saving for a speedboat.

He said: "My staff look after day-to-day running. That leaves me free to oversee major items and get school work done."

Gary, from Benfleet, Essex, even has a deal with Southend United FC to put his firm’s name GC’s PCs on the scoreboard. (The Sun)

ShareThis

A nine-year-old boy has had a book published in the US – called How to Talk to Girls.

Alec Greven’s book began life as a creative writing project in school at Castle Rock, Colorado.

His handwritten pamphlet was then sold for $5 at a school book fair where it was the surprise bestseller.

Local news outlets took up the story, Alec was then invited on to a TV talkshow which led to him sealing a publishing deal with HarperCollins.

And his book is now available as a 46-page hardcover version across the US.

"I saw a lot of boys that had trouble talking to girls," Alec told the New York Post’s Jennifer Fermino. "If I say hi and you say hi back, we’re probably off to a good start," he said.

His advice to boys includes – stop showing off, go easy on the compliments and be wary of "pretty girls".

"It is easy to spot pretty girls because they have big earrings, fancy dresses and all the jewellery," he writes in chapter three. "Pretty girls are like cars that need a lot of oil."

And he continues: "The best choice for most boys is a regular girl. Remember, some pretty girls are coldhearted when it comes to boys. Don’t let them get to you."

Alec’s mother, Erin Greven, says her son’s insight is down to his avid reading: "He reads non-stop. At dinner, I say, ‘Put your book down,’ " she said. (roundup)

ShareThis