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What you’re seeing is not a casting call for Gandhi: The Musical, nor is it a collection of Mahatma Gandhi clones popping out of some strange moustachioed alternate dimension, but rather the making of a world record!
To mark the 64th anniversary of Gandhi’s passing, 485 kids gathered together to celebrate their fallen leader by dressing up like him, complete with glasses, moustache and bald cap, and in doing so set a world record.
I wonder if any of the students who took place in the world record costume party went on to become Groucho Marx impersonators?
The game Labyrinth looks really difficult, but Alon Moss of New York completed it -with two balls- in world record time, just 2 minutes, 37.8 seconds. Link -Thanks, David!
Stewie is a Maine Coon cat, but I suspect there may be a bit of lynx or bobcat in his ancestral lineage, dontcha think? In August of 2010, Stewie was measured at 48.5 inches long, good enough for a world record. His owners are Americans Robin Hendrickson and Erik Brandsness. -via Buzzfeed
The new Guinness World Record Book is coming out next week. One of the new record holders is Harbor, a Black and Tan Coonhound, who has the longest ears of any living dog. His left ear measures 12.25 inches (31.1 cm) and his right ear is 13.5 inches (34.3 cm) long! -via the Presurfer
Reknowned distance swimmer Diana Nyad {wiki} is almost 62 years old. But she is swimming today, off the coast of Cuba, heading to Key West. She entered the water just before Sunset last night. This time, instead of a shark cage, she will be surrounded by an electronic shark deterrent. The swim, if successful, is expected to take 60 hours. Link
CNN has an interactive map with which you can follow her progress. Link
Update: Nyad abandoned her attempt about halfway through. Link
Purdue University holds an annual Rube Goldberg Machine Contest for students from colleges all over. A world record was set this year, as the Purdue Society of Professional Engineers and Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers team of 17 students built a contraption that took 244 steps to water a flower. That beat the existing world record of 230 steps. Read all about it at Popular Mechanics. Link -via Boing Boing
This is the craziest mouth action you’re likely to see outside of a Rolling Stones album cover. Dinesh “Maximouth” Upadhyaya opens wide, says “ah,” and crams 92 huge pencil into his mouth.
There’s a it of a preamble at first, and you might think that Mr. Upadhyaya has a very thick accent. While that may or may not be the case, it’s clear that the guy’s mouth defies all standards of human anatomy as we know them, so it’s possible he is just speaking the loose-lipped patois of a man whose mouth stretches several feet like it’s no big thing.
Seriously, it’s quite a sight. Watch this mouth, and tell me you don’t think Dinesh qualifies for membership in the X-Men. Well, they don’t exist, but he does hold the Universal Record Database record for most pencils fit in mouth at once, yet another achievement to add to his many other URDB honors.
How did the sport of competitive giant pumpkin-growing get so big? I mean, it’s really big!
1. Chris Stevens of New Richmond, Wisconsin grew a pumpkin this year that weighed in at 1,810.5 pounds -considerably bigger than the previous world-record pumpkin that weighed 1,725 pounds. The big pumpkin was weighed at the Stillwater Harvest Fest in Stillwater, Wisconsin Minnesota last weekend. How did he grow a pumpkin that big? Stevens has a 10,000-square-foot pumpkin patch, in which he grows only one pumpkin per vine. He shades the fruit from the sun, and feeds the vines cow manure, fish emulsion and seaweed.
2. Competitive pumpkin growing really began with William Warnock of Ontario. He grew the Rennie’s Mammoth variety of pumpkins, which were billed as capable of growing to over a hundred pounds. However, Warnock’s pumpkins were much bigger. In 1900 and 1904 he produced fruits that weighed over 400 pounds! His 403 pound world record set in 1904 stood for 76 years. See Warnock’s pumpkins here.
3. The most common variety of pumpkin grown for world-record competitions is the Atlantic Giant, which produces the largest fruit of any plant in the world. The variety was first cultivated by Nova Scotia farmer Howard Dill in 1976. It was Dill who finally broke Warnock’s big pumpkin record in 1979, and grew record-setting pumpkins for several consecutive years afterward. The Dill family still sells the record-breaking seeds.
