Patient dog waits for days outside hospital

Boncuk returned each day to hospital in Turkish city of Trabzon where her owner, Cemal Senturk, was being treated

A devoted dog has spent days waiting outside a hospital in Turkey where her sick owner was being treated.



The pet, Boncuk, which means bead, followed the ambulance that transported her owner, Cemal Senturk, to hospital in the Black Sea city of Trabzon on 14 January. She then made daily visits to the facility, the private news agency DHA reported.

Senturk’s daughter, Aynur Egeli, said she would take Boncuk home but the dog would run back to the hospital.

A hospital security guard, Muhammet Akdeniz, told DHA: “She comes every day around 9am and waits until nightfall. She doesn’t go in.
“When the door opens she pokes her head inside.”

On Wednesday, Boncuk was finally reunited with Senturk when he was pushed outside in a wheelchair. “She’s very used to me. And I miss her too, constantly,” he told DHA.

Senturk was discharged from the hospital on Wednesday and returned home with Boncuk.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/ ... e-hospital

[HogwartsExpress]

Toronto woman finds knife-wielding squirrel in back yard

A Toronto woman captured video when she looked into her backyard and was confronted with a bizarre sight: a squirrel holding a knife.



Andrea Diamond, who lives in the Rosedale area of Toronto, said squirrels are a common sight in her back yard, but Wednesday morning she spotted a squirrel that had picked up a paring knife she had left near a tent outside her home.

"So apparently knife wielding squirrels are a thing now," Diamond tweeted along with footage of the squirrel.

She said the rodent gnawed on the knife handle for a while before abandoning the tool. She said the animal returned a short time later to chew on the knife a little longer.

Diamond said the squirrel did not appear to have injured itself with the sharp object.

https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2021/01/21 ... 611265002/

[BigGlen]

Raptors Superfan Nav Bhatia shows his basketball collection and explains why he’s giving it away



For more than two decades, Nav Bhatia — the Toronto Raptors’ vaunted “Superfan,” who has attended every home game in the team’s history — has been amassing a collection of rare basketball artifacts vast enough to fill a museum. There are tickets signed by superstars like Allen Iverson; sneakers the size of his head from Shaquille O’Neal; tons of keepsakes from his close friend Vince Carter, whom he still talks to regularly. But over the last three years, Bhatia has slowly been dismantling his stockpile piece by piece. Nothing makes him happier.



“After I turned 65, I started giving [my NBA memorabilia] away to kids who cannot afford it and will cherish it more than anybody else,” says Bhatia, now 68. “It’s a very big thing for them, but it’s also a big thing for me, because I know that particular item, for the next 20 or 30 years, will be in the right hands.”



Bhatia estimates that he’s relinquished roughly 70 per cent of his collection, including game-worn jerseys and autographed basketballs, to young fans he’s encountered at games, during public appearances or at his car dealerships. This generous spirit has also led him to purchase thousands of Raptors tickets for underprivileged youth over the years.



“I was subject to a lot of challenges when I first came to this country,” says Bhatia, who moved to Canada from India in 1984. “I want to make sure all these kids integrate with each other at a younger age and make sure that they respect each other and love each other. Because when they’re watching the game, irrespective [of whether] they’re Chinese or Japanese or Indians or Hindus or Sikhs, they have only one thing in their mind: ‘Let’s go, Raptors! Let’s go, Raptors!’”



Bhatia is keeping a few collection pieces for himself, of course. There’s the closetful of custom-made jerseys and Roots jackets he rotates through on game days. He still has the jersey given to him in the 1990s by the Raptors in front of thousands of fans at the SkyDome. He’ll never part with the purple headband that Carter handed to him after the Raptors’ first playoff series victory over the Knicks in 2001.

Then there’s the souvenir he’s still waiting to receive: a full-scale replica of the Larry O’Brien NBA Championship trophy, worth $50,000, that will sit inside a special display case that he had built in his home long before the Raptors were crowned champions in 2019. Bhatia ordered the trophy months ago, but it’s been delayed by the pandemic.



