Space Scales

The concept of 'weight', as we all know, is an artefact of our environment. If you were to go for a stroll on the surface of the moon you would weigh a fraction of what you would on Earth, whereas on Saturn the pull of gravity would be enough to crush you. Well, we can't all be astronauts but you can now put this to the test thanks to a company in Belgium who are selling bathroom scales calibrated to emulate the conditions on other planets in our solar system.

Overwhelmingly, it's the versions based on the smaller planets - Mars, Venus and Mercury - which are proving to be the best sellers. This fact has not escaped the attention of health campaigners who now want the scales banned, claiming that they are being sold to morbidly obese people in order to encourage them to eat more pies.