daily mail

Hundreds of rubber ducks and other bathtub toys are expected to start washing up on the beaches of England in the next few weeks. They have been lost at sea for 15 years.

In 1992, a ship en route from Hong Kong to the U.S. spilled 29,000 floating toys into the Pacific Ocean during a storm. Ever since, retired oceanographer and flotsam fancier Curtis Ebbesmeyer of Seattle has been tracking their incredible journey, which provides clues about ocean currents. One group has been circling aimlessly in the north Pacific, while other groups have taken alternative routes. Even when the toys get punctured, they're practically unsinkable.

Thanks to constant exposure to sunshine, the once-yellow rubber ducks have faded to white. But Ebbesmeyer says the turtles and frogs have retained their color. He would like to hear from anyone who finds one of the lost toys (write to curtisebbesmeyer@msn.com).—Dawn Stover

(Image: Daily Mail)

According to a report in Englands Daily Mail, Limey soldiers will soon begin skydiving into war zones wearing carbon-fiber stealth wings fitted with mini turbojets that allow them to cruise up to 125 miles—literally under the radar—into enemy territories, at speeds of up to 140mph (!). Theyll do all this after jumping from planes at 27,000 feet, while carrying a couple hundred pounds of equipment on their backs. Whoa. My first thought was that once they land, these guys are going to look superdorky walking around with big, awkward airplane wings strapped to their backs. My second thought was that a fleet of 300-pound dudes in black bat suits speeding through the sky sounds terrifying, like the creepiest possible real-life version of the flying monkeys in The Wizard of Oz. My third thought was: Could I jump off the roof of my building and commute to work in one of these getups? How do I get one? —Megan Miller

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