Hallucinogenic honey intoxicates bear

A young bear was rescued in Turkey after being found disoriented and intoxicated from consuming a large amount of hallucinogenic honey. The Turkish Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry said the bear was captured by wildlife officials.

The bear became intoxicated after ingesting a large amount of honey made from the nectar of an indigenous species of rhododendron. The honey, known as ‘mad honey,’ contains grayanotoxane, a neurotoxin that produces hallucinogenic effects when consumed by mammals.

The bear is now in good health and will eventually be returned to the wild.

Skiing in Africa as Europe sweats summer heat

While millions across Europe sweat through a summer of record-breaking heat, people are skiing in Africa.

Don’t worry, this isn’t due to climate change, but rather the fascinating anomaly of Lesotho, a tiny mountain kingdom completely surrounded by South Africa. Lesotho has an obscure geographical claim to fame: It’s the only country on Earth with all its territory more than 1,000 metres (3,280 feet) above sea level.

So there is snow in Lesotho in the southern hemisphere’s winters. But snow is rare in Africa in winter and at an altitude of 3,000 metres (9,842 feet), Afriski in Lesotho’s Maluti Mountains is Africa’s only operating ski resort south of the Equator. Afriski may not be at the level of Europe’s vast Alpine resorts but a love of winter sports is catching.

Scientists use tiny trackers, plane to follow moths on move

Trillions of insects migrate across the globe each year, yet little is known about their journeys. So to look for clues, scientists in Germany placed tiny trackers on the backs of giant moths and followed them by plane.

The death’s-head hawk moths had a strong sense of where they were going and even when the winds changed — flying low to the ground when the winds were against them, or rising up to catch a helpful tail wind. They also stayed on a straight course, the scientists reported in a study published in the journal Science.

The moths are thought to migrate thousands of miles between Europe and Africa in the autumn, flying by night.

The researchers followed the flight paths of 14 moths, with their longest track around 56 miles (90 kilometres). Though the number of moths tracked was fairly small, getting any close-up look at insect migration is significant.

Mortar and pestle sculpture art

A new sculpture in Houston is capturing the attention of hungry art lovers with its unusual subject: a giant mortar and pestle filled with guacamole (avocado-based dip).

Harris County Precinct 2 Commissioner Adrian Garcia and the Houston Arts Alliance unveiled the appetising sculpture at the Leonel Castillo Community Centre. The sculpture pays tribute to the indigenous culture of Mexico.

The sculpture, by artist Jesus Medel Cantu, depicts a molcajete, an Aztec mortar and pestle commonly used to make salsa and guacamole.

Cantu’s giant version shows the molcajete being used to make guacamole.

Published in Dawn, Young World, August 20th, 2022