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WASABI: THE
FUTURE OF
SMOKE ALARMS?
Japan Proving the country’s
place at the forefront of
technology, a Japanese company
has developed a smoke alarm for
the hearing-impaired that uses
wasabi paste (known as Japanese
horseradish and traditionally used
with sushi) to wake people up in
the event of a fire. Developed by Air
Water Safety Services to help the
ageing Japanese population, they
discovered that
virtually every person
with hearingdifficulties
woke
up after the
wasabi
smell was
released
as its
odour is
so powerful.
THIS BOWL OF WASABI
PEAS COULD SAVE
YOUR LIFE. SORT OF
The only
problem might
be the £350
price tag.
PENSIONERS HAVE
BEEN RISKING THEIR
LIVES FOR SEXUAL KICKS
BROTHELS TRAIN
PROSTITUTES TO
SAVE LIVES
Switzerland The number
of elderly people paying
for sex in Switzerland has become
so high that the nation’s brothels are
now training their prostitutes to use
defibrillators to restart overexcited
clients’ hearts. The Lugano area of
Switzerland, near the Italian border,
has 38 sex clubs and is especially
popular with visiting Italians as
brothels are illegal in their country.
The move is being initiated after
a recent spate of fatal accidents,
including a pensioner who died
after experimenting with Viagra.
ELSEW HER E
TAIWAN’S BIRTH-
RATE TO PLUMMET
Taiwan The Year of the Tiger
has just been welcomed in
Taiwan but its reputation as one of
the fiercest signs of the zodiac has
worried officials, who are concerned it
could have a negative impact on their
birth-rate. Records show that in the
last year of the tiger (1998) 54,550 less
babies were born than in the previous
year, while in the last year of the
dragon (2000) – a traditionally
fortuitous sign – it rose by nearly
34,000. Taiwan currently has one of
the world’s lowest birth-rates, with an
average of 8.29 babies per 1,000
people, compared to a UN global
average of 20 per 1,000. Let’s hope
that 2011 will be a more productive
year for them – it is the year of the
rabbit, after all.
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BRIEFING�IN�ONE�
COMPACT�PAGE
“I’M A DRAGON, ME”
TWITTER TURNS
MATCH MAKER
Canada Tired of dinner
party dating? A new dating
trend from Canada could be the
thing for you. ‘Flitter’ – a merging
of flirting and Twitter – is the latest
way to find love for the e techno-savvy,
and on 13 February, hundreds undreds of
singletons headed to the first
Flitter party in Toronto. o. Each
romantic was given a sticker
with their number on and
then waited for fellow
Tweeters to send
a compliment. All
senders had to end
the message with
the word ‘Flitterme.’
If the respondent
was impressed the
pair could indulge in
a series of flirtatious
tweets. Watch this
space for the first
Flitter marriage…
TALKING TO YOUR
DATE IN PERSON IS
SO LAST YEAR
NY COUPLE WED
IN APPLE STORE
USA Getting married at an
Apple store might not be
everyone’s dream come true, but for
Josh and Ti Ling it was exactly how
they wanted to mark their special
day. The pair, who met in New York’s
Fifth Avenue
branch of the
store when
she was
shopping for
an iPod,
decided
to play
tribute to its
significance
by holding
their
wedding
there.
The
ceremony
took
place at
midnight
on Valentine’s Day while Apple
staff looked on. Overseeing the
ceremony was a friend of the
couple who dressed up as Applefounder
Steve Jobs. Presumably
they didn’t head over to PC World
for their honeymoon.
GET HIGH TO
LOSE WEIGHT
Germany It’s a good day for
mountaineering fans. German
scientists have found that spending
time at high altitudes could not only
shift excess pounds but help you
keep them off once you head back
down to earth, too. The researchers
studied a group of 20 obese men
who spent a week at 2,600 metres
above sea level, and found that the
thinner thinne air increased
met metabolic rate
and an also
suppressed su
their t appetites.
Researchers
R
also als noted that
the th men were
mmore active
CHERYL COLE CLIMBED
KILIMANJARO IN 2009. SO
THAT’S WHY SHE'S SO SKINNY
TI LING COULDN’T
WAIT TO SAY “iDO”
wwhen they left
the mountain
as their
hearts had
adjusted
to working
ha harder. Forget
th the diet, see
you at Mount
Kilimanjaro’s
base camp.
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