Brentwood International

The strength of people's bones starts to decrease as they approach middle age. Among women, the process speeds up after the menopause as the ovaries stop producing oestrogen, a hormone that helps to maintain the bones.  Scientists at the University of Extremadura in Caceres, Spain, conducted a study involving 1,697 healthy women, 811 of whom were postmenopausal while a further 176 were going through the menopause.

They suggested that "the greater bone density found in women beer drinkers might be a result of the phytoestrogen content of this alcoholic drink".

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Thousands of Mexicans claimed they broke the record for most people dancing to "Thriller" simultaneously in one place on Saturday, which would have been Michael Jackson's 51st birthday.  12,937 people danced Saturday in front of Mexico City's Monument of the Revolution, led by a Michael Jackson impersonator wearing a red-and-gold sequined jacket.

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They are famed for their vicious tempers, so images of this wild bull rhino ridden bareback by a warden are truly remarkable. The two-tonne beast formed an extraordinary bond with keeper James Ndlolvu after he was critically injured.

The white rhino, nicknamed Dennis the Menace, spent 17 months recovering at the Moholoholo reserve in the Limpopo province of South Africa, following a fight with another dominant animal. But despite being released back into the wild, the 12-year-old regularly visits his one-time carer to be fed horse pellets and get a scrub down with the brush.

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Colors are everywhere and their impact on us shouldn’t be under-estimated. Our nervous system requires input and stimulation. And color choice is the best way to help it.

Colors can change our mood, make us work or feel tired – imagine, your room colors may be the reason for your bad productivity or lower creativity! The human eye sees about 7,000,000 colors.

Red makes people feel hungry; subconsciously symbolizes dominance. Makes people more cautious and detail-oriented; Make people’s work more accurate.

Blue.  Least appetizing; calming and boosts creativity

Green relieves stress, makes you calmer. It can improve your reading ability.

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And you thought mexican guys were Machos (male chauvinist)!  Last week, though, Human Rights Watch discovered that a revised version of the Shiite Personal Status Law had been quietly put into effect at the end of July — meaning that Shiite men in Afghanistan now have the legal right to starve their wives if their sexual demands are not met and that Shiite women must obtain permission from their husbands to even leave their houses, “except in extreme circumstances.”

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For their special day, two Norfolk couples decided to turn to the Stone Age for inspiration and recreated the children's cartoon show The Flintstones by dressing up its main characters.  Andrea and Simon Bean, aka Fred and Wilma Flinstone, and Richard and Jill Noble, aka Barney and Betty Rubble, celebrated their double wedding at Weston Park Golf Club on Saturday by taking a quick trip to the next door dinosaur park for some spectacular wedding photographs sure to raise eyebrows on any mantelpiece.

With 165 guests dressed as cavemen and women, two best men dressed as dinosaurs, and a spectacular tiered wedding rock cake, both Wilma and Betty entered the ceremony to the traditional organ sound of Wagner's Bridal March.

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Rather than trying to tame wild stallions, fearless Costa Rican fisherman Chito prefers a playful wrestle in the water with his best pal Pocho - a deadly 17ft crocodile. 

The 52-year-old daredevil draws gasps of amazement from onlookers by wading chest-deep into the water, then whistling for his 980lb buddy - and giving him an affectionate hug.   Chito made friends with the croc after finding him with a gunshot wound on the banks of the Central American state's Parismina river 20 years ago.   He had been shot in the left eye by a cattle farmer and was close to death. 

But Chito enlisted the help of several pals to load the massive reptile into his boat.  "He was very skinny, weighing only around 150lb. I gave him chicken and fish and medicine for six months to help him recover. I stayed by Pocho's side while he was ill, sleeping next to him at night. I just wanted him to feel that somebody loved him, that not all humans are bad".

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A hotel near Venice has accepted that its rooms were mistakenly advertised online at a mere one-hundredth of a euro instead of up to 150 euros!

Nearly 230 people took advantage of the offer, booking on average more than six nights per person at the Crowne Plaza. 

The hotel is run by the Intercontinental Hotels Group (IHG) which says it will honour bookings made while the mistake was online.   "Although a pricing error, IHG is committed to honouring the 1-cent rate for guests who have a valid confirmation," the hotel group's Monica Smith said.

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A Japanese company called esupply is selling a cool little microscope that can be hooked to computers via a microUSB port. The device boasts a 2MP CMOS sensor made by Sanyo and features 5x to 150x zoom. Not powerful enough to be used on a professional level, but surely good enough for casual microscopic viewing of stuff.

The device comes with a stand, a flexible arm and an LED light. A bundled piece of software (in Japanese) makes sure you can edit the material you captured on your PC. There’s also a small mirror, which you can use to check your teeth.

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