Reader’s Digest International — August 2017

12 | August• 2017

ILLUSTRATION: iSTOCKPHOTO

AS HUMANITY TEETERS
on the edge of
annihilation, take
comfort from the fact
that some people are
staying focused on the
really important questions
of life, such as: What Superhero
Would You Be?
A discussion of that question in
a previous column (March 2017)
caused a massive flood of emails,
both of which included a link to
astonishing recent findings about the
naked mole rat, a phrase I am NOT
using as a metaphor for a certain
type of politician, although I do
understand how eminently suitable it
is for that purpose. No, I am referring
to a literal rodent of that name
with “awe-inspiring superpowers”,
according to reader Janhavi Shan.
First, naked mole rats don’t feel
most types of pain so you cannot hurt

Unbelievable

TRUE TALES TOLD TALL

Superhero or

Super Weird?

Nury Vittachi investigates a rodent
with amazing superpowers