ODDLY ENOUGH

ODDLY ENOUGH

Record for largest paper wad set by Minn. state agency

ST. PAUL, Minn.

A state agency in Minnesota is claiming the world record for largest ball of paper.

The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency says the ball measured 9 feet 7 inches tall and 32.2 feet in circumference. The 426-pound ball was displayed at the Minnesota State Fair to show how much recyclable paper state residents throw away every 30 seconds.

But anyone who missed seeing the ball at the fair is out of luck: The agency recycled it, turning it into cardboard for cereal boxes.

Spokeswoman Taylor Holland said last week that the agency got confirmation last week from Guinness World Records. There wasn’t a previous record.

The ball was built around a cardboard frame and held together with paper netting. In keeping with Guinness guidelines, no adhesives or tape was used.

Famous Southern California white cobra gets name: Adhira

SAN DIEGO

A white monocled cobra that briefly became a national celebrity after it roamed a Southern California neighborhood for several days in September now has a new name.

The San Diego Zoo tells the Los Angeles Times that the cobra will be called Adhira, which in Hindi means lightning.

The Times says Adhira came in first in an online poll to find a name for the venomous cobra that was captured in Thousand Oaks and, after a period of quarantine, joined the zoo’s Reptile House.

Adhira received 4,612 votes, besting Sapheda (white), Krima (cream), Cini (sugar), Moti (pearl) and Sundara (beautiful). Selected by the cobra’s keepers, the names were meant to reflect the Southeast Asia region where cobras are native.

The Times says the snake went on exhibit Dec. 23.

Va. transportation department turns roadkill into compost

WINDSOR, Va.

The Virginia Department of Transportation is working to turn highway carcasses into plant food.

The state agency is testing the practice of turning roadkill into compost at four sites across the state, using a special system that accelerates decomposition and suppresses odors.

The Virginian-Pilot reported that the system costs $140,000 and can break down animals in as little as six weeks in concrete bins. The compost is then used to control erosion and help establish grass after construction. Officials say roadkill collected by the agency is traditionally buried or driven to landfills at a cost of $4 million a year for disposal.

Several other states already have widespread programs to compost roadkill.

Associated Press