SIDELINES...

UNKNOWN PLAGUE

Kangaroos, both grey and red, have been dying in their millions across the western plans of New South Wales, struck down by an unknown illness that causes inflammation, stilted movement, hæmorrhaging and blindness. A vet said it was a disease, not a genetic problem, but no bacterium or virus had been identified. The total kangaroo population of NSW last year was a record 17.4 million, but by Christmas this had dropped by up to 40 per cent. The Australian, 27 Jan; Times, 29 Dec 2017.

LIVING IN HOPE

Ram Dyal, 36, who dug up his dead baby son to try and resurrect him, was arrested in Babbalpur, northern India. Sun, 28 Mar 2018.

BEAVER BOTHER

Fashion student Nancy Fofana, 22, was walking to the supermarket near her home on a Gloucester housing estate on 13 May when a beaver ran out of a hedge towards her. She managed to film it as it stopped to stare. “Then it started towards me,” she said. “I thought it was going to attack, so I ran.” She assumed it had come from the River Severn nearby. Sun, 14 May 2018.

MY AIM IS TRUE

In a study of the gender gap in physics (in the UK, only one in five A-level students is a girl), Australian scientists suggest the reason lies not in brain structure but in lavatorial habits. Having spent years learning to aim their urine at a target, the academics argue, boys have a natural head start in the understanding of force, momentum and fluid dynamics. Times, 16 Sept 2017.