A few more of Bhatia’s most cherished items will soon find a new home: the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass. In May, Bhatia will become the first inductee in the Hall’s newly built Superfan Gallery, where his famed courtside regalia — including his turban, jacket, sneakers and the $80,000 championship ring given to him by Raptors president Masai Ujiri — will be on permanent display.

“In ’95, I was working seven days a week,” Bhatia says. “I had no hobbies, I was a boring guy, so I bought two tickets [to the Raptors] and thought, ‘I’ll entertain myself.’ I didn’t know I would end up with 14 tickets in the arena or that I’d be buying thousands of tickets to give away to the kids. But God is good, Canada is good and this opportunity was given to a guy like me. Now it’s my time to give it back.”

[Fatima99]

There Are 300 Million Potentially Habitable Planets in the Milky Way, NASA Reports

Since astronomers confirmed the presence of planets beyond our solar system, called exoplanets, humanity has wondered how many could harbor life. Now, we’re one step closer to finding an answer.



According to new research using data from NASA’s retired planet-hunting mission, the Kepler space telescope, about half the stars similar in temperature to our Sun could have a rocky planet capable of supporting liquid water on its surface.

Our galaxy holds at least an estimated 300 million of these potentially habitable worlds, based on even the most conservative interpretation of the results in a new study to be published in The Astronomical Journal.

Some of these exoplanets could even be our interstellar neighbors, with at least four potentially within 30 light-years of our Sun and the closest likely to be at most about 20 light-years from us. These are the minimum numbers of such planets based on the most conservative estimate that 7% of Sun-like stars host such worlds. However, at the average expected rate of 50%, there could be many more.

This research helps us understand the potential for these planets to have the elements to support life. This is an essential part of astrobiology, the study of life’s origins and future in our universe.

The study is authored by NASA scientists who worked on the Kepler mission alongside collaborators from around the world. NASA retired the space telescope in 2018 after it ran out of fuel. Nine years of the telescope’s observations revealed that there are billions of planets in our galaxy—more planets than stars.

“Kepler already told us there were billions of planets, but now we know a good chunk of those planets might be rocky and habitable,” said the lead author Steve Bryson, a researcher at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley. “Though this result is far from a final value, and water on a planet’s surface is only one of many factors to support life, it’s extremely exciting that we calculated these worlds are this common with such high confidence and precision.”

For the purposes of calculating this occurrence rate, the team looked at exoplanets between a radius of 0.5 and 1.5 times that of Earth’s, narrowing in on planets that are most likely rocky. They also focused on stars similar to our Sun in age and temperature, plus or minus up to 1,500 degrees Fahrenheit.

That’s a wide range of different stars, each with its own particular properties impacting whether the rocky planets in its orbit are capable of supporting liquid water. These complexities are partly why it is so difficult to calculate how many potentially habitable planets are out there, especially when even our most powerful telescopes can just barely detect these small planets. That’s why the research team took a new approach.

[PennySerenade]

Hospitalized Instagram-famous Toronto pug receives more than $30,000 in donations



TORONTO -- A hospitalized Instagram-famous Toronto pug has received a little help from her loyal fans – more than $30,000 to help cover her hefty medical bills.

Pickles, better known as Lil Pickles Da Pug to her nearly 300,000 social media followers, suffered a status epilepticus event on Sunday, her owner Sarah Mitchell told CTV News Toronto.

Experiencing one seizure that lasts five minutes or having more than one seizure over the span of five minutes without returning to a normal level of consciousness is called status epilepticus.


After the five-year-old pug went into “uncontrollable and constant grand mal seizure" on Sunday, Mitchell said, she was rushed to her local emergency veterinary hospital where efforts were made to stabilize her.

Pickles spent nearly two days in a medically-induced coma and intubated.

Then, on Tuesday, Pickles was transferred to a different hospital’s intensive care unit (ICU) for further treatment, including care for a pneumonia she developed from her seizures.



