Transparent-bottom pool between high-rises

A development in London opened the world’s largest freestanding acrylic pool structure — a transparent-bottom pool suspended 115 feet over the ground. EcoWorld Ballymore said the Sky Pool connects the 10th stories of the Embassy Gardens skyscrapers in London’s Nine Elms neighbourhood.

The swimming pool, designed to be the world’s largest freestanding acrylic pool structure, was created by architects Arup Associates, engineers Eckersley O’Callaghan and aquarium designers Reynolds.

The pool is 82 feet long and stretches from one building to the other, with a transparent bottom allowing swimmers to look all the way down to the ground. The pool is 10 feet deep and contains nearly 415 tonnes of water.

A pizza vending machine!

Rome has a new vending machine, which slides out freshly cooked pizzas in just three minutes.

Buyers using the flaming red “Mr Go Pizza” machine can choose from four different kinds of pizzas. The machine kneads and tops the dough and customers can watch the pizza cook behind a small glass window.

Reviews by customers of the machine ranged from “acceptable if you’re in a hurry” to outright horror, with most rejecting the artificiality of its baking technique in the machine than traditionally oven-baked pizzas.

It is generally accepted that pizza was perfected in Naples, where it was a street food for the poor. Tradition holds that Esposito created the classic “Pizza Margherita” on June 11, 1889, to honour the queen consort, Margherita of Savoy, during her visit to Naples with King Umberto I.

He used tomatoes, mozzarella and basil leaves to represent the colours of the flag of a just united Italy — red, white and green. A plaque is affixed to a wall in Naples saying, “Pizza Margherita was born here.”

Man collects 20,000 fast-food toys

The Guinness World Record holder for the largest collection of fast-food toys said his collection has now doubled to 20,000 toys.

Percival Lugue of Apalit, Philippines, was awarded a Guinness World Record in 2014 when his collection of kids’ meal toys from eateries, including McDonald’s, Burger King and Jollibee, was tallied at 10,000 items. His eventual goal is to use his collection to start a museum for fast-food toys.

Published in Dawn, Young World, May 29th, 2021