UPI NewsTrack Quirks in the News

Survey: Family tops presents at holidays

NEW YORK, Dec. 8 (UPI) -- A poll of U.S. adults suggests spending time with family and friends is the favorite holiday season activity for most people.

The Harris Interactive poll of 2,303 adults, conducted online between Nov. 2 and Nov. 11, found 62 percent of respondents most look forward to spending time with loved ones during the holiday season while only 2 percent cited receiving presents as their favorite holiday activity.

The poll also found 8 percent of those surveyed do not look forward to the winter holidays.

Twenty-three percent of respondents chose "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" as their favorite animated TV special of Christmas and the surrounding holidays, while 22 percent picked "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" and 20 percent chose "A Charlie Brown Christmas."

Scientists discover curly hair gene

BRISBANE, Australia, Dec. 8 (UPI) -- Researchers at Australia's Queensland Institute of Medical Research said they have discovered the gene responsible for dictating the curliness of hair.

Researcher Professor Nick Martin said his team discovered variations in the trichohyalin gene, which was previously known to have a role in the development of hair follicles, are responsible for the curliness or straightness of hair, the Melbourne Herald-Sun reported Tuesday.

Martin said the discovery could have major implications for hair treatments.

"Potentially we can now develop new treatments to make hair curlier or straighter, rather than treating the hair directly," he said. "I will be discussing this with a major cosmetic company in Paris in January."

He said the find could also have applications in forensic science.

"We might be able to refine identikit pictures, using DNA to say whether the suspect had straight or curly hair," Martin said.

Police: Tinsel trail led to tree thief

DENBIGH, Wales, Dec. 8 (UPI) -- Welsh police said they followed a trail of tinsel to a thief who took a Christmas tree and numerous decorations from a garden center's children's grotto.

Police in Denbigh, Wales, said security cameras recorded Michael Brown, 31, taking the fully decorated tree, a toy helicopter and model Santas from the Secret Garden grotto. Investigators arrested Brown after the crime by following the trail of tinsel falling from the tree, The Daily Mail reported Tuesday.

Investigators said Brown, who admitted to the theft, had already sold the tree to a stranger by the time of his arrest but the other items, which he said he planned to give as Christmas presents, were recovered.

Prestatyn Magistrates' Court ordered Brown to pay a $105 fine, $148 compensation to Secret Garden and $162 in costs.

'Celebrity' stars in hot water over rat

MURWILLUMBAH, Australia, Dec. 8 (UPI) -- A pair of Britons are being charged with animal cruelty in Australia for slaughtering and eating a rat on TV show "I'm a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!"

Authorities said Gino D'Acampo, a TV chef and winner of the reality show, and actor Stuart Manning beheaded a rat for use in a risotto during the ninth season of series without obtaining official permission to slaughter the animal, The (Sydney) Times reported Tuesday.

The two men are scheduled to appear in a Murwillumbah court Feb. 3 on animal cruelty charges. They could each face up to three years in prison if convicted.

"The allegation is that an animal was cruelly treated on the set," said Chief Inspector David O'Shannessy of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. "There is a code of conduct in NSW (New South Wales) that dictates how animals can be used. The killing of a rat for a performance is not acceptable."

O'Shannessy said investigators have not ruled out charges against the network that produces "Celebrity," ITV.