Reykjavik and two other towns in Iceland will observe lights out on Thursday night so that people can gaze at the night sky. Residents have been instructed to sit in their houses during the blackout.

A German film-maker notoriously criticized for putting out bad films has chosen to hit back at his detractors in a most unexpected venue - the boxing ring. Film director Uwe Boll took on four of his biggest critics in a boxing match in Vancouver, emerging victorious from the contest in front of a crowd of 600 people.

Artificial gills that would allow humans to breathe underwater may be in the works. Scientists are studying how beetles stay alive while being submerged underwater. Scientists in England studied water-repellent surfaces and found that they have tiny structures that stick out and the water droplets collect on them.

Spanish police officers congregated to watch a video presentation on promotion methods, were instead shown a clipping from hard-core pornographic film, authorities said Tuesday. Computer technicians blamed the glitch on a virus that got activated as the video was turned on. The incident happened Monday when nearly 120 Madrid city police officers gathered at an auditorium to see the video on operations at an academy where they are to study, the Madrid regional justice and interior ministry said.

A statue of fictional boxer Rocky Balboa, used as background during a famous training scene in the film starred by Sylvester Stallone, could finally be placed back at the steps of the Philadelphia Art Museum. The placement of the 8-foot, 6-inch bronze statue has been under debate since Stallone donated it in 1982 after the filming of "Rocky III. " The donation was declined by the art museum and since then the statue has spent two decades standing outside a sports arena in South Philadelphia. More recently, it has been in storage since it was used in the latest movie in the "Rocky" saga, the yet-to-be-released "Rocky Balboa. "