Contents
Nature and Nurture
Plagues of Frogs
Let’s face it, so far 2010 has been a bit of a strange year. Volcanoes and euros have caused unexpected dramas (too many volcanoes, not enough euros, one might say!) and some of us are treading a bit cautiously at the moment. You never know what might be around the next corner…. So, just as we had got our heads around how to deal with ash and strikes (if it’s going to be on strike it will be on a Wednesday, if it’s likely to spew molten lava it probably won’t be on a Wednesday; 29th February 2011 is probably a reasonable date to fly, etc. etc) we get this happening. Now we actually quite like frogs. But there are limits. Twice in the last few weeks a major highway in Northern Greece has had to be closed because of an invasion of millions of our not so furry green friends. The frogs also managed to disrupt airline travel. How and why did this occur? ’They probably left a nearby lake to come and look for food’ a spokesperson said. Our view is: How bad does the food have to be in the lake for frogs to have to go looking for a motorway service station?
Paul the Footballing Psychic Octopus
OK, so in our previous ‘weird world’ piece we reported on natural phenomena doing the unnatural. We also showed a staggering amount of restraint when mentioning plagues of frogs without getting into religion and philosophy. Hope we get a huge thumbs up for that one. Not sure we can claim the same amount of restraint with this next ‘isn’t life mad but wonderful?’ nugget. And before you ask, we blame / cite the BBC for this particular story. Where do we start? It would seem important to state that Paul the octopus is not originally German. He was born in the UK but was transferred to Oberhausen Sea Life Aquarium when he was little more than a squid. Since then, he has become something of a national celebrity for being able to predict the results of German football matches. Apparently he was 80% accurate when asked to give the outcome of Germany’s performance in Euro 2008, and up until the time that the editor was writing this (the Saturday evening before what some might describe as an all important match) he has correctly predicted how Germany will perform in South Africa. When consulted about what would happen in the Germany / England game, Paul chose a mussel out of a jar with the German flag on it, rather than one with the cross of Saint George. Was he right? Wait for tomorrow night, and watch this space.
Crimes of the Month
When it came down to it we were pretty restrained in our comments about Paul the octopus, too (though as it turned out he was right about the football, with or without a disallowed goal). Speaking of restraint….Whilst we don’t condone any type of criminal activity, there have been a couple of items about ‘bad boys’ in the international media recently that managed to raise a smile round our way.
In Carletonville, South Africa, thieves broke into a police station and stripped it of everything of value, right down to the kitchen sink. To be fair, the police station was not operative at the time, and was supposedly being guarded by a security company as renovations were being carried out. However, serious embarrassment all round! On the other side of the coin there is the tale of how not to break into a skateboard shop. In New Zealand, two would be burglars were caught on CCTV failing in their attempt at a smash and grab when one of the guys was hit on the head by the rebounding rock that he had just thrown at the shop window. As a career move we suggest skateboarding rather than theft.
Why do Flamingoes Stand on one Leg?
This is not a new story, but we still like it. Flamingoes don’t always stand on one leg as it happens, but it is one of the things that they are most famous for, apart from being pink. And it is one of those questions that have kept us awake at night.
So we say a huge thanks to the research team from Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia who have tried to sort out this issue. It’s not because it makes flamingoes less tired standing this way, nor is it to do with escaping predators. And it also has nothing to do with it being easier to balance on one leg when it is windy. On the other hand (leg?) standing this way might help you to keep warmer in the sea. Children: Please don’t try this without a responsible adult being present.
