Hearsay & 20 Questions

It does leave one very tired and exhausted, doesn’t it?

The Queen on contracting COVID in February at the age of 96.

THE AUSTRALIAN I AU

“Ain’t nobody in it – this is crazy.” San Francisco police apprehend a self-driving vehicle cruising the streets without headlights – only to find there was no-one inside.

THE GUARDIAN I UK

“I get so, so sad about it. Like, what happens if she doesn’t walk down the aisle and I’m standing there? [That’s] like, my biggest fear.” Brooklyn Beckham, son of millionaires, on his unfounded fears ahead of his extravagant wedding to Nicola Peltz, daughter of billionaires.

VOGUE I UK

“Employees aren’t going to come in regularly just for the frills. What are you going to do next? Get Justin Bieber and then Katy Perry?” Nick Bloom, economic professor at Stanford University, on tech companies’ efforts to entice employees back to the office. But even perks like food trucks, wellness days and private gigs from Lizzo (hello Google) can’t ameliorate the average one-hour daily commute.

THE NEW YORK TIMES I US

“It has to be with salt and only with salt, because in Barbados we take our fruits to the ocean and soak them. Trust me, it really is a thing.” Rihanna on her pregnancy cravings for tangerines sprinkled with salt.

VOGUE I US

“This looks like an animal whose leg has simply been ripped off really quickly. There’s no evidence on the leg of disease, there are no obvious pathologies, there’s no trace of the leg being scavenged, such as bite marks or bits of it that are missing.” Professor Paul Barrett, from London’s Natural History Museum, on a preserved prehistoric leg, found in the US, which some scientists claim shows dinosaurs were killed and entombed on the day a giant asteroid struck Earth 66 million years ago.

BBC I UK

“Post the lockdown, I’m seeing people become bolder about freely expressing themselves. I think that a lot of people have always had thoughts of wanting it, but have not gone out there to explore it, maybe because of the fear or the taboo attached to it.” J’son D’souza, aka Mr Piercer, on the boom in intimate piercings: he used to get eight to 10 requests in a month, now he’s getting almost that many requests every week.

VICE I US

“I mean, if there’s kitchen rage in an organisation, I think it tells us something, which is not just about the kitchen.” Professor Katherine Reynolds, from Australian National University, on breaches in work etiquette – along with the return of the passive-aggressive sign in the office kitchen.

THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD I AU

“The Saints were Australia’s greatest band, and Chris Bailey was my favourite singer.” Nick Cave, paying tribute to the man who inspired him, Chris Bailey, who has died, aged 65.

THE RED HAND FILES I UK

“It took two to three hours to get ready every day. I would shave my head myself to make the prosthetics for my hacked-off ears easier to glue down.” Actor Eric Bana looking back on the making of the film Chopper. Notorious criminal Mark “Chopper” Read, who Bana portrayed 22 years ago, had a fellow cellmate cut off part of his ears, supposedly to win a bet.

EAR2GROUND “Some cats like Very Official Person: “What is your preferred name?” going out for a walk on the lead. They’re just like people” Six-year-old boy: Dr Jacqui Ley, “I really like when a Melbourne my dad calls me specialist in buster.” veterinary Overheard by Karin of behavioural Melbourne. medicine, on why your beloved moggy might not mind a meander through the local park. The RSPCA on the other hand “does not recommend it”. But do people really like being on a leash?

THE GUARDIAN I AU

“You can totally transform the way you react to pandemics, treat patients and do things like home health-care delivery.” Keller Rinaudo, chief executive of Zipline, an American firm that has begun delivering medical supplies to people in remote parts of Japan by drone.

JAPAN TODAY I JP

“It never made No#1 though, I’ll never get to wear the T-shirt that says ‘I’m a New York Times bestseller.’” Author Graeme Simsion on his first book The Rosie Project, which was published in 40 countries, is about to be made into a movie, and spent 65 weeks on The New York Times bestseller list – but still no sweet tee.

THE AGE I AU

“HD1 would represent a giant baby in the delivery room of the early universe.” Avi Loeb, astronomer at Harvard’s Center for Astrophysics, on the discovery of the most distant astrological body, HD1, a galaxy 13.5 billion light years away.

SCIENCE DAILY I US

“We know what the problems are and we know how to solve them. All we lack is unified action.” Meanwhile, back on planet Earth, naturist Sir David Attenborough on saving it.

BBC I UK

by Rachael Wallace

01 Which has a wider diameter:

Australia or the moon? 02 Garry Gary Beers played bass in which Australian band? 03 What is the traditional route of Qantas flight QF1? 04 Who won the 2022 Australian

Grand Prix? 05 What is chrometophobia a fear of? 06 At how many Olympic Games has swimmer Emily Seebohm competed? 07 What year was the UK’s Brexit referendum? 08 Who wrote the 1964 novel Chitty-

Chitty-Bang-Bang? 09 Who is the narrator of the Netflix series Bridgerton? 10 Queen guitarist Brian May gained his doctorate in what subject in 2007? 11 How many first-grade rugby league premierships did the North Sydney

Bears win? 12 Which fruit is banned from being eaten in many hotels in South-East Asia? 13 Who recently became the highest scorer in any cricket World

Cup final? 14 Do more people speak Danish,

Swedish or Norwegian? 15 If someone is an EGOT winner, what have they won? 16 Egyptian man Omar Hegazy holds the Guinness World Record for the longest distance swimming underwater with one breath. How far did he swim: a) 56.48 metres b) 63.59 metres c) 47.55 metres or d) 70.77 metres? 17 How many herbs and spices were in Colonel Sanders’ Original Recipe chicken? 18 Who played Dr Frank-N-Furter in the 1975 film The Rocky Horror

Picture Show? 19 What colour is the centre square on a Scrabble board? 20 What is the South African food bunny chow?