IKEA, Invasive Species, and Cat Kidney Transplants

In this week's Odder News: invasive jellyfish, IKEA wood, and telephone scams.

• First-time beachcombers in Crimea were shocked in mid-July to see the coastal waters of the Black Sea covered in jellyfish. But long-time vacationers observed that the problem seems to get worse every year. Scientists believe the jellyfish invasion is related to climate change, which has also brought "flocks" of invasive biting ladybugs and mosquitos. Luckily, scientists report, the jellyfish type most common in Crimea can sting a person without deadly consequences – but we aren't sure that we want to take our chances.
• An environmental NGO has reported that Swedish megastore IKEA – your source for cheap furniture – uses illegal Russian wood in many of its products. The next table you put together yourself just might be from Siberia. This is a problem because some of Siberia is protected forest, the "climate-critical" type. Yikes. Even if your table is not illegal, Russia is IKEA's second-largest source country for wood. Don't you feel even closer to Russia now that you know your Swedish futon is probably part Russian?
• A whopping one in 10 Russians have been scammed by telephone in the past six months. Phone scammers often pretend to be from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or law enforcement, the person's bank, or a representative of a family member in trouble. Even COVID-19 is now being used in scams. The average amount transferred to Russian phone fraudsters was R13,900 ($187), with the largest sum being R400 million ($5.4 million). Make sure you never give banking information to someone on the phone if you did not call them yourself. If the caller threatens that something horrible will happen if you hang up the phone – hang up the phone!
• A "ritualist" (funeral home owner) from Ivanovo sold his car to pay for a kidney transplant for his cat. The procedure is extremely rare for cats, with only two university veterinary hospitals in the United States performing it. A year later, Pestrusha (from the word "variegated," not "parsley") is doing great. The rural owner of Pestrusha and one other cat hands them off every three to four months to a businessman who takes them to see the vet in St. Petersburg. The city doctor has actually come under fire from animal rights activists for performing transplants that the patients cannot consent to.
• The internet exploded with cuteness when head coach of the FC Rostov soccer team, Valery Karpin, posted a video of his reunion with his daughter after a month away at training camp. The toddler overflows with charm in her princess dress and toothless grin.