James spends weeks locating the necessary parts to make a sculpture, before cleaning them and welding them together. He says that finding the parts is by far the most time consuming part of the process. His sculptures are made of gears, spark plugs, exhaust, radiators and anything else the artist can find. French and British cars are his favourite to retrieve parts from. James says, “On average each piece takes a little over two weeks, but the larger pieces can take much longer.”

The sculptor is exhibiting his work in the Gallery John Davies in Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire, England, until December 19. “My two favourite pieces I’ve created for this exhibition are the ram and the wild boar,” he says.

The car weights an incredible 4.3 tonnes, but that’s less than 10% of the weight of the original tank from which the engine was sourced. The car was originally built in 2001 by a glass artist named Randy Grubb. The engine is a Continental Motors AV1790, a 29-litre V12 from a 51-tonne tank used in the 1950s.

Jay Leno added a six-speed Allison gearbox, rear brakes, new electrical system, chassis work, fuel injection and even twin turbochargers! Surprisingly, the turbochargers weren’t added for more power, but instead for better fuel economy. Despite its weight, the car can run a quarter mile a 14.7 seconds and reach speeds of over 225km/h.

You think that’s cool? Check out Tim Cotterill’s Rocket II Trike, a 750kW Hemi-powered and supercharged three-wheeler also built by Blastolene. It dropped by Jay Leno’s garage for him to take a look, but apparently Jay’s lawyers wouldn’t let him drive it!

Check out Jay Leno’s whole collection plus a bunch of other cool cars at Jay Leno’s Garage.

A man living in Germany was shot in the back of his head, but it took him five years to realise it, police say.

The 35-year-old man was hit by a .22-calibre bullet in the town of Herne as he was out in the street partying and drunk on New Year’s Eve five years ago, police said overnight.

They say the man recalled receiving a blow to the head, but told them he didn’t seek medical assistance at the time.

The bullet did not penetrate the skull, and police say the Polish man only went to see a doctor recently when he felt a lump on the back of his head.

An X-ray showed an object under his skin, and doctors operated and found the projectile.

Police say it may have been a stray bullet fired by a reveller in celebration.

- An arms cache of 2000 semi automatic rifles with 250,000 rounds of ammunition
- 10 anti-tank missiles
- 4 grenade launchers
- 20 tonnes of heroin
- $50 million in forged Australian banknotes
- 25 trafficked Filipino prostitutes, all in a Housing Commission house behind the Public Library in Broadmeadows

Local residents were stunned.

A community spokesman said:

“We’re shocked. We never knew we had a library!”

Their main meals are your skin dead skin debris and certain fluids expelled from your body. And they breed on you too. A female can lay up to 25 eggs, which then hatch and move to other hair follicles on your body to continue the breeding process. Sounds scary? Generally these creatures are harmless, and are a normal part of the human and many other species.

The pictures below show what these creatures might look like if you had microscopic sight.

Still worried? When you go to bed tonight think of the millions of dust mites living in your bed!

(click image to view full-size)

Want to go to space?

You could pay millions to get on board someone else’s spacecraft as a tourist, spend six years at uni garnering the relevant NASA qualifications, or hitch-hike aboard the next alien construction fleet that passes through.

Or you could just build your own.

A group of engineers in Denmark are preparing to do just that – launch a home-built rocket, along with a human passenger, more than 100km into the sky.

Dubbed HEAT1X, the rocket will be launched from a floating barge in the sea just outside the Danish border, 12 nautical miles from shore.

And it will be towed out there by a submarine built by one of the men behind the rocket project.

Eccentric engineering genius Peter Madsen lives onboard that homemade submarine, a project that gained him internet fame last year and a Discovery Channel documentary.

Looking to go one up in 2010, Madsen founded Copenhagen Suborbitals with Kristian von Bengston with the aim of building the world’s largest amateur space rocket.

Over the last year-and-a-half they have led a team of volunteers to create the HEAT1X rocket and the micro spacecraft it will launch, called Tycho Brahe-1.

Tycho Brahe-1 will carry one human passenger, in a half-seated position, into space and back down again.

The seat is designed to minimise the gravitational pull on the passenger’s spine.

Whoever is on board will also have to wear a pressure suit, like those worn by fighter pilots, to make sure they don’t pass out.

At the top of the module is a see-through polymer plexiglass dome, giving the astronaut a once-in-a-lifetime view of their journey.

It’s planned that the spacecraft will travel in an arc, jettisoning the rocket about halfway up and eventually peaking more than 100km above the Earth before coming down.

After it re-enters the atmosphere, parachutes will be deployed to slow it before it hits the water.

The project is being subsidised by sponsorships and donations from fans.

The team has almost raised its target of $71,250 for the HEAT1X launch scheduled this weekend.

From News.com.au.

Over the years unique police cars have been an interest of mine, and out of the many I’ve found from around the world, there are 10 that are my favourites:

10 – BMW M3 (Netherlands)

With Germany next door you can’t blame the Dutch police for picking up a BMW M3 for police duties. With a 4-litre V8 putting out 309kW and 0-100km/h times of 4.8 seconds, this thing is sure to catch some crooks. It is electronically limited to a top speed of 249km/h but can reach around 290km/h delimited.

