World champions in two major sporting disciplines - it feels good to be South African. Our resident Ghost is also thoroughly enjoying being glued to the screens for Le Mans, where Ferrari is well on their way to giving him an excellent day indeed.

Today is Father's Day, which means it's a great opportunity to celebrate the dads who step up to the plate and choose to be awesome. If you're lucky enough to have a dad like that in your life, make sure he knows about it!

There are a lot of pop culture references when it comes to dads. One of them is undoubtedly the "dad bod" in all its glory. In 2015, a photo of an overweight man dancing at a gig was posted online. He looked happy - until he noticed he was being laughed at. The photo, which was shared anonymously on forums like 4chan and Reddit, came with a mocking caption: "Spotted this specimen trying to dance the other week. He stopped when he saw us laughing."

Sigh. People, hey?

The man was later identified as Sean O’Brien, a Londoner who had simply been enjoying himself at a concert. The image hit a nerve, not just for its cruelty, but for how familiar that moment felt to anyone who had been bullied for their appearance before.

A group of online strangers, led by activist Cassandra Fairbanks, decided to find Sean. Not to ridicule him, but to support him. Using the hashtag #FindDancingMan, thousands of people rallied behind him, including celebrities like Ellie Goulding and Pharrell Williams. Within 12 hours, over 11,000 tweets had been posted. A GoFundMe was set up to throw Sean the dance party he deserved.

It raised more than $40,000, most of which went to anti-bullying charities like the Cybersmile Foundation.

The party itself took place in Los Angeles, with over 1,000 people attending. Moby was on the decks. Monica Lewinsky showed up. Pharrell sent a message. Outside, a queue of hundreds wrapped around the block, and Sean O’Brien showed up and danced. This time, no one laughed. Say what you will about celebrities, at least this attempt to shame someone turned into a reminder that decency still has a louder voice.

So, dad bod or otherwise, celebrate this day and have fun!

In this week's column, Dominique Olivier digs into the fascinating potential of Big Ostrich - an industry that really should be much bigger than it is. What started as demand for feathers has evolved into a source of protein with great environmental credentials. It tastes pretty darn good too. Dominique Olivier tells the story here>>>

Read on for a story of trained rats and how they help humanity, as well as Dominique's Fast Facts themed around "feel-good shorts" - not of the clothing variety.

Have a great day!

The Finance Ghost (follow on X) | Dominique Olivier (connect on LinkedIn)

TL;DR: The old joke goes that squirrels are just rats with better PR. The HeroRATs are definitely giving the fluffy-tailed alternatives something to think about.

Some heroes wear capes. Others have whiskers, four paws, and a nose that could put a bloodhound to shame.

Meet the HeroRATs – elite, highly trained, and blissfully unaware of how outrageously cool their jobs are. While most rats are out there rummaging through bins and scaring citydwellers, these African giant pouched rats are busy saving lives, one sniff at a time.

They’re the brainchild of APOPO, a Belgian-born, globally-operating nonprofit that once asked a wild question: what if we trained rats to fight humanity’s dirtiest battles?

And by “dirty,” we mean seriously grim. Over 60 countries are still contaminated with landmines. These hidden explosives, which are buried in fields, footpaths, and backyards, caused more than 5,700 casualties in 2024. Meanwhile, tuberculosis remains the world’s deadliest infectious disease, quietly infecting millions. In 2023, 10.8 million people contracted TB and 1.3 million didn’t survive.

On paper, APOPO’s plan sounded like a superhero origin story. But in practice, it was brilliant.

HeroRATs are light enough not to trigger landmines and smart enough to sniff out TNT or TB without breaking a sweat. They don’t care about medals or applause. They’ll accept a banana as thanks. And maybe a little shoulder ride, if you’re Ronin.

Ronin, by the way, is a mine-sniffing rat working the fields in Cambodia. His handler describes him as chilled, focused, and cuddly. But when it’s go-time, he’ll find a buried landmine faster than any metal detector, without getting distracted by scrap metal along the way.

Then there’s Tamasha, a TB-detection rat based in Morogoro, Tanzania. She can screen 100 human sputum samples in 20 minutes. For comparison: it’d take a lab technician the better part of a workday to do the same. That’s not a dig at lab techs (we love you), it’s just that Tamasha’s nose is next-level.

And keep an eye on Jane. She’s a rising star in the wildlife detection unit, training to sniff out smuggled pangolin scales, rhino horn, and elephant ivory. Jane was named by Dr. Jane Goodall herself during a visit to APOPO HQ in 2024. If that doesn’t qualify as an icon naming an icon, we don’t know what does.

All of this magic begins in Morogoro, APOPO’s Training & Research Center. It’s where young rats, still pink and wobbly, begin their journey from wide-eyed pup to life-saving pro. At about four weeks old, they start "socialisation", which is a fancy way of saying they get lots of cuddles from their handlers and exposure to the strange, noisy, smelly world they’ll one day be working in.

By 10 weeks, they’re learning to associate a clicker with treats. From there, it’s straight into scent training, distinguishing everyday smells from the very specific ones that signal danger (like explosives or TB). Gradually, they’re introduced to more complex environments, decoys, and subtle scent differences. It’s like Top Gun for noses.

Once qualified, they head out into the world as either MDRs (mine detection rats) or TBDRs (tuberculosis detection rats), ready to make land safe, diagnose the undiagnosed, and give communities their futures back.

If you love this story (or you love rats), you can get involved by virtually adopting a HeroRAT. It’s cheaper than your takeaway coffee habit and arguably more heroic. Every monthly donation helps train more of these extraordinary little life-savers so more families can farm, play, build, and breathe without fear.

An assortment of facts that will only take you five minutes to read.

• In September 2024, while waiting to film a music video in Tennessee, Jon Bon Jovi noticed a woman standing on the edge of a bridge. Sensing something was wrong, he approached her calmly and started a conversation. After a few minutes, he and a crew member were able to help her away from the edge and back to safety, thereby preventing her suicide.

• In 2018, the University of Sakarya in Turkey awarded Merve Kul her degree after four years of dedicated study. Merve, who is blind, had one constant support throughout her time at university: her mother, Havva. Havva spent those same four years reading every lecture note and textbook out loud, day after day, so her daughter could complete her studies. At the graduation ceremony, the university recognised her effort by awarding Havva an honorary certificate alongside her daughter.

• In March this year, the High Court ruled in favour of BirdLife South Africa and SANCCOB, establishing 10-year no-fishing zones around six key penguin breeding colonies. The decision follows years of advocacy, collaboration, and scientific research and marks a major step toward protecting endangered African penguins while supporting more sustainable fisheries.

• Near Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport, 20 pigs joined a six-week pilot program designed to reduce the number of goose strikes at the busy international hub. The pigs were allowed to settle in a two-hectare sugarbeet field between two of the airport’s runways. The hope was they’d eat up any plant life that appeals to geese and, by their presence, would intimidate other birds in the area, too. The pig patrol appears to have been a success, since no bird strikes were recorded during their stay. The airport is currently assessing whether to make the pigs a permanent feature of its overall safety program.