As of Thursday, she remains in the ICU in critical condition, Mitchell said, adding Pickles continues to require 24-hour care from a lung specialist and neurologist.

“She is way less sedate, but is too weak to move on her own,” Mitchell said Thursday evening. “She currently has a disconnect between her eyes and brain, which can happen with such intense seizures, but should gradually return to normal vision if all goes well.”

“Overall, she is comfortable and stabilized, but critical. She is beginning to show some signs of improvement, but no anywhere near out of the woods yet.”

Pickles has been with her owners since she was a puppy and was first diagnosed with idiopathic epilepsy in 2018. Mitchell said her pug had been “very well controlled since then.”



Mitchell posts photographs of Pickles to her social media account to brighten people’s days and spread awareness of dogs suffering from epilepsy.

“Pickles’ social media originally started as a designated place just to share her pictures to family and friends,” Mitchel said. “Her personality really started to shine through and she began to have viral posts.”

Pickles has been featured on a New York Times Square billboard and had one of her videos featured in a Milkbone commercial.

“Her personality is very mischievous and bossy. Everyone is amused by her ongoing joke fueds with the neighbours. We love being able to spread joy and laughs with her friends and fans.”



Amidst all the uncertainty surrounding Pickles’ health, Mitchell set up a GoFundMe campaign to help pay the costs of Pickles’ pricey medical bills and her loyal fans rose to the occasion.

In just two days, more than $30,000 was raised, doubling Mitchell’s goal of $15,000.

“We are overwhelmed by all of the love and support for Pickles and us as a family,” Mitchell said. “We have met so many amazing friends and fellow pug-lovers over the years on social media.”

“We have all become such a strong and wonderful community. Everyone wants to see her come home safely.”

Mitchell said she is very thankful the donations have surpassed her expectations because Pickles’ bill are “continuing to increase by the day.”

“The pug community online has made this high level of care accessible and possible for us when it otherwise wouldn’t have been with the current financial climate of COVID-19,” Mitchell said.

“I am forever grateful and touched by everyone’s generosity and willingness to help save my pug’s life.”

Pickles has not been given a release date from the ICU thus far and once she is allowed to go home, Mitchell said, additional money will be needed for her aftercare, including follow up appointments and future diagnostics.

[hija]

Dominican Republic approved bill to end child marriage



That child marriage was legal in the Dominican Republic until this week may surprise Positive News readers. Indeed, the Caribbean nation has the highest rate of child marriage in Latin America – but not, perhaps, for much longer.

This week the country’s president Luis Abinader approved a bill that eliminates all legal grounds for child marriage and safeguards the rights of children, particularly girls.

The International Justice Ministry, an NGO, said the new law stipulates that “people under 18 years old will not be able to marry under any circumstances”. Previously, children could be forced into marriage as long as there was parental consent and permission from a judge.

[Fivetide]

Inventor unveils airbag jeans to protect motorcyclists in crashes



A designer of safety equipment for motorcyclists unveiled his latest invention: jeans fitted with airbags to prevent leg injuries in crashes.

Moses Shahrivar, who has been designing motorcycle safety jeans since partnering with Harley-Davidson Sweden 16 years ago, said his latest invention uses similar technology to airbag-equipped vests that are currently on the market for protecting a rider's chest, back and neck in a crash.

The jeans, which Shahrivar demonstrated in a YouTube video posted to the official account of his Mo'Cycle brand, are tethered to the rider's motorcycle, and when the tether is pulled airbags deploy up and down the wearer's legs to cushion an impact.

Only one prototype of the Airbag Inside Sweden AB jeans currently exists, but Shahrivar is in the process of getting the jeans certified to European Union health and safety standards and hopes to bring them to market in 2022.

