10 things we didn't know this time last week

10 THINGS

Number 10 - by Phil Clark

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It's easy to lose track of the news. So at the end of the week, it's good to keep an eye on some of those things which shouldn't go unnoticed.

If you spot something you think should be included next week, send it to us using the form at the bottom of the page.

 

1. Let's toast a land which has 330 vineyards, where grapevine tendrils stretch towards the noonday sun, where succulent green and purple orbs yield up their sweet juices, where home-grown wines flow like song. Ladies and gentlemen, please raise a glass to English Wine Week - yes, that's E-N-G-L-A-N-D, where the vineyards are celebrating a corking 2002 vintage.

2. No corks popping at claims firm The Accident Group, who sacked workers by text message. The average firm only lasts about 13 years, according to Radio 4's Shop Talk programme, and 90% of firms don't last their first year. But things aren't all bad - Stuart Burnett from Aberdeen removals outfit the Shore Porters firm talked happily about how the company has survived since 1498.

Shop Talk website

3. Sales of kiwifruit in Taiwan have rocketed after two medical professors claimed that eating the fruit each day helps ward off Sars and boosts the immune system. Not only are kiwifruit high in vitamin C, the fuzzy outer skin is not eaten - easing fears about contamination from people sneezing on food.

4. Skunk-smell repellent is being used by Los Angeles police to keep druggies and other undesirables from squatting in abandoned buildings and subways. The gel - developed in New Zealand to prevent cats and dogs scavenging from rubbish bags - is able to do what fences and barbed wire cannot in deterring squatters. Only trouble is, some have taken to packing air freshener. "We'd hit 'em with SkunkShot, and they'd come back with Glade," Lieutenant Shaun Mathers told the LA Times.

5. Golf, laughter and workaholism could be the secret to Bob Hope's longevity. He was once told by his doctors to take a holiday. He returned from a cruise after a week. Asked why he was back so quickly, he replied: "Fish don't applaud." But Dr Richard Faragher, an expert in ageing biology, has some tough advice for those hoping to reach the milestone age. "The best way to match Bob Hope, quite frankly, is to have Bob Hope's parents, and live a life that is the same or better than his."

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6. It's best not to go wee-wee in the swimming pool. Not only is it a dirty, dirty habit, but the chemicals used to keep pool water clean may react with sweat and urine to produce harmful fumes. It's thought that exposure to these fumes could be linked to the rise in asthma in children. Even those sitting by the water at indoor pools could be affected.

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7. While Prince William's "learn Swahili by tape" course gathers dust in his student bedroom, what else does he get up to in there? Kilt-wearing, apparently, which he confesses to wearing in private. "It's a bit draughty," he says, before side-stepping a potential row by emphasising he is not saying he will never wear one in public.

8. Why should Brits buy more convertible cars than any other EU country - especially when summers in the UK are usually so dismal? It could be because they want to make the most of what glimmers of sunshine there are, say psychologists. Or it could be because it reminds them of being on holiday. Or - just possibly - it could be because of "a significant positive effect on self-esteem".

9. Why have a soft-top, though, when a hard roof would give you more room to sell advertising space and subsidise your petrol? An Edinburgh firm is hoping to persuade ordinary motorists to have adverts on their cars, reasoning that most 16-24 year-olds like looking at cars and will therefore look at the adverts. But Coolbillboards boss Hamish Brown says: "Some advertisers may want to utilise vehicles owned by students or housewives for particular reasons. But it's a long-term process to educate them of the value of that. It won't happen overnight."

10. Anyone going to a wedding this weekend may well end up with a bubbly-related headache. But for the bride and groom, at least, that's the way it should apparently be. The word honeymoon derives from there being honey in mead - newlyweds were invited to drink mead for one lunar month from their wedding day, on the basis that nine months later they would have a baby, Dr Clare McLaughlin told BBC Radio 4's Today programme. She was explaining an experiment whereby newlyweds are being invited to drink lots of mead.

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