Remember: If it’s not worth talking about, then it’s definitely not news. This week’s theme on the Not News is medical mysteries.

Early last week, it was reported that a Tunisian woman was pregnant with 12 babies, 6 boys and 6 girls. That report said that the woman was planning on giving birth to all 12 naturally. That would have been different from OctoMom who gave birth to her eight kids through c-section. But I keep saying “report” because it turns out that it was all a hoax. After hearing about the woman, the Tunisian health ministry investigated and found the woman had psychological issues and likely wasn’t even pregnant. Experts said it would have been physically impossible for he to carry 12 babies and she also refused to undergo any medical exams. In the days after the first report, the would-be DuodecaMom and her husband went into hiding and haven’t been heard from since.

The IIAF has asked the South African athletic organization to conduct a gender verification test on one of its female 800m runners. The tests were requested three weeks ago after the runner, Caster Semenya, made massive improvements in the 800 and 1500 meters. Semenya shed about 19 seconds from her 800m times since last year which was more than enough to help her to the gold. The tests are supposedly extremely complicated and it will be several weeks before we get conclusive test results. But how hard can it be to figure this out? Either she dangles or not. Run a blood test for the DNA and have a plastic surgeon check to see if s/he’s had any work done. I’ve seen enough CSI to know that wouldn’t take more than 15 minutes.

A study conducted in the Seattle, Washington area has determined that the average American gamer is 35 years old, overweight and depressed. The study conducted by the Center for Disease Control and two universities surveyed over 500 people from age 19 to 30. They found that gamers reported lower extraversion and were more sedentary. What’s tucked down in the report about the study is that the survey is over three years old and that the study isn’t actually conclusive but might show a pattern. In other words, the CDC and the media are trying to perpetuate a stereotype which, as a sedentary, slightly large blogger/video game player, I find insulting.

A 46-year-old man has developed a cleaning obsession after receiving a cornea transplant. Before the transplant, he couldn’t be bothered to do any cleaning and just left it to his wife. Now, he goes around the house and cleans whenever he sees dust lying around. The man jokes that his new cornea must have come from a woman because no man would clean that much.

This next story isn’t so much of a medical mystery but a question of what were they thinking. A teacher in Albuquerque who was on the job for over 23 years was fired over an incident involving a high school baseball team. The teacher who also coached the La Cueva High School baseball team hired some strippers to “entertain” the team while on a trip to Denver. While hiring strippers is fair game if you’re in the pros, for high school kids, it’s apparently not such a good thing. One parent of a player said that he hopes “that safeguards are instituted so that no student athlete is put at risk again.” I’m sure his/her kid felt at risk when he was partying with strippers.