SIDELINES...

BRANCHING BRAINS

A long-term study of 3,568 students in London, aged between nine and 15, has discovered that those who spent more time near trees had better cognitive performance and mental health in adolescence. The research showed that it had to be trees, and that spending time near grass or streams had no effect on children’s brains. sciencealert.com, 24 July 2021.

WELL MET

When Stella Pickford and Cathy Hickman exchanged details after their cars collided in New York, they were stunned to discover they were long-lost sisters separated at birth. A month later, when Pamela Woods knocked on the door of a house she wanted to buy in Texas, she found her brother David whom she had last seen in Wales 27 years earlier. The People, 17 Aug + 28 Sept 1997.

MANHOLE MAN

Drivers in Ipswich, Queensland, Australia, were surprised when they spotted a man’s head popping out of a manhole in the middle of busy Brisbane Road. Several stopped to help the man, who was described as wearing only underwear and covered in “brown muck” from head to toe, but he fled towards the nearby river before they could give him further assistance, leaving them with hands covered in “a repulsive substance”. Fassifern Guardian and Tribune, 21 April 2021.

SUMO SHOCK

Equestrian competitors in the Tokyo Olympics were less than impressed by obstacle 10 on the jumping course, complaining that it was spooking their horses. Part of the obstacle was a life-size model of a sumo wrestler that the riders approached from behind. “As you come around, you see a big guy’s butt,” said British rider Harry Charles. “It is very realistic,” added Israel’s Teddy Vlock. [AP] 4

Aug 2021.