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Mad Honey, World War & more!

Good Afternoon - To save on cleaning costs, Amsterdam Airport placed pictures of flies inside urinals. The idea was that men would aim at the flies while using the bathroom, minimizing urine spillage outside the toilets. This simple tactic not only worked but was very effective.

Global Insights

In the remote mountains of Nepal and Turkey, a peculiar and potentially perilous substance is crafted by nature's alchemy – mad honey. Unlike the many varieties of honey found worldwide, mad honey is a rare breed, distinctive for its reddish hue and slightly bitter taste. Its source is equally unique: the world's largest honey bee, Apis dorsata laboriosa. However, what truly sets mad honey apart are its profound physiological effects. In moderate doses, it induces dizziness, lightheadedness, and euphoria, while higher quantities can lead to hallucinations, vomiting, loss of consciousness, seizures, and, in rare instances, even death.

A firsthand account of a moderate dose of mad honey, shared by a reporter who joined honey hunters in Nepal on a harvesting expedition, paints a vivid picture: "I ate two teaspoons, the amount recommended by the honey hunters, and after about 15 minutes, I started to feel a high similar to weed. I felt like my body was cooling down, starting from the back of my head and down through my torso. A deep, icy-hot feeling settled in my stomach and lasted for several hours. The honey was delicious, and though a few of the hunters passed out from eating a bit too much, no one suffered from the projectile vomiting or explosive diarrhea I’d been warned about."

Another account provides further insight: "Within 40ish minutes, I could feel the honey creeping up on me. The back of my head started to tingle like I was getting a scalp massage. Then, from within, I felt a warmth around my heart, in my chest and abdomen. Things slowed down a little, and my state of mind became tranquil. By the time we left the restaurant, I was feeling good and strange."

The distinctive qualities of mad honey are not derived from the bees themselves but rather from the plants they feed on, specifically a genus of flowering plants known as rhododendrons. These plants contain neurotoxic compounds called grayanotoxins, and when bees feed on their nectar and pollen, these toxins find their way into the honey, rendering it "mad." Bees are more likely to produce mad honey in areas dominated by rhododendrons due to scarcity, as they consume more grayanotoxins when fewer plant varieties are available.

The rhododendron is Nepal's national flower, and its pollen, picked up by these gigantic bees, contains the chemical grayanotoxin, which can infuse their honey with its drug-like qualities. In spring, the pink flowers blanket the hills, at altitudes too high for domesticated honeybees to fly, so to harvest honey that contains grayanotoxin, locals have one option: to scale the cliffs. To the Gurung, hunting for honey seems to be as much about passing on tradition as it is about the honey itself.

"Only those who can control their fears and remain unflinching in the face of death can be a honey hunter," said Bais Bahadur Gurung (all of the villagers in the region go by the last name Gurung), the 65-year-old chief of the district. The role comes with great risk, but it's matched with equal amounts of respect and honor. Many of the senior hunters in Talo Chipla no longer collect honey today, but the villagers have faith in the upcoming generation. "Old men may have experience," Bais Bahadur explained, "but the young men have balls."

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History & Culture - The Catalyst of World War 1

The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria in June 1914 triggered a chain of events culminating in World War I. Serbian nationalists, emboldened by Serbia's gains in the Balkan Wars, sought to liberate South Slavs under Austro-Hungarian rule. Despite warnings from the Serbian Prime Minister about the assassination plot, Austria-Hungary, aiming to assert dominance in the Balkans, issued an ultimatum to Serbia with demands likely to be rejected. With Germany's support, Austria-Hungary planned to declare war on Serbia, hoping to confine the conflict regionally.

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On April 2, 1917, President Woodrow Wilson asked Congress to declare war against Germany. He cited Germany's resumption of unrestricted submarine warfare and its attempts to involve Mexico in an alliance against the United States as reasons. The U.S. Senate agreed on April 4, 1917, followed by the House two days later. Later that year, on December 7, 1917, the United States also declared war on Germany's ally, Austria-Hungary. Wilson's decision was largely influenced by Germany's renewed submarine attacks on civilian and merchant ships in 1917.

Interesting how the actions of a few countries can affect the entire world.

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• If you doubled one penny every single day for 30 days, you would have around $5.3M

• About 75 grapes make up one glass of wine

• The Parliament of Iceland is the oldest still acting parliament in the world, established in 930

Watch here: Inside the Honey Hunters

We suffer more often in imagination than in reality.”

– Seneca