THE BIG LIST: The suspected Pakistani camera falcon may be just the latest effort by the world’s spy masters to deploy the feathered and the furred in espionage. Here are a few of the other animal ‘spies’ over the years.

THE BIG LIST: The Iranian “time machine” sounds a more like a crystal ball for predicting the future, rather than a machine for travelling in time – but its inventor claims he’s working on that, too. Here are a few of the other historic milestones in the development of time machines...

THE BIG LIST: The story of the heavy metal group who were banned from playing the Royal Albert Hall sounds suspiciously like the Douglas Adams’ tale about “the loudest band in the universe” – Disaster Area – whose audience were forced to listen from a concrete bunker located several miles from the speakers. Here are a few more strange musical interludes.