A New York City auction is offering 125 meteorites for sale, including a large chunk of the moon and a 179lb iron cosmic rock that evokes Edvard Munch’s painting The Scream.
The sale is being held by the Dallas-based Heritage Auctions on October 14. It also includes a large piece of the Peekskill meteorite, famous for puncturing a car in 1992 about 80km north of Manhattan.
There is also the largest complete slice of the most famous meteorite in the world, the Willamette. The moon rock has the highest pre-sale estimate of $340,000 (€264,248) to $380,000 (€295,335). (PA)
Centenarian sets record
A French centenarian yesterday set a record for the fastest 100-year-old to cycle 100 kilometres and said he had outdone himself.
Robert Marchand, an amateur cyclist who claims to have clocked tens of thousands of kilometres in the saddle, finished the distance in four hours, 17 minutes and 27 seconds.
“I did a little better than I hoped,” he said. “However, the going was tough in the last few kilometres.”
Marchand, who has lived in Canada and Venezuela and worked as a market gardener, shoe salesman and wine dealer, among other jobs, said he only took to cycling when he bought his first bike in 1978. (AFP)
Red fleshed apples to go on sale soon
A rare variety of red-fleshed apple is to go on sale to UK shoppers for the first time next week.
Cultivated by a Worcestershire fruit tree specialist, the apples, named Raspberry Ripple to reflect their unusual appearance, will hit the shelves at three branches of Tesco.
The naturally-occurring variety was discovered by chance growing in an orchard near Hereford nine years ago and has been developed by Tenbury Wells-based fruit tree nursery Frank Matthews Ltd.
Saudis expel female pilgrims
Saudi Arabia has started expelling 1,100 Nigerian women pilgrims for violating the kingdom’s rule banning Muslim women from entering the country without a male guardian. The women were detained after landing at the international airport in Jiddah and 171 were sent back.
In Saudi Arabia, women must be accompanied by or have permission from a ‘mahram’ – a male guardian – to travel. (AP)