Michelin-star dining on edge of space ‘within months’
And other stories from the stranger side of life

Michelin-star meals served on the edge of space for $130,000 could become a reality next year, reported CNN. A space tourism venture, Zephalto, founded by former air traffic controller Vincent Farret d’Astiès, is currently selling “pre-reservation tickets” for upcoming trips in a pressurised capsule, dubbed Celeste, attached to a stratospheric balloon. The company is keen that chefs “offer something that is refined and elevated” during the trips.
Solar balloons ‘detect unexpected sounds’
Huge solar balloons sent 70,000 feet up in the air to record sounds of Earth’s stratosphere picked up some unexpected sounds, reported Washington Post. Daniel Bowman, principal scientist at Sandia National Laboratories in New Mexico, said “we have recorded surface and buried chemical explosions, thunder, ocean waves colliding, propeller aircraft, city sounds, suborbital rocket launches, earthquakes, and maybe even freight trains and jet aircraft,” adding that “we’ve also recorded sounds whose origin is unclear”.
Tourist board defends Bradford
The Yorkshire tourist board has “come out swinging” to defend Bradford after the city was been named the UK’s gloomiest place to live as it gets the least amount of sunshine anywhere in the country. “The vitality of Bradford is hard to ignore,” a spokesperson told the Daily Star. However, a local was less supportive, writing on Tripadvisor that, in 2021, Bradford was used as a substitute for 1930s Glasgow during the filming of the Channel 5 TV show All Creatures Great and Small.
Subscribe to 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.
For more odd news stories, sign up to the weekly Tall Tales newsletter
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.
-
What to know before turning to AI for financial advice
the explainer It can help you crunch the numbers — but it might also pocket your data
-
Book reviews: 'The Headache: The Science of a Most Confounding Affliction—and a Search for Relief' and 'Tonight in Jungleland: The Making of Born to Run'
Feature The search for a headache cure and revisiting Springsteen's 'Born to Run' album on its 50th anniversary
-
Keith McNally' 6 favorite books that have ambitious characters
Feature The London-born restaurateur recommends works by Leo Tolstoy, John le Carré, and more
-
The world's best astrotourism adventures
The Week Recommends From the depths of the Namib Desert to Finnish Lapland, these remote destinations are ideal for stargazing
-
Tall Tales: thousands slip in Gloucestershire cheese-rolling race
Tall Tales The Week's round-up of the latest odd news
-
Tall Tales: dogs pose at the Pet Gala
Tall Tales The Week's round-up of the latest odd news
-
Tall Tales: church dedicates service to Taylor Swift
Tall Tales The Week's round-up of the latest odd news
-
The week's good news: Oct. 12, 2023
It wasn't all bad!
-
The week's good news: Sept. 28, 2023
It wasn't all bad!
-
Cops 'arrest' Chucky doll
Tall Tales And other stories from the stranger side of life
-
Wife blasts farting OnlyFans model
Tall Tales And other stories from the stranger side of life