4. During the last few years of the 20th century, the competitive pumpkin community was rocked by cheating, scandals, and infighting -enough to power a soap opera. The main governing body of the competitions was the World Pumpkin Confederation. A split in the membership led to the creation of the Great Pumpkin Commonwealth, which now oversees official weigh-ins.
5. The first pumpkin that weighed over a thousand pounds was grown in 1996 by Paula and Nathan Zehr of Lowville, New York. Their record-breaking pumpkin weighed an astounding 1,061 pounds, which won the couple a $50,000 prize for reaching the 1,000-pound milestone. Since then, half-ton pumpkins have become “common”. The world record for large pumpkins has been broken every year this decade, except for 2008.
A tiny British cow has been named the world’s smallest cow by the Guinness Book of World records. The cow lives in West Yorkshire, England and measures just 33 inches tall.
The 11-year-old cow is named Swallow and her owner, Caroline Ryder, said she would spend Thursday either grazing with her herd or listening to BBC radio in her cowshed.
Swallow is a Dexter cow, a breed known for its diminutive stature, but is small even by Dexter standards.
She already has nine regular-sized calves and is pregnant with her 10th. Guinness said her youngest calf has already grown larger than she is.
In the photo, Swallow is the little black object to the right of a normal size bull. Link -via Fark
Edward Nino Hernandez of Bogota, Colombia has been named by the Guinness Book of World Records as the shortest man in the world. The 24-year-old Hernandez is 27 inches (70 cm) tall and weighs only 22 pounds. The previous record holder was He Pingping of China, who was slightly taller than Hernandez and died last March. Hernandez is currently working as a actor in a Colombian film in which he plays a “drug thug.”
Doctors never could explain why Nino is so small, his parents say.
“They never gave us a diagnosis,” his mother, Noemi Hernandez, said during an interview in the family’s sparely furnished apartment in Bosa, a mostly poor district of southern Bogota.
Hernandez, 43, said Nino weighed just 3.3 pounds (1.5 kilograms) at birth and was 15 inches (38 centimeters) long.
She said doctors at the National University studied him until he was 3, then lost interest. She and her husband, a security guard, lost a daughter who was similarly small in 1992 when she was about to complete a year of life.
The couple’s youngest child, 11-year-old Miguel Angel, stands 37 inches (93 centimeters) tall and has facial features similar to Nino. The other three boys are of normal height and appearance.
“I feel happy because I’m unique,” Nino said in an interview Friday with The Associated Press.
With the fear global warming taking over the minds of Americans everywhere, it’s no wonder that bicycles have gone through a renaissance in the last decade. True to form, the bike renaissance comes with a lot of innovations to make our old two-wheeled cycles safer, faster and cooler than ever. Some of these bikes are really futuristic advances, while others are just plain cool, whichever you prefer, there’s plenty to see here.
The Cycle Sol prototype may look a little strange, but its solar-charged battery makes it an inspiring piece of machinery. Soaking up the sun help to charge the battery, which can help push the bike to speeds up to 15 MPH. Its greatest attribute though may be the convenient push you’ll feel when tackling tedious hills. Also a plus, if it is left in the garage or used on a cloudy day, you can still plug it into an outlet to get the full battery charge you need to get moving.
Talk about a bike of the future. This stream-lined prototype incorporates an on-board computer that can help count the calories you burn, play music and serve as an unbreakable lock. It was designed by Gold Medalist Chris Boardman, who believes his creation could be an everyday product within the next twenty years. Similar to the Cycle Sol, this bike will also have a solar-powered battery to help you out when you’re tired of pedaling.
If you’re wondering how a bike computer could incorporate an unbreakable lock, it’s all through the magic of fingerprint identification. Of course, if the bikes are considered valuable enough, then you may run the risk of losing your digit all together when some really motivated thieves approach you –a fate that has already befallen one iPad user.
