[QUOTE=Nick;557034]A man here in the Netherlands was prosecuted for driving under the influence of alcohol, but has now been acquitted after proving that he suffers from [URL="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auto-brewery_syndrome"]auto-brewery syndrome[/URL].[/QUOTE]
:surprised: I never conceived of such a condition.

[URL="https://twitter.com/TubeTimeUS/status/1306375138707865600"]Twitter thread[/URL] regarding infrastructure spending, utility regulation, wildfires and accountability.

[url]https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-54269144[/url]

A bizarre exponent:
[M]97762537[/M]

[QUOTE=Xyzzy;557841][URL]https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-54269144[/URL][/QUOTE]
[QUOTE]A construction worker in the US state of Massachusetts was killed by his liquorice habit, doctors say.The man, who has not been named but was 54 years old, ate about one-and-a-half bags of black liquorice every day.

He had suffered no symptoms before suddenly going into cardiac arrest in a fast food restaurant.[/QUOTE]:ick: Can't stand the stuff, myself. I might be capable of killing myself with peanut M&Ms or Lifesavers if I got truly ferocious munchies and did not restrain myself. However, non-fatal binges (not at the same time) produce enough intestinal distress the next morning to discourage such excesses.

[QUOTE=kladner;557999]However, non-fatal binges (not at the same time) produce enough intestinal distress the next morning to discourage such excesses.[/QUOTE][url]https://www.amazon.com/Haribo-Gummi-Candy-Goldbears-Pound/product-reviews/B000EVOSE4[/url]

It seems you have to eat an awful lot of licorice to ingest enough glycyrrhizic acid to cause trouble. Even my most alarmist book on poison plants doesn't mention licorice as a potentially poisonous plant.

The BBC story says the guy ate a bag and a half a day, but not how [i]big[/i] the bags were. The 6-ounce bags probably would have been enough.

When I was a kid, I really liked Smith Brothers black licorice cough drops. The licorice flavor seemed stronger and more aromatic than other licorice candies I'd eaten. (I also was amused by the words "Trade" and "Mark" appearing under the brothers' portraits).

Many years later, I noticed the absence of Smith Brothers in the cough drop sections of most stores. I found the black cherry in dollar stores, but not the licorice.

However, I had long since concluded that the licorice flavoring in those cough drops wasn't actually licorice. It happened one day when my mom was making cookies or something, and suddenly realized she hadn't gotten out a spice she needed. I was right by the cabinet so she asked me to get it out for her. It was one I wasn't familiar with. I found it, and, out of curiosity, opened the jar. As soon as I sniffed, my brain shouted, [i]That's it![/i] and transported me back to my youth, and the sensation of eating Smith Brothers black licorice cough drops. [i]Star anise[/i].

A German bakery I frequented carried Haribo gummies. I noticed one you are unlikely to find in most US grocery stores. Ginger-lemon. I bought some. They make good cough drops.

Visitors to us here in the Netherlands are often surprised at our [URL="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salty_liquorice"]salty version[/URL]

[URL="https://earther.gizmodo.com/the-quiet-of-covid-19-has-birds-singing-sultrier-songs-1845181752"]https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/09/when-covid-19-silenced-cities-birdsong-recaptured-its-former-glory[/URL]

The paper
[URL]https://science.sciencemag.org/content/early/2020/09/23/science.abd5777[/URL]

[QUOTE=firejuggler;558109][URL="https://earther.gizmodo.com/the-quiet-of-covid-19-has-birds-singing-sultrier-songs-1845181752"]https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/09/when-covid-19-silenced-cities-birdsong-recaptured-its-former-glory[/URL]

The paper
[URL]https://science.sciencemag.org/content/early/2020/09/23/science.abd5777[/URL][/QUOTE]
Thanks for these.

oh shoot, the first link was supposed to link to sciencemag, not gizmodo.