You're nicked
Who says stuffy old journal editors can't have a bit of fun now and then? Apparently the British Medical Journal likes to ham it up every Christmas, lightening its worthy but otherwise staid publication with such gems as The case of the disappearing teaspoons: longitudinal cohort study of the displacement of teaspoons in an Australian research institute. The study's results are as follows:
56 (80%) of the 70 teaspoons disappeared during the study. The half life of the teaspoons was 81 days. The half life of teaspoons in communal tearooms (42 days) was significantly shorter than for those in rooms associated with particular research groups (77 days). The rate of loss was not influenced by the teaspoons' value. The incidence of teaspoon loss over the period of observation was 360.62 per 100 teaspoon years. At this rate, an estimated 250 teaspoons would need to be purchased annually to maintain a practical institute-wide population of 70 teaspoons.Science, is there anything you can't teach us?
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"Ooh, look at that one!"
Wellington Zoo have a wonderful new set of TV ads for their "They like looking at you too" campaign, which makes my mate Beth (their Comms Manager) a very happy lady indeed.‹ 5.4.06 / 0 comment(s) ›
Insy winsy
Spiders. Gross. I'm not afraid of them per se but big ones which lurk near the lids of storage boxes which you happen to notice just before you put your hand on them certainly cause me to start. Meet Mr Vaccuum Cleaner ...Still, at least I didn't get as extreme as the following hapless souls:
A red-faced Australian nudist who tried to set fire to what he thought was a deadly funnel web spider's nest ended up with badly burnt buttocks ...Eejits.
NRMA Careflight said it was called to a property in the same area in January when another man kicked a spider that was crawling up the wall of a friend's cabin. The man broke his leg in two places, it said.
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