Male chess players refuse to surrender longer against women
And other stories from the stranger side of life
A new study has found that male chess players are so keen not to lose to a woman that they play for longer against female opponents. Researchers from the King’s College London, who analysed data from 79,000 games, found that men play 8% longer to avoid the “psychological cost“ of losing to a woman. The Telegraph noted that chess grandmaster Bobby Fischer once said female players were “stupid compared to men” and “shouldn’t play chess”.
Bees may ‘ejaculate themselves to death’ in heat wave
If the UK heat wave reaches 42C bees may “ejaculate themselves to death”, said Metro. When male worker bees face extremely high temperatures their bodies begin to convulse, which forces them to ejaculate their genitals out of their body and die from the shock. “It’s pretty extreme,” said Dr Alison McAffee, a postdoctoral fellow at UBC’s Michael Smith Laboratories, who focuses on bee health.
Britain’s rudest restaurant opens
A new eatery has opened with the aim of becoming Britain’s rudest restaurant. First launched in Sydney last year, Karen’s Diner opened in Prestwich, Greater Manchester, promising “great burgers and very rude service”. One customer was mocked about his teeth by staff, while an announcement over the speaker system suggested another diner’s credit card had been declined. “You will have a genuinely unpleasant time, with any insecurities quickly pounced upon,” noted The Times.
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Chas Newkey-Burden has been part of The Week Digital team for more than a decade and a journalist for 25 years, starting out on the irreverent football weekly 90 Minutes, before moving to lifestyle magazines Loaded and Attitude. He was a columnist for The Big Issue and landed a world exclusive with David Beckham that became the weekly magazine’s bestselling issue. He now writes regularly for The Guardian, The Telegraph, The Independent, Metro, FourFourTwo and the i new site. He is also the author of a number of non-fiction books.
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