There are some big shoes to fill in this country. The Minneapolis Star Tribune says the average shoe size has increased by more than a whole size over the last 30 years.  Those in the shoe industry say, for women “8 1/2 is the new 7.” The upwards trend has forced retailers to add styles in sizes—11 is becoming a standard woman’s size—usually found only at specialty stores.

Yesterday, Felix Baumgartner became the first human to break the sound barrier, reports the New York Times. The Austrian daredevil completed the highest and fastest jump in history by climbing to 128,100 feet in a helium balloon. He then jumped from a capsule attached to the balloon, and plummeted. The journey back to Earth took a little more than four minutes as he traveled 833.9 miles per hour, reaching Mach 1.24. VIDEO

There’s a really interesting report in the Wall Street Journal this morning about innovation in the agriculture sector. According to some, vertical farming is the wave of the future. To cut costs and minimize environmental impact, growing crops will take place in high rises that stretch upward, eliminate the need for gas-guzzling delivery trucks and give city dwellers better access to fresh produce.

Tributes to Arlen Spector are splashed across front pages all over Pennsylvania this morning. The state’s longest-serving U.S. senator died last night after losing a battle with non-Hodgkin lymphoma last night. Philadelphia Inquirer columnist John Baer says “whether you thought of him as ‘Darlin’ Arlen’ or ‘Snarlin’ Arlen’ or not at all, Arlen Specter was the most interesting, complex and complete politician of our time.”

Call it an a-salt rifle. Artist Lorenzo Maggiore has invented an upgrade to the traditional fly swatter, says the Wall Street Journal. The Bug-A-Salt is a pump-action shotgun that fires table salt at enemy arthropods. Maggiore says while he had flies in mind when he created his weapon, it works equally well on any household pest. VIDEO

Sixteen-year-old Tallon Nightwalker has a simple goal: he wants to be photographed with every single species of mammal, bird, reptile and amphibian on Earth. So far, with the help of his Dad, he’s covered 846, says the Denver Post. The project has some rules—all animals must have a pulse—and some drawbacks: Tallon says he’s suffered a few bites along the way.