-Men with ring fingers longer than their middle fingers tend to drive recklessly, speeding and overtakinbg other cars, as well as park illegally. That is the fascinating conclusion of a new study from the University of Mainz (Germany). Higher testosterone levels in the womb are hypothesized to account for both this aggressive behavior and increased bone growth of that ring finger.
-Powerful evidence that the celebrated Shroud of Turin (reputedly the burial cloth bearing the image of Christ's face) was a Medieval fraud has been adduced by an Italian scientist! He has reproduced a similar image in the lab with a human volunteer using materials and techniques available in the Middle Ages.
-Congrats! A Bangladesh farmer has won 1st prize (a 14-inch color TV) in a rat-killing contest. Over a 9-month period, he slew 83,450 of the varmints, snipping off their tails to prove his claim! The 2nd place finisher killed only 37,450 rats.
(Trivia Q: What is the technical term for the killing of a rat? Answer below)
-Surprise! Air pollution can trigger appendicitis! Researchers from the University of Calgary confirmed a definite correlation between the two, suggesting that the air pollutants foster inflammation of the appendix which leads to a swelling and infection of the organ.
-New Jack the Ripper candidate! Historian Mei Trow presents a cogent argument for morgue attendant Robert Mann as the slayer of not just 5, but 7, females in London's White Chapel district in 1888. His evidence centers on Mann reportedly oogling the victims' bodies which were delivered to the morgue as well as his psychological profile as a depressed loner.
-Trivia answer: The killing of a rat is termed "muricide"(and, we will also accept "raticide").
