83-years-old Bette Calman is living proof that the ancient art of yoga can do wonders on the human body.

Bette Calman has been practicing and teaching yoga for the last 40 years and, although other people her age can hardly move anymore, she can pool of difficult yoga moves that put teenagers to shame. She can execute the “peacock” a difficult position in which the body is held horizontally, using only the power of the arms, the “bridge”, “lotus” and can stand on her head with unnatural ease.

Asked when she is going to retire, Calman said

‘You’re never too old. The body is a remarkable instrument.

‘It can stretch and stretch, and get better all the time. Forget age’

Ms Bette Calman teaches up to 11 classes every week, in Williamstown, Australia, teaching others the remarkable effects of yoga.

London received a striking visitor recently as the worlds newly-crowned tallest man, Turkish Sultan Kösen (26) who measures a staggering 8 ft 1 in (246.5 cm), toured the city in celebration of the launch of Guinness World Records 2010 edition (published 17th of September).

Earlier this year, Guinness World Records Editor-in-Chief, Craig Glenday, travelled to Turkey to personally validate the claim of Kösen under strict Guinness World Records guidelines, which stipulate that the claimant must be measured three times in one day. The average of the measurements is the definitive height as it is medically proven that the body expands and shrinks throughout the day. To Glendays surprise, he discovered that Kösen also has the worlds largest hands and largest feet measuring 27.5 cm and 36.5 cm, respectively, making him a triple record holder. Kösen is also the first person in more than a decade to officially measure over 8 ft in height. He takes the record title from Chinas Bao Xi Shun (7 ft 8.95 in), after Ukrainian Leonid Stadnyks (8 ft 5.5 in) claim to the title was discredited in 2008 when he refused to be independently measured.

Glenday said: We only know of 10 confirmed or reliable cases in history of humans reaching 8 ft or more. Sultans an imposing figure, but a gentle, quiet man whos totally relaxed and unfazed about his unique standing in the world. Its a pleasure to welcome him into the Guinness World Records family and celebrate his mark as one of the most important record holders of this decade.

A snake with a single clawed foot has been discovered in China.

Dean Qiongxiu, 66, said she discovered the reptile clinging to the wall of her bedroom with its talons in the middle of the night.

“I woke up and heard a strange scratching sound. I turned on the light and saw this monster working its way along the wall using his claw,” said Mrs Duan of Suining, southwest China.

Mrs Duan said she was so scared she grabbed a shoe and beat the snake to death before preserving its body in a bottle of alcohol.

The snake – 16 inches long and the thickness of a little finger – is now being studied at the Life Sciences Department at China’s West Normal University in Nanchang.

Snake expert Long Shuai said: “It is truly shocking but we won’t know the cause until we’ve conducted an autopsy.”

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Yeti experts are heading to Poland after a local man filmed a “monstrous, hairy creature” while on holiday in the Tatra mountains. There have been rumours of a Polish Yeti in the area for centuries but this is the first time one of the strange creatures has been captured on film.

Piotr Kowalski, 27, from Warsaw was on a walking holiday in the Tatra mountains in Poland when he saw a mountain goat on one of the slopes. As he started filming, his attention was suddenly grabbed by the Yeti creature emerging from behind some rocks.

“I saw this huge ape-like form hiding behind the rocks. When I saw it it was like being struck by a thunderbolt,” he said.

“Coming from Warsaw, I never really believed the local stories of a wild mountain ape-man roaming the slopes. But, now I do.”

The film has been handed over for examination to the Nautilus Foundation, which deals with unexplained phenomena. “The film clearly shows ’something’ that moves on two legs and is bigger than a normal man,” says Foundation President Robert Bernatowicz.

“But because the camera shakes so much it is difficult to say what it is exactly. We need to go to the site and see what traces, if any, were left.”

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