An industrial designer has created a portable swing which can be deployed quickly and easily apparently turning any surrounding into a playground.

Kevin Shay from San Francisco says he came up with the idea when trying to think of something which was fun and prompted interaction between an object and the user.

His resulting UpSwing is a canvas and leather swing which can be installed on trees, lampposts or anything you can throw it over.

Shay says the the best place he has used the UpSwing is in the middle of Valencia street during Cinco de Mayo. "Seeing people's faces turn from confused to genuine excitement as they see the swing unfold is truly satisfying," he said.

We've seen plenty of videos of mountain bikers riding ridiculous downhills, but this one from Marcelo Gutierrez is just crazy.

In the four minute 50 second clip the Colombian rider can be seen riding down 1,000 steps at Monserrate Mountain in Bogotá, the capital city of Colombia.

The death-defying descent was part of the Red Bull Downhill time trial and saw him descend 2,000 metres in just 4 minutes and 27 seconds.

However, it wasn't enough to win, Slovak mountain biker Filip Polc completed the course in a second less … but he didn't have a video camera on him.

Brits are so desperate to get a suntan that half of them will burn on the first day of their holiday, a survey has revealed.

A study of 2,000 holiday-makers found that 14 per cent of Brits don’t even use sun tan protection on the very first day of their holiday, and 25 per cent use a really low factor.

Asked why they are so desperate to get a tan, 68 per cent of people blame their addiction to the sunshine on the terrible British weather.

Half of people travelling this summer said they will consider their holiday a complete and utter flop if they don’t walk away with a decent tan.

Even those people who start the holiday by religiously applying lotions and potions stop using them by day four if they haven’t achieved a perfect bronzed complexion. 

A team of 4,000 children have built the world's tallest LEGO tower in South Korea using an impressive 500,000 colored bricks.

Built to celebrate the 80th anniversary of LEGO, the mega-construction - which used a cross formation at the base for stability - even required a hydraulic platform to complete.

The final brick was stuck in place by the Crown Prince Frederick of Denmark… yes after all those children had done all the hard work!

It's no secret that some pet owners spoil their animals, whether it's giving them the best food, constant belly rubs or £1,200 beds to sleep in … wait what?

A range of designer pet beds has gone on sale for pampered pooches and pussy cats which are made by master cabinetmakers and cost more than most furniture for humans.

The pet furniture from Cedel Pets and Style -- which is miniaturized versions of typical bedroom furniture -- can cost up to £1,200

Many models even include little pillows, duvets and tiny bedside tables, though we can't imagine what a cat keeps in a bedside table.

A surfer who caught a massive wave off the coast of Portugal back in November of last year has been told by Guinness World Records it was the largest wave ever ridden.

44-year-old Garrett McNamara somehow managed to ride the 78ft (24m) wall of water at Nazare and has video footage to prove it. This video then was analyzed by big wave and photography experts.

After the video was verified and measured it was declared that the wave was 12 inches taller than the previous record from 2008. McNamara was also awarded $15,000 (£9,309) for the ride at the Billabong XXL Global Big Wave Awards.

However McNamara says he didn't know the wave was a record breaker at the time. "I knew it was big, but I didn't know how big," he said.

One in five young adult British holiday-makers who go abroad will return home with a tattoo, it has been discovered.

A survey of 1,790 people found that a surprising number of Brits return from their holiday with inked skin to go along with their key rings, postcards and dodgy souvenirs.

19% of 18-25-year-olds said they had previously had a tattoo done while away. 54% said they knew someone else who had had a tattoo done whilst on holiday.

The majority of respondents who admitted to having a tattoo done whilst on holiday were female; comprising 65% of the total number of tattooed respondents.

Of those, two thirds, 67%, claimed to regret their choice. Not surprising when you think that 27% get tattoos of stars, 22% get a phrase and 16% a heart shape.

Last week Prince Charles and his wife, the Duchess of Cornwall, visited the BBC headquarters in Glasgow. While there they had a go at presenting the weather.

During Reporting Scotland BBC newsreader Sally Magnusson handed over to Prince Charles for his lunchtime weather forecast.

Reading a specially-written script -- which included references to royal residences in Scotland - Prince Charles delivered the bulletin to shocked viewers as he stood in front of the BBC's weather map.

Since then online clips of the bizarre forecast (Camilla also had a go) have been watched millions of times around the world and hundreds of articles written about it… like this one.

Many city cyclists struggle to get themselves noticed as they do battle with cars, buses and lorries. But not any more, meet the Hornster ... a bicycle equipped with a horn that is louder than Concorde.

At close quarters the Hornster bicycle emits 178 decibels; a level of sound so powerful that if used in anger it could deafen any motorist who veered too close.
 
The Hornster bicycle was developed by the Environmental Transport Association (ETA) to highlight the dangers that cyclists face on city roads. Trucks are involved in over half of cyclist fatalities that occur in London.

The triple air horn fitted to the bicycle is an Airchime KH3A from an American locomotive, which has been adapted to run off a scuba diving cylinder. 

Have you ever seen an ostrich running down a busy road? No, well you should probably rectify that pretty sharpish by clicking play on this video.

This quick-footed bird is understood to have escaped from a farm in Saudi Arabia before heading onto a busy road where it (mostly) dodged cars.

It is not known whether the feathered critter managed to escape or was apprehended by authorities and returned to the farm… or went on to star in a cartoon.