Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
[March 17-23rd, 2019] Sherlock Holmes gets a clone, a steer walks into a Petco, astronauts are struck with space herpes, and the rest of the week’s weird news from Ripley’s Believe It or Not!
No matter how good a detective he may be, dogs can only serve a relatively brief amount of time in the police force. That’s why Chinese scientists decided to clone a Kunming wolf-dog that’s been called the ‘Sherlock Holmes’ of the canine world. Multiple murders have been solved using his sniffer, and early tests show the clone is already a consistent winner in training exercises.
In a stress test of Petco’s welcome policy for “all leashed pets,” Vincent Browning of Texas brought his beloved African Watusi into a Houston-area store. A bull Watusi can weigh up to 1,600 pounds and carries a set of horns that can stretch over six feet wide. The store welcomed the steer—named Oliver—with open arms, though Browning was sure to avoid going down any narrow aisles.
Gucci is launching a line of “pre-distressed” sneakers. The shoes look like they’ve already gone through years of wear, but still cost $870. Despite the dirty-sneaker look, Gucci insists they’re made with the highest quality materials, and include instructions for maintenance, including stuffing them with tissue paper when they’re not being worn and regular dry-cleaning.
When a Swiss cheesemaker teamed up with Bern University to play music to cheese wheels as they aged, the question on everybody’s mind was… why? While no one was sure the music would affect the microbes, researchers secretly had hopes for their favorite genres. After six months of endless Mozart, Led Zeppelin, Yelo, A Tribe Called Quest, and Vril, the results were in. All cheese wheels exposed to music exhibited milder flavors than non-musical cheese, but hip-hop alone proved to provide a stronger aroma and flavor than all others.
Via Bern University
Astronauts face a variety of stressful conditions when they spend time in space. Cosmic rays, radiation, even microgravity take a toll on their bodies, but a new symptom can last for months after they return to Earth. NASA astronauts are exhibiting increased rates of oral and genital herpes, chickenpox, and shingles. Up to 61% of space travelers are affected, shedding the viruses in their saliva and urine. Experts believe the extreme stress and immune system depression are leading to higher rates, and say they’ll have to take this new information into account as they plan for longer space missions to places like Mars.
