Blog Posts by Eric Pfeiffer, Yahoo! News

The western Austrian village of Terfens has unveiled a house that is literally upside down, both on the inside and out. The house was designed by two Polish architects, Irek Glowacki and Marek Rozhanski, and is meant to be a tourist attraction.

Click image for more photos

The house is open for public viewing and includes an upside down garage, children's bedroom and even bathroom.

Over the years, there have been several fictional portrayals of upside houses, though those usually involved simply placing the items in an otherwise normal house onto the room's ceiling. As you can see from the photos, this is a truly unusual creation, where the actual house itself, including the foundation, appears to be fully turned on its head.

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A sculpture of the Loch Ness Monster in a Wisconsin river (AP/Eau Claire Leader-Telegram/Dan Reiland)The Loch Ness Monster has finally surfaced—in Wisconsin's Chippewa River. And state officials want it to go.

To be clear, the object in question is actually a sculpture meant to resemble "Nessie," the mythological creature supposedly navigating a deep body of water in Scotland.

Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources spokesman Dan Baumann says the sculpture is illegally obstructing the Chippewa and needs to be removed. However, like the origins of the Loch Ness Monster itself, the identity of the sculpture's creator remains a mystery.

An anonymous reader did contact the Eau Claire Leader-Telegram, saying the sculpture would be removed within 10 days. "As much as I would like to leave it there, I don't want the DNR finding out it was me and fining me for it," wrote the anonymous emailer.

In addition, the owner of a local home-improvement store says the sculpture would make a good fit in some water retention sites on the company's property.

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Two Solomon Islands residents reading a newspaper (AP/Rob Griffith)

Researchers have discovered a single gene that caused inhabitants of the Solomon Islands to have the unique combination of very dark skin and very blond hair.

On Thursday, the journal Science reported that a single gene mutation is responsible for the unique pairing. Perhaps most interesting, the findings debunk theories that residents of the Solomon Islands got their blond hair from intermarrying with European explorers.

"[T]he human characteristic of blond hair arose independently in equatorial Oceania," study researcher Eimear Kenny said in a statement. "That's quite unexpected and fascinating."

Kenny and fellow researcher Sean Myles gathered saliva samples from 43 blond-haired children and 42 dark-haired children on the island to compare their genes. Myles said the frequency of blond hair is comparable to the numbers found in Europe.

"They have this very dark skin and bright blond hair. It was mind-blowing," Myles said in a statement. "As a geneticist on the beach watching the kids playing, you count up the frequency of kids with blond hair, and say, 'Wow, it's 5 to 10 percent.'"

The findings are reportedly a bit of an anomaly, as it is rare for a single physical trait to be traced back to one gene change, according to Live Science.

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A young bear that became an Internet sensation after falling from a tree has died after being hit by a car. It was a whirlwind week for the bear, which shot to prominence last week when it climbed into a tree near the University of Colorado campus, then fell to safety after being tranquilized by local police.

The Denver Post reports that the 208-pound black bear had wandered into the Denver-bound lanes of U.S. highway 36 when a vehicle struck it at 5:40 Thursday morning.

"It's a bummer. It's so hard to go through this and not be able to give these bears a good place to live," said Colorado Parks and Wildlife spokeswoman Jennifer Churchill. "The community sees relocating bears as a kind of perfect solution, and unfortunately it's a really difficult proposition."

Churchill said authorities were able to identify the bear by an ear tag that had been placed on him after the tree incident last week.

After it was safely removed from the tree near the CU campus, wildlife officials had relocated the bear to a wilderness area about 50 miles west of Boulder, according to the Post.

Colorado State Patrol Trooper Josh Lewis told the paper that two cars were involved in the accident, resulting in minor injuries to one of the drivers.

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Inmate Richard Amaro holds Clementine as part of the "Cuddly Catz" program (Rick Bowmer/AP)

A prison in Washington State has begun testing out a new program, "Cuddly Catz," matching inmates with cats who have been rescued from shelters.

The Associated Press reports that inmate Joey Contreras, 28, was transferred from a 40 man dorm into a two-person cell in March. But it's the cell's third occupant, "Princess Natalie," who has made the biggest difference in his daily routine.

"Nobody was wanting to adopt her," Contreras said. "We got her and it's been awesome ever since."