One of the biggest drawbacks to cycling is the danger inherent with sharing the road with vehicles. The Shweeb individual monorail system eliminates this problem and gives you the safety and serenity only possible in your own personal bubble. The company working to make these mini-monorail systems a part of your daily commute claims they are “a personal, efficient, and cost-effective transport solution with applications for urban commuting, recreational and fitness markets.”
If the classic bicycle design of two wheels in line with your body is just too outdated for you, then perhaps the Di-Cycle’s two side wheels are more your style. Perhaps the coolest advantage of the Di-Cycle though is its ability to operate on both land and water.
The Hyperbike may not ride on water like the Dicycle does, but its massive side wheels are instead designed to help protect you in the event of an accident. Also nice, its design, which includes both feet and hand pedals allows you to travel at speeds up to 50 MPH.
On the other hand, if you’d prefer to sit on your bike sideways while it moves to the front, then perhaps the Sideways Bike is more to your liking. Inspired by snowboarding, this one allows you to sit and pedal while facing sideways and then to look to your left or right while steering. I’d be terrified to ride this next to the road, but maybe that’s just me.
If money is your main concern, then this handy $30 bicycle might be more in your price range. It’s cool, it’s collapsible, it’s recyclable, and not to worry, it is water proof. The inventor claims that one of the biggest advantages though is the fact that it will probably not get stolen. On the downside, it doesn’t go very fast and if you bike regularly, you’ll need to replace it every six months or so.
When you’re looking for something a little more flashy, but just as bare-boned as a cardboard bike, the Nulla minimalist bike is a great choice. It’s spokeless, stylish and light, as it is stripped of all non-essential components. The name Nulla even translates to “nothing” in Italian, which means it’s also a perfect ride for any existentialists out there.
Minimalists who prefer recumbent cycles are likely to find this spokeless cycle, created by designer Mathew Zurlinden, to offer many of the same advantages as the Nulla, only with the critical difference in the rider’s body position.
If you were on your college rowing team or if you are simply much more muscular on the top half of your body, then why not row your bike home? Unlike a regular bicycle, even a standard hand-operated bike, this one is not powered by rotating pedals, but instead through pushing and pulling the handle bars. Using it can burn up to 850 calories per hour and it’s supposedly easier on your joints than a standard bike.
Now it’s your turn readers. I’m sure many of you have seen some cool and crazy bikes in your time. Feel free to share them in the comments. Also, which of these designs would you prefer?
Canadian chef Ted Reader made a big hamburger. Big, meaning it weighed 590 pounds! He put the burger together at Yonge-Dundas Square in Toronto, in an attempt to get into the Guinness Book of World Records. The previous heaviest burger weighed only 185.8 pounds.
The award-winning chef used a specially designed grill with a built-in forklift mechanism designed to flip the oversized culinary creation.
Reader says it took six hours to cook the behemoth of a burger, starting off with a patty weighing 139 kilos. The grilled patty was then nestled in a 48-kilogram bun, dressed with lettuce, cheese, tomatoes, red onions, pickles and barbecue sauce.
The event also raised $8,500 to benefit a camp for burn victims. Link -via J-Walk Blog
Better than dominoes any day! Tim Fort set off 2,250 sticks in this awesome world-record stick bomb {wiki} chain. -via Boing Boing
A Japanese man has set a new world record for “maximum time aloft” for a paper airplane.
With a bend of the knees and an arch of the back, a Japanese engineer today set a world flight record for a paper plane, keeping his hand-folded construction in the air for 26.1 seconds. Using a plane specially designed for “long haul” flights, Takuo Toda narrowly failed to match his lifetime best of 27.9 seconds, a Guinness world record set in Hiroshima earlier, but achieved with a plane that was held together with cellophane tape.
There is a YouTube video of the record-setting throw, although it is not particularly exciting.
Mr.Toda has also announced plans to launch 100 paper planes from the orbiting International Space Station. The planes would be made with heat-resistant paper capable of withstanding temperatures of 250C and wind speeds of mach 7; he has not solve the problem of how to track the planes during their descent to earth.
