Sideswipe: October 20: Does this spark nostalgia?

Snack of yesteryear.

Needs to be mashed. What small thing do you remember fondly from childhood?

Why you are a mosquito magnet

Humans seem to become more attractive to mosquitoes when they’re pregnant or after they’ve had a few beers, prompting further research into whether mosquitoes may be drawn to certain odours. And that is carboxylic acid, all humans produce it through sebum, a waxy coating, on their skin. The sebum is then eaten by the millions of beneficial micro-organisms that colonise our skin to produce more carboxylic acid. In copious amounts, the acid can produce an odour that smells like cheese or smelly feet and that smell appears to attract the female mosquitoes on the hunt for human blood.

How to get free grapes

Free grapes.

Two at a time.

School DNA programme

Texas is keeping a grip on its right to bear arms with an AR-15. The state’s public school districts are about to hand out DNA and fingerprint kits to any family who wants them. The new programme is part of a Texas law passed in 2021 and it’s billed as something that can be kept on file just in case children need to be identified by strangers. Think about that for a minute ... Some parents in Texas are understandably upset about the entire idea of taking their kid’s DNA, noting that it does nothing to prevent school shootings.

Uber Smokes?

Uber Eats is about to start delivering marijuana in Toronto. The move is not only practical in our modern era of online shopping but genius in allowing stoners to bundle their bud and munchies into one purchase. “We are partnering with industry leaders to help retailers offer safe, convenient options for people in Toronto to purchase legal cannabis for delivery to their homes, which will help combat the illegal market and help reduce impaired driving,” Lola Kassim, general manager of Uber Eats Canada, said in a statement.