Chai FM

1) I was wrong about showering during a lightning storm being always safe, when I said this in 2018 on ABC Radio.

It’s very rare, but you can get “zapped” by lightning, while showering indoors during a thunderstorm – even if the copper pipes in your dwelling are properly earthed

2) Avocados change sex twice each day

All avocado trees (Persea americana) are cosexual, or hermaphrodites, meaning they contain both sexes in one plant. A-type trees begin with flowers in the female phase (receptive to pollen) in the morning and change to the male phase (producing pollen) in the afternoon of the next day. B-type trees operate on different timing, making them male in the morning and female in the afternoon.

3) We have lost the Leap Second

The spin of the Earth has been always been slowing down. (However, it has been speeding up since 2020 – various reasons). This is due to so-called Tidal Effects. When the dinosaurs started (220 million years ago) the length of a “day” was 23’20”, while at the end of their reign (66 million years ago) it was 23’40”.