Have you ever heard of kids making some cash on the side, simply by studying? Well, it’s happening and we’ll tell you how. High schools in Virginia Beach are offering cash incentives to students as well as teachers for receiving good grades on their Advanced Placement exams.

As unbelievable as it might sound, it’s really true. The first few schools to adopt this new technique to get kids back to their books are Salem and Green Run High Schools. Apparently, a pat on the back just won’t do it anymore. A student can receive up to $100 for each AP exam on which they score 3, 4 or 5, on a five point scale.

Read More »

No, you’re not imagining things, that’s a real buffalo riding around in a convertible. That’s Bailey, the pet buffalo, and guess what, he’s going to the local pub.

The image of a 1,600-pound buffalo ridding in convertible is not something you see everyday, but it has become  quite common for the people of Spruce Grove, Alberta. This time, it was all caught on tape by a British camera crew from England’s Oxford Scientific Films, a team partially responsible for producing Animal Planet’s Fatal Attraction, a series of documentaries that deals with the close relationship that can come between man and an exotic animal or a big, dangerous one. For that particular reason the film crew followed Jim and Linda Sautner and their two-year-old buffalo “pet”, Bailey,  for almost a week in order to capture the one-of-a-kind relationship between the three.

It has become kind of a habit for Linda, Jim and Bailey to drive around town in their custom modified convertible around town and often stop at the local pub for a pint of ale. And it’s not only beer that Bailey likes, as he has also tried dancing a couple of times, but it seems his hoofs and the slippery dance floor weren’t very compatible.

Matthew Wortman, director/producer of the documentary, said “It’s pretty amazing to see such a wild animal in this sort of an unusual setting, really. Bailey is a little frisky at times, but it’s amazing how tame he is.”

This is not the first time the Sautners and Bailey have caught the attention of the media, as they also appeared on CNN, in a short the piece that made the Scientific Films crew fly all the way to Spruce Grove to find out more about the trio.

Bailey Jr. is the family’s second reared buffalo. There was Bailey Sr. before him  (no relation between the two), but he died when he was just eight years old, due to an accident on the farm. Not long after Bailey Jr. came into their lives, when he was just a calf, a special connection between Jim and the baby buffalo  was formed, as Linda confesses:

“They are best of buddies and Jim’s quite the buffalo whisperer. He really works well with animals and seems to have a special affinity for buffalo – he reads them very carefully and understands them very well. He is very consistent in his training and he doesn’t let them get away with anything, but he also is never harsh. He never strikes them.”

Animal Planet is planning to air the documentary in the spring. Scroll all the way to the bottom for an incredible video of Bailey and his animal-loving owner.

Read More »

As the only corn palace in the world, the Mitchell Corn Palace attracts over 500,000 visitors every year, making it one of the most popular tourist attractions in South Dakota.

The Mitchell Corn Palace is not a palace made of corn, as many assume when hearing its name, but it is almost completely covered with it. The Arab-looking structure is adorned with “Crop art”, specifically murals made from corn and other cereal. Some say it’s the most impressive thing they’ve ever seen, while other refer to it as just a gym covered n corn. I guess it’s just a matter of how much you appreciate agricultural art.

Read More »

That’s right, Berkeley Pit is one of the few places in the world where you have to pay to look at a giant pool of toxic waste.

Located in Butte, Montana, Berkeley Pit is a former open-pit copper mind turned weird tourist attraction. It’s one mile long over half a mile wide and 1780 feet deep, 900 of which are full of extremely toxic water. On the surface, the poison looks a lot like blood and is so saturated with copper, miners were able to harvest the metal directly from the water. From 13 million gallons of water, 400,000 pounds of copper were produced.

The acidic water includes chemicals like arsenic, cadmium, zinc or sulfuric acid and, if you were to drink some, it would corrode through your digestive system before getting a chance to poison you. In 1995 a flock of migrating geese landed on Berkeley Pit and never took flight again. A total of 342 carcasses were recovered. Since the incident a bird watch program was implemented.

But, interestingly enough, good things can come out of toxic waste. Scientists have discovered new types of bacteria that have adapted to the harsh conditions of Berkeley Pit, by producing highly toxic compounds that improve survivability. These chemicals have proven very resilient to cancer and further research is currently ongoing.

Read More »