Charlie Chaplin has always been viewed as a pioneer in the world of cinema but until now it's not been clear quite how ahead of their time his movies were.

While watching the DVD extras for The Circus, an Irish filmmaker has spotted a woman who appears to be using a mobile phone, fifty years before their invention.

George Clarke, who is based in Belfast, uploaded the clip to YouTube where it has since received more than 1.5 million views.

The footage shows the exterior the cinema that is premiering The Circus; a woman walks past holding her left hand to the side of her face while moving her lips.

The original clip lasts a matter of seconds but has been looped and slowed down to such an extent that the online version lasts for several minutes.

Clarke claims the footage has not been tampered with in any way and seems convinced this is evidence of time travel.

Others are not so sure and explanations range from the woman holding a block of ice to take away the pain of a dental appointment, to the clip itself being a fake – detractors point out that fade transitions had not been developed in the 1920s.

telegraph.co.uk

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A British inventor has created a new underwater scooter that allows tourists to explore coral reefs without learning to scuba dive - or even swim.

Holidaymakers can sit on the HydroBOB and dive to depths of 100ft at tourist sites around the world.

Andrew Sneath, HydroBOB designer and company founder, said: "With minimal training the rider can cruise the underwater world without the need to wear cumbersome dive equipment."

Mr Sneath, a former car factory worker from Bromsgrove, near Birmingham, now based in Florida, added: "Riding HydroBOB is a unique memorable experience of a life time."

The HydroBOB's helmet-like dome contains an air bubble that is continually filled with oxygen from an onboard tank.

The clear acrylic dome gives a 180 degree view and the oxygen tank is big enough to give over an hour's use before resurfacing.

Users don't need goggles, breathing apparatus or a wet suit. They can wear glasses and even talk underwater.

A 12 volt battery stored under the seat allows the scooter to move at two knots. Depth is controlled by a bounce bag, similar to that worn by a scuba diver to control buoyancy.

Users are given a simple ten minute briefing on underwater signalling and how to equalise the pressure in their ears.

Hydrodome has made 350 HydroBOBs - or breathing observation bubbles - for rental at tourist destinations worldwide, including the Bahamas, Australia and Tenerife.

orange.co.uk

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Wasteful energy policies, overuse of resources, water supply shortages, global climate change, and deforestation are just some of the issues experts say need to be addressed for humans to achieve sustainable living on this planet. By the year 2025, an additional 2.9 billion people will strain tightening water supplies, and the world's energy needs will go up 60 percent by 2030, according to the United Nations. Look at 10 technologies - some old, some new, some a bit offbeat - that might help make the future a little brighter.

10. Make Paper Obsolete

Imagine curling up on the couch with the morning paper and then using the same sheet of paper to read the latest novel by your favorite author. That's one possibility of electronic paper, a flexible display that looks very much like real paper but can be reused over and over. The display contains many tiny microcapsules filled with particles that carry electric charges bonded to a steel foil. Each microcapsule has white and black particles that are associated with either a positive or negative charge. Depending on which charge is applied; the black or white particles surface displaying different patterns. In the United States alone, more than 55 million newspapers are sold each weekday.

9. Bury The Bad Stuff

Carbon dioxide is the most prominent greenhouse gas contributing to global warming. According to the Energy Information Administration, by the year 2030 we will be emitting close to 8,000 million metric tons of CO2. Some experts say it's impossible to curb the emission of CO2 into the atmosphere and that we just have to find ways to dispose of the gas. One suggested method is to inject it into the ground before it gets a chance to reach the atmosphere. After the CO2 is separated from other emission gases, it can be buried in abandoned oil wells, saline reservoirs, and rocks. While this sounds great, scientists are not sure whether the injected gas will stay underground and what the long-term effects are, and the costs of separation and burying are still far too high to consider this technology as a practical short-term solution.

8. Let Plants and Microbes Clean Up After Us

Bioremediation uses microbes and plants to clean up contamination. Examples include the cleanup of nitrates in contaminated water with the help of microbes, and using plants to uptake arsenic from contaminated soil, in a process known as phytoremediation. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has used it to clean up several sites. Often, native plant species can be used for site cleanup, which are advantageous because in most cases they don't require pesticides or watering. In other cases scientists are trying to genetically modify the plants to take up contaminants in their roots and transport it all the way to the leaves for easy harvesting.

7. Plant Your Roof

It's a wonder that this concept attributed to the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, one of Seven Wonders of the World, didn't catch on sooner in the modern world. Legend has it that the roofs, balconies, and terraces of the royal palace of Babylon were turned into gardens by the king\'s order to cheer up one of his wives. Roof gardens help absorb heat, reduce the carbon dioxide impact by taking up Co2 and giving off oxygen, absorb storm water, and reduce summer air conditioning usage. Ultimately, the technique could lessen the "heat island" effect that occurs in urban centers. Butterflies and songbirds could also start frequenting urban garden roofs, and like the king's wife, could even cheer up the inhabitants of the building. Here, a green roof is tested at Penn State.

