Last week was ...

an Alcoholic Week for fruit-flies, as the New Scientist reported the experiments in California in which alcohol vapour was piped into a container in which frutit-flies were climbing a miniature staircase. The device, called an "inebriometer" showed that some flies were more susceptible than others to the effects of alcohol (they fell down the stairs faster). The research was thus able to identify genes associated with alcohol susceptibility and tolerance.

a Bad Week for rats, as the "cash-for-rodents" campaign in Vietnam, which offered 200 to 300 dong (about 1.5p) for each rat's tail, was reported to have resulted in the deaths of eight million rats.

an Understanding Week for dogs, as canine counsellors took to the streets of Paris to advise owners on where their dogs ought and ought not to be encouraged to leave their excrement.

an Evasive Week for gnomes as 11,000 garden gnomes were seized for illegally travelling through Belgium in an attempt to avoid customs duty.