THE worm-charming world record was smashed on Saturday in the 30th annual Willaston Worm Charming Championships. Willaston Primary School pupil Sophie Smith, nine, was declared the winner with 567 worms, eclipsing the previous record total of 511 from 1980.
-Crewe Chronicle.
In case you wonder how they do it-
Most worm charming methods involve vibrating the soil, which encourages the worms to the surface. In 2008 researchers from Vanderbilt University demonstrated that the worms surface because the vibrations are similar to those produced by digging moles, which prey on earthworms. The same technique is used by many species of bird, who devour the worms as they appear above ground.
The activity is known by several different names and the apparatus and techniques vary significantly. "Worm grunting" generally refers to the use of a "stob", a wooden stake that is driven into the ground, and a "rooping iron" which is used to rub the stob. "Worm fiddling" also uses a wooden stake but utilises a dulled saw which is dragged along its top.
Techniques vary from sprinkling the turf with water, tea and beer to acupuncture, music or just "twanging" with a garden fork. In some organized competitions, detergents and mechanical diggers have been banned.
-Wikipedia
Here is more about moles and worms:
Dr. Catania said the work suggested the worms were responding to what are perceived to be moles. And it is a very strong response. “They come out of the soil as if they are running,” he said. “That is, if an earthworm could run.”
-New York Times
And a video from Sopchoppy Worm Grunting Festival 2008:
We are talking about worms and moles, why not The World's Ugliest Dog?
Read about this at Xenophilia.
Finally, our friendly neighbourhood (via The Acorn)
PS: You got this?
Mozilla Firefox 3.5 is the culmination of nearly a year-long quest to build a browser for the next version of the web. And while it’s not perfect, it comes very, very close.
The open-source browser is expected to be available for download Tuesday morning for Windows, Mac and Linux.
-webmonkey.
Last month, after seeing a TV report on the status of India's relation with its neighbours, I started joking with my friend that India could be no.1 in the list of unsafe nations as all our nieghbours weren't happy with us or had hard time fighting themselves... Hope this doesn't become true!!! because India herself has a lot of internal unrest & dissatisfation to be sorted out and likes extra burden anyway...!!!
ReplyDeleteBut what makes all this worse is that every one of those failed and failing states are blaming India for all their problems... The best thing for them is to become one of our states, then what with Bihar and UP., their failure won't stand our so glaringly.
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