6. Harness Waves and Tides

The oceans cover more than 70 percent of the Earth's surface. Waves rncontain an abundance of energy that could be directed to turbines, which can then turn this mechanical power into electrical. The obstacle to using this energy source has been the difficulty in harnessing it. Sometimes the waves are too small to generate sufficient power. The trick is to be able to store the energy when enough mechanical power is generated. New York City's East River is now in the process of becoming the test bed for six tide-powered turbines, and Portugal's reliance on waves in a new project is expected to produce enough power for more than 1,500 homes. Here, a buoy system capable of capturing the oceanes power in the form of offshore swells is illustrated by researchers at Oregon State University.rn

5. Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion

The biggest solar collector on Earth is our ocean mass. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, the oceans absorb enough heat from the sun to equal the thermal energy contained in 250 billion barrels of oil each day. The U.S. consumes about 7.5 billion barrels a year. OTEC technologies convert the thermal energy contained in the oceans and turn it into electricity by using the temperature difference between the water's surface, which is heated, and the cold of the ocean's bottom. This difference in temperature can operate turbines that can drive generators. The major shortcoming of this technology is that it's still not efficient enough to be used as a major mechanism for generating power.

4. Sunny New Ideas

The sun's energy, which hits Earth in the form of photons, can be converted into electricity or heat. Solar collectors come in many different forms and are already used successfully by energy companies and individual homeowners. The two widely known types of solar collectors are solar cells and solar thermal collectors. But researchers are pushing the limits to more efficiently convert this energy by concentrating solar power by using mirrors and parabolic dishes. Part of the challenge for employing solar power involves motivation and incentives from governments. In January, the state of California approved a comprehensive program that provides incentives toward solar development. Arizona, on the other hand, has ample sunshine but has not made solar energy a priority. In fact in some planned communities it is downright discouraged by strict rules of aesthetics.

3. The 'H' Power

Hydrogen fuel cell usage has been touted as a pollution-free alternative to using fossil fuels. They make water by combining hydrogen and oxygen. In the process, they generate electricity. The problem with fuel cells is obtaining the hydrogen. Molecules such as water and alcohol have to be processed to extract hydrogen to feed into a fuel cell. Some of these processes require the using other energy sources, which then defeat the advantages of this "clean" fuel. Most recently, scientists have come up with ways to power laptops and small devices with fuel cells, and some car companies are promising that soon we'll be seeing cars that emit nothing but clean water. The promise of a "hydrogen economy," however, is not one that all experts agree will ever be realized.

2. Remove the Salt

According to the United Nations, water supply shortages will affect billions of people by the middle of this century. Desalination, basically removing the salt and minerals out of seawater, is one way to provide potable water in parts of the world where supplies are limited. The problem with this technology is that it is expensive and uses a lot of energy. Scientists are working toward better processes where inexpensive fuels can heat and evaporate the water before running it through membranes with microscopic pores to increase efficiency.

1. Make Oil from Just about Anything

Any carbon-based waste, from turkey guts to used tires, can, by adding sufficient heat and pressure, be turned into oil through a process called thermo-depolymerization, This is very similar to how nature produces oil, but with this technology, the process is expedited by millions of years to achieve the same byproduct. Proponents of this technology claim that a ton of turkey waste can cough up about 600 pounds of petroleum.

livescience.com

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Police said a Boulder man who told police he woke up to a "bang" and realized he suffered a gunshot wound to his knee likely shot himself while sleepwalking. The Daily Camera reported that 63-year-old Sanford Rothman told investigators he had no clear recollection of the incident. No one else was in Rothman's home at the time.

Boulder police Sgt. Paul Reichenback said that Rothman keeps a 9 mm handgun near his bed and takes presciption medication for pain. Police said no alcohol or illegal drugs played a role in the incident.

Rothman was treated at a hospital and released.

emirates247.com

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An Indian woman who gave birth prematurely to twins has been arrested in Mumbai for allegedly throwing one of her children from a hospital window, police and hospital officials said.

The woman dropped the baby girl from a ground floor bathroom window of the KEM Hospital in central Mumbai early on Tuesday morning. The infant was found but had suffered head injuries and later died.

The girl's mother initially claimed that her daughter had been stolen but security camera footage showed her going into the toilet with the baby and emerging without her.

Police detained the woman on suspicion of abandoning a child. Inspector Vikram Patil was quoted as saying by the Indian Express newspaper on Wednesday that she may be charged with a more serious offence, such as murder.

KEM Hospital dean Sanjay Oak was not immediately available for comment when contacted by AFP but he was quoted as telling the Press Trust of India news agency: "We don't know what made the lady take such a drastic step."

