DAVID ADAMS provides a round-up of some stories on the odder side of life…
Beware the hairball. PICTURE: Eric Han/Unsplash.
• You may have missed it but last Friday was ‘National Hairball Awareness Day’ in the US. The day, marked annually on the last Friday in April, was started by a US veterinarian Dr Blake Hawly to encourage cat owners to take steps to prevent their pets from coughing up hairballs. Hairballs – which are apparently also known as ‘trichobezoars’ – are caused when cats consume hairs during the process of grooming themselves, only to be vomited out later if they cause obstructions. If hairballs are a regular problem for your cat, experts say you should consult a vet.
• The world’s skinniest skyscraper – known to some as a “pencil tower” – is ready to receive its first residents in New York City. Steinway Tower is reportedly no more than 18.2 metres wide and a height-to-width ratio of 24:1 which makes it the “most slender” in the world, according to the developers. The 84 storey building, which contains some 60 apartments, is also one of the tallest, standing at 435 metres tall.
• A Jordanian maths teacher has taken to social media platform TikTok in a bid to engage his students. Ahmad Khalil divides an hour-long lesson into several 30-second videos, each carrying a main idea and some ‘flavour’ to make them interesting. “You know that mathematics is a rigid subject disliked by students,” he says. “Also you should not forget that the current generation is a social media generation. So I combined social media with mathematics to make them like the subject by appearing to them on social media. This is where the idea of short videos on TikTok came from, and it became a trending hit. Afterwards, I started posting them on YouTube, Facebook and Instagram reels. Thank God it became very successful.” Student Laith Diab says his teacher’s approach helps students engage with the subject. “My friends and I used to play soccer or watch a TV series for entertainment. Now we entertain ourselves by solving mathematics questions. We started feeling that mathematics is a piece of cake.”
– Reuters TV
