Boy in news report spotted eating flies
And other stories from the stranger side of life
A young boy in Australia became a viral star after eagle-eyed TV viewers spotted him casually eating flies as they landed on his face during a news report. A report by current affairs show The Project included an interview with a rural family about rainfall. As the parents answer questions, their son feels a fly land on his cheek, darts his tongue out like a lizard and eats it. When another fly lands, he repeats the performance.
Car ‘splatometer’ reveals insect numbers decline
It is not only Australian children that insects need to fear: a tragic decline in numbers worldwide has been further confirmed by a study in Kent using a “splatometer”. A grid was placed over number plates of cars in the south-east county in 2019, reports The Guardian, and the number of squashed bugs in each square was counted. Worryingly, the study found 50% fewer insect corpses than an identical test carried out in 2004.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Half of British adults take mobiles to toilet
A survey carried out by insurer Direct Line suggests half of British adults indulge in the unhygienic practice of taking their mobile phones with them to the toilet – and 40% have accidentally dropped something valuable, a smartphone or jewellery, down the toilet or down the sink plughole. Another 16% of respondents said they take a tablet computer to the toilet.
–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––For more outlandish tales and news to make you smile, sign up for our new Tall Tales email at theweek.co.uk/sign-up-for-the-tall-tales-email.–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Is the ceasefire in Gaza really working?Today's Big Question Neither Israel and Hamas has an interest in a full return to hostilities but ‘brutally simple arithmetic’ in region may scupper peace plan long-term
-
Are boomers the real phone addicts?In The Spotlight There’s an ‘explosion in screentime’ among older people – and they’re more vulnerable to misinformation
-
West End Girl: a ‘tremendously touching’ break-up albumThe Week Recommends Lily Allen’s unfiltered new work is ‘littered with relatable moments’
-
Zoos offer cockroach naming and hippo poo candlesTall Tales And other stories from the stranger side of life
-
NHS tells Scots to walk like penguinsTall Tales Walk like penguins in the snow, says NHS
-
Experts discover why dogs wag their tailsTall Tales And other stories from the stranger side of life
-
Peruvian 'aliens' aren't really aliensTall Tales And other stories from stranger side of life
-
Woman accidentally puts nan in washing machineTall Tales And other stories from the stranger side of life
-
Mouse keeps tidying up man's shedTall Tales And other stories from the stranger side of life
-
'Dead' woman nearly suffocated in morgue bagTall Tales And other stories from the stranger side of life
-
Couple sues after ‘farting dog’ ruins flightfeature And other stories from the stranger side of life