The University of Derby, UK has launched a new degree in computer game animation in a bid to create the next Lara Croft. The BA (Hons) degree in "computer games modelling and animation" has the backing of Core Design, the Derby-based firm which created Lara Croft and the Tomb Raider game.

Instead of hitting the beach for Spring Break, a college student spent his time off at an Iowa Wal-Mart , becoming a celebrity of sorts. Skyler Bartels spent 41 hours earlier this month wandering the Wal-Mart Supercenter in Windsor Heights to test the retail giant's advertising of being able to get anything day or night.

A North Korean music prodigy risked his life to escape the communist country so he could pursue his love of jazz. Reuters reports Kim Cheol-woong, 31, first heard jazz piano while studying overseas. The classically trained pianist wanted to play the less regimented style of music, but could not do so in the dictatorial regime.

When confronted by police during a Northwest Side rampage, 33-year-old Jakub Fik cut off his own penis, and hurled his severed organ and several knives at the officers. The stunned police officers then stunned Fik with a Taser and took him into custody. Chicago Police Sgt. Edward Dolan of the 16th District says, "We took him out without any serious injury, with the exception of his own. "

It may not be as malodorous as the Body Farm at the University of Tennessee, but this "bank" in eastern China has at least as many different smells. Police in the city of Nanjing are using the country's first human body odor bank to help train their dogs to find criminals.