Markus "Hercules" Stoeckl, a 33 year old Austrian man, broke the World Speed Record for mountain bikes. He hit a top speed of 130.7 mph (210.3 kmph) on his bike - oh, and did I mention it was on snow?
Here’s the video, by the way:
Hit play or go to Link [YouTube] - via Gizmodo and Wired
Original post by Alex
This Russian guy must really, really like whisky! The anonymous bidder paid £29,400 (about $60,000) for a bottle of a Bowmore single malt whisky, bottled in 1850:
The Bowmore single malt whisky is the oldest bottle of Bowmore known to be in existence and is believed to have been bottled on Islay around 1850 by W & J Mutter. It was being sold on behalf of a private owner during the fine and rare whisky wine and port auction held at McTears auctioneers in Glasgow. […]
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Original post by Alex
Australian man Tim Cope had just completed a 6,200 mile (10,000 km) journey on horseback from Mongolia to Hungary, following the footsteps of Genghis Khan. And boy did he find adventure along the way:
Both he and the animals faced much hardship as they endured life on the steppes of Asia and Central Europe, experiencing temperature ranging from minus 52C to plus 54C.
On two occasions his horses were stolen and even Tigon was taken whilst in Ukraine.
Mr Cope eventually found him nearly frozen to death, locked inside an ice filled mine shaft. It took hours in a hot sauna and a diet of raw eggs and vodka to revive the dog, who was not able to continue the journey for three weeks.
Link
Original post by Alex
Biologists used satellite tags to track the longest nonstop bird migration ever measured:
A female shorebird was recently found to have flown 7,145 miles (11,500 kilometers) nonstop from Alaska to New Zealand—without taking a break for food or drink. […]
In addition to demonstrating the bird’s surprising endurance, the trek confirms that godwits make the southbound trip of their annual migration directly across the vast Pacific rather than along the East Asian coast, scientists said.
"This shows how incredible and extreme birds can be," said Phil Battley of New Zealand’s Massey University, who took part in the study.
"The prospect of a bird flying all the way across the Pacific was so much further than what we thought possible, it seemed ludicrous," he said.
Link - Thanks Marilyn Terrell!
Original post by Alex
Some people really go out of their way to do dangerous things.
Take, for example, Dan "Captain Cutless" Meyer. Not only did he swallow a 30-inch long steel sword, but he did it underwater. In a tank filled with live sharks and stingray. And within 29 minutes of eating a full meal!
Link
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Original post by Alex
Ouch! That’s 29-year-old yoga instructor Lakshmikanth of Bangalore, India, lifting a 6.5 kg (14.3 lb.) statue of Hindu elephant god Ganesha using his eye socket! Link
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Original post by Alex
Reid Stowe and his girlfriend Soanya Ahmad are on day 143 of a planned 1,000 day voyage in the South Atlantic on a 70-foot schooner.
Stowe calls his project the Mars Ocean Odyssey, because he thinks the journey will provide valuable lessons for a manned flight to Mars, when astronauts would be confined to a small vessel for two to three years, separated from terra firma and most of humanity.
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Original post by Miss Cellania