See video here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58nnLB-bvbs

[HogwartsExpress]

[Zbignieww]

A blue-ringed octopus bite is rare but potentially deadly. Here's what you need to know



Aaron Hodgson was collecting shells on a beach just south of Newcastle with his two young daughters when something unforgettable happened.
He was holding a bunch of shells in his hand when he felt a slight sucking sensation on his finger, which made him flick the shells back into the water.
And that's when he saw it — a tiny blue-ringed octopus, which had been hiding in the shells and had just given him a bite.
Five minutes later, Aaron was hit by nausea and stomach cramps, and it felt like his chest was being flushed with cold water on the inside.
Then his vision went blurry, his heart started pumping hard, he felt faint and he thought he was going to die.
Aaron couldn't move or talk, not even to comfort his distressed children, and just had to focus on surviving.
He ended up in hospital for the rest of the day and it took the best part of a week for him to fully recover from the bite.
Months later he's having to see a psychologist as a result of the event.
"I've been having nightmares about it since," Aaron says. "I've got like PTSD with a big octopus crawling on my face suffocating me in the night. It's pretty weird."
And his three-year-old daughter has been particularly affected.
"Any time I close my eyes and I'm not in bed, she tries to come over and wake me up because that's how I was on the beach.
"She gets really worried when I go in the water," says Aaron who is a keen surfer.
But it could have been a lot worse.

Bites potentially deadly, but very rare
Mr Hodgson copped what turned out to be a mild dose of blue-ringed octopus venom, which contains a highly dangerous chemical called tetrodotoxin that paralyses muscles.
Like other octopuses, blue-ringed octopuses have a beak, and their venom is secreted from its salivary glands.
In the worst case, a dose of the venom can shut down muscles such as those that keep you breathing and cause death within 30 minutes.
Strangely, though, victims remain completely conscious throughout paralysis.
"They can hear, they can understand everything you're saying, but they cannot respond," says venom expert Jamie Seymour from James Cook University.
There is currently no antivenom. Those bitten need urgent medical help and may need artificial respiration until the effects of the venom subside.
But the good news is that only a couple of people are bitten each year in Australia, and only a handful of deaths due to blue-ringed octopuses have ever been documented worldwide.
So where do they hang out and how do you avoid them?
Blue-ringed octopuses are common all around Australia's coastline.
"But unless you're looking for them, encounters tend to be rare," Professor Seymour says.
This is because the animals are very vulnerable to predators and hide during the day, tucking themselves behind rocks or, as Mr Hodgson discovered, among shells.
They can also hide in discarded bottles and cans in the water, so be wary of collecting these.
It's also a good idea to be careful when exploring rock pools and not disturb them too much.
Octopuses come out at night to hunt so if you're doing a bit of nocturnal swimming, keep an eye out then too.
How do I know if I've found one and what do I do?
With a body just several centimetres wide, a blue-ringed octopus can look really cute, especially when they start showing off their stunning iridescent blue markings.
But beware: this is a sign they are feeling threatened and might inject you with venom, as Mr Hodgson learnt the hard way.
Most of the time, blue-ringed octopuses look sandy-coloured to help them blend in with their environment, but they put on flashing displays of colour to warn off predators.



There are three main described species of blue-ringed octopus, which vary in their blue markings — one species has lines as well as rings — and fancy patterns.
You might have seen the documentary My Octopus Teacher which shows a human having a lot of physical contact with a large species of octopus in South Africa.
But when it comes to blue-ringed octopus, this is a definite no-no.
If you see one, look, don't touch — just admire it from a distance.
And certainly don't try and eat a live octopus, like the woman in this How Deadly video.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/202 ... m/12942666

[johngriffen]

I sometimes get REALLY DEPRESSED reviewing the news these days.
It's always about a global pandemic threatening life as we know it,
protests around the world, stupid politicians, natural disasters,
or some other really bad story.
ENOUGH IS ENOUGH

Welcome to The mobi weekly news magazine
IN OTHER NEWS
SATURDAY JANUARY 23
What is it?
Here is your chance to become an "ACE REPORTER" for our weekly news magazine.
It is your job to fine weird, funny or "good feel" stories from around the world and share them with our readers in our weekly magazine

How do you play?
Just post a story that you have come across that made you smile, laugh, feel good...
BUT NOTHING DEPRESSING

EXAMPLE POST

​Naked sunbather chases wild boar through park after it steals his laptop bag

A naked sunbather was seen chasing wild boar through a park after it stole his laptop bag.
Amusing photographs from Germany show the man running after the animal to try and claim the plastic bag back.
But the cheeky boar and its two piglets appear to be too quick for the sunbather, who can't keep up with their speedy little trotters.
As the incident unfolds, groups of friends and family sat on the grass watch on and laugh.
Heads are seen turning in surprise and amusement in the hilarious photographs.
The incident happened at Teufelssee Lake - a bathing spot in the Grunwell Forest in Berlin, Germany.