Link. Photograph: Koji Sasahara/AP
With a flight lasting twenty-six hours and one minute, the US Navy experimental unmanned aerial vehicle Ion Tiger broke a flight endurance record. Michael Barkoviak writes for Daily Tech:
The U.S. Navy’s Ion Tiger flew over the Aberdeen Proving Ground on November 16 and November 17 for more than one day, as the 37-lb. aircraft carried its fuel-cell engine, 9.5-lb. compressed hydrogen tank, and a five-pound payload.
Ion Tiger has a a day-night camera capable of surveillance and reconnaissance for future missions, said representatives from the Naval Research Laboratory. The recent test flight was meant as an endurance test, and researchers were quick to point out that much work is left to be done.
Link via CrunchGear | Image: Naval Research Laboratory
James Bowthorpe of London pedaled his bicycle 18,000 miles around the world in 174 days, 20 fewer days than the world record holder. He arrived back in Hyde Park to complete the journey on Saturday.
Mr Bowthorpe cycled through France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Poland, Ukraine, Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey, Iran, India, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the United States – taking flights where necessary – before coming back to Europe.
This week he pedalled through Spain and France before catching a ferry across the English Channel to Portsmouth where he met his mother and father.
He finished his ride back at his Hyde Park starting point accompanied by his brothers and 20 other cyclists.
The trip around the world raised £55,000 for research into Parkinson’s disease. Link -via Unique Daily
Think you can blow a pretty good-sized soap bubble? Chances are, it’s nothing like the creations of ‘Bubbleologist’ Samsam Bubbleman:
Samsam (real name Sam Heath) was aiming to pop the Guinness World Record set in 2005 in Minnesota, U.S., for a bubble of 105.4 cubic feet. He is not sure of the precise volume of his attempt in Finsbury Park, North London, but it stretched to 20ft by 5ft by 5ft at its biggest.
He is now waiting for official confirmation. ‘I’m confident it has obliterated the former record,’ he said.
Samsam, pictured with his creation, refused to reveal the recipe for his bubble mixture, saying it is the secret to his success.
‘With the right stuff you can make big bubbles with anything – a coat-hanger or even just your hands,’ he said. He developed the top-secret mixture over 20 years of trial and error.
The professional bubble-maker has been described as ‘the Willy Wonka of Bubbles’ by DJ Chris Evans.
From the Upcoming 
ueue, submitted by stacy09.
German daredevil Dirk Auer established a new world record when he raced down a 860-meter wood roller coaster track in under a minute. He maintained an average speed of 56 mph on custom skates that he built himself:
‘After this some of the sides were so high that at times I was at 90 degrees and so it was very important to have as much traction as possible. Luckily everything went according to plan – it was a lot of fun.’
Mr Auer, from Gross-Gerau near Frankfurt, is considered to be the most extreme in-line skater in the world.
He already holds the world record for reaching speeds of 190mph as he was dragged along behind a Porsche GT2.
A Thai woman who calls herself the Scorpion Queen spent the last 33 days in a glass-walled room filled with 5,000 scorpions, successfully breaking her own world record for being cooped up with the venomous creatures. The room was in a shopping mall in Pattaya, Thailand, and every eight hours she was allowed a 15-minute break. Kanchana Ketkeaw was bitten 13 times, but she says she’d do it again if anyone challenged her record.
From the Upcoming Queue, submitted by 
Mischief, the world’s oldest cat, just turned 27 years old. He’s still very active, but has been slowing a little in the last years. His owner, Mr. Thorne, got Mischief when he was only a few months old.
He’s still got two good years to go if he wants to be the oldest living cat ever though, as the current record stands at 29.
Update: He’s got at least a good 98 years to go before he catches up to the world’s oldest living animal, Jonathan the tortoise. If you click the link, you’ll see a great picture of Jonathan from 1900, when he was already around 75.
"Thrill the World" is a project by Ines Markeljevic to break the Guiness World Record for the Largest Simultaneous Dance of Michael Jackson’s Thriller! It’s scheduled for October 27/28, 2007 – and you, too, can register to join in on the fun.
Previously on Neatorama: Bollywood Thriller | Wedding Thriller | Inmate Thriller
