Sideswipe: October 9: No need to crow about it

A recent study that looked at the brain patterns of crows when performing tasks found evidence that they "know what they know and can ponder the content of their own minds", an attribute that was previously thought to exist only in humans and some monkeys. The birds were aware of what they subjectively perceived, flash or no flash, correctly reporting what their sensory neurons recorded.

Neurobiologist Andreas Nieder told Statnews.com: "I think it demonstrates convincingly that crows and probably other advanced birds have sensory awareness, in the sense that they have specific subjective experiences that they can communicate.

"Besides crows, this kind of neurobiological evidence for sensory consciousness only exists in humans and macaque monkeys."

Unlikely symbol of vegetarianism

In November 1995, a three-year-old heifer jumped a 1.5m gate at a slaughterhouse in Hopkinton, Massachusetts, minutes before she would have been killed. Despite record amounts of snow, she stayed alive and evaded capture for 40 days, foraging in backyards and aided by sympathetic townspeople. When she was finally retaken, a local family purchased her from the slaughterhouse and established her in sanctuary at Peace Abbey in Sherborn, where she received regular visitors and became a symbol of animal rights and vegetarianism. When she died in 2003, she was buried between statues of Mother Teresa and Mahatma Gandhi. Her own grave now bears a life-sized statue.

Webjet's map a little off...

Listen up blokes

A guide, for men, on how to offer constructive criticism to women on the internet about their bodies. Something you might encounter is women not adhering to unrealistic beauty standards. They may be over a certain arbitrary weight – for example, larger than a professional model – or have common features of the human body, like hair. Boost their self-esteem by saying you would definitely have sex with them. Make sure it is completely unprompted because ladies love surprises. It's your job to make sure famous women don't 'let themselves go' or show signs of getting older.  And if a woman on the internet appears to be feeling good about herself, put a stop to it immediately. Also feel free to tell them 'Men don't like it when women do that' if they're doing something unfeminine like drinking a pint. (Read more at The Daily Mash)

Everyday people

Jacinda Ardern is standing by her call that a 2lt bottle of milk is $4.50 in the latest debate — the media's way of finding out if politicians are really in touch with everyday people — but on Twitter Rachel Peters reckons "if they were true everyday people they would just rattle off the current deals at McDonalds and KFC."