Say Cheese To Music
Forget about human beings, even cheese can be choosy about music, says a report. Exposing cheese to round-the-clock music could give it more flavour and hip hop might be better than Mozart, Swiss researchers said, reports Reuters.
Nine wheels of Emmental cheese weighing 10 kg each were placed in separate wooden crates last September to test the impact of music on flavour and aroma.
The cheese was exposed 24 hours a day to A Tribe Called Quest’s hip hop track “We Got it From Here”, Mozart’s ‘Magic Flute’ opera or Led Zeppelin’s rock classic “Stairway to Heaven”.
One wheel was played the throbbing techno of Vril’s “UV” and another Yello’s dark ambient piece “Monolith”. Sound waves at low, medium and high frequencies were played for three others while one wheel was left in peace.
“The most obvious differences were observed in strength of flavour, smell and taste,” Bern University of Arts researchers said in reporting the findings of a culinary jury which did blind tasting.
“The hip hop sample topped the list of all cheese exposed to music in terms of fruitiness…(it) was the strongest of these in terms of smell and taste.”
Artists Be Warned – Even Pigs Can Paint
Step aside Francis Bacon. Brandishing a paintbrush in her snout, Pigcasso enthusiastically tosses her head to create bright, bold strokes across a canvas propped up in her sty, says a report.
The sow was rescued from an abattoir as a piglet and brought to an animal sanctuary in Franschhoek, in South Africa’s Western Cape region in 2016, where her new owners noticed her love of colour and paintbrushes, says a Reuters report.
“Pigs are very smart animals and so when I brought Pigcasso here to the barn, I thought how do I keep her entertained?” said Joanne Lefson, who runs Farm Sanctuary SA.
“We threw in some soccer balls, rugby balls and of course there were some paintbrushes lying around because the barn was newly build … She basically ate or destroyed everything except these paintbrushes … she loved them so much,” Lefson added.
Soon the pig was dipping the brushes into pots of paint and making her mark. Her paintings can sell for almost $4,000, with the proceeds going to animal welfare. She has even had one of her artworks turned into a watch face for Swiss watchmaker Swatch.
Jeans Saves German From Rough Seas
The rough and tough jeans came to the rescue for a man who faced death, says a report.
Knocked overboard in rough seas off New Zealand, a German yachtsman credited his jeans with saving his life after fashioning them into a make-shift life jacket that kept him afloat for over three hours before his rescue by coastguards, says the Reuters report.
Arne Murke, 30, was sailing with his brother in Tolaga Bay, on the east coast of New Zealand’s north island, when the yacht’s boom swung unexpectedly, whacking him into the water.
Unable to reach the life jacket thrown by his brother, Murke was soon carried far off by the swell. “Luckily, I knew the trick with the jeans,” Murke said. “Without the jeans I wouldn’t be here today. They were really the thing that saved me.”
He made knots at the end of the legs and pulled them over water to get air inside and then forced them under to trap the air and create an improvised life vest.
Middle Finger Dilemma For Cops
When it comes to the middle finger, police might need a thicker skin, according to a report.
A federal appeals court says a Michigan woman’s constitutional rights were violated when she was handed a speeding ticket after giving the finger to a suburban Detroit officer in 2017. The decision means a lawsuit by Debra Cruise-Gulyas can proceed, says an AP report.
In a 3-0 decision, the court said police officer Matthew Minard “should have known better,” even if the driver was rude.
Minard stopped Cruise-Gulyas and wrote her a ticket for a lesser violation. But when that stop was over, Cruise-Gulyas raised her middle finger.
Throwing Light On Smartphone Zombies
The Israeli capital Tel Aviv has come up with a novel idea to help mobile phone users, says a report.
Tel Aviv has taken the small step toward protecting the lives of “smartphone zombies. The municipality has installed special LED sidewalk lights at a busy crosswalk to alert distracted pedestrians staring at their phones when they can walk and when they should stop.
Tomer Dror, head of the traffic management division at the Tel Aviv-Yafo Municipality, said the “zombie traffic lights” aim to minimise accidents between vehicles and inattentive pedestrians at crosswalks.
“We cannot force them to take their eyes out of the smartphone and into the road. We need to find ways to put the road into their eyes,” he said.
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