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Illustration by Isabel Ríos.

Funny Story: Offbeat News from around the Globe

A selection of the most amusing headlines of late, including a chance encounter with “Satan” and the unexpected benefit of wearing glasses — “nerd immunity.”

A woman was approached by a black-clad figure with “I am Satan” typed on his phone in a Boston Subway Station. The figure reportedly approached the 20-year-old woman at around 10:45 p.m. at Forest Hill Station with the typed message, extending his arm across to her and staring at her. Terrified by the encounter, she registered a complaint with the transit police. According to her, the figure donned a mask that concealed his face and had his hood drawn tight.
When found and questioned, the 22-year-old man behind the mask explained that he was only flirting and trying to be funny, saying I was going to try and get her number. The police explained to the man that his actions were not humorous and he was asked to leave.
A visitor at a Chinese zoo filmed himself talking to a Rottweiler living in a wolf’s enclosure. “Woof! Are you a wolf?”, he says in the now viral video.
The video brought attention to the fact that the Xiangwushan Zoo in Hubei province appeared to be passing off the dog as a wolf. On inquiring further, the man was told that a wolf once occupied the enclosure, but had “died of old age.” A zoo employee explained to local media that the dog’s stint in the enclosure was temporary and that it served as a watchdog for the zoo.
Studies show that people who wear glasses at least eight hours a day are less likely to catch Covid-19 compared to those who don’t, according to WKYC3. “If something lands in your eye, it can go through a duct that goes down into your nose and that's how it might infect you,” explained Yaneer Bar-Yam, professor at The New England Complex Systems Institute. Glasses thus serve as barriers that reduce the risk of infection via the eyes. The results of a study conducted in India among 304 Covid-19 patients were extrapolated to show that though 40% of India’s adult population wears glasses, only 19% of those infected with Covid-19 wore glasses. The authors concluded that “the risk of COVID-19 was about 2 to 3 times less in the spectacles wearing population than the population not wearing them.” Bar-Yam pointed out that this unexpected benefit of wearing glasses — jokingly referred to as “nerd immunity” — came only in addition to wearing a mask. Researchers have stated that glasses cannot be considered “a full-proof protection” since there is space between the frames and the wearer’s face.
Naeema Mohammed Sageer is Deputy News Editor. Email her at feedback@thegazelle.org.
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