An American early warning system to alert astronomers of an impending asteroid strike has been defended this week, despite mistakenly identifying the European Space Agency’s Rosetta spacecraft for a big lump of rock. A potential ‘near-miss’ warning was issued and presumably people were running round like headless chickens screaming until some smart-arse realised the giant boulder had wings.

Shark fin soup is considered a delicacy in many Far Eastern restaurants but there are fears that many species are now being hunted to extinction to feed the fad. In light of falling numbers in the wild, a Japanese company has launched fake shark fins – made out of pork. The move away from sharks is to be applauded and the initial response from customers seems quite favourable, but surely there is a major flaw in the plan. Isn’t it now just pork soup?

Each year, modern cars are getting more fuel-efficient, but German car-makers appear to be the exception; an average new German car now produces more CO₂ per kilometre than it did a year ago. Australia isn’t much better when it comes to pollution having just been found to be the world's worst polluter per capita, producing five times as much CO₂ from generating power as China. However, the UK doesn’t have much to crow about as it dumps more household waste into landfill than any other country in the European Union – we’re rubbish at everything.

Nutritionists claim only one in ten lunchboxes contains food that meets the nutritional guidelines for our kids. Worse still, 80% of the food thrown into primary school rubbish bins is sandwiches, fruit and yoghurt – all the good stuff. It seems children are surviving on crisps and chocolate which are high in fat, salt and sugar. It’s all so wrong, but it tastes so right.

And finally, over 60% of diabetics risk serious foot injury or even amputation by wearing the wrong size shoes. High blood glucose causes nerve damage and lack of blood flow in the feet and these can work together to cause major foot problems. Many diabetics are unknowingly wearing shoes that do not fit and which are causing serious ulcerations.