WEIRDWORLD

NOT SEEING RED

RUDOLPH the reindeer was probably not bullied for his crimson snout – because he and his fellow reindeer cannot see red.

In news that may shock the North Pole, University of Exeter scientists revealed Santa’s sleigh-pullers lack the colour-detecting eye cells humans use to detect red. The same applies to orange – meaning Donner, Blitzen and the rest might struggle to spot any carrots left out for them at Christmas.

Professor Martin Stevens said: “They wouldn’t be able to see the red of Rudolph’s nose or the orange of carrots. However, they do have ultraviolet vision, and use this to see lichen hidden in the snow in the Arctic, and potentially even spot white wolves or other predators because fur absorbs UV light whereas snow reflects UV light.”

CEREAL OFFENDER

A Tennessee man faces up to three years in prison for urinating on a Kellogg’s cereal conveyor belt at a Memphis facility.

News outlets reported that 49-yearold Gregory Stanton pleaded guilty last month to tampering with consumer products.

He was indicted by a grand jury in September and will be sentenced in February.

NO WAY

A restaurant owner in Maine has cited feng shui as a reason not to move boulders outside the building that are in the way of a pavement project.

Annie Huang, co-owner of Lucky Garden in Hallowell, told members of the city’s highway committee that the boulders are culturally significant.

Huang said in a public meeting that the boulders were placed according to feng shui, a belief system about spatial arrangement that relates to flow of energy.