Indian media reported that the twins - a boy and a girl - Mwere born prematurely at seven and a half months and were underweight before their transfer to the state-run hospital earlier this month.

Human rights groups have long expressed concern about sex-selective abortion - terminating a pregnancy on the basis of a child's gender - and infanticide of baby girls in India, particularly in rural areas.

A preference for boys has emerged in part due to the key role that sons play in Hindu funeral ceremonies.

Other factors include substantial dowry gifts that a father provides for his daughter's new family at her wedding, and the fact that sons are often seen as breadwinners and daughters as financial burdens.

But the woman's husband told PTI: "We were happy with the twins. We did not have any problem with the baby girl."

emirates247.com

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Organisers of the Miss Beer beauty contest have cancelled its results after winner Jana Kaderavkova was revealed to be a porn star.

As the curvy 20-year-old was being crowned Miss Beer Queen, organisers of the contest in Saaz, in the Czech Republic, had complimented her on her fluent Italian.

'Oh, I spend a lot of time in Italy,' she replied.

'I work there as a stripper, pose for soft porn magazines and I'm an erotic weather girl on TV.'

The contest's Petr Simacek explained afterwards: 'It was very delicate because our rules specifically ban entries from anyone who has done any kind of erotic work.'

Jana herself, however, had this to say of the decision to cancel the competition's results: 'It’s bloody stupid. They should have asked me that at the beginning, not while they were crowning me.'

The Miss Beer controversy comes not long after Miss Great Britain hopeful Laura Anness was axed from the competition following revelations that she was a prostitute and topless model.

metro.co.uk

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The octopus who gained international fame by his pyschic predictions during this year's world cup has passed away.

Paul, who resided at the Sea Life Centre in Oberhausen, Germany correctly predicted the winner for Germany's seven matches during the World Cup.

Thousands flocked to see the octopus, who gained many fans after betting on his predictions.

Speaking to The Mirror, Sea Life Centre manager, Mr Porwoll said: "He appears to have passed away peacefully during the night, of natural causes, and we are consoled by the knowledge that he enjoyed a good life here."

The two-year-old octopus who was born in Weymouth, was presented with two food containers with mussels inside - one displaying the German flag and the other displaying the opposing team.

Paul would then choose the preferred box and his prediction would be made.

paisleydailyexpress.co.uk

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An amateur tattooist is facing assault charges after he inked a 40cm penis on a friend's back, who only wanted 'a Yin and Yang symbol with some dragons'.

Alongside the penis illustration, the 21-year-old Australian tattooed an unspecified slogan implying said friend is gay.

Police say the 25-year-old victim was talked into getting a tattoo while visiting his mate, but he asked him for an oriental design and emphatically not a giant back-based phallus.

'Apparently he went round to the other bloke's house and somehow in the course of the conversation the subject of tattoos came up,' explained Detective Constable Paul Malcolm.

'The victim wasn't interested at first but he was talked into it and he said he wanted a Yin and Yang symbol with some dragons.'

After being told not to venture out into the sun or show anyone for a few weeks, the freshly inked chap promptly went home and unveiled the work to his flatmate, who informed him: 'I don't think it's the tattoo you were after.'

While the penis artist is due in court next month charged with two counts of assault occasioning bodily harm, the victim faces having his tattoo painfully removed by laser.

metro.co.uk

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Sometimes parents deserve a guilt trip. While you and the guy next door share 99.9 percent of the same DNA, that small fraction leftover amounts to three million inherited differences ranging from blood type to eye color, which make you unique. Unfortunately, that family inheritance doesn't always come in a pretty package. You can thank your parents for zits, hair loss, and deadly diseases.

10. Baldness

Although baldness is common in men, scientists don't understand much about why so little is going on up there. Genes do play a role, but your mom is not the only one at fault. Baldness is likely due to abnormalities in several genes from one or both parents. People with a rare type of permanent baldness called alopecia universalis, lose hair all over their bodies and carry defective 'hairless' genes.

9. Lactose Intolerance

The Chinese distaste for milk was thought to be a cultural one, until scientists in the 1960s discovered lactose intolerance in Asians, Africans, and southern Europeans. Within the past 10,000 years, a genetic change allowed the ability to digest milk to evolve, but only where dairy farming was the norm. If you can't tolerate milk, your relatives probably left cow udders alone.

8. Acne

Go ahead and fault your parents for your pimples. Studies have shown that many school-age boys with acne have a family history of the skin condition. As well, having parents who endured a bad case of zits makes one more likely to suffer from severe acne too.

7. Having Twins

Although identical twins are random events, fraternal twins pop up in families again and again. A mother doing double diaper duty carries a gene that makes her release multiple eggs during ovulation, called hyperovulation. Although a man who carries the gene will probably not father twins, passing the family trait to his daughter could make him a grandfather of twins. This is why twins sometimes appear to skip generations, even though there's no evidence that twins are more likely to occur every other generation.

