Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
[August 2–August 8, 2021] Lactating armpits, spooky sumo wrestlers, and the world’s most expensive french fries, all round up in this week’s weird news from Ripley’s Believe It or Not!
A new mom in Portugal realized she brought home more than just a bundle of joy from the hospital when a mass of milk gathered in her armpits, causing them to lactate.
The 26-year-old woman began experiencing pain about two days after giving birth at Hospital de Santa Maria in Lisbon, Portugal, before realizing milk was leaking from her armpits.
It didn’t take doctors long to determine that the round, white discharge–producing mass was caused by a rare case of polymastia, or accessory breast.
Accessory breasts are formed when mammary ridges fail to disappear during fetal development. While two to six percent of women are born with an accessory breast, most don’t find out about it until they are pregnant or begin breastfeeding.
The bonus breasts may cause some discomfort for nursing mothers but are considered harmless overall. Some new moms can even turn them into another milk-pumping machine for their hungry babies!
That being said, if you do happen to have an accessory breast, doctors recommend having it screened for breast cancer as a precaution.
NEJM Image Challenge Follow-up: Pain in the right armpit developed in a 26-year-old woman 2 days after a normal vaginal delivery. Examination revealed an axillary mass that was consistent with polymastia.
— NEJM (@NEJM) July 30, 2021
To say horses are a bit skittish would be an understatement, a trait the Toyko Olympics organizers seemingly forgot about when designing the equestrian course for this year’s games. During Tuesday’s equestrian jumping qualifier, jumpers and their stallions were spooked when they rounded a corner only to find themselves face-to-face with the wedgie of a sumo wrestler statue.
According to several Olympic riders, the qualifiers took a turn at Obstacle No. 10, when several horses were visibly taken aback by the full moon of a life-size statue of a sumo wrestler. The statue was positioned directly to the left of the jump, facing away from competitors, placing the wrestler’s mawashi wedgie front and center after rounding the corner.
“As you come around, you see a big guy’s butt,” said British rider Harry Charles, with Ireland’s Cian O’Connor adding, “There’s a lot to look at.”
While most of the course’s hurdles came in close contact with a variety of Japanese décor ranging from geisha kimonos to taiko drums, none of the others caught the horses’ eyes in the same way as the sumo wrestler’s bum. Some horses even faltered so greatly, they racked up enough penalty points to disqualify them from Wednesday’s finals!
After noticing others having issues with the obstacle, Israel’s Teddy Vlock and Ireland’s Darragh Kenny made sure to trot their horses to the jump before their runs so they would be familiar with the statue.
“It looks very realistic,” said Vlock, who placed 34th out of 73 pairings due to other issues. “It does look like a person, and that’s a little spooky… horses don’t want to see a guy, like looking intense next to a jump, looking like he’s ready to fight you.”
Both competitors cleared the obstacle with no issues, with Kenny placing second.
While most competitors agree that the 10th jump challenged several horses, some do not solely blame the sumo wrestler’s presence.
Vancouver de Lanlore, the horse of previous French gold medalist Pénélope Leprevost, was one of the many competitors docked around the obstacle. However, she did note that he could have also been “surprised to see a vertical so close.”
Meanwhile, Britain’s Scott Brash and Switzerland’s Martin Fuchs believe that the more likely culprits were the cherry blossoms positioned to the right of the jump.
Regardless of which decoration spooked the horses more, the Olympians aren’t upset about the challenges they present.
“To be honest, you expect it in the Olympic Games,” said Brash, adding, “If it was just plain old jumps, it’d be just like any other week.”
It takes years of training to keep horses calm during competition. But it’s unlikely that any horse in the Olympic jumping qualifier had seen something like obstacle No. 10 before. The life-sized sumo wrestler sculpture appeared to spook multiple horses.https://t.co/GLjecqtHX6
— The Associated Press (@AP) August 3, 2021
IKEA loyalists will now be able to immerse themselves in furniture assembly with the sweet smell of Swedish meatballs wafting through their homes.
In celebration of the 10th anniversary of IKEA’s Family Program, the Swedish retailer will send loyalty members a limited-edition meatball-scented candle as part of their “Store in a Box” gift.
IKEA’s Swedish meatballs are an iconic aspect of their shopping experience, with overall sales consistently outranking any of their home goods products since the 1980s!
If you’re interested in the soothing scent of hot beef, but you’re not a member of the Family Program, there are 1,925 Huvudroll candles up for grabs via their 10th Anniversary Family Sweepstakes. Be sure to roll on over to their website to stake your claim.
Here’s how to get one for yourself. https://t.co/7EtnWWR9US
— Food & Wine (@foodandwine) August 5, 2021
On today’s food tour, we’re heading to Serendipity3 on New York’s Upper East Side, where you may want to reconsider adding a side of fries unless you’re up for a $200 splurge.
Home to the world’s most expensive burger and ice cream sundae, Serendipity3 is no stranger to breaking world records with food that doesn’t come cheap. On July 13, their elevated french fry platter joined the very exclusive party, officially setting the Guinness World Record for the most expensive fries on Earth.
Before you choke on your dollar menu fries, take note that this lavish platter goes beyond fryers and salt. Made using Chipperbec potatoes, the Crème de la Crème Pommes Frites are blanched in vinegar and champagne before being twice-fried in goose fat for a perfectly crisp outside and softy and fluffy inside. The key to their elevation stands with the seasoning of truffle salt and truffle oil before being dusted with edible gold and plated with more truffles, a truffle-infused Mornay cheese dip, and an orchid.
After closing during the pandemic, Serendipity3’s creative director and chef Joe Calderone and corporate executive chef Frederick Schoen-Kiewert were ready to make a triumphant truffle-fueled return to the New York restaurant scene.
“Serendipity is a really happy place. People come here to celebrate, to really escape the reality of life sometimes,” said Calderone, adding, “It’s been a rough year and a half for everyone, and we need to have some fun now.”
Those looking to join in on the fancy fry fun can expect to wait eight to 10 weeks for their reservation. They’re just that good.
Much of what we know about Machu Picchu’s origin has been based on colonial documents detailing the archaeological site’s history, but that all changed this week with the release of new research indicating that the ancient Inca citadel is decades older than previously believed.
Perched more than 7,000 feet above sea level in the Andes Mountains, Machu Picchu has a rich history as a symbol of the Incan Empire. Until now, historians relied strictly on historical texts written by Spanish conquistadors to determine when Pachacuti’s early conquests and the construction of Machu Picchu took place.
The lack of scientific evidence prompted Yale University anthropology professor Richard Burton and his team to use accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS), a radiocarbon dating technique, to get a more accurate timeline by dating the teeth and bones of 26 individuals buried at the site.
Previously believed to have been built between 1440 and 1450 AD, Burton’s research determined that the UNESCO World Heritage Site and World Wonder was actually built about 20 years earlier.
Though there are noted limitations of radiocarbon dating, Burton believes utilizing science should now be a standard, as documentary evidence is unreliable.
“Perhaps the time has come for the radiocarbon evidence to assume priority in the reconstructions of the chronology of the Inca emperors and the dating of Inca monumental sites such as Machu Picchu,” reads the study as published in Antiquity.
By Meghan Yani, contributor for Ripleys.com
