ncumbered_by_idgits posted:

My God how many of them are there?

Cartoon Man posted:

There’s a lot to unpack in this headline to say nothing of the Australian spider apocalypse being “US News”.

https://www.the-sun.com/news/us-news/3085332/spider-apocalypse-australia-countryside-cobwebs-biblical-mouse-plague/

quote:

Experience: I swallowed one of my AirPods


On the doctor’s screen was a cartoon-clear X-ray image of my ribs. Parked between them was the unmistakable shape of the missing earphone

On 1 February this year, snow fell heavily on my home town of Worcester, Massachusetts, and I had been shovelling for an hour and a half before turning in at midnight. I was exhausted, but it’s my habit to watch movies on my phone as I go to sleep. I put on a favourite – the 1980s version of The Thing, starring Kurt Russell. It’s the story of researchers in Antarctica being gradually taken over by a malevolent alien.

Within 10 minutes of the opening credits, I could barely keep my eyes open. The next thing I knew, four hours had passed, my wife, Heather, was asleep beside me and the movie had long finished. Groggily, I moved my phone off the pillow and removed the wireless AirPod headphone from one ear – the other had fallen out and I couldn’t find it.

Still barely awake, I padded to the bathroom for a sip of water, but couldn’t swallow properly. My throat filled with water, but it wouldn’t go down – I had to lean over the sink and let the water drain out. It was bizarre and alarming, but I was so tired that I just went back to bed. In the morning, I checked again for the missing earbud, but it was nowhere to be seen. The “find my AirPod” function on my phone, which makes the headphones bleep, didn’t work as the batteries were flat.

Lots more snow had fallen overnight, and I went out before breakfast to resume shovelling, breaking off after an hour or so for a drink of water. Again, I couldn’t swallow but I wasn’t concerned – I just thought my throat was unusually dry and the difficulty would pass. “By the way,” I said, as I headed back out, “I’ve lost one of my earphones. Has anyone seen it?”

While I cleared the snow, Heather and my son, Owen, searched the bedroom thoroughly, even lifting the mattress. “Hey,” Owen said, “perhaps you swallowed it in your sleep?” We all laughed, but a couple of minutes later, after another mouthful of water came straight back up, we started to wonder if he might be on to something. I had also become aware of a faint pressure in the middle of my chest – just a mild discomfort, nothing that would usually have caused concern. But the evidence was starting to add up.

“You need to get it checked out,” Heather said.

At the walk-in centre, the receptionist asked for my symptoms. My response was met with a bemused look and the doctor who examined me was incredulous. She said people with an object lodged in their throat usually experience a lot of pain, plus it seemed unlikely that I could have inadvertently swallowed a piece of plastic an inch and a half long. I was left on my own as she went to examine the results of a precautionary X-ray.

The doctor’s expression when she returned was priceless. “Well, I’ll be damned,” she said. She led me to her workstation, which was surrounded by medical staff. On the screen was a cartoon-clear image of my ribs and, parked between them at 45 degrees, the unmistakable shape of the missing AirPod.

The situation may have seemed comical, but the doctor was clearly concerned. The AirPod seemed to be wedged firmly into the side of my oesophagus, but there was still a possibility it could block an airway. If ingested, it could either pass harmlessly through my system, or lodge in my intestines, which would mean surgery. There was also a slight possibility that the device might rupture, and I didn’t want to try digesting a lithium-ion battery.


Heather drove me to the endoscopy centre, where the AirPod was got back out via my mouth using a tube with a lasso attachment. It was extremely uncomfortable, but I was sedated and so only half awake. A few minutes later, I was given the AirPod in a neat little bag.

I tried it as soon as I got home. It works fine, although the microphone is less reliable than it was. I’ll never know for certain how I managed to swallow it; my theory is that it dropped on to the pillow, ended up next to my mouth and got sucked in when I yawned. In retrospect, I’m glad the “find my AirPod” attempt didn’t work – I would have freaked out if my throat had beeped.