6. Heart Disease

A family history of heart disease, diabetes, stroke or high blood pressure isn't good for your heart. Children of parents with heart and blood vessel diseases are more likely to develop them too. Plus, a person with a congenital heart defect is slightly more likely to have a baby with a heart defect.

5. Obesity

Super size fries and a heavy set of genes is a recipe for obesity. One scientific theory suggests the same genes that helped our ancestors survive famines are now working against people living in places where food is plentiful. Genes have been shown to be the cause of obesity disorders such as Bardet-Biedl syndrome and Prader-Willi syndrome. Many of today's bulging waistlines have only to do with eating too much of the wrong foods, however.

4. Bullying

Next time you're in the principal's office with a pink slip for roughhousing on the playground, point the finger at your family. A gene that increases an individual's risk for violence has been discovered. Researchers have also found aggressive behaviors in boys are more likely to be inherited than non-aggressive antisocial behaviors like stealing someone's lunchbox. But genes play a bigger role in female thieves.

3. Color Blindness

Ten million men in the U.S. cannot distinguish red from green. Yet the disorder only affects less than 600,000 American women. Why? The genes for red and green receptors sit near each other on the X-chromosome. Men only have one X-chromosome, which they inherit from their mother. Meanwhile, women have two, and a normal gene can often balance out a defective one.

2. Breast Cancer

The cause of most breast cancers is still a mystery, however researches have discovered that mutations in particular genes, such as BRCA1 and BRCA2, cause some cancers. Women who inherit the mutation tend to get cancer early in life and in both breasts. Men with BRCA1 have an increased risk of prostate cancer, while BRCA2 increases the likelihood of cancers in the male breast, prostate, pancreas, and elsewhere.

1. Alcoholism

Children of alcoholics are not destined to be alcoholics too. But recent research reports about 50 percent of the risk for alcoholism is genetically determined. The environment accounts for the other risky half. The disease is considered genetically complex, meaning that several genes come into play and they can affect individuals differently.

livescience.com

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We've seen players like Alex Ovechkin break the camera inside the goal on a shot; but breaking the robotic camera above the glass is a rare treat.

Consider yourselves treated, as New York Rangers defenseman Michael Del Zotto's shot went sailing up into the camera lens against the New Jersey Devils at MSG on Sunday night, shattering it on live TV:

If that's not the greatest argument for the proliferation of 3-D television, we don't know what is ...

There was a slight delay as glass was cleaned off the ice. The camera would make another appearance between periods on MSG, when it was presented to a TV crewmember as a birthday gift. No, we're not joking. Yes, that is much better than a gift card to Starbucks.

sports.yahoo.com

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A father-of-two who won £9 million on the lottery was so 'bored' after he gave up his job as a baker he drank himself to death.

Keith Gough, 58, of Bridgnorth, Shropshire, was thought to be penniless when he died in March after suffering a heart attack brought on by drinking and stress, the Daily Mail reported.

But he had actually left nearly £800,000 in his will, it emerged last week.

Gough and his wife Louise won £9m in 2005 and splashed out on a top-of-the-range BMW, racehorses and an executive box at Aston Villa Football Club.

But the couple, who were married for 27 years, separated two years later after Gough quit his job and began drinking heavily out of 'boredom'.

He moved to Cheshire where he rented a £1m home and hired a chauffeur and a gardener on annual salaries of £25,000 and £15,000 respectively.

But he blew a fortune on gambling and was duped out of more than £700,000 by conman James Prince, who persuaded him to invest in bogus business schemes.

He met the fraudster while he was being treated for alcohol dependency in the Priory rehabilitation clinic in Birmingham.

Prince, 37, was jailed for three years and four months at Chester Crown Court in June last year after he admitted fraud and money laundering.

Probate records released last week reveal that Mr Gough, a father-of-two, left an estate of £1,286,820, reduced after liabilities to £783,802.

Mr Gough claimed in an interview last year that his life had been 'ruined' by his lottery win.

He said: 'Without routine in my life I started to spend, spend, spend. In the end I was just bored.

'Before the win all I would drink was some wine with a meal. I used to be popular but I've driven away all my friends. I don't trust anyone any more.

'When I see someone going in to a newsagent, I advise them not to buy a lottery ticket.'

emirates247.com

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The car mechanic lost both his arms when he climbed a high-voltage electricity pylon as a dare.

An Austrian man who became the first person outside the US to wear thought-powered "bionic" arms has died from injuries sustained in a car crash, the hospital where he was treated said.

Doctors at the Medical University of Graz said they switched off the life support machines of Christian Kandlbauer on Friday night after determining he was clinically brain dead.

Kandlbauer, who would have turned 23 next month, sustained severe head injuries when the specially modified car he was driving served off the road in the south east of Austria and crashed into a tree on October 19.

