SIDELINES...

AGENT OF CHAOS

A man who worked as a baggage handler at Singapore’s Changi Airport swapped tags on hundreds of bags, sending the luggage to the wrong destinations. Tay Boon Keh, 63, was charged with 286 counts of ‘mischief’. Changi is one of the world’s biggest hubs and often voted the world’s best airport. Tay is believed to have changed baggage tags almost every day from November until February. He did not explain his actions, but intended to plead guilty. [R] 21 Sept 2017.

VANISHING SHEEP

Last September, shepherds in southern Norway reported several cases of mysterious sheep disappearances with a disturbing lack of any physical evidence, including intact fences, and no blood or wool littering pastures. Some local butchers reported finding fishhooks in the wool and flesh of sheep selected for butchering. Are drones armed with hooks and winches swooping in to pick up hapless sheep? mysteriousuniverse.org, 7 Sept 2017.

DODO VARIETY

The mystery of why sailors gave such varying descriptions of the dodo has been solved: the extinct bird constantly moulted, completely changing its appearance. The discovery was made by the splendidly named Cape Town palæontologist Dr Delphine Angst after looking at the bone microstructure of 22 different dodos from Mauritius. D.Telegraph, 25 Aug 2017.