WEIRD STUFF

Chimps getting drunk

For the first time ever, scientists from the University of Exeter have caught wild chimpanzees in Guinea-Bissau knocking back naturally fermented fruit and sharing the boozy bites among themselves.

Filmed on 10 occasions in Cantanhez National Park, the primates were seen indulging in African breadfruit - known to pack a natural alcoholic punch.

Anna Bowland, an author of the study, said: "For humans, we know that drinking alcohol leads to a release of dopamine and endorphins, and resulting feelings of happiness and relaxation.

"We also know that sharing alcohol - including through traditions such as feasting - helps to form and strengthen social bonds.

"So - now we know that wild chimpanzees are eating and sharing ethanolic fruits - the question is: could they be getting similar benefits?"

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Scientists prop space menu

Steak and mashed potatoes could soon be grown in space.

The European Space Agency (ESA) is assessing the viability of growing lab-grown food in orbit and on other planets.

ESA is conducting the research in an attempt to reduce the financial burden of feeding an astronaut, which currently costs up to PS20,000 per day.

The experts say that the experiment is a first step to developing a pilot food production plant on the International Space Station (ISS) in two years from now.

Dr Aqeel Shamsul - the CEO and founder of Frontier Space, the company developing the concept with boffins at Imperial College London - said that lab-grown food is imperative if NASA's ambition to make humans a multi-planetary species is to be achieved.

He told BBC News: "Our dream is to have factories in orbit and on the moon.

"We need to build manufacturing facilities off world if we are to provide the infrastructure to enable humans to live and work in space."

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125-year-old chocolate bar hits auction block

A very old chocolate bar is going for up for sale.

The confectionery was sent to British troops fighting in the Boer War by Queen Victoria in 1900 and could fetch up to PS400 (approximately J$82,712) when it is auctioned in June.

The chocolate bar - which is still in its original tin and has some of its foil wrapper still attached - has "a bit of a whiff to it", according to Andy Stowe from Bristol auction house Auctioneum.

He told BBC Radio Bristol: "It's got a bit of a whiff to it but otherwise it kind of looks OK.

"I wouldn't eat it but it looks OK considering how old it is."

Queen Victoria commissioned chocolate manufacturers JS Fry and Sons, Cadbury Brothers Limited, and Rowntree and Company Limited to produce the special tins with the words "I wish you happy new year" in 1899.