THE MAGPIEAN AGRICULTURE college in Austria has found that cheeses mature better if bathed in the sound of Gregorian chants from Cistercian monks.
Chant - Music of Paradise is an award-winning, top-selling CD featuring the Cistercian monks of Stift Heiligenkreuz in the Vienna Woods. The CD is played over and over again to 2½ tonnes of cheese as it matures in cellars at the school in Graz-Altgrottenhof, Austria.
"We put in a Dolby surround hi-fi system worth €2,000 and have been playing the Gregorian chant in there over and over again," said head teacher Erich Kerngast. "Cheese matures with the help of micro-organisms, which I am sure also feel vibes. The music is very simple and I think that is what helps." Since the serenading began, the school has won a string of prizes for its Grottenhofer Auslese cheese.
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The people of Pillsbury (population 11) in Bismark, North Dakota, were so underwhelmed by their recent mayoral election that not one of them turned out to vote for any candidate.
Mayor Darrel Brudevold said turnout was usually fairly high in the farming community. "A half-dozen people usually make it to the polls," he said. But on June 10th, no one showed up to vote, not even those on the ballot. Mr Brudevold ran for re-election unopposed, but didn't vote for himself. His wife Ruth and neighbour Dan Lindseth faced no challengers for their alderman seats, but they didn't vote either.
"Everybody has got a job and they're busy," said Mr Brudevold.
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In the Romanian village of Voinesti, by contrast, villagers have re-elected a dead man as mayor in preference to his opponent, who had the presumed advantage of at least being alive.
Neculai Ivascu (57) ran the village of Voinesti since 1990, but died just after voting began.
Despite this, he still won the election by a margin of 23 votes.
"I know he died, but I don't want change," one resident said.
The election bureau kept the poll open because "the law does not foresee such a situation", a spokesman said. Ultimately, the authorities awarded the post to runner-up Gheorghe Dobrescu of the ruling National Liberal Party.
Some villagers and members of Mr Ivascu's Social Democrat Party demanded a new vote.
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A family in York, England, believe their trampolining dog used the toy to leap to freedom over their garden fence. Owner Laura Kidson said her daughter Chloe (4) was heartbroken.
"The fence isn't all that high, but Harvey [a bull terrier] couldn't get over it on his own and must have used the trampoline to bounce into my neighbour's garden," she said.
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A Chinese zoo is creating a singing wolf troupe. Luo Yong, a keeper at Chongqing Wild Zoo, said he discovered the wolves' singing ability by accident.
"Once I was playing guitar and singing the song I am a Wolf from the North, and a young wolf I raised walked up to me. Suddenly, he howled with the rhythm," he said. Mr Luo said that since he dedicated himself to training his group, all 30 wolves at the zoo could sing along to a rhythm.