WEIRD STUFF

Man rides Disneyland attraction for 15,000th time

(AP): For a Disneyland enthusiast who marked his 15,000th spin on Monday on an auto-racing attraction inspired by the animated film Cars, it's not about winning - it's about the ride.

Jon Alan Hale said he was eager to try out the Radiator Springs Racers ride at Disney California Adventure after undergoing gastric bypass and knee replacement surgeries in 2010 and 2011. He said he quickly found himself hooked on the ride, which debuted in 2012, and began tracking his races in a notebook, jotting down his car's colour, lane and whether he wins or loses.

"I fell in love with the ride," said the television technician from Brea, California.

Hale said he started carrying a sign to mark every 100th ride, and remembered how Disneyland workers clapped when he reached 1,000.

On Monday, Hale took the ride with friends who work at the theme park while wearing a Cars themed cap and holding a 15,000 sign.

Hale said he's visited the Anaheim, California, resort known as the 'Happiest Place on Earth' more than 1,100 times. He said he's taken the ride on average 13 times each visit, largely thanks to the fast-moving line for single riders.

He said he doesn't tire of it, especially since he never knows which car is going to pull ahead and win.

"You don't know who is going to win the race," Hale said. "There is no pattern of who wins or loses."

Hale said there's no formal record for riding the attraction inspired by the 2006 Pixar film released by Walt Disney Pictures. He said Disneyland officials said they don't have one and Guinness World Records said they don't track it either.

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Curry could cure hangovers

A common curry spice might be the secret to dodging hangovers altogether.

A South Korean study has found that curcumin -- the antioxidant, anti-inflammatory compound that gives turmeric its golden glow -- can help flush alcohol from the bloodstream faster.

Researchers handed curcumin supplements to 27 men and women before they drank Soju, a 16.5 per cent spirit known for fuelling many a rough morning.

The pill-poppers showed lower blood and breath alcohol levels, and a staggering 87 per cent reported zero hangover symptoms, compared with just 68 per cent in the non-curcumin crowd.

Curcumin speeds up the breakdown of acetaldehyde, the toxic by-product responsible for throbbing heads and queasy stomachs.

Dr Bo-Hyung Kim said: "Curcumin facilitates the rapid elimination of acetaldehyde."

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Smell loss linked to heart failure

A poor sense of smell is linked to more than 130 diseases, a study claims.

Diseases include dementia, Parkinson's, chronic sinus problems and even deadly heart conditions.

Published in Clinical Otolaryngology, the review argues that olfactory disorders affect around 20 per cent of the population, with even higher rates in men and people over 60.

That makes loss of smell more common than profound hearing loss or blindness, yet far less studied.

The leading culprit is chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) -- inflammation of the sinuses often caused by asthma, allergies or cystic fibrosis.

Infections such as flu and rhinovirus have long caused temporary smell issues, but COVID-19 made it eight to 10 times more prevalent, researchers note.

Loss of smell may be one of the earliest detectable signs of neurodegenerative disease.

A major Nature Communications study found it can precede dementia, possibly because harmful proteins begin accumulating first in the brain's smell-processing regions.

Another study showed 90 per cent of Parkinson's patients experience smell loss years before motor symptoms -- sometimes up to five years earlier.

And the surprises keep coming. New data link poor smell function to increased risk of stroke and heart failure, even in previously healthy adults.

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