A set of 150-year-old gargoyles have had their girth broadened to ward off the effects of ageing.
The waistlines of the landmark Cambridge statues have been expanded to help protect them against the impact of weathering.
In the past, parts of the flock of gryphons and beasts at Gonville and Caius College have occasionally become too skinny and fallen from their perches. So the college has introduced the bigger-bodied replacements in the hope they will be better able to withstand the elements.
Books flight under sci-fi alias
Scottish politician Alex Salmond found himself in a bizarre situation with airline staff after booking on to a flight under the name James Kirk – the captain of Star Trek’s USS Enterprise.
The former Scottish first minister caused confusion when British Airways initially refused to let him board a flight at Heathrow under the sci-fi alias.
The Mail on Sunday reported that it took a series of phone calls for the senior politician to persuade the airline that he should be allowed on board.
Heart goes where it belongs
A museum in Bucharest is preparing to send the preserved heart of the last queen of Romania to its final resting place – the castle where she died.
Deputy curator of the National History Museum, Cornel Constantin Ilie, said the museum would transfer the heart of Queen Marie in its silver casket to Pelisor castle on November 3.
Marie died in 1938. She asked for her heart to be publicly displayed after her death and it was exhibited by two castles before it was sent to the museum in 1970. Marie’s son, King Carol, also ruled Romania while her grandson, King Michael, was forced to abdicate by the communists in 1947.
Horses have enough of carrots
Carrots might no longer tempt horses at one Oregon rescue ranch – because they have been munching on tons of them for days.
The facility in the central Oregon city of Bend accepted a donation of 22 tons of carrots after a truck carrying them crashed. Equine Outreach operator Joan Steelhammer was offered the vegetables after they were deemed unfit for human consumption.
Volunteer Gene Storm said about 80 horses have been chomping through the massive stock and animal owners have been invited to help reduce the pile too. A few tons of carrots are left but it is still more than the ranch’s animals can consume.
Santa Claus for city council seat
A man whose legal name is Santa Claus is running for a city council seat in the tiny Alaskan town of North Pole.
Claus has launched a write-in campaign for the office, according to the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner.
Claus, whose driver’s licence bears his legal name of Santa Claus, is the president of the North Pole Chamber of Commerce. Two seats on the city council are up for election. No one filed for office, however, during the regular filing period.
Too many leaves on rails
Rail delays caused by the dreaded problem of leaves could be reduced by a system of electromagnets, an engineering company has claimed.
Thousands of tons of leaves fall on to railway lines across Britain each autumn, forming a slippery layer when compressed by passing trains.
This causes delays as drivers have to brake early to ensure they stop in time, and accelerate more gently to avoid wheelspin.