The cause of the accident is not yet known, particularly whether the neurally-controlled arm-prostheses he had been fitted with might have played a role.

Kandlbauer, a car mechanic from the south-eastern province of Styria, lost both his arms in September 2005 when he climbed a high-voltage electricity pylon as a dare.

Doctors fitted him with a prototype bionic arm for research purposes two years later and he became the first person outside the US to wear such high-tech prosthesis for everyday use in January 2009.

Just 10 months later, Kandlbauer passed his driving test and was given a specially-adapted Subaru. He returned to work as a warehouse clerk with his former employer.

"One of my first goals was a driving licence," he wrote on his homepage.

A trip to Australia and getting his own flat were among his other dreams.

"I love driving. My licence has given me back my independence," he wrote, saying his motto was: "Don't live for others, live for yourself!"

Otto Bock HealthCare GmbH, the German medical technology company which developed and built his bionic arms, paid tribute to Kandlbauer on its website.

The company said in a statement it was deeply shaken and in mourning for a man who had become their friend over the years of their partnership.

Kandlbauer "accepted his fate in a manner that commanded great respect from all of us. The courage to face life and the firm belief in living as part of society were his constant companions," the statement said.

Kandlbauer was a "pioneer of a technology that will permit many people to resume their everyday lives”.

emirates247.com

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"There is no such thing as a true aphrodisiac," Dr. Ruth (Westheimer) once said. The pint-size sex expert was being literal. By definition, an aphrodisiac arouses or intensifies sexual desire, and no herb or witch's potion has been proven to do so. But why take the fun out of trying and spoil Valentine's Day? Herein lies 10 touted love tonics, from hopeless fling to sure thing.

10. Rhino Horn

It's sad how our effort to promote the survival of our species through copious copulation has run other species to the brink of extinction. Rhino horn, prized by some as an alleged aphrodisiac, offers no such sexual power; and its (illegal) use in Chinese medicine for other ailments is questionable. The horns look a little like an erect penis, and in traditional medicine that's sometimes enough to mean that grinding them up and eating them will make one's own penis erect. At best, they contain nutrients, such as phosphorus, which gave our nutrient-poor ancestors a little more energy.

9. Spanish Fly

Not a fly and not strictly from Spain. That basically sums up the lies behind this potentially deadly aphrodisiac. Spanish Fly is ground-up blister beetle, indigenous to Europe. The beetle contains a caustic acid-like juice called cantharidin. When this stuff is ingested and eventually excreted, it causes a burning and swelling sensation in the urinary tract misconstrued as sexual stimulation. The only problem is that cantharidin is toxic, and the victims are usually women who unwittingly consume the powder in a drink. Most Spanish Fly sold today is just pepper or something to make you feel hot.

8. Alcohol

Alcohol, a false aphrodisiac, merely lowers inhibitions and raises the level of one's irrationality. Even worse, booze and other party drugs such as cocaine and ecstasy (MDMA) contribute to erectile dysfunction, according to Karen Boyle, director of Reproductive Medicine and Surgery unit at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore: "These drugs effect blood flow by their actions on arteries and veins and [negatively] impact testosterone levels, and thus libido." A few drinks are fine, but relying on alcohol to get in the mood could be a sign of a deeper problem.

7. Chocolate

Nope, but so what. Chocolate has phenylethylamine and serotonin, two chemicals that light up pleasure areas in the brain. Chocolate is similar to sex in that it makes you feel good. This doesn't imply, and no studies have shown that chocolate increases sexual desire. Hershey's Kisses might lead to kisses, but the passion was likely firmly in place beforehand.

6. Oysters

Many foods (bananas, asparagus, carrots, avocados) are considered aphrodisiacs because they resemble the penis or testicles. Oysters resemble a vagina. The Romans placed the oyster high on their list of prized aphrodisiacs. Casanova, the legend goes, would eat 50 raw oysters for breakfast. Yet interestingly, oysters (and pine nuts, another ancient aphrodisiac) are high in zinc, which is necessary for sperm production. Raw oysters are also high in D-aspartic acid and N-methyl-D-aspartate, which increased testosterone levels in one study on male rats, which could in theory increase libido, according to Karen Boyle of Johns Hopkins Hospital. "The data is questionable and mixed, but oysters do make a nice appetizer," she said.

5. Yohimbe, Tribulus and Maca

There are several traditional herbs under study for their aphrodisiac properties, and three leading contenders are yohimbe, tribulus and maca. Any combination of these might be pulverized, capsulated and sold as "natural Viagra." Most level-headed researchers, however, will warn you to stay away from this kind of stuff. Too much yohimbe, a bark from a West African evergreen tree, can kill you, which is not the kind of stiffness most guys are after. You never know what you're getting when you buy so-called natural cures. Many drugs come from plants; aspirin was isolated from willow bark. So yohimbe and the like are being studied to see if there are medicinal properties that can be isolated and turned into a reliable treatment for sexual dysfunction.

