Volunteer ghosts and flamingo friends

Things are looking a little squirrelly

It was a busy, busy week at work. Which means it’s time to kick-back with my coffee and let the sunshine stream through the windows, and recharge before Monday comes creeping back around.

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This week I learned…

• A village in Indonesia is apparently having volunteers dress up as ghosts in order to scare people into social distancing.

• The first type of coronavirus was discovered by a Scottish woman scientist in 1964.

• Flamingos make friendships which last a lifetime, according to new research.

• March was the first March without any school shootings in the U.S. since 2002.

• A woman was fined in Rome for breaking strict stay-at-home rules by walking her “pizza-sized” turtle.

I’m loving…

The Washington Post’s squirrel photography contest.

I’m reading…

• The dangerous history of immunoprivilege — Kathryn Olivarius for The New York Times.

• We asked a lighthouse keeper about loneliness and social isolation — Ryan Grenoble and Isaac Himmelman for HuffPost.

• Our pandemic summer — Ed Yong for The Atlantic.

• The spiky blob seen around the world — Cara Giaimo for The New York Times.

• ‘Isolated in isolation’: keeping out coronavirus in the frozen Antarctic — Aislinn Laing and Cassandra Garrison for Reuters.

ICYMI

CityLab put together a guide on “The Right Way to Pass Fellow Pedestrians, and Other Social Distancing Tips.”