SLIMMING BUGS
Fatties have different bacteria in their guts than skinny people. And that composition is to some extent genetically determined, claim researchers at King’s College London. The family of the Christensenellaceae are especially prevalent in slim people. Mice treated with these microbes stay thinner.This opens up new possibilities in the battle of the bulge. How the little bugs do it is still not clear.
SPOOKY
Everyone sometimes gets the feeling there is someone looking over their shoulder. Call it a ghost or an invisible presence. Swiss researchers can create that sensation. They do so by tricking the part of the brain where information about movement, self-awareness and spatial positioning come together. The researchers’ conclusion is that there is no such thing as ghosts. Pretty weird conclusion.
PINK BULL
An Irish stud bull has been sentenced to the slaughterhouse for his sexual orientation. The animal is not interested in the cows he is expected to impregnate. ‘At first I though he was discreet and didn’t want to mate in public,’ says the farmer. But the truth will out: this bull was only interested in other bulls. He is already too old to be castrated, so there is no future for him as a draught animal either.’