Sideswipe: February 24: Crime against pies

Lost Lego

In 1997 a giant wave swept 4.8 million Lego pieces into waters off the coast of Cornwall. A quarter of a century later, the tiny plastic toys are still washing up on England's southwestern shores. According to Smithsonian, the Great Lego Spill is considered the worst-ever toy-related environmental catastrophe. It occurred when a cargo ship named Tokio Express was transporting goods from Rotterdam in the Netherlands to New York. A 28ft wave toppled 62 shipping containers off the vessel, dumping Lego sets that, in a strange twist, were largely nautical-themed. Beachcombers continue to find miniature flippers, harpoons and octopuses in the sand to this day. Roughly 3.2 million of the lost Lego pieces are light enough to float, which means the other 1.6 million have likely ended up on the seabed. They are destined to stay there for a while; according to a 2020 study, it will take 1300 years for the Lego pieces lost at sea to fully break down.

Modern collective nouns

A tuxedo of penguins (for their striking colouration).
A bask of crocodiles (for their sunning habits).
A destruction of cats (no explanation necessary).
A troop of baboons (but a barrel of monkeys and a band of gorillas).
A tower of giraffes.
A parliament of owls.
A cackle of hyenas.
A smack of jellyfish.
An ambush of tigers.
A wisdom of wombats.

Expert-level hide and seek

Policing masks on flights

"On a recent trip on Jetstar from Queenstown I was looking at passengers during the flight and was surprised at the number of people with masks not covering their noses, or not wearing a mask," writes John. "The flight attendant made mention to keep masks on and if there were any issues to contact staff. I watched them walk past people with masks not properly on and one woman with quite often no mask on. In her defence, I could understand not having the mask on as her nose was dripping and it made it easier for her to wipe her nose. The poor person beside her ... The staff walked past numerous times, looked and looked away. Said nothing. My point? Should I have created a scene or spoken to the airline staff about the person in the seat in front? Is this my job on the flight?"