A story about a boy in Croatia who seems to be magnetic is one of the four featured stories on the front page of L-P website right now.
Look, I know this isn’t “real” content. It’s watercooler conversation fodder picked up from Reuters meant to drive up website traffic. But really, sticky kids is scraping the bottom of the barrel even for this kind of mid-afternoon pap.
First of all… the kid is not magnetic. He’s sweaty. And there’s a simple way to test my hypothesis. Dust him with talcum powder then see what happens to those spoons.
Even simpler, see if the magnetism carries through any of the things stuck to him. If he can dangle a paper clip off a spoon that’s stuck to his arm, then, hey, maybe I’ll reconsider and declare the kid a mutant (X-men style, of course).
Simpler still, get him to bend over lean forward.
These magnetic people stories seem to crop up every now and then. I’m stunned the media continues to fall for them. Which gives me an idea….
Update: Editor Stephen points out that the likely origin of the magnetic Croatian boy story is none other than the Weekly World News. (Yep, they’re still around.) Looks like Reuters was hosed. Meanwhile, the story seems to have drifted quietly off the L-P’s front page.
