Itâs raining gems
ONGOING eruptions at the Kilauea volcano in Hawaii have sprung a new surprise: showers of gemstones. They are made of olivine, a green mineral formed deep underground long ago, and common in Earthâs mantle. When the volcano ejects lumps of basaltic lava, olivine crystals are freed from the syrupy liquid and fall out.
As a gemstone, olivine is known as peridot. Turning to our trusty guide on these matters, Mary Lambertâs Crystal Energy: 150 ways to bring success, love, health, and harmony into your life, we find that peridot is useful for relieving stress and erasing negative emotions.
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The fault lines under Hawaii could certainly do with some stress relief. And now that there is a hard rain of peridot to wash away your guilt, it might be not be a bad time for a restorative visit to the islands.
Seafood splatter
MEANWHILE in Qingdao, China, residents were recently treated to an altogether different kind of rain. They were showered with a seafood buffet â including shrimp, octopus and squid â after hurricane winds lashed the coastal city.
âPerry Bebbington wonders if he got himself turned around on the motorway. The lorry he was following had a banner on the back reading: âBehind you all the wayââ
Manna from heaven, perhaps, but not quite as exciting as events that unfolded in eastern Russia earlier this year, when an unsecured aircraft hatch led to millions of poundsâ worth of gold, silver and platinum bullion being scattered over the wilderness.
Raising agent
WHILE Chinese citizens worry about whether they are living in a Sharknado sequel, UK students are hunting for pie in the sky.
Last week, pupils at St Anselmâs Preparatory School in Bakewell launched a, er, Bakewell tart into the stratosphere using a high-altitude balloon. However, shortly afterwards mission control lost track of the space cake, which was last seen floating over the village of Saxilby to the east. With temperatures in the upper atmosphere dropping to -46°C, anyone who finds the cake would do well to defrost fully before serving.
Getting das boot
AND flying saucers are vanishing from Germany. A Nazi UFO model kit was withdrawn from sale there following accusations that it was not historically accurate.
Sold by toy-maker Revell, the kit featured the mythical Haunebu II craft, emblazoned with the insignia of the Third Reich. The accompanying description noted it was the first aircraft capable of space flight, and that it could reach a top speed of 6000 kilometres per hour.
âAt that time it was technologically impossible to build something like this,â Jens Wehner of the Military History Museum in Dresden told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper. âEnthusiasts can use this as a strategy to cast doubt on what we know today about National Socialism.â
Stone me
OUR colleague at Make recently programmed a handy helper for the uninspired author, to conjure up possible titles for childrenâs books (26 May, p 55).
âThe joke is on Hannah Joshua,â writes Tamara Joseph. âShe wasnât convinced by most of its efforts but thought âAvocado Babyâ was sure to appeal to millennial parentsâ.â
Tamara points out that there is already a book with this title, released back in 1982, when avocado was a bathroom colour and not a toast topping. âAvocados have appealed to parents since long before the millennium,â says Tamara.
Feedback canât help noticing that the first of the millennials were born in the early 80s. Could this book lie at the root of their avocado fixation?
Nom de err
BONING up on the history of surgery, Edmund Marr reads about cardioplegia, a technique that involves temporarily paralysing the heart during an operation.
âA young biochemist at St Thomasâ Hospital, London, performed some open heart surgery using it and felt that the procedure could be much improved,â says Edmund. âAfter several years of research, he developed a drug combination that could allow the heart to be stopped for 90 minutes. The mixture is known as St Thomasâ solution.â
Why was the cocktail not named after the man himself? âThe researcher was called David Hearse,â says Edmund. A drug called Hearse mixture which stops hearts⊠we can see why that name was dead on arrival.
Hex appeal
ANYONE attempting to overturn the notoriously lax US gun control laws could be accused of wishful thinking. Perhaps thatâs why one group of lobbyists has resorted to witchcraft.
reports on a coven who performed a spell to end gun violence in the US. Using candles, pentagrams and a slip of paper emblazoned with the letters NRA, the witches put a curse on gun dealers.
Staff at the National Rifle Association were unspooked, writing on their website: âWe can report that the NRA has not experienced any uptick in paranormal activity or supernatural suppression of our affairs in the interim.â
It seems that witchesâ incantations are no more effective than politiciansâ thoughts and prayers.
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