DAVID ADAMS provides a round-up of some stories on the odder side of life…
Holding rocks – but why would you lick them? PICTURE: NEOM/Unsplash
• Research looking into why so many scientists lick rocks, a study on the mental activity of people expert at speaking backwards and an experiment on how electrified chopsticks and drinking straws can change the taste of food are among winners at this year’s Ig Nobel Prizes. The awards for the 33rd iteration of the prizes were announced at a ceremony last Thursday, honouring researchers for “achievements that first make people laugh, then make them think”. Other winners include those behind a bra that can quickly convert into a pair of protective face masks, a study into the sensations people feel when they repeat “a single word many, many, many, many, many, many, many times”, and, the scientists who conducted experiments on a city street to see how many passersby stop to look upward when they see strangers looking upward. – DAVID ADAMS
• Doctors in north-eastern Peru saved the life of a two-year-old boy who had swallowed eight injection needles while playing. “It was once we were in the operating room and we opened up his abdomen that we found those metal pieces, [and realized] they were really needles,” Dr Efrain Salazar said. Local media reported that the needles were used to vaccinate farm animals where the boy’s mother works. The boy, whose name was not revealed, lives in agricultural area of Taratopo, some 622 kilometres from capital Lima. “Maybe he swallowed them when he was there playing,” the boy’s mother said. The boy’s life was not at risk following surgery, local media added. – Reuters TV
Former Royal Air Force Mosquito bomber pilot Colin Bell abseils down the Royal London Hospital. PICTURE: Screenshot via Reuters TV
• A World War II veteran pilot broke a record last Thursday by abseiling 85 metres down the Royal London Hospital building for charity. When asked if he was nervous, 102-year-old former Royal Air Force Mosquito bomber pilot Colin Bell, said he doesn’t frighten easily. People were heard cheering for Bell upon completing the descent, which was intended to raise money for three charities: the Royal College of Nursing, the RAF Benevolent Fund, and the London Air Ambulance. Last month, the veteran kicked off his fundraising challenge with a nine-kilometre walk that took him to important sites of his wartime service in Cambridge. – Reuters TV
