عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Varieties

Drawing by Jacinda Ardern Sold for $12,000 at Charity Auction

New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern (Reuters Photo)
New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern (Reuters Photo)
TT
TT

Drawing by Jacinda Ardern Sold for $12,000 at Charity Auction

New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern (Reuters Photo)
New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern (Reuters Photo)

An original artwork by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has sold for NZD $18,050 (USD 12,000) during an open charity auction.

According to the German News Agency, the artwork called "The Political Cycle" was displayed on the Trade Me website on Saturday.

The drawing, which features a tornado and has no other copy, witnessed over 200 bids and more than 33,000 views.

Proceeds from the auction will be donated to Koru Care NZ, a charity that supports kids facing life-threatening illnesses or disabilities. Koru Care spokesperson Tracey Curran said the charity had to cancel its major annual fundraiser due to COVID-19.

"Although our overseas trips are currently on hold, we will be continuing making dreams come true by planning domestic holidays for these special kids," she added.

It is not the first time Adern's artwork has been auctioned off on the website, with a piece called "To Do List" raising 2,500 New Zealand dollars (USD 1,670) for the charity Parent to Parent in 2018.

Most Viewed

 
 
Varieties

Scientist Bottles Smell of Bones to Help Solve Cold Cases

Belgian research scientist Clement Martin, who works with Belgium's federal police to create a "perfume" that mimics the smell of dried human bones to help sniffer dogs find long lost remains, looks at human bones in his laboratory in Gembloux, Belgium January 15, 2025. REUTERS/Yves Herman
Belgian research scientist Clement Martin, who works with Belgium's federal police to create a "perfume" that mimics the smell of dried human bones to help sniffer dogs find long lost remains, looks at human bones in his laboratory in Gembloux, Belgium January 15, 2025. REUTERS/Yves Herman
TT
TT

Scientist Bottles Smell of Bones to Help Solve Cold Cases

Belgian research scientist Clement Martin, who works with Belgium's federal police to create a "perfume" that mimics the smell of dried human bones to help sniffer dogs find long lost remains, looks at human bones in his laboratory in Gembloux, Belgium January 15, 2025. REUTERS/Yves Herman
Belgian research scientist Clement Martin, who works with Belgium's federal police to create a "perfume" that mimics the smell of dried human bones to help sniffer dogs find long lost remains, looks at human bones in his laboratory in Gembloux, Belgium January 15, 2025. REUTERS/Yves Herman

A Belgian research scientist is working with the federal police to create a scent that mimics the smell of dried human bones to help sniffer dogs find long lost remains.

Clement Martin has already isolated the smell of decomposing human flesh and that is now used to train Belgium's cadaver dogs.

But once the soft tissue has disappeared, the scent molecules of the remaining bones become significantly fewer, scientific researcher Martin told Reuters.

"Bones smell different over the years too. A 3-year-old bone will smell different to a 10-year-old one and even 20 years," he said.

Skeletal remains are porous too and absorb smells from the surrounding environment, from the soil to pine trees.

"In the situation of cold cases, there was a gap. Our dogs were not able to find dried bones," Kris Cardoen, head of federal police dog training, told Reuters.

At a police training centre outside Brussels, inspector Kristof Van Langenhove and his springer spaniel Bones demonstrated part of the training with Martin's corpse scent.

Cardoen hid some tissues between cinder blocks and only contaminated a few. The dog then barked when he found the smell.

"The scent of death is one of the three tools we use during the basic training of our human remains dog," Cardoen said.

Cadaver dogs require 1,000 hours of training and the country only ever has four at any one time.

Martin is using different samples of dried bones to develop the smell, including those of an unidentified man found in a suitcase, which are kept in a glass cylinder to allow the molecules to permeate an enclosed space ready for extraction.

"It's a bit like a perfumer developing his perfume, he's going to mix different aromas," Martin said.