Princess Natalie was living in a shelter and scheduled to be put down before she was adopted out to the fledgling program. Like many of her new neighbors, Princess Natalie struggled with social norms: biting and hissing and nearly anyone who came across her path.

Of course, the rescue cats aren't being paired with just anyone. Contreras is being held at the minimum security Larch Correctional Facility and already demonstrated a pre-determined period of good behavior before being given the opportunity to pair with the six-year-old cat. And if the prisoners don't continue to stay in line, they will lose their cat privileges and be returned to the general prison population.

The reported goal of the program is to give the prisoners some positive responsibility that will hopefully help transition them during their eventual integration back civil society.

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WAA/HH inventor David Edwards poses with his new creation (Photo by Foc Kan/WireImage)A French American scientist has invented a new alcohol spray that instantly intoxicates the user. However, the effects are nearly as brief, wearing off in a matter of moments.

The spray, WA|HH Quantum Sensations, was created by David Edwards and was unveiled during a recent Paris exhibition.

The short-term effects are reportedly due to the 0.075 millileter dosage. In other words, it would take 1,000 sprays to equal the level of alcohol contained in one conventional drink.

The spray bottle itself was created by French product designer Philippe Starck and will be sold for about $26.

Reportedly, not only does the sensation of being drunk wear off almost immediately but the user would also supposedly be able to pass a breathalyzer test, verifying that they are no longer under the influence of alcohol.

In other words, you won't be needing to pay a visit to the Hangover Heaven bus in Las Vegas.

Edwards has also invented other sprays, which allow you to taste various foods and drinks,

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An exhibition in The Met's Byzantine gallery (AP/Gregory Bull)New York City's Metropolitan Museum of Art (The Met) is one of the world's premier destinations for artistic and historical exhibitions. But this epicenter of worldly culture is not above admitting the occasional mistake. Even when the correction comes from one curious 13-year-old boy.

The Hartford Courant reports that 13-year-old Benjamin Lerman Coady found an error in the Met's Byzantine Gallery during a recent visit. The seventh-grader is a fledgling history buff who recently studied the Byzantine Empire in school.

While checking some of the dates on the map, Coady noticed that sections featuring Spain and Africa were missing.

Before leaving the museum, Coady attempted to inform the museum that the map was inaccurate. "The front desk didn't believe me," he told the paper. "I'm only a kid."

However, Coady received an email from the museum's senior vice president for external affairs, notifying him that his request was being forwarded to the museum's medieval affairs department for further review.

A few months later, Helen Evans, the Met's curator for Byzantine art, sent Coady an email: "You are, of course, correct about the boundaries of the Byzantine Empire under Justinian," she wrote.

Evans even invited Coady back to the museum to meet with her in person. She says the Met is working on updating the map but isn't sure when a new, more accurate rendition can be put on display.

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A member of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) during a recent protest in the Phillippines (AP/Aaron Favila)

Thinking of giving up meat from your diet? The potential health benefits of a green diet are well established, but a story by the Mother Nature Network (MNN) says there are also some potential side effects and health risks associated with a vegetarian lifestyle.

Could low cholesterol kill you? A study by the Honolulu Heart Program found that elderly people with a "low cholesterol concentration" had a "significant association with mortality." In addition, a 2009 review published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that while vegetarians have an overall lower rate of cancer compared with meat eaters, vegetarians do have a 39 percent higher rate of colorectal cancer.

Other health concerns associated with vegetarianism cited by MNN included lower bone mineral density and lower levels of vitamin B12. However, the publishers of the bone density study said the "magnitude of the association is clinically insignificant," at just around 5 percent.

Going vegetarian appears to have gained popularity in recent years. A recent Yahoo Sports article even examined the diet of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fighter Jake Shields. Though much of the media's focus has been on a worldwide trend toward bigger diets, whether that's Pizza Hut offering strange fast food mashups or yet another customer at the Heart Attack Grill proving that there is truth in advertising.

The lesson in these potential risk-factors seems to be that if you're going to become a vegan or vegetarian, you'll need to spend more time planning your nutritional choices to help ensure a balanced intake of vitamins and other nutrients. Though if you don't have the time or inclination for such efforts, there may be another option. University of Idaho nutritionist Katie Minor says that a "flexitarian" diet may be a viable third way.

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