4. Viagra

There's a reason why "natural Viagra" ads clog your email inbox. Viagra works, and scheisters are trying to cash in Pfizer's billion-dollar success story. Viagra is not an aphrodisiac, per se. One needs sexual stimulation for the drug to work. (Your heightened sexual desire is likely in place, making you buy Viagra.) Before the dawn of Viagra and similar prescription drugs about a decade ago, urologists had little success in treating erectile dysfunction with medication. Viagra increases blood flow to the penis and blocks the blood from leaving, helping men maintain an erection. There are side effects, some serious, for a small percentage of users, but guys don't seem to care.

3. Psychoanalysis

Sometimes sexual dysfunction in men and women is a result of depression, fatigue or psychological disorder. Psychiatrists, counselors and sex therapists can often serve as a powerful aphrodisiac to enhance your libido. Psychoanalysis: sounds sexy, doesn't it?

2. Getting In Shape

As reported by Johns Hopkins researchers two weeks ago in the American Journal of Medicine, erectile dysfunction is highly correlated with poor physical health and inactivity. More than 50 percent of subjects with diabetes and 44 percent of those with high blood pressure had trouble achieving an erection either "sometimes" or "always." Ditto for the 26 percent of subjects who reported such sedentary behavior as watching three or more hours of television per day. Those who are fit tend to have more self-confidence, too. "Being in shape, eating healthfully, not smoking and not drinking are all ways to prevent obesity, diabetes, hypertension, kidney disease, peripheral vascular disease and hypercholesterolemia - - things that significantly impact blood flow," said Dr. Karen Boyle of Johns Hopkins Hospital. "I counsel all of my patients about making these lifestyle changes for 'penile health.'"

1. Respect

Dr. Ruth often speaks of respecting your sex partner and understanding his or her needs. Sex need not be centered on vaginal penetration and male ejaculation. There are a variety ways to please your partner sexually. And the most meaningful sexual relationships begin with respect. Try it with your lover. It can be a real turn-on.

livescience.com

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Gunther von Hagens, a German anatomist famous for his controversial Body World exhibition displaying plastinated bodies, is now selling human and animal body parts — even as jewellery — online.

The move has provoked strong condemnation from German churches which accuse him of degrading human dignity.

A whole body from www.plastination-products.com costs about 70,000 euros ($97,400), torsos start at 55,644 euros and heads come in at around 22,000 euros each — excluding postage and packaging.

For those on a tighter budget, transparent body slices are available from 115 euros each.

But these real body parts — which have undergone plastination, a process which replaces water and fat with plastic for preservation purposes — are not available to everyone.

Only “qualified users” who can provide written proof that they intend to use the parts for research, teaching or medical purposes can place an order.

Interested parties who do not fall into this category can buy reproductions of the real body parts — so-called “Anatomy Glass,” which the shop’s website describes as “high resolution acrylic glass prints of the original body slices.”

Jewellery crafted from animal corpses, including necklaces made from horse slices, wristbands made from giraffe tails and earrings made from bull penises, is also available to the general public.

The online shop has outraged leading members of Germany’s religious community. In a joint statement, Protestant regional bishop Ulrich Fischer and Catholic archbishop Robert Zollitsch condemned the online body shop, which they said was “breaking a taboo.”

Zollitsch said “human dignity is sacrosanct — even after death — so the human body shouldn’t be degraded and made into an object of spectacle, or a stock of spare parts.”

They said that “Germany must not be allowed to become a hub of the corpse trade.”

Von Hagens, 65, is no stranger to controversy. A public autopsy he performed in front of a live audience in 2002 was televised and caused a public outrage, as did his 2004 tour through Germany with his Body Worlds exhibitions.

canoe.ca

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Reiki for animals, beds for dogs and a chaperone for a group of sex addicts were among the strangest requests made by hotel guests this year.

The bizarre list of demands, revealed by the hotel chain Best Western, also included a private meeting room for a group of men who all wanted to wear baby grows, and a party of travellers who insisted on a menu consisting entirely of blue food.

Many of the odd requests came from companies and organisations in search of a venue for their annual general meetings, including one firm that requested circus training for all its employees.

Another customer, who had been tasked with arranging a lawnmower convention, enquired about the possibility of mowing the grounds of the hotel, so guests could try out the various models on display.

One group of animal-lovers requested reiki classes for their pets, and another asked for a host of twin rooms, so guests and their dogs could each have their own bed.

A support group for sex addicts, meanwhile, demanded a selection of single rooms, and a member of staff to ensure each delegate made it to bed alone.

