Taking a liking to lichen
If you happen to be in New Zealand and are unnerved by that man over there apparently licking the pavement, donāt be alarmed. He is probably just after his fill of Xanthoparmelia scabrosa, a grey, leafy lichen commonly found on Kiwi roads and sidewalks. It contains a chemical somewhat similar to the active ingredient in Viagra, gaining it the soubriquet āsexy pavement lichenā.
Online marketplaces have taken to selling X. scabrosa by the kilo as a herbal alternative to the little blue pills. Now Kiwi news outlet Newsroom researchers against likinā the lichen. Those hoping it will give them more lead in their pencil may get more than they bargain for: the urban pavements where the lichen grow infuse them with high levels of lead and other heavy metals, including cadmium, mercury and arsenic.
Perhaps it is fortunate, then, that an investigation by the US Food and Drugs Administration into one online batch of X. scabrosa found it was 20 per cent grass clippings and 80 per cent ground-up Viagra. What dodgy online herbal remedies lack in authenticity, they may make up for in efficacy. Besides, nothing quite kills the mood like popping out to lick the street.
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Deus Ex Machina
A 400-year-old temple in Japan has unveiled its latest priest: , the Buddhist deity of mercy. The $1 million android, named Mindar, leads services at Kodaiji temple in Kyoto, relaying and explaining wisdoms contained in the Heart Sutra.
It isnāt the first time holy words have come from robot mouths. Readers may recall that Pepper ā a child-sized android that has held down more jobs than Barbie ā also had a stint presiding over Buddhist funerals back in 2018.
What should we draw from this about the essence of Buddhism, except that creeping automation comes for all, and the holy men wonāt be spared? If you pass a saffron-robed man on the street, begging bowl in hand, be kind. He might not even have a job any more.
Rabbit run
Further to the question of whether nematode worms read Ā鶹“«Ć½ (10 August), Peter Duffell writes: āOn a recent trip to Northumberland we saw a sign in one of the gardens we visited that read āRABBITS & HARES KEEP THIS GATE SHUTā.ā
āIf only rabbits and hares are required to shut the gate, what do the rest of us do?ā asks Peter. āIf we leave them open, do the rabbits and hares get the blame?ā
Feedback is unsure: rabbits that can read signs can probably type, too. You wouldnāt want to risk online shaming by Northumberlandās literate lagomorphs.
Double trouble
Let it not be said that Brazilās president Jair Bolsonaro isnāt environmentally conscious. Yes, he has threatened protections of indigenous land rights and opened up the Amazon to logging and mining. Yes, he fired the director of Brazilās National Space and Research Institute after it revealed the extent of recent deforestation.
But he has a plan. record, he replied: āItās enough to eat a little less. You talk about environmental pollution. Itās enough to poop every other day. That will be better for the whole world.ā
As green policies go, two days between number twos is a novel one. Weāll resist the temptation to say itās all going down the pan. Given the boost Bolsonaroās policies are giving to consumption and exploitation, Feedback thinks Brazilās green activists can be forgiven for thinking he is the one full of crap.
Noms de flume
Such themes lead us, with terrible inevitability, to this weekās dose of nominative determinism. In Adelaide, Australia, Alan Moskwa reveals that a story in The Advertiser on the cityās expanding waistlines has provoked a letter in reply suggesting ātoilet bowls and seats should be strengthened, enlargedā and generally made taller and wider. The correspondentās name? Neil Longbottom.
Meanwhile, Peter Jung is delighted to discover that the head of coastal research at Monash University in Melbourne is none other than Ruth Reef.
Wonder weed
Visiting a chiropodistās surgery in Greenock, UK, Bill McMillan spies a poster proclaiming that cannabis oil can help with PTSD, epilepsy, Crohnās disease, cancer, psoriasis, Dravet syndrome āand many more conditionsā.
Only two weeks ago, this esteemed organ raised an eyebrow at the wondrous variety of claims made for weedās curative powers (17 August, p 20). But Bill is most perplexed by an omission. āIt seems the oil can cure anything except foot and toenail issues,ā he says. Well, the chiropodists wouldnāt tell you if it did.
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