DAVID ADAMS looks at the odder side of life…
• A swarm of bees in New York City’s Times Square made international headlines this week – and prompted all sorts of puns like “there was a hive of activity in Times Square” and “it was a sting operation” – after it descended on a hot dog stand. The 25,000-strong swarm decided to make their new home on top of the stand at about 2pm on Tuesday but had its stay cut short when a member of the official NYPD’s bee keeper’s unit (yep, apparently there is one) was called to the scene and safely removed them using a vacuum. Reuters live-streamed the entire incident while the NYPD assured the public via Twitter that “no tourist was harmed and no bee was left behind” in the incident.
Smile! It knows how you feel. PICTURE: Ashley Jaynes/Unsplash
• There’s apparently no fooling a goat – they know if you’re happy or not from looking at your face. A study published in the journal Royal Society Open Science has found that goats are drawn to humans with happy facial features. Conducted at the Buttercup Sanctuary for Goats in the UK, the study looked at how 20 goats interacted with images of happy and angry faces and found that they prefered to look at and interact with those humans with happy faces. Lead researcher Dr Alan McElligott, of Queen Mary University of London, said the study had important implications because it showed the abilities of animals to perceive human emotions “might be widespread and not just limited to pets”. So keep that smile on your dial – especially near a farm.
• Residents of the town of Mayo in Florida were the victims of a prank recently when the mayor announced last Saturday that the town was officially changing its name to ‘Miracle Whip’. The name on street signs and the city’s water tower were among changes made in a bid to convince locals but it turns out it was all an elaborate marketing gimmick for the Kraft Heinz-owned brand, Miracle Whip, with marketers capturing the reactions of locals on film as they were confronted with the change. The company had apparently paid $US25,000 to the town for the privilege of conducting the prank with the money reportedly to be used to beautify the town (which, incidentially, was originally named for a Confederate colonel, James Mayo).