“We always try to accommodate our guests’ requirements – no matter how off the wall they may be,” said Tim Wade, head of marketing at Best Western. Although he admitted that a visit from members of The Tall Person’s Club of Great Britain had to be put on hold after the hotel in question were unable to locate enough seven-foot beds.

telegraph.co.uk

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Supermodel Adriana Lima brought part of New York to a standstill yesterday, by arriving at a lingerie store wearing a $2m bra.

Lima was modelling the Victoria's Secret 'Bombshell fantasy' bra -- also dubbed the bling-bra -- at their store in Soho.

The bra is encrusted with more than 3,000 cut white diamonds, light blue sapphires and oval-shaped topazes, all hand-set in 18 karat white gold.

Designed by Damiani it has a total carat weight of 142ct and the pattern is meant to be based on swirling stars and constellations.

Apparently 29-year-old Lima was also wearing a blue satin gown at the promotional event… we can't sae we noticed.

The bra took more than a thousand hours to create and will also appear on the runway at the 2010 Victoria Secret annual fashion show.

newslite.tv

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A $10,000 bill? The staff at a Massachusetts bank just wasn't buying it.

The suspicious staffers quickly determined that the bill a woman brought into the Lowell bank was a fake.

Michael Gallagher, risk management director at Enterprise Bank, tells The Sun of Lowell that it is believed there are only about 300 $10,000 bills left, and most are in the hands of collectors.

The bank called police, who in turn notified the U.S. Secret Service, the agency that investigates counterfeiting.

Gallagher would not say what kind of transaction the woman attempted with the note on Tuesday.

The woman's name was not released because she has not been charged, but a police spokesman says she may have mental health issues.

emirates247.com

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The parish council of Britain's most haunted village is holding an emergency meeting this week after it was invaded by millions of flies.

The village of Pluckley in Kent - which is known as the UK's most haunted village with 14 'confirmed' ghosts - has witnessed swarms of the tiny pests in the past few days.

The parish council is holding an emergency meeting this week to discuss what they can do to get rid of the pests - which are swarming into people's homes and getting in car windows as they drive through the village.

A spokesman for Ashford Borough Council - which oversees pest control in the area - said the source of the flies was 'unknown'.

He said: "We have received complaints from residents and we have visited the area.

"But so far we do not have any conclusive evidence of the source."

Sam Archer, who works at the village Post Office said: "We have run out of fly spray.

"The invasion started last week and it's getting worse - the whole village is talking about it - nobody knows where they came from and when they are going.

"There are literally millions of them and they all seem to be descending on Pluckley."

Local Janet Westrope, one of the 1,050 people who live in the village, said she was catching more than 300 flies a day - just in her own home.

She said: "They have been everywhere in the house.

"I've used two cans of bug spray in less than a week and I've switched to fly paper and am catching 40 flies an hour."

Emma Douglas, a store assistant in the village shop, said villagers are worried about the infestation.

The 17-year-old said: "We have had loads of the people - almost the whole village - coming in and asking what they can do to get rid of the flies.

"They are everywhere and nobody is left unaffected.

"We normally get a few flies around at this time of year, but this is different - something funny is going on."

Local Steve Hunt, 43, said: "They are getting everywhere, even when you are driving along through the village you are getting hit by dozens of them going splat on the windscreen.

"If you open your windows they just swarm in and distract you as you drive - they are a total nightmare."

Among the 14 ghosts believed to haunt the village are the ghost of highwayman, a gypsy woman who was burned in her sleep, the hanging body of a schoolmaster, a phantom coach and horses and the Red Lady.

The village was also used to film the popular ITV drama starring David Jason, the Darling Buds of May.

telegraph.co.uk

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A British angler has caught one of the most ferocious fish ever encountered.

Jeremy Wade reeled in the pre-historic looking monster on a fishing expedition to the River Congo.

The goliath tigerfish is one of the most fearsome freshwater fish in the world and are said to be much bigger and deadlier versions of the piranha.

It has 32 teeth that are of similar size to those of a great white shark and has been known to attack humans and even crocodiles before.

It has only ever been caught by a handful of fishermen due to the danger it poses and the fact its habitat is notoriously hard to reach.

Mr Wade, from Bath, Somerset, took extra care when reeling in this specimen which weighed more than 100lbs and was 5ft long.

Luckily he is an experienced angler and caught the fish for the TV show River Monsters, which is due to be screened on ITV next month.

The show looks into mythical reports from around the world of humans being attacked by unknown monsters from the deep before Mr Wade sets out to find and catch the suspect.

"This fish is no tench," said Mr Wade.

"It is, for all intents and purposes, a giant piranha. It is quite a beast.

"The teeth on it are incredibly sharp and are about the same length as a great white shark.

"It also has an extremely powerful bite and has been known to consume prey the same size as itself, attack people and take pieces out of crocodiles.

"It is thought that these fish attack in a reflex response to a sudden movement or splash.

