‘Space race dildos’ launched after Bezos flight
And other stories from the stranger side of life
After Jeff Bezos successfully launched into space in a rocket described as “phallic” by some observers, an adult entertainment company has introduced a range of dildos inspired by the “Billionaire Space Race” between the Amazon founder, Richard Branson and Elon Musk. The range includes the Blue Orgasm, Space Sex and Galadick. “Go boldly into where no one’s gone before,” said CamSoda Vice President Daryn Parker. “Explore Uranus and maybe even have a close encounter of the pantless kind.”
Bezos ‘replaced by aliens during flight’
If that wasn’t strange enough, a conspiracy theory claims Jeff Bezos was replaced by aliens during the launch. The Amazon boss took off from a desert site in West Texas on board the New Shepard and later landed in the desert. However, one Twitter user wasn’t having any of it. “I’ll probably disappear after tweeting this but Bezos’ rocket trip was designed to replace him while in orbit with the lizard-alien doppelganger,” they wrote.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Dubai makes fake rain
Dubai is making its own fake rain amid scorching conditions. The project is being led by researchers at the University of Reading, one of whom told the BBC earlier this year that researchers are attempting to get the water drops to merge and stick when they receive an electrical pulse. When the drops merge and are big enough, they fall as rain.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Chas Newkey-Burden has been part of The Week Digital team for more than a decade and a journalist for 25 years, starting out on the irreverent football weekly 90 Minutes, before moving to lifestyle magazines Loaded and Attitude. He was a columnist for The Big Issue and landed a world exclusive with David Beckham that became the weekly magazine’s bestselling issue. He now writes regularly for The Guardian, The Telegraph, The Independent, Metro, FourFourTwo and the i new site. He is also the author of a number of non-fiction books.
-
The dazzling coral gardens of Raja AmpatThe Week Recommends Region of Indonesia is home to perhaps the planet’s most photogenic archipelago.
-
‘Never more precarious’: the UN turns 80The Explainer It’s an unhappy birthday for the United Nations, which enters its ninth decade in crisis
-
Trump’s White House ballroom: a threat to the republic?Talking Point Trump be far from the first US president to leave his mark on the Executive Mansion, but to critics his remodel is yet more overreach
-
Sanae Takaichi: Japan’s Iron Lady set to be the country’s first woman prime ministerIn the Spotlight Takaichi is a member of Japan’s conservative, nationalist Liberal Democratic Party
-
Russia is ‘helping China’ prepare for an invasion of TaiwanIn the Spotlight Russia is reportedly allowing China access to military training
-
Interpol arrests hundreds in Africa-wide sextortion crackdownIN THE SPOTLIGHT A series of stings disrupts major cybercrime operations as law enforcement estimates millions in losses from schemes designed to prey on lonely users
-
China is silently expanding its influence in American citiesUnder the Radar New York City and San Francisco, among others, have reportedly been targeted
-
India's fake weddingsUnder The Radar New party trend promises all the fun of a wedding without any of the downsides
-
How China uses 'dark fleets' to circumvent trade sanctionsThe Explainer The fleets are used to smuggle goods like oil and fish
-
One year after mass protests, why are Kenyans taking to the streets again?today's big question More than 60 protesters died during demonstrations in 2024
-
What happens if tensions between India and Pakistan boil over?TODAY'S BIG QUESTION As the two nuclear-armed neighbors rattle their sabers in the wake of a terrorist attack on the contested Kashmir region, experts worry that the worst might be yet to come