Monday 10/26/09

Human Interest News — Posted on October 26, 2009

A very big boy
Muhammad Akbar Risuddin is not the heaviest baby ever born, but he’s not a lightweight, either. The 24.4-inch-long newborn, delivered by cesarean-section on Sept. 21 in Indonesia, weighed in at 19.2 pounds, which is about triple the typical weight of a newborn. Binsar Sitanggang, the lead doctor in the case at Abdul Manan Hospital in North Sumatra, told the AFP news service that Risuddin had breathing problems shortly after delivery but is healthy now: “He’s got strong appetite, every minute, it’s almost nonstop feeding.” The heaviest newborn baby on record was born in Ohio in 1879 weighing 23.8 pounds.

Rich rock
If you’re looking for large diamonds, there may not be a better place than the Premier Mine in Cullinan, South Africa. Miners recently unearthed an egg-sized precious stone said to be among the 20 most high-quality diamonds ever discovered. The discovery of the 507.55-carat gem on Sept. 24 comes more than 104 years after the discovery of the Cullinan Diamond, which weighed in at a record 3,106.75 carats in its rough form. Officials with Petra Diamonds said the recent discovery has “exceptional color and clarity” though it has yet to be priced.

A ton of trouble
Now that authorities in San Joaquin County, Calif., have built their mobile law enforcement command center, they have one last hurdle: getting the hulk street legal. The county spent $500,000 on the RV-sized mobile command center designed to help county officials with responses to natural disasters and police investigations, but never bothered to check to see whether the law allows for the specialty vehicle to be driven on the county’s roads. Turns out, it doesn’t. The vehicle is one ton over the weight limit for two-axle vehicles, meaning deputies must drive the behemoth to Ohio for a costly retrofit of another axle.

Hello kitty, goodbye bank account
The “Super Hello Kitty Jewel Doll” at the Sogo department store in Kobe, Japan, is a tiny piece of merchandise with an enormous price tag. The doll’s size: 10 centimeters tall. The price: $173,000. The justification: It’s made up of 2,346 jewels.