Weird News

Long life over sex

A 107-year-old Hong Kong man attributes his longevity to decades of sexual abstinence.

The man says he has gone without sex since he was 30. He still smokes occasionally, but is trying to quit. He eats a low-fat diet and exercises regularly.

The villager, from Hong Kong’s less built-up New Territories hinterland, was widowed when his wife died during the Japanese invasion in World War II.

Short and sweet

A five-minute limit, and no mention of sex or drunkenness are two of the new rules for eulogies given at funeral masses in Australia’s Catholic churches.

This comes after a number of long-winded and inappropriate comments were made in eulogies, referencing the deceased’s drinking prowess and romantic conquests.

Unlike in Ireland and the United States, laypersons are allowed to give eulogies in the Australian Catholic church.

The new rules say eulogies should be three to five minutes long, focus on the person’s faith and human qualities and not include anecdotes or poems.

Who needs exercise?

New research has concluded that weight loss is possible without exercise. As long as there is a difference between the number of calories you intake and the number of calories you burn, you will lose weight.

Burning calories through everyday activity proved just as effective at causing weight loss as extra exercise.

This information is based on a study by Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge, La. One group of overweight adults reduced caloric intake by 25 percent, while another reduced it by 12.5 percent and increased their exercise by 12.5 percent. The third group made no changes.

Both dieting groups lost around 10 percent body weight and 24 percent of their fat mass.

Clowns down

Two clowns were shot and killed during their circus performance in Colombia. The unidentified gunman shot the two men in front of an audience of 20 to 50 people at the Circo do Sol de Cali last Monday night.

One clown died instantly; the other died in the hospital the next day.

New species discovered

Psychedelic octopuses, sea squirts, sea lilies, sea cucumbers and other new creatures have been discovered in the waters off Antarctica.

At least 30 of the 1,000 sea creatures discovered appear to be new to science.

Researchers discovered the species in an area of the Antarctic seabed, one of the most pristine marine environments in the world, where warming temperatures appear to be causing the overlying ice shelves to collapse.

Now serving 1 billion and one

Over the weekend, Netflix Inc. delivered its billionth DVD: “Babel.” After seven and a half years in the online DVD rental business, the company finally reached this movie milestone. It took McDonald’s Corp. about seven months longer to achieve its billionth hamburger sale.

Netflix is celebrating the occasion by awarding a lifetime subscription to the Texas customer who received the billionth DVD.