Table of contents for October / November 2024 in Readers Digest Australia

I’m standing with Malena Sigurgeirsdóttir in front of an enormous pan in a catering kitchen in Copenhagen as she flips sizzling ‘meatballs’ the size of ping pong balls. In Denmark they are called kødboller. But these meatballs are not made of minced beef, lamb or pork; instead they contain up to 40 per cent ground buffalo mealworm larvae mixed with pea meal. Before the tasting session, I made the mistake of doing some research and learned that buffalo beetles live off feed scraps and chicken droppings on farms. But I can’t think about that now; I’m determined to try Malena’s meatballs with an open mind. She and her business partner, Jessica Buhl-Nielsen, both in their early 30s, have big plans: to sell sustainable insect-based food products to the world. Not…

Turn the page ›› …DIFFERENTLY Every year in March, Valencia celebrates Las Fallas. The name of this festival in Spain’s third largest city is derived from facula, Latin for torch. It ends on March 19 with the burning of small to larger-than-life colourful sculptures with overtones ranging from the critical to ironic. On the night of the 16th, the falleros and falleras, as the sculptors are called, install their creations in the streets. Beforehand, spectators can admire the smaller ones in an exhibition and vote for their favourite. The winner is the only figure to escape the flames. PHOTOS: GETTY IMAGES/TMBI LICENSE…

In the 2022 film Tár, Cate Blanchett played a conductor who was affected by misophonia – an acute sensitivity to certain sounds. For Lydia Tár, Blanchett’s character, the clicking of a pen or the beat of a metronome was enough to drive her to distraction. Scientists say the condition affects about 18 per cent of the population, but I beg to differ. I think we all suffer from some form of misophonia. Who doesn’t have a sound or two that sends them over the edge? For example, who can bear the slurping of soup? My understanding is that you are meant to lift the spoon and tip it, gently channelling the liquid into your mouth. Instead, people hold the spoon a few centimetres from their face, blow on the soup,…

1 According to Claudius Ptolemy’s (circa 100-170 CE) epicycle theory, planets move in small circular orbits which in turn move in large circular orbits around the Earth. His theory was considered correct for more than 1000 years. Ptolemy knew of only five planets. Which two were unknown to him? a) Mercury and Mars. b) Saturn and Jupiter. c) Uranus and Neptune. d) Pluto and Uranus. 2 German astronomer Johannes Kepler (1571-1630) recognised that planets move in elliptical orbits with the sun. Yet at the time, most people still believed that the Earth was immobile and the centre of the universe. What consequences did Kepler suffer for having this understanding? His … a) daughter lost an eye during a devil’s exorcism. b) mother was accused of witchcraft. c) son poisoned himself.…

CIRCLING THE GLOBE as a travel writer, visiting almost 150 countries over about 20 years, I have seen a lot of remarkable things. I’ve stood in the basket of a hot-air balloon and watched herds of elephants crossing the Serengeti. I have travelled by helicopter in Antarctica to see humpback whales feeding in the frigid waters. I’ve been awestruck by the Taj Mahal in India, Machu Picchu in Peru and the Pyramids of Giza. I have even felt the last rays of a sunset fading over Cambodia’s Angkor Wat as I sat atop a temple. But I have never, ever seen or experienced anything like the Gates of Hell, its flames dazzling from the bottom of the crater 30 metres below, lighting up the Karakum Desert with burning methane. My…

Loki The Lab VINCE LILJA Ten years ago, Loki came into my waiting arms. He was one of eleven Labrador puppies – and the only one that was fox red (he had one yellow, three brown and six black siblings). I knew I had to keep him. His favourite thing is cruising with me in my truck, sticking his head out the window to catch some wind and watching other motorists. A few years after we got Loki, we moved into a new home. One day when we went out, we secured Loki in the family room. Or so we thought. Imagine my surprise when on returning home, we pulled into the garage to park next to my truck and there was Loki, sitting happily in the driver’s seat. Somehow,…

“Look – I only get an hour of screen time a day, so enough with the chitter-chatter.” The Case Of The Missing Car I drove a short distance to the shops, parked and did my shopping. When I was done, I absent-mindedly walked home. In the morning, when I didn’t see my car outside, I assumed it had been stolen and called the police. At dinnertime, my son came in and said he’d seen the car down at the shops. Embarrassed, I called the police officer and confessed what I’d done. There was a brief silence on the other end. “This happens to other people, doesn’t it?” I said. The officer responded, “Yes, but not when they’re sober.” SUBMITTED BY ELSA PATERSON The Lies Parents Tell • Toys Я Us…

Each day an estimated five billion cups of tea are drunk around the world – and every single one of them is potentially a health booster; if made correctly. Now you might be thinking, there’s tea, there’s water – maybe milk and sugar depending on where you live – how hard can it be to do it correctly? Well, actually there’s a science to making tea that tastes good, and positively affects your health. Health Benefits According to recent studies, drinking 2-6 cups a day is linked to a lowered risk of arterial changes associated with heart disease and dementia, while one cup a day reduces the risk of diabetes – and just three cups a week might lead to a longer life. “All tea – green, black and white…

