Bottle-fed babies ‘more likely to develop rubber fetish’
And other stories from the stranger side of life
Babies who are bottle-fed or suck dummies are more likely to develop rubber fetishism or a fixation on gimp suits later in life, according to a leading feminist. Antonella Gambotto-Burke said she thinks such tots derive comfort and gratification from the smell, taste and feel of the synthetic teats they sucked on as infants. Gambotto-Burke, who was once portrayed by Amber Heard, believes that breast-fed babies are less likely to be aroused by rubber in adulthood.
Scientists find Europe’s largest dinosaur
Scientists have discovered the remains of Europe’s largest ever land-based predatory dinosaur on the Isle of Wight. Palaeontologists at the University of Southampton identified the remains of the predator, which measured more than 32ft (10m) long and lived about 125 million years ago. PhD student Chris Barker, who led the research, agreed it was a “huge animal” and “probably several tonnes in weight”.
‘Superworm’ could help recycling
A “superworm” that can eat plastic could hold the key to recycling, Australian scientists have said. The researchers have found that the larvae of the Zophobas morio beetle can exist on a diet consisting solely of polystyrene because there is a bacteria in their guts that allows them to digest it. “We found that superworms fed a diet of just polystyrene not only survived, but even had marginal weight gains,” said one of the team. “It turned out that they have a great appetite for it.”
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Chas Newkey-Burden has been part of The Week Digital team for more than a decade and a journalist for 25 years, starting out on the irreverent football weekly 90 Minutes, before moving to lifestyle magazines Loaded and Attitude. He was a columnist for The Big Issue and landed a world exclusive with David Beckham that became the weekly magazine’s bestselling issue. He now writes regularly for The Guardian, The Telegraph, The Independent, Metro, FourFourTwo and the i new site. He is also the author of a number of non-fiction books.
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