Yellowstone, Whoming
A supervolcano under Yllowstone national parks is 2.5 times bigger than previously thought and could be "catastrophic" for the planet if were to erupt. With a 90km-long magma chamber, gologists say it could produce an ash cloud that wolud make two-thirds of the US uninhabitable. Luckily, schientist say no eruption is imminent, but they will be keeping close eye on it!
Google robots
Silocn Vallely, San Francisc
BigDog, a four-legged all-terrain robot developed for tye US military, and Cheetah, a robot that can outrun the fastest human, now belong to Google. The internet giant has just bought Boston Dynamics, a company known for building robots that look like they belong in a science-fiction film.
The question is, what will it do with tehm?
Space balloon
Mojave desert, New Mexico
A US firm plans to take eight people to the edge of space inside a gondola attached to a helium balloon. Tickets have gone on sale for an eight-hour flight taking off from Richard Brasnon's spaceport in the Mojave desert in 2016. At a maximum cruising height of 31km, passengers will be able to see the Earth's curvature and even beam back "selfies" thanks to the on-board wi-fi. Price: $75,000!
Too rich for jail
Keller, Texas
A rich teenager who killed four people while drink-driving was spared jail on the grouds that he was so spoilt by his parents that he was unable to tell right from wrong. Ethan Couch, 16, faced 20 years in youth detention and jail, but the judge accepted a defence psychologist's argument that Couch was suffering from "affluenza". He is to attend a $450,000-a-year rehab center instead, paid for by his father
Art-sitters
New York
It's the latest must-have among rich New Yorkers: an art-sitter. According to Kristina Wilson, the founder of Sitters Studio, artists make perfect babysitters.
"There is something about having an actor who really commits to a story," she says. Parents can also choose from opera singers, painters and Broadway dancers. According to Wilson, the latter are ideal for looking after hyperactive children as "they are on their feet a lot"!
Fast-food strikes
America
Thousands of fast-food workers held a 24-hour strike in cities across the US to demand that the minimum wage be raised to $14 (11€) an hour. The current minimum wage,set in 2009, is $7.25 (5.30€) an hour. The action came a day after Barack Obama declared taht income equality was "the definding challene of our time". Fast-food staff, he said, "work their tails off and are still living at or barely above poverty."
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