ON AUGUST 24, IN 79 CE, Mount Vesuvius erupted, shooting over 12 cubic kilometres of debris up to 32 kilometres in the air. As the ash and rock fell to Earth, it buried the ancient cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum. According to most modern accounts, the story pretty much ends there: both cities were wiped out, their people frozen in time. It only picks up with the rediscovery of the cities and the excavations that started in earnest in the 1740s. But recent research has shifted the narrative. The story of the eruption of Mount Vesuvius is no longer one about annihilation; it also includes the stories of those who survived the eruption and went on to rebuild their lives. The search for survivors and their stories has dominated the past…

ON THE OUTSKIRTS OF BUDAPEST, there’s a small, simple railway station of old Communist charm, called Istvántelek. It has two tracks and one concrete platform. Unless you live there, you have very little reason to visit. But there I was, on a hot day in summer, looking for a site next door, a place called the Red Star Graveyard. It is not a graveyard with headstones. I had read that it was an abandoned rail yard with dozens of wrecks of steam engines and rail cars, some more than 100 years old. I had seen photos of them online, taken by urban explorers, people who, like me, find abandoned buildings and industrial sites to be irresistible. Before my wife, Annemarie, and I travelled to Budapest for a short holiday, I…

Getting the job as Head of Primary Music in a huge international school in the Middle East was a dream come true for me … until reality hit. An introvert with imposter syndrome, I soon found myself doubting my suitability for the job. Every week I led an assembly of 500 kids in song, with staff sitting in. Concerts involving choir, bands and whole year groups took place regularly with big audiences filming and voicing lots of opinions about how things should be done, with perfection being the main objective. My favourite part of the job was planning the annual talent show, and seeing the enjoyment on the kids’ faces. But the show was a huge amount of work, taking up a lot of my free time preparing accompaniments, backing…

We watch our salt and fat intake to protect our hearts. We exercise and take calcium to protect our bones. But what can we do to protect our eyes, all year round? A lot. We asked experts what lifestyle steps people should be taking to protect their vision and eye health. INVEST IN QUALITY SUNGLASSES “Protecting the eyes from ultraviolet light – sunlight – is very important,” says ophthalmology professor Dr Esen Akpek. “It’s one of the biggest things in our environment to have an impact on the eyes. Ultraviolet light has been shown to have an effect on cataract development and macular degeneration.” To shield your eyes, wear sunglasses certified to block out 99 to 100 per cent of UVA and UVB light. Surprisingly, dark lenses aren’t necessarily the…

TWO WEEKS BEFORE CHRISTMAS IN 2021, helicopter pilot Thomas Orr eyed the grey sky above and shrugged inwardly. It was drizzling and a little cooler than it should have been as that time of year in Taupō as the resort town prepared for the summer holidaymakers who would converge around New Zealand’s largest lake. Still, the weather was decent enough for flying and any airborne day was a good one for Thomas. A couple of years in, none of the shine had worn off a job that saw the 26 year old fly hunters and anglers into the rugged central North Island hill country he had roamed since childhood. His father, Tony Orr, an experienced helicopter pilot and head of the family’s helicopter charter company, had tried to dissuade his A-student…

1 The invention of the first automobile is most often credited to German engineer Karl Benz (the co-founder of luxury brand Mercedes-Benz), who filed a patent for his three-wheeled, fuel-powered Motorwagen in 1886. But it was his wife, Bertha, who made the world’s first long-distance drive in an automobile. She took the motor car and her two sons, without her husband’s knowledge, and made a 180 kilometre round trip. 2 Every day, across the world, there are approximately 70 million driving trips made in vehicles. Most people will spend roughly 4.5 years of their life in a vehicle, including 54 hours per year in gridlock. 3 Today, roughly 70 per cent of countries drive on the right, with notable exceptions being New Zealand, Australia, India, Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore and…

While the tech industry is always hyping the next hot gadget, the reality is that you already own a lot of awesome gear. And you can do much more with all the devices you already own. Here’s how to use them to live a better life today, no purchase necessary. Find Emojis On Your Computer Smiley faces and party poppers aren’t just for text messages on your phone. You can use emojis in many programs on your Mac or PC, too, with an emoji keyboard just a quick keyboard shortcut away. On a Windows PC, press the Windows key and the fullstop key at the same time. On a Mac, press command, control and the space bar at the same time to reveal the emojis. Get Your Smart Speaker Talking…

Crossword Test your general knowledge. ACROSS 1 Was also known as the Soviet Union (1,1,1,1) 3 Comes before a jail sentence (10) 10 In a higher bracket (9) 11 School tool (5) 12 Taggers’ normal medium (5-5) 13 Ore vein (4) 15 Mission Impossible character -----Hunt (5) 16 Those who change to suit the circumstances (8) 20 Eternity is about the whole (8) 23 South American ruminant (5) 25 Land-locked US state (4) 27 Two-sided (10) 29 Male relative (5) 30 Quarter (3-6) 31 Silver lining (6,4) 32 Reply request (1,1,1,1) DOWN 1 Not cleaned (8) 2 Spiky ocean creature (3,6) 4 Smallest of Japan’s five main islands (7) 5 Roofed open gallery attached to a house (7) 6 Lightweight material from soft bark (4) 7 Icehouse (5) 8 Fibres that conduct…