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Radiocarbon dating tests have revealed that a half-round of fruit found by Japanese archaeologists is about 2,100 years old.

The archaeological dig, centered around the city of Moriyama about 200 miles southwest of Tokyo in western Japan, is thought to be the first to find a piece of melon with intact flesh on the rind. Moriyama city official Shuji Yamazaki says this melon is thought to be the oldest such find.

According to official reports, the melon was effectively vacuum-sealed - preventing micro organisms from breaking down the melon naturally and leading to it’s remarkable preservation.

Previous fruity discoveries in the region include melon seeds and rinds. An archaeology team in China found another piece of intact melon, thought to date back to the fourth century AD.

Last week, Dutch television company Endemol was lambasted by people the world over for starting production on The Big Donor Show. Allegedly, three critically-ill dialysis patients would compete for a kidney from a dying woman.

Turns out the dying woman was an actress, but the three contestants are real patients in need of a kidney transplant. The contestants knew the show was a stunt from the start, but gladly participated to raise awareness of the critical shortage of organ donors in the Netherlands.

Big Donor Show presenter Patrick Lodiers said, “We are not giving away a kidney here, that is going too far even for us.” Just as the show’s “donor”, Lisa, was about to reveal her selected winner.

That may’ve been shocking for viewers who’d bought the premise of the show, but as Lodiers said, the reality was more shocking. Some 200 people in the Netherlands die each year waiting for a kidney - the average wait is over four years.

The show was hailed a “fantastic stunt” by Ronald Plasterk, Dutch Culture Minister. Before the show’s broadcast, Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenede had criticized the show, fearing it would have a negative impact on people’s view of the Netherlands.

And kidney patient Caroline Klingers, who watched the show from a treatment center in Bussum, also praised the program, saying: “It’s good for the publicity - there are no losers.”

German visual artist Carsten Hoeller is hunting for a group of people willing to wear special goggles for eight days. Sounds easy enough, right?

The catch is, these goggles will literally turn your world upside down.  Volunteers will wear the goggles during waking hours, and sleep blindfolded to avoid catching a glimpse of the world right-side up when they first wake.

Hoeller specializes in artistic explorations of behavior, logic and altered perception. He participants in this latest experiment to wear the goggles for eight days leading up to a stage performance at the Manchester International Festival later this month.

“The essence of art is to provide a novel experience,” festival director Alex Poots told the BBC. “But what could be more novel than getting the viewer, in this case a volunteer, to view the world from an unexpected angle and be part of the experience.”

Participants will live together with assistants during the eight-day experiment. Hoeller’s volunteers will remove their goggles  in front of a live audience at Manchester’s Opera House during the Il Tempo Del Postino Group Show.

Hoeller’s previous works include the Test Site at London’s Tate Modern Turbine Hall and an event where the audience was invited to sniff a love pheremone while watching a film of bonobo apes mating.

Using a plunger as a bath plug wasn’t such a hot idea for 79-year-old German Dieter Bayer - he slipped and ended up impaled on the device.

When Bayer had finished bathing, he stood up and slipped on a bar of soap he’d dropped in the water. He fell heavily, landing on the plunger, the wooden handle of which ended up wedged firmly up his backside.

Bayer’s wife Frieda rushed to his side when she heard his anguished screams, but was unable to pull him free. She called emergency services immediately.

“There was a lot of blood, the injury was very serious, he could have died,” said one ambulance spokesperson.

Bayer was in surgery for eight hours to repair the damage. He will be staying in hospital for at least two weeks to recover.

Stuart Kennedy, a 24-year-old student working as a strip-o-gram in Aberdeen, Scotland, never thought his act would cause him any trouble. But today, he’s facing a trial for waving a baton during his performance.

“I do not believe this is in the public interest,” Kennedy told BBC Scotland.

In March, two female police officers saw Kennedy in costume. They followed him into the club where he performs and after watching his show, asked him to accompany them to the local police station.

“It was all quite friendly. When I went back later they said they were going to charge me,” Kennedy told the BBC. Kennedy was charged with wearing a police uniform and equipment.

Earlier this month, the  charges were revised. Kennedy is now facing allegations of having offensive weapons, including a police-style baton, in a public place. The other charges are no longer being pursued.

Jim Craigen, the principal fiscal despute in the case confirmed: “Stuart Kennedy has been cited to appear at Aberdeen Sheriff Court in relation to three charges of possession of offensive weapons.”

A plea of not guilty was lodged at the court on Mr Kennedy’s behalf yesterday and trial dates have been set for later in the year.