News

You hear odd stories on the internet all the time, but it seems as though this week they have gone in to overdrive. Every day something strange has appeared, each story more unusual than the last. Here we have a round-up of some of the more bizarre news stories of the week.

Speed of Sound Skydive

An Austrian adventurer has decided it is a good idea to jump out of a hot air balloon 36.5km above the earth, on the edge of space (pictured above). Felix Baumgartner yesterday attempted to break the world record for the highest ever skydive, as well as becoming the first human to reach the speed of sound unaided by a vehicle.

Him and his vast team of scientists were all set to go in Roswell, Mew Mexico yesterday afternoon, but unfortunately weather conditions were too windy. The specially designed balloon that will take him up to such heights cannot cope with even the lightest of winds due to how thin the material is. The team are hoping that they will be able to attempt it again tomorrow.

This weekend marked the 50th anniversary of the first Beatles single to reach the charts in Britain. Celebrations have been going on up and down the country to toast the most successful and acclaimed band in the history of popular music.

Ever since the opening sounds of John Lennon's harmonica in ‘Love Me Do' were heard, the British music scene has never been the same. Though only a relatively minor hit, the single marked the first time that the Beatles came to the public's attention. Over the next year their star climbed faster and higher than anyone could have imagined as Beatlemania swept first Britain and then the US.

Now, fifty years on, the band has just as many fans willing to come out and celebrate, both young and old. The festivities this weekend centred around the Beatles' hometown of Liverpool, in the north-west of England. 

Afshin Rohani is a web and technology writer for ForeignStudents.com

As a new term starts you may find yourself being initiated into a new type of learning environment. For many this can be a daunting time, so here's my top 5 tips to make sure you exploit all the web has to offer to help aid your studies.

'Between'- not working and working, is the quasi-productive state of being 'online', where fact finding meets social snooping. Finding the sweet spot in this often dialectical relationship means taking the time to refine your search habits and sharpening your virtual tools.

During my years as a student and my time working with new media I've collected some great research tools as well as techniques that will optimise your web experience, so here's my top 5 for university students:

The latest world university rankings have been released by Times Higher Education, showing some unexpected trends. Whilst US and British universities still dominate the top 200, Asian universities are noticeably beginning to gain ground. The rankings measure 13 different attributes of an institution which encompass its teaching, research, knowledge transfer and international outlook.

At the top the list, California Institute of Technology (above) takes the number 1 spot for the second year running, with the University of Oxford following close behind in joint second with Stanford University. The top ten is made up exclusively from US and UK universities, with Cambridge coming in seventh and Imperial College London in eighth. Indeed, of the top 200, over half are from one of the two countries; the US claiming 76 and UK 31.

You can't help but of heard of Gangnam Style in the last few weeks. First of all it flooded the internet and now it has broken free in to the real world. But what is it?

Gangnam Style is a song and dance from South Korean rapper Psy. Though well-known in his home country, the song only went worldwide after racking up millions of views on YouTube. It broke in to the UK top 40 singles chart two weeks ago and has been climbing ever since, reaching number 1 on Sunday. Along the way, it has broken all sorts of records:

• Psy is the first musician from South Korea to get a UK number 1
• The original YouTube video of the single is currently approaching 350 million views
• With almost 3.3 million ‘Likes' the single is the most ‘Liked' YouTube video of all time

Indeed, such has been the success of the song, that Psy has been signed by Justin Beiber's management team in America. If you haven't already seen it, here is the video in question: