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, don鈥檛 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 鈥渟exy pavement lichen鈥�.
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 likin鈥� 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 isn鈥檛 the first time holy words have come from robot mouths. Readers may recall that Pepper 鈥� a child-sized android that has held down more jobs than Barbie 鈥� 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 won鈥檛 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 New 杏吧原创 (10 August), Peter Duffell writes: 鈥淥n a recent trip to Northumberland we saw a sign in one of the gardens we visited that read 鈥楻ABBITS & HARES KEEP THIS GATE SHUT鈥�.鈥�
鈥淚f only rabbits and hares are required to shut the gate, what do the rest of us do?鈥� asks Peter. 鈥淚f we leave them open, do the rabbits and hares get the blame?鈥�
Feedback is unsure: rabbits that can read signs can probably type, too. You wouldn鈥檛 want to risk online shaming by Northumberland鈥檚 literate lagomorphs.
Double trouble
Let it not be said that Brazil鈥檚 president Jair Bolsonaro isn鈥檛 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 Brazil鈥檚 National Space and Research Institute after it revealed the extent of recent deforestation.
But he has a plan. record, he replied: 鈥淚t鈥檚 enough to eat a little less. You talk about environmental pollution. It鈥檚 enough to poop every other day. That will be better for the whole world.鈥�
As green policies go, two days between number twos is a novel one. We鈥檒l resist the temptation to say it鈥檚 all going down the pan. Given the boost Bolsonaro鈥檚 policies are giving to consumption and exploitation, Feedback thinks Brazil鈥檚 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 week鈥檚 dose of nominative determinism. In Adelaide, Australia, Alan Moskwa reveals that a story in The Advertiser on the city鈥檚 expanding waistlines has provoked a letter in reply suggesting 鈥渢oilet bowls and seats should be strengthened, enlarged鈥� and generally made taller and wider. The correspondent鈥檚 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 chiropodist鈥檚 surgery in Greenock, UK, Bill McMillan spies a poster proclaiming that cannabis oil can help with PTSD, epilepsy, Crohn鈥檚 disease, cancer, psoriasis, Dravet syndrome 鈥渁nd many more conditions鈥�.
Only two weeks ago, this esteemed organ raised an eyebrow at the wondrous variety of claims made for weed鈥檚 curative powers (17 August, p 20). But Bill is most perplexed by an omission. 鈥淚t seems the oil can cure anything except foot and toenail issues,鈥� he says. Well, the chiropodists wouldn鈥檛 tell you if it did.
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