As told to Chris Broughton

3D Megadoodoo posted:

ultrafilter posted:

https://twitter.com/jacobdotgov/status/1415312824172167169

pik_d posted:

Who the gently caress is coughing on deer

https://twitter.com/ScienceAlert/status/1422754974895849476

Pope Hilarius II posted:

In German linguistics class at uni, the go-to sample sentence to include subject and object was 'Der Mann schlägt das Pferd' ('The man is beating the horse'), presumably inspired by the infamous nervous breakdown Friedrich Nietzsche suffered when he saw a man beating a horse on a market square. After the umpteenth usage of the sample sentence, I recall my professor muttering 'Immer wieder das fürchterliche Beispiel!' ('And always that horrible example!') - note that he himself had written the syllabus, so uh yeah.

Anyway, interesting to see Germany is continuing its proud intellectual tradition of horse abuse.

quote:

For centuries, pilgrims have walked in the footsteps of monks who once inhabited Lindisfarne, connected by a tidal causeway to the ancient kingdom of Northumbria.

They have marvelled at the birthplace of the Lindisfarne gospels, one of the most celebrated illuminated manuscripts in the world, admired the castle that towers over crashing waves and the ruins of the ancient priory, and watched thousands of grey seals basking on the sand banks.

But in recent weeks, the Holy Island’s famed peace and tranquility have been shattered by an acrimonious row over a garish green and yellow interloper.

Larry Landtrain has been proposed as a Covid-secure and child-friendly alternative to the existing shuttle bus that ferries locals and visitors between the island’s amenities and attractions. His three open-air carriages, which can accommodate 36 passengers and a conductor, will boost local businesses, claims his chief advocate, Steve Wood of Woody’s Taxis.

But opposition to Larry has been swift and ferocious. “First and foremost, I don’t think Holy Island is the place for a land train: it’s not Disneyland, we’re not a theme park,” said Nicola Douglas, 47, a lifelong Lindisfarne resident who is spearheading the resistance.

The existing shuttle bus was needed by older and disabled people but Larry would “appeal to families and kids who could have walked, so that will take footfall from stalls along the route”, Douglas told the regional news site Chronicle Live.

“The streets here are already awful with traffic, and parking is a nightmare. I think the train is going to play havoc with the traffic, especially for the businesses who get deliveries every day.

“When tourists come to the island we want them to enjoy it for what it is … and people feel for so many reasons that a land train is taking away from the experience of the island.”

By Wednesday, almost 9,000 people had signed a petition set up by Douglas opposing Larry’s introduction, and supporting the argument that Holy Island “is not the place for a land train”.

But Wood, whose taxi firm has operated the shuttle bus for the past three years and expects to run the land train service, said Larry’s open sides would be welcomed by those concerned about Covid-19 transmission.

“The reason behind using a land train is it’s open air, so it’s Covid-friendly,” he said. “The train only does 10mph, it’s narrower than a bus and it has a conductor on the back, so if anything it’s safer than the shuttle bus. It’s more environmentally friendly as it has a smaller engine.”

Moving to the bitter heart of the dispute, he added: “This is all happening because some local people don’t want it on ‘their island’ – but they don’t own the island. There are local people on the island now with young families who can’t wait to take their children on it.”

So inflamed is opinion that on Wednesday Northumberland county council scrapped a four-week trial of the land train “following serious issues raised by local people”. Further consultations with the Holy Island Development Trust, the National Trust, area of outstanding natural beauty officials and other agencies, will be held instead.

“There is no denying the spiritual and historical heritage of Holy Island, and it truly is a remarkable place,” said the council’s leader, Glen Sanderson.

Lindisfarne was founded by St Aidan, who came from Iona, the centre of Christianity in Scotland, to convert Northumbria to Christianity. He was the first abbot and bishop of Lindisfarne monastery, founded in 635.

Described by Historic UK as “possibly the holiest site of Anglo-Saxon England”, the island is cut off from the mainland by the tide twice a day. The island’s resident population of about 160 is boosted by more than 650,000 visitors each year.