Weird News

Blind man competes in 25-mile bike race

A blind South African man has set a new world record by finishing a 25 mile bicycle race.

Hein Wagner finished the Construction du Cap Ninety Niner race around Durbanville in less than two hours.

Wagner followed a friend with a noise-making device attached to his bike.

He was trailed by two other cyclists, to warn him of any dangers, and a vehicle with a sign warning car drivers that he was blind.

“Emotionally, it was very draining,” Wagner said. “I had to concentrate really hard for the sake of my safety and that of other cyclists and road users.”

Wagner is now planning a solo skydive.

New gadget wards off teenagers

A new device repels gangs of teenagers by emitting a high-pitched noise that can be heard only by those under the age of 20.

Police are endorsing the Sonic Teenager Deterrent, nicknamed the “Mosquito” because of its sound.

It annoys teenagers so intensely they have to clutch their ears. Eventually they can stand it no longer and have to move on.

But because the body’s natural ability to detect some frequency wave bands diminishes after 20, adults are unaffected.

The box, which can be attached to the outside wall of shops, offices and homes, sends out 80-decibel bursts of pulsing sounds at up to 16khz.

Howard Stapleton, a businessman and former electronics apprentice, who was sick of youths hanging around outside his shop, came up with the idea.

Working in his bedroom and using his four children as guinea pigs, he came up with a prototype of his device and asked the local shop to test it.

“I got it so that only my kids hated it and my fianc