“A car that runs on coffee is unveiled today – but it certainly won’t take the grind out of commuting. And at between 25 and 50 times the cost of running a car on petrol, the invention won’t please any motor industry bean-counters either. Nicknamed the Car-puccino, it has been created using a converted 1988 Volkswagen Scirocco bought for $538 and chosen for its resemblance to the time-traveling DeLorean in the movie Back To The Future. The car will be driven the 210 miles between Manchester and London powered only by roasted coffee granules. It has been built by a team from the BBC1 science programme Bang Goes The Theory and will go on display at the Big Bang science fair in Manchester to show how fuels other than conventional petrol and diesel can power vehicles. The team calculates the Carpuccino will do three miles per kilo of ground coffee – the equivalent of about 56 espressos per mile.” w/ photos

“It was certainly a good way to make a family stroll around New York fun and exciting. And Liev Schreiber’s four-year-old son Sasha seemed to be having a great time as he stood on the back of an unusual contraption his 43-year-old father was wearing yesterday. The type of harness, which is called a ‘piggyback rider,’ enabled the youngster, whose real name is Alexander, to stand up on a type of board which was strapped on his father’s back. The contraption enabled the X-Men Origins actor to keep an eye on both Sasha and his two-year-old son Samuel, who he pushed along in a stroller.” w/ photos

“Forget the penthouse suite, one unusual hotel is sending its most important guests 500ft below ground to sleep. The Sala Silvermine Hotel, in Vdstmanland County, Sweden, has created a room so far beneath the earth’s surface that it can only be accessed through a mine lift shaft – which sends guests 509ft into the ground in a matter of seconds. The bizarre bedroom, which costs $518 a night, comes complete with a luxurious double bed, silver furnishings and champagne platter. But anyone who lives by their phone would be best off staying in one of the hotel’s 14 ground-level rooms as there is certainly no mobile signal down there. In fact, the only way visitors can communicate with the outside world is through the dedicated personal intercom connected to reception on the surface. And guests are warned to bring warm clothing as temperatures have been known to drop to a chilly two degrees celsius at the bottom of the cavernous mine. But don’t worry, the room itself is actually located in a warm air pocket, with relatively balmy temperatures of 18 degrees.” w/ photos

“Super-rich parents bent on spoiling their kids are forking out more than $88,000 to have luxury wendy house ‘high streets’ built in their gardens. Made up of whole miniature avenues containing replica fire houses, doctor surgeries and houses, Lilliput Play Homes provides the ultimate in rich kid playtime entertainment. These pictures show the extravagant children’s playhouses that include general stores and even mansions for their little darlings to play in at home. All of the playhouses have lavish interiors with accessories and furniture – and some even have working electricity for air conditioning should some of the kids get too hot.” w/ photos

“The world’s oldest running car, an 1884 De Dion Bouton Et Trepardoux Dos-A-Dos Steam Runabout, has been put up for sale and is expected to fetch up to $2.1million when it is auctioned off early next month. The 127-year-old steam-powered vehicle was commissioned for manufacture in France in 1881 for the Count De Dion, 12 years before Henry Ford assembled his first car. Nicknamed ‘La Marquise,’ in a tribute to De Dion’s own mother, it is only nine feet long and weighs 2,100 pounds and has a maximum speed of 38 miles per hour. The car which takes 45 minutes to generate enough steam to drive, is powered by bits of paper, wood and coal. Whilst its thin metal wheels are wrapped with solid rubber.” w/ photos

“This life-sized replica car made completely from paper has hit the road, but it’s not going anywhere fast. Brooklyn artist Jonathan Brand has constructed every single part of a 1969 Mustang coupe using nothing but paper. The 31-year-old made a digital blueprint of the car and then printed it on a large-format inkjet printer. The different components were cut out and folded to make every single part of the car, right down to the nuts and bolts. The final work will not be assembled into an entire vehicle, but remain as separate pieces of art. The vehicle is on display in an exhibition entitled ‘One Piece at a Time’ at the Hosfelt Gallery in New York City until October 29.” w/ photos + video

“It was supposed to be a canine paradise where dog owners could come to mourn the loss of their animal friends. But a dog chapel in Vermont is in imminent danger of closure, ten years after it first opened after the owner died. After her husband Stephen’s death two years ago, Gwen Huneck, of Saint Johnsbury, has been battling to keep the unique establishment open. In 2000 the couple opened a visionary church which celebrated the spiritual bond between people and their dogs. Stephen built a chapel in the style of a small village church, before attaching a handmade statue of a giant yellow labrador with wings to the roof.” w/ photos

“Everyone wants their wedding day to be original. But trained lifeguards Becky Watkinson and Samson Hutson put more effort than most into coming up with a unique wedding venue. Perhaps even more admirably, though, their 50 guests didn’t baulk at having to swim out to a little rock off the North Devon Coast to watch Becky, 24, and Samson, 26 tie the knot. Even Becky’s 80-year-old grandpa, Brian Machin took the plunge. And the groom’s father – who cannot swim – donned a lifejacket and floated to the rock on his back. After exchanging vows in wet suits and a white tutu for the bride the couple jumped 20-ft off the rock into the sea at Hele Bay, near Ilfracombe, Devon. The pair are both outdoors instructors and wanted a special service for their big day having already had a proper wedding at a registry office. Although the rock wedding wasn’t legal because it wasn’t on a licensed venue it meant a lot to the couple.” w/ photos

“Doctors have treated a young boy with a large birthmark on his face… by implanting horns in his forehead. George Ashman, 5, was born with a bright red blemish on his forehead and his mother Karen, 33, feared he would endure a lifetime of bullying. So when he was four he underwent a surgical procedure to stretch the ‘normal’ skin on his forehead so the birthmark could be removed and covered with the new unblemished tissue. Doctors inserted two tissue expanders under the skin, which gradually inflated so they looked like two perfect devil’s horns. After four months the implants were removed and the blemish was cut out, allowing the new skin to be stitched together – leaving just a small Harry Potter-style scar on George’s forehead.” w/ photos

“A Macaque monkey with a mothering side has taken two adorable kittens under her wing at a pet shop in the US and has been likened to ‘a little girl with a doll’. One-year-old Jaeda has been nurturing the two-week-old kittens ever since they arrived at the pet shop in Pekin, Illinois. The adorable pals live with pet shop owner Connie Tibbs alongside four more macaques. But it is only Jaeda who’s maternal instinct has taken over, and she has adopted the pair of fluffy friends. Mrs Tibbs, 37, said: ‘The little kittens were small enough to fit through the bars of Jaeda’s cage and one day she just grabbed one. ‘She loves to carry them around, hug them, kiss them on the head and groom them. ‘She pretends that they are her babies – it’s the equivalent of a little girl with a doll.’ The pet shop owner said: ‘I was surprised at how she took to the kittens and how attached she became to them.” w/ photo