09 – Lexus IS-F (UK)

The police in the UK were recently using Subaru’s Impreza WRX as their high performance patrol car, but after issues with heat soak they decided to replace them with some V8 cruisers. Forget the Crown Victorias of the US or the Commodores of Australia – these guys get their V8s in style. The 5-litre V8 Lexus IS-F engines put out 311kW good for 0-100km/h in 4.8 seconds and a top speed of 270km/h.

08 – Carbon Motors E7 (USA)

The E7 by Carbon Motors sets itself apart from other police cars by being the world’s only vehicle that is custom built for police work. All the lights, gadgets and seating are designed for police work and police work only. Not only is it physically tough, it also has a BMW 3-litre turbo diesel power plant good for 220kW and 0-100km/h in 6.5 seconds. It can reach a top speed of 250km/h. But the best thing is no clunky added on light bars or bull bars, it’s all integrated from the factory! It is expected to be released in 2012 and, no, it cannot be bought for private use.

07 – GeigerCars Hummer H2 (USA)

GeigerCars are one of Europe’s leading tuners of American vehicles. Through a request from a Texas sheriff, they built up this Hummer H2 in both the styling and engine compartment to make the world’s fastest police Hummer. The GeigerCars built supercharged 7-litre V8 engine puts out 515kW with a top speed of 250km/h (electronically limited). That’s enough power for 0-100km/h in 6.5 seconds. All on 28-inch wheels!

06 – TechArt Porsche 911 Carerra S (Germany)

To promote safe tuning at the Essen Motor Show, TechArt joined with the German police and traffic authorities to develop this high-powered Porsche police car. With a 3.8-litre 6 cylinder boxer engine, the car is good for 273kW and 0-100km/h sprints of 4.5 seconds. It has a top speed of 300km/h.

05 – Spyker C8 Spyder (Netherlands)

They’ve always said the Dutch are crazy, and now we know it’s true with this Spyker C8 supercar being used for police duties. The Dutch supercar runs a 4.2-litre Audi V8 with 298kW and 0-100km/h times of 4.5 seconds. It can reach 300km/h.

04 – Lamborghini Gallardo LP560-4 (Italy)

Don’t you wish someone donated you a Lamborghini? Well Lamborghini did just that for Italian police to replace their previous Gallardo with this LP540-4 edition. It has a 5.2-litre V10 with 412kW and a 0-100km/h speed of 3.7 seconds. And it goes all the way to 327km/h!

03 – Lamborghini Murcielago LP640 (UK)

Italy’s Gallardo is pretty cool but don’t forget its Murcielago big brother has an LP version too (if you were wondering it stands for Longitudinale Posteiore, referring to the longitudinally mid-mounted position of the engine). And the UK police added one to their line-up of police cruisers. This one is even faster than the Gallardo with a 6.5-litre V12, 471kW, 0-100km/h times of 3.4 seconds and a top speed of 340km/h.

02 – Brabus Rocket (Germany)

Brabus are famous for tuning Mercedes-Benz production cars into crazy high-powered machines. The Brabus Rocket is based on the current Mercedes-Benz CLS. The 6.3-litre twin-turbo V12 has 540kW and can reach 100km/h in 4 seconds. The car has a top-speed of 366km/h but is electronically limited to 350km/h. Brabus unveiled this police version of the car as part of 2006’s Tune It Safe! program.

01 – Caparo T1 RRV (UK)

The UK Metropolitan Police teamed up with British supercar manufacturer Caparo to develop this crazy police supercar. The special edition RRV (Rapid Response Vehicle) runs a 3.5-litre engine with 425kW in a 550kg car! It gets from 0-100km/h in under 2.5-seconds and a top speed of 330km/h. There’s no hope trying to get away from this one.

Some other cool police cars that didn’t make my top 10 but are worth a mention…

Dodge Viper from the USA…

Holden Manaro from Australia…

Honda NSX from the UK…

Jaguar XF from the UK…

Lotus Elise from Australia…

Mazda RX8 from Japan…

Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution from Australia, Malaysia and the UK…

Nissan Skyline GT-R from Japan…

Drive safe, stick to the speed limits, as the police already have the speeding thing covered off with these cars…

Police say a 46-year-old Sheboygan man who went to the hospital believing he had been shot in the head was actually struck with a water bottle during a drunken brawl with his sister.

Joseph M. Bonnett, of 1617-A N. 11th St., could face up to a year in jail on misdemeanour counts of battery and disorderly conduct. He was charged Monday.

According to a criminal complaint:

Police were called Thursday night after Bonnett went to Aurora Sheboygan Memorial Medical Center with what he said was a gunshot wound to the head. He told police his sister or her friend shot him with a small gun.

Bonnett said he heard a bang or pop, saw a flash, felt pain and fell backwards, after which he doesn’t remember anything for 15 minutes. The officer noted Bonnett’s injury was protruding from his head, not going into it. The officer noted Bonnett smelled strongly of intoxicants.

Officers went to Bonnett’s house and found his sister, who was intoxicated, along with at least three other people. Witnesses said Bonnett had approached his sister with a knife.

The sister, who had several scratches on her arm that she said may have been caused by the knife, said Bonnett’s injury was caused when she threw a full bottle of water and struck him in the forehead.

Confronted with the conflicting account of the sister and another witness, Bonnett insisted he had been shot, saying then that it was with a large handgun. He said his sister took the gunpowder out of the bullet so it wouldn’t have enough force to penetrate his skull.

From The NorthWestern.