In stories this week, we have hot water turning into ice, cuddlist earning money, noise-cancelling kennel, robot comprehending human emotions, firelog smelling like chicken, cell-grown steak.

All the interesting, odd anecdotes from around the world are here, in our news review.

Hot water turns into ice

This stunning image shows the exact moment hot water comes in touch with freezing temperatures - and the result is an incredible ice arc.

Steffen Fossbakk, 31, from Senja, Norway, captured friend Konsta Punkka, 23, making an arc with the frozen hot water in -34 degrees Celsius in Kuusamo, Finland. 

Steffen, who was been a photographer since 2004, said: This is what happens when hot, or in this case boiling, water meets extremely cold temperatures. The water turns into steam within half a second.

Cuddlist earning money

Cecelia Baez, 24, has made a full-time career from spending up to 15 hours per week cuddling strangers she meets online, charging over $60 an hour. The Philadelphia woman, who also works as a bartender, spends hours cuddling with her clients while discussing their life and getting their troubles off their chest.

She believes in thriving, not just surviving. Cecelia is all about having a balanced lifestyle with relationships, career, health, and having a deep connection with self. Cecelia practices the power of now and embraces the importance of radiating gratitude in order to create a joyful and successful life.

Noise-cancelling kennel

Faces lit up with joy as the countdown to midnight begins and the skies are illuminated by fireworks on New Year's Eve. But the soundtrack to that experience can be a painful one for pets and worrying for owners.

An estimated 45 percent of dogs in the UK show signs of fear when they hear fireworks causing distress to owners and their families too.

One possible answer could be a noise-cancelling kennel that uses similar technology to that found in cars and headphones to protect sensitive canine ears and ensure owners do not have to banish their pets away from the rest of the family.

The idea was inspired by the noise-cancelling technology that Ford has introduced to the Edge SUV that helps to ensure quieter journeys for drivers and passengers. When microphones pick up high levels of noise from the engine or transmission, this is counteracted using opposing sound waves from the car audio system.

Robot comprehending human emotions

Lovot, developed by Japanese tech venture Groove X Inc, will hit the market in the autumn of 2019.

It's just over a foot tall and in many ways resembles a child's cuddly toy. But Lovot is trying to be something altogether smarter, as beneath its soft covering you'll find numerous sensors that detect human touch, though quite how it responds isn't entirely clear. There's also a less-hard-to-miss camera perched on its head for navigation.

Firelog smells like chicken

Check out KFC's new firelog which smells just like - what else? - fried chicken! Just in time for the winter, the fast food chain is bringing the heat. And the new Herbs & Spices log proved so popular it sold out within hours of being launched.

The one-of-a-kind logs, which are made with 100 percent recycled materials, can burn up to three hours. The radical product was aimed bring loved ones together around the fire for the holiday period and surround them with the irresistible smell of fried chicken, causing them to crave the Colonel secret recipe.

Cell-grown steak

A company has produced the first cell-grown steak.

Aleph Farms say they are "shaping the future of meat by turning cow cells into beef cuts, replicating the complex shape, texture and flavor of a steak."

The Israeli firm say the first cell-grown minute steak, delivers the full experience of meat with the appearance, shape, and texture of beef cuts.

The food tech startup's new product demonstrates its capabilities for growing different types of natural beef cells isolated from the cow into a fully 3-D structure similar to conventional meat.

The breakthrough not only obtains the true texture and structure of beef muscle tissue steak, but also the flavor and shape, establishing a new benchmark in cell-cultured meat technology.