strange

We've gathered together some of the very oddest, funniest and most interesting stories of the week from around the web. And it has been a pretty strange week. Enjoy.

1)World's First Burger Grown in a Lab

We really are living in the future. Scientists have taken cells from cows in Holland, grown them into muscle and then combined that to make the world's first man-made beef burger-which was then cooked and eaten live on TV.

However the question everyone was asking, is does it actually taste like a burger? Opinions on the matter ranged from, "It's a very good start", to "there is quite some intense taste; it's close to meat, but it's not that juicy".

To make the story that bit more odd, it turns out that the mystery backer who has invested £215,000 into the project is actually the co-founder of Google. Whether you think it is the solution to world hunger, or a horrible experiment that shouldn't be repeated, it has certainly got people talking.

You hear odd stories on the internet all the time, but it seems as though this week they have gone in to overdrive. Every day something strange has appeared, each story more unusual than the last. Here we have a round-up of some of the more bizarre news stories of the week.

Speed of Sound Skydive

An Austrian adventurer has decided it is a good idea to jump out of a hot air balloon 36.5km above the earth, on the edge of space (pictured above). Felix Baumgartner yesterday attempted to break the world record for the highest ever skydive, as well as becoming the first human to reach the speed of sound unaided by a vehicle.

Him and his vast team of scientists were all set to go in Roswell, Mew Mexico yesterday afternoon, but unfortunately weather conditions were too windy. The specially designed balloon that will take him up to such heights cannot cope with even the lightest of winds due to how thin the material is. The team are hoping that they will be able to attempt it again tomorrow.

One of the stranger stories of the year hit Britain this weekend, as police hunted for a lion on the loose in Essex. The police were called in after there were numerous sightings from locals of what looked like a lion. However, after a fruitless 24-hours, the search was called off due to a lack of any evidence being found.

This bizarre story all started when a holidaymaker reported that he had seen a lion in a field near the Essex coast on Sunday evening. A grainy photo (above) of the animal was shown to experts at the nearby Colchester Zoo, who admitted that there was the possibility it was a lion.

With this ‘confirmation' the police got involved, advising people in the local area to stay indoors. With the news unsurprisingly spreading across Twitter like wildfire, more and more supposed sightings came flooding in and police launched a huge search for the beast. By Monday morning there were 25 officers, a specialist firearm unit and two police helicopters all on the hunt for the Essex Lion. A second picture supposedly taken in the local area also hit the news: