ok but this is exceptionally funnier when you know that the powers that be tried to organise a minute’s silence for The Queen at this match. this was shot down by anyone with half a brain because there was literally no fucking way it would be observed by Celtic fans, a club which was originally founded by Irish immigrants into Scotland and has exceptionally strong anti-monarchist ties for obvious reasons.
so there’s this whole debate around what they can do here - because doing nothing’s not an option without the press coming down on the SFA and clubs like a ton of bricks. it gets heated. they eventually decide on a one minute applause instead because there’s no way the fans can hijack that, right? right???
anyway, moral of the story - never underestimate the innate ability of the scots to find the funniest way possible to tell you to fuck off
Woman Who Can Smell Parkinson’s Helps Develop Test
Joy Milne, 72, from Perth, Scotland, has a hyper-sensitive sense of smell, allowing her to be able to smell Parkinson’s disease, which progressively damages parts of the brain over many years.
She discovered her unusual ability when her late husband, Les, developed a different odour when he was 33. She described it as a ‘musky aroma’. That was 12 years before he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s. Les, who was a doctor, was determined to research the link between odour and Parkinson’s, and contacted Dr Tilo Kunath at the University of Edinburgh, who paired up with Professor Perdita Barran to begin the research. They determined that the reasons for a change in the scent of a person suffering the disease is due to a chemical change of the skin oil (sebum).
In the preliminary sessions, Milne was asked to smell T-shirts worn by people who had Parkinson’s and those who did not. She successfully identified all of the Parkinson’s patients, but told researchers that a member of the control group, a non-Parkinson’s patient, did smell like the disease. 8 months later, they were diagnosed with the disease.
Now, a team of researchers at the University of Manchester have developed a simple test involving a cotton bud swiped down the back of the neck that can identify those with Parkinson’s. The molecules on the cotton bud can be examined using mass spectrometry, which helps the diagnosis. This is a huge leap forward, as there is no definitive test for Parkinson’s, and a diagnosis is based on symptoms and medical history. Currently, there are no cures for Parkinson’s, but an early diagnosis can help begin the treatment early, lessening the speed of the deterioration.
Milne says she can sometimes smell that a person has Parkinson’s when walking down the street, but has been told by medical ethicists that she cannot tell them. She is continuing to work with scientists to see if she can smell other diseases, like cancer or TB, and hopes that one day her talent can be considered normal diagnosis.
