This Week

[January 5-11th, 2019] Space cookies, gorilla cataracts, new planets, and the rest of the week’s weird news from Ripley’s Believe It or Not!

Space Cookies Have Landed

Astronauts were excited about their last shipment of supplies to the International Space Station. Amongst the fresh food and snacks was a batch of cookies, but, unfortunately, astronauts were forbidden from eating them. The cookies were part of an experiment to test the effects of microgravity when baking old-fashioned chocolate chip cookies. The cookies were baked in a special oven then sent hurtling back to Earth aboard a space capsule before landing in the Pacific ocean for scientists to pick up and taste study.

Seeing In 2020

For the first time in history, veterinary experts were able to perform eye surgery on a 65-pound gorilla. Leslie, a western lowland gorilla at the San Diego Zoo, developed cataracts after an injury suffered while playing. Poor Leslie was almost entirely blind in her left eye, but a surgeon was able to restore her sight. Though he had only ever operated on human eyes before, he was able to successfully remove the gorilla’s clouded lens and replace it with an artificial one.

lowland gorilla

Intern Discovers New Planet

Wolf Cukier was excited for his internship at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, but probably didn’t expect “planet-finding” to be added to his resume. The 17-year-old was looking at a solar system 1,300 light-years from Earth when he noticed a dark object pass in front of the distant star. The planet orbits two suns and has been dubbed TOI 1338-b.

Two Sets Of Twins In One Year!

Having a baby is a big event of the year, and having twins is even bigger. One woman in Florida had twins twice. Alexzandria Wolliston of West Palm Beach had one pair of twins in March of 2019, then had a second set in December. According to Wolliston, twins run on both sides of her family. She says that both of her grandmothers had lost twins in delivery, and believes her babies were sent from her grandmothers in heaven.

Asparamancy Strikes Again

We covered the United Kingdon’s most prolific practicing asparamancer a few years ago, and—according to her—another prediction has come true. Jemima Packington claims to divine the future by throwing asparagus in the air and then interpreting the future from how it lands. Packington claims to have predicted royal family turmoil this year and adds it to her other 2020 prophecies, which include predictions about British politics, sports scandals, and global warming.