If you are on diet and find it hard to count calories when you eat out, then one restaurant chain has the answer. The Real Greek has become one of the first restaurant chains to start adding the calorie count to their menus. Whilst not everyone may want to know the amount of calories their food contains the move has so far proved popular with their customers and many of their low calorie options are proving to be more popular. Even bottles and glasses of wine have the calorie content listed.

This is interesting its a new beer from BrewDog that comes in bottles made out of dead animals. The beer itself is called The End of History and is a rather strong 55% proof. What makes it unusual, however, is not only that it claims to be the worlds strongest and most expensive at £500 a bottle but also the bottle that it comes in. The bottles are made using seven types of animals including stoats, four squirrels and a hare which are said to be roadkill. The marketing stunt has been condemned as a perverse idea by some but is supposed to introduce people to a new approach new beer.

According to this article Norfolk has recently hosted the 25th world snail racing championships. This years race was won by a snail called Sidney who beat 200 competitors to take the title. The snail managed an impressive time of three minutes and 41 seconds to win a silver tankard filled with lettuce. The race takes place on a table top with the snails being placed in the centre of a circle. The winner is the snail that reaches the outer circle first. The world record time for completing the course of is currently 2 minutes and was set by a snail called Archie in 1995.

According to this article a new service will soon be available in the UK that will allow people in need of a friend to rent one. The online service advertises strictly platonic friends that are available to keep you company for whatever event you might need one for. The site called Rent a Friend has already been popular in the US and Canada and is now being launched in the UK. You can hire a friend to keep you company on an evening out or perhaps to teach you a new skill or hobby. The service currently cost $25 a month. Subscribers then have access to a database of more than 200,000 friends and they can choose one by looking at the profiles and photographs. They are then charges an hourly fee of $10. It is not yet clear how much the service will cost in the UK.

According to this article Waitrose has been named compassionate supermarket of the year. Sainsbury’s and Morrisons have also won awards for improving the lives of farm animals. The awards were presented by Compassion in World Farming at their Good Farm Animal Welfare Awards. Waitrose scored best on issues such as overall well being of animals, stocking densities and the freedom of animals to express natural behaviour. Sainsbury's was named the Best Volume Supermarket and also won a Good Chicken award. Morrisons won the award for the Most Improved Supermarket whilst the Co-op and M&S also won Good Chicken awards.

If this article is to be believed flue jabs could be replaced by a skin patch by 2015. The patch contains hundreds of microscopic pins that penetrate the outer layer of the skin and then dissolve releasing a dose of the vaccine. The patch would enable patients to be able to give themselves a flu shot without the need for medical training so could potentially be useful in the event of a flu pandemic. The patch has already been successfully tested on animals and researchers are now looking at starting trials using people. It certainly sound better than having an injection.

This unusual red squirrel was spotted in New Abbey near Dumfries by wildlife photographer Mick Durham. Unlike most other red squirrels this one has a unusual white stripe on its tail. Apparently this type of colour variation is quite rare so this ring tailed squirrel could be one of a kind.

This is interesting it’s a new variety of apple that has been dubbed by this article as the tom-apple. The apple is unusual because it is red all the way through even after it has been cooked. It has been produced by a grower over a 20 year period by using cross pollination techniques involving a number of parent trees. The apple is said to be extremely tasty and apparently it contains more antioxidants than the average apple. It would certainly make a colourful additional to a fruit salad.

Divers have found what is thought to be the world’s oldest champagne. It is thought to pre-date the French Revolution and has been found on the Baltic seabed. 30 bottles of the Clicquot which was produced between 1782 and 1788 were found in a shipwreck on the Baltic seabed. It is thought the champagne could fetch around £45,000 a bottle at auction.

According to this article red squirrels are dying due to bacteria which is linked to people feeding them. The problem is caused by human bacteria being passed on from people who leave food out for the squirrels. The bacteria is found naturally in humans but has been found in lesions on 11 dead squirrels in the Isle of Wight and Jersey in 2007 and 2008. The Wildlife Veterinary Investigation Centre in Cornwall has advised people to wear gloves or wash their hands when putting out food for squirrels.

This is interesting, it seems that Botox the substance famously used to get rid of wrinkles can also be used as a cure for migraines. It has recently been approved as a cure for chronic migraines and will be available on the NHS for this purpose. It has been proven to be highly effective in preventing the symptoms of migraines including headaches, nausea and dizziness. Under the treatment patients will receive a series of injections into their forehead and neck every three to six months. It works by paralysing the muscles that trigger the condition and can cut the number of migraines by up to 50%. The treatment has been approved for use with people who suffer with chronic migraines, that is those who have headaches on at least 15 days a month.

This is interesting its a new design of foldaway bike. It has been designed by Kevin Scott who cam up with the idea of a bendy bike. The bike includes a mechanism which allows the frame to bend meaning it can be bent around a lamppost and locked to itself. It is currently just a prototype but it certainly looks interesting.