Scientists stumped by creepy sidewalk ‘Wormnado’

Scientists were scratching their heads after hundreds of writhing worms formed a cyclone shape on a sidewalk in New Jersey.

The strange incident occurred after heavy rains in Hoboken, across the Hudson River from Manhattan. Masses of worms emerging from the soil after downpours is not unusual — but the size of this group and the odd formation baffled experts.

Worms breathe through their skin and must often tunnel to the surface to survive heavy rains. They also sometimes form “herds” when they surface and can move collectively through some kind of “consensual decision phenomenon,” Belgian researchers noted in 2010.

Many of the Hoboken worms were in a giant swirl on the sidewalk, though a few were still squirming into position when the local resident had spotted them.

Hand-standing bunnies

These rabbits can’t hop. Yes, you read that right! Sauteur d’Alfort rabbits lift their back legs from the ground and ‘hand-stand’ on their forelegs. They then scurry forward on their front paws, maintaining their balance. Now scientists have solved the mystery of these ‘hand-standing’ bunnies — they have a genetic mutation.

This species has a warped RORB gene, resulting in the loss of spinal cord interneurons. In the Sauteur D’Alfort rabbits, these interneurons were either less abundant or totally absent, a study said, resulting in the loss of the ability to jump or hop.

The hand-standing is a result of the rabbits working around their inability to travel like other species, the study said.

Chocolate gifted by Queen Victoria, intact after 121 years

A 121-year-old chocolate bar, from a batch commissioned by Queen Victoria for British troops fighting in South Africa, has been found in its original tin in the attic of an English manor.

The chocolate belonged to an English aristocrat who fought in the Second Boer War, Sir Henry Edward Paston-Bedingfield, and was found in his helmet case at his family’s ancestral home, 500-year-old Oxburgh Hall in Norfolk, eastern England.

The tin lid has a message in Victoria’s handwriting that says, “I wish you a happy New Year” and the inscription “South Africa 1900”, as well as a portrait of the queen. The items were discovered among the belongings of his daughter, Frances Greathead, following her death aged 100 in 2020.

Ancient royal mummies paraded on the streets of Cairo

A parade of ancient Egyptian mummies took place through the streets of Cairo, while many Egyptian celebrities escorted them to their new home.

“The Pharaoh’s Golden Parade,” organised by the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, included 22 mummies on their way from the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir to the National Museum of Egyptian Civilisation. The event moved 18 kings, four queens and their belongings three miles to the new museum, which is set to open to the public later this year.

These mummies were packed in a nitrogen capsule, free from oxygen and protected from the damaging effects of humidity, bacteria, fungi and insects.

The mummies date, from about 1539BC to 1075BC, include the pharaoh Ramses II, the influential female pharaoh known for building monuments and temples and launching trade expeditions.

Published in Dawn, Young World, April 24th, 2021