>A New York state native living in Germany has obtained a U.S. patent for an invention designed to make creating snowmen easier. Marc Asperas, a patent lawyer with a background in engineering, said his beach ball-like spheres create “the perfect snowman” when a small generator gives them an electric charge, causing snow to cling to the surface of the spheres. “We have created the Internet. China is getting ready to send a person to the moon. And we invented Silly Putty, perhaps one of the all-time greatest inventions a big kid ever invented. Can’t somebody build a better snowman?” Asperas’ patent application reads. “Today is that day.”

Utah State University announced students set a world record for the “longest kissing chain” when 1,450 people locked lips in the school’s quad. The university said the kissing chain Friday night far eclipsed the previous record of 303 people, set earlier this year at a school in India. The event was organized by the USU Student Alumni Association as part of homecoming week festivities. The group said it is awaiting word from Guinness World Records.

A Carnegie, Pennsylvania, man said he is proud of his 2-year-old pit bull for saving the life of an elderly woman who fell into a ditch. Jimmie Belchick said Cobain, his American pit bull terrier, found the woman crumpled at the bottom of a ditch about 1 p.m. Saturday and quickly ran to alert his master. “My dog put Lassie to shame. He came and alerted me when somebody needed help and what more can you ask for out of your dog,” Belchick said. Belchick said the woman appeared weak and had trouble speaking. She was taken to the hospital, where paramedics said she is expected to be fine.

A Napoleonville, Louisiana, woman who has been growing her hair out for 12 years has been awarded the Guinness World Record for the world’s largest afro. Aevin Dugas applied for the Guinness certification when a friend saw a picture of her afro picked out to its largest point, with a circumference of 4-foot-4, on Facebook and she soon heard back from the record keeping organization. Dugas said she loves her long hair, but it occasionally gets her into trouble. “Sometimes it gets in the way. Once I slammed it in a car door,” she said.

An Australian woman whose 8-foot crocodile turned bright orange after eating the water filter from its tank says the critter does not appear to be otherwise affected. Tracey Sandstrom, owner of Roaming Reptiles in Melbourne, said Snappy the crocodile turned a bright orange color after making a meal out of the water filter and causing the pH levels in its water to shift. “Snappy’s pretty territorial and he attacked the filter one day and a few weeks after that, I noticed he was orange,” Sandstrom said. “It doesn’t seem to have affected him at all. He’s still got a healthy appetite … and [is] doing everything he always does.”

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