Amid a global pandemic, humanitarian crises, natural disasters and other bleak news, lighthearted stories are as necessary as ever. Here is a pick of the week's best funny, silly and quirky news from around the world.

Drag fly

What do an Australian fly and beloved drag queen RuPaul have in common? Aside from an innate sense of style and love of all things flamboyant: their name.

Australian entomologist Bryan Lessard, who has made headlines for giving new insect species offbeat names drawn from pop culture, has christened a new type of soldier fly Opaluma Rupaul, in honor of the host of "RuPaul's Drag Race."

Among other qualities, the opal thorn soldier fly "has a costume of shiny metallic rainbow colors, and it has legs for days," Lessard told The Guardian, noting the name choice was an "obvious decision."

"I was watching a lot of RuPaul's Drag Race while examining the species and I know it would challenge RuPaul on the runway serving fierce looks," Lessard added.

Besides the fact that both RuPauls share physical similarities, naming insects after pop culture icons also helps to raise awareness about species that are often ignored in favor of cuter animals like koalas or pandas, said the scientist. 

"A lot of the invertebrates don't have any attention, and they're the essential workers of our ecosystem… it's really important we study them," he noted.

Australia's national science research agency CSIRO announced 150 new species names on Wednesday, including the Opaluma Rupaul and three rare beetles named after Pokemon characters. 

'I need my sanity back'

Working from home due to the pandemic has become increasingly tiresome… for spouses.

Harsh Goenka, CEO of Indian industrial conglomerate RPG Group, posted a letter on Twitter last week that he reportedly received from the wife of one of his employees pleading for her husband to be allowed to return to the office.

The aggrieved wife complained that confined to their home, her husband "drinks coffee 10 times a day" and "constantly asks for food." He also moves around different rooms in the house "and leaves them in a mess."

"If work from home continues for some more time, our marriage will definitely not work anymore," said the letter, appealing for support "to get my sanity back."

The post has garnered close to 10,000 likes: clearly other spouses out there feel the same way.

Is the dentist in?

Sugar has been ruining mammals' teeth for millions of years, and scientists can prove it.

A team from the University of Toronto in Canada revealed in a new study that they had found "the oldest known cavities ever found in a mammal" and this was likely due to a fruit-heavy diet.

The cavities were discovered in fossil remains of Microsyops latidens, a mammal about the size of a raccoon that went extinct about 54 million years ago.

Numerous sets of fossilized teeth have been found in the U.S. state of Wyoming over the past few decades and researchers have studied them extensively. But until now, the cavities were believed to be due to some other kind of damage.

What the University of Toronto's team found however was that the tiny holes were consistent and always occurred in the same part of the tooth. Also, more recent fossils showed more cavities than older ones, indicating the animals' consumption of fruit or other sugar-rich food increased over time. 

"Cavities are not a modern phenomenon – and they certainly are not only unique to humans," the study's lead author Keegan Selig concluded.

Spoof Nobels

For achievements that revolutionize science or medicine, there's the Nobel Prize. For quirkier discoveries, there's the Ig Nobel Prize.

This year's winners, announced last week, included research on why men developed beards: apparently it helps to soften the blow if punched in the face. Other laureates studied the most effective way to exterminate cockroaches on submarines, discovered that orgasms help clear nasal passages and established that transporting rhinoceroses by helicopter is best done upside down.

The Ig Nobels are handed out every year "for achievements that first make people laugh then make them think" and are organized by the Annals of Improbable Research. It's not entirely a joke: actual Nobel Prize laureates are always on hand to present the laureates with their prize.

As host Marc Abrahams, editor of the Annals of Improbable Research, pointed out at the end of the ceremony: "If you didn't win an Ig Nobel Prize tonight – and especially if you did – better luck next year."

Read more: 

ICYMI: The week's quirky news from around the world - September 9, 2021

ICYMI: The week's quirky news from around the world - September 2, 2021