Jumping worms, the evil twin of earthworms

The invasive amynthas agrestis, also known as the Asian jumping worm, are known for their insatiable appetite and ability to jump a foot in the air.

“True to their name, they jump and thrash immediately when handled, behaving more like a threatened snake than a worm, sometimes even breaking and shedding their tail when caught,” the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) warned in the report.

Asian jumping worms have been spotted in California with greater frequency of late. Native to East Asia, particularly Japan and the Korean Peninsula, these worms began arriving in the US in the early 1900s, tucked away in the soil of potted plants. Now they can now be found in at least 34 states.

Cockroaches released during hearing

A courthouse in upstate New York was closed for fumigation after hundreds of cockroaches were released during an altercation that broke out at an arraignment, according to court officials.

The clash broke out during proceedings in Albany City Court for four people for an arrest at the state Capitol. A defendant who started to film the courtroom proceedings was told to stop. In the altercation that followed, hundreds of cockroaches brought into the courthouse in plastic containers were released, according to the state court system.

The bug release was being investigated while the courthouse was closed for the rest of the day for fumigation.

Woman breaks one-handed climbing world record

A woman, born with her right arm missing below the elbow, broke a Guinness World Record by climbing a vertical distance of 1,229 feet and 9 inches using only one arm on a climbing wall.

Anoushe Husain, co-founder of the para-climbing London group, took on the record at The Castle Climbing Centre in London.

“I had to learn how to climb left-handed only, how to readjust my balance, how to generate power and how to work with what is essentially my weaker side,” Husain disclosed.

Husain took up climbing as a sport about 10 years ago, while recovering from cancer and dealing with chronic pain from Ehlers-Danlos syndrome.

“For the first time in a long time, I felt like a person rather than as a chronically disabled person who is struggling with her own identity,” she said.

Nearly 8,000-year-old skull found in Minnesota River

A partial skull discovered by two kayakers in Minnesota will be returned to Native American officials after it was found to be about 8,000 years old.

The skull was in the drought-depleted Minnesota River, about 180 kilometres west of Minneapolis, Renville County Sheriff Scott Hable said.

Thinking it might be related to a missing person case or murder, Hable turned the skull over to a medical examiner and then the FBI, where carbon dating determined it was likely the skull of a young man who lived between 5500 and 6000 BC. The skull had a depression, “perhaps suggestive of the cause of death.” The remains will be turned over to Upper Sioux Community tribal officials.

Published in Dawn, Young World, June 18th, 2022