A list of curious facts
One: There is now an airline service called Love Cloud in the US that will fly you and a partner in a private airplane for 45 minutes so that you can have sex—and join the ‘mile high club’. The price: $995. The Mile High Club Flight comes with a twin mattress on the floor and several pillows, all ensconced in red satin—plus a commemorative membership card signed by the pilot. (New York Times)
Two: Dolph C Volker works at a cheetah shelter in South Africa—and was given special permission to sleep at night with three of them. These are animals he raised as cubs. For some reason, this clip went viral last month on Indian Twitter—with many claiming he was a farmer in Rajasthan! (Reuters)
Three: An igloo cafe in Gulmarg, Kashmir is 11.5 metres (38ft) tall and has a diameter of 13 metres (44ft), and can accommodate up to 40 people at a time. It may soon be certified by the Guinness book of records as the largest in the world—a title currently held by a cafe in Switzerland.
Four: Also new in the US: a “direct-to-consumer” cremation service that will pick up your loved one’s body, cremate it and deliver or mail you the ashes. What we found most curious was this line: “millennials and Gen Xers are increasingly making end-of-life decisions for their parents, and some are expecting a process that approximates the ease of an online order.” Also: This is being hyped as a hot new startup space. Just saying… (New York Times)
Five: Back in the late Middle Ages, there were no envelopes. Hence, the art of “letter locking”—where senders fold and cut business, love and even royal missives in various clever patterns to hide them from prying eyes. BBC Future has more on this fascinating art. Watch how Mary Queen of Scots locked the last letter sent just hours before her execution.