"It is very rare to catch one, especially by an outsider because they are found in such a remote and difficult location to get to. There are no guides or lodges on that part of the Congo River."

Mr Wade used a sizable catfish as bait for the tigerfish - Hydrocynus goliath in Latin - and a 200lbs rod and line.

telegraph.co.uk

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It's a good news/bad news situation for believers in the 2012 Mayan apocalypse. The good news is that the Mayan "Long Count" calendar may not end on Dec. 21, 2012 (and, by extension, the world may not end along with it). The bad news for prophecy believers? If the calendar doesn't end in December 2012, no one knows when it actually will - or if it has already.

A new critique, published as a chapter in the new textbook "Calendars and Years II: Astronomy and Time in the Ancient and Medieval World" (Oxbow Books, 2010), argues that the accepted conversions of dates from Mayan to the modern calendar may be off by as much as 50 or 100 years. That would throw the supposed and overhyped 2012 apocalypse off by decades and cast into doubt the dates of historical Mayan events. (The doomsday worries are based on the fact that the Mayan calendar ends in 2012, much as our year ends on Dec. 31.)

The Mayan calendar was converted to today's Gregorian calendar using a calculation called the GMT constant, named for the last initials of three early Mayanist researchers. Much of the work emphasized dates recovered from colonial documents that were written in the Mayan language in the Latin alphabet, according to the chapter's author, Gerardo Aldana, University of California, Santa Barbara professor of Chicana and Chicano Studies.

Later, the GMT constant was bolstered by American linguist and anthropologist Floyd Lounsbury, who used data in the Dresden Codex Venus Table, a Mayan calendar and almanac that charts dates relative to the movements of Venus.

"He took the position that his work removed the last obstacle to fully accepting the GMT constant," Aldana said in a statement. "Others took his work even further, suggesting that he had proven the GMT constant to be correct."

But according to Aldana, Lounsbury's evidence is far from irrefutable.

"If the Venus Table cannot be used to prove the FMT as Lounsbury suggests, its acceptance depends on the reliability of the corroborating data," he said. That historical data, he said, is less reliable than the Table itself, causing the argument for the GMT constant to fall "like a stack of cards."

Aldana doesn't have any answers as to what the correct calendar conversion might be, preferring to focus on why the current interpretation may be wrong. Looks like end-of-the-world theorists may need to find another ancient calendar on which to pin their apocalyptic hopes.

yahoo.com

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A British mother has had her daughter on a diet for an astounding six years and the girl is only eight years old.

But Aly Gilardoni, who weighs over 107 kilos herself, believes she is acting in her daughter’s best interests. “Being over­weight dominates my life. I don’t want Corleigh to be like me,” she said in interviews with the British media. She had been featured in Closer magazine.

“I don’t want a fat child. I’m obsessed with how she looks. I want her to be pretty and popular and she wouldn’t be if she was bigger,” she said.

Corleigh has been on the regime since the age of two and is allowed just 700 calories a day – 1,000 fewer than recommended.

The single mother has been accused of inflicting her own problems on the girl.

Christian Jessen, a doctor on Channel 4’s Embarrassing Bodies, told the publication that the mother was inflicting her weight issues on her daughter and that calorie restricting a normal-weight child would be unnecessary and detrimental to her health. “Her immune system will suffer, her growth may be affected, puberty will be delayed and there will be a risk of osteoporosis as well as mineral and vita­min deficiency. More worryingly, from a psy­chological point of view, this could trigger severe anorexia that could ultimately kill her.”

The young girl, who was anaemic until she was five, is now afraid of being fat and is constantly looking in mirrors to check her image. Gilardoni herself has a BMI of 36 and is well over the healthy range, gorges on junk food when her daughter is in bed getting through around 3,000 calories a day.

A recent visit to a nurse showed Corleigh is five pounds underweight but otherwise healthy.

emirates247.com

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A British designer has created the ultimate 'bling ring' - the world's most expensive mobile phone.

Stuart Hughes' diamond encrusted Apple iPhone 4 costs a jaw dropping £5 million.

The handset is covered in more than 500 individual diamonds totalling 100 carats.

And it also comes with two interchangeable diamonds that fit over the 'home' button.

Users can pick either a single cut 7.4 carat pink diamond or a rare 8 carat single cut flawless diamond. Together the two rare stones are worth £4m.

And there are even more diamonds on the back of the phone, which is plated in rose gold, where 53 make up the Apple logo.

Mr Hughes, 38, of Liverpool, was commissioned by an anonymous Australian businessman to make two of the handsets.

"It was a fantastic challenge and I am really pleased with the end result - the phones look superb," he said.

Each of the phones comes complete with its very own box - made from a single 7kg block of Granite in imperial pink.

To provide the ultimate protection, the inside is lined with Nubuck top grain leather.

orange.co.uk

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