Rules:
Each Edition of IN OTHER NEWS will be open for 7 days...
You may post One Story in any 24 hour period
So in other words, you can enter only once a day
Each news day will start when I post announcing it
OR at:
9:00 AM CHICAGO TIME (UTC -6)
3:00 PM GMT (UTC -0)
on those days I space out and forget to post or can't due to Real Life
Stories may be accompanied with images - but No big images, please! 800x800 pixels wide maximum
Videos are allowed, but please keep them to under a minute, and post a short summary for those that don't like to click on videos
No Duplicate stories - Where a post has been edited resulting in duplicates, then the last one in time gets disallowed.
And please limit this to reasonably family friendly stories

Reward:
Each news story posted that I feel is acceptable (must be a real story, too few words or simply a headline are not considered acceptable) will earn you 50 WRZ$
If you post multiple stories on any given day, you will only earn 50 WRZ$ for the first story of the Day
Special Bonus - Each week I will award "The Pulitzer Prize" for the best story of the week
The weekly winner of the "The Pulitzer Prize" will receive a 100 WRZ$ bonus
It's just my personal opinion, so my judgement is final

So help bring GOOD news to the members of mobi, and join our reporting team...

IN OTHER NEWS

[BigGlen]

Edmonton Oiler Ethan Bear Honours His Cree Heritage With Special Hockey Jersey

Edmonton Oilers defenceman Ethan Bear donned a special jersey that featured his name in Cree syllabics to proudly honour his Indigenous heritage for a Tuesday night game.

Bear, 23, is from Ochapowace Nation in southern Saskatchewan and wore the jersey for the “Battle of Alberta” exhibition match against the Calgary Flames, with permission from the NHL.

“It will be an honour to wear this jersey tonight,” said Bear before the game in a press release. “I feel like I will be wearing it for all those Indigenous players who came before me and those Indigenous kids dreaming of playing in the NHL.”



Grand Chief Wilton Littlechild, from Maskwacis, Alta., said in the press release that Bear’s jersey was a historic gesture.

It took many years for the United Nations to declare that Indigenous communities have the right to revitalize and use their languages, including the Cree syllabics writing system, for their own names and places they live, said Littlechild, who is the international chief for Treaties 6, 7 and 8 in Saskatchewan and Alberta.

Cree is one of the most widely spoken Indigenous languages in Canada, but is declining in use. For decades Indigenous children were forced to attend residential schools, where they were taught English and forbidden to speak their mother tongue or else face severe punishments.

“Residential schools were a systematic, government-sponsored attempt to destroy Aboriginal cultures and languages and to assimilate Aboriginal peoples so that they no longer existed as distinct peoples,” the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada said in its 2015 report.

“More than a century of cultural genocide has left most Aboriginal languages on the verge of extinction.”

Littlechild is a member of Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame for his own athletic achievements in hockey and swimming at the University of Alberta and for creating opportunities for Indigenous athletes, such as founding the first all-Indigenous junior hockey team in the province, the North American Indigenous Games and the World Indigenous Nation Games.

Littlechild noted that the bear represents sacred teachings of courage.

“Ethan brings all of us great pride with his strength and natural ability to overcome challenges,”Littlechild said.

“People everywhere will be reminded when they see the syllabics on Ethan’s jersey to have courage, be confident and be brave.”

Fans were impressed with Bear’s decision to wear the jersey.

Confused Penguin Joins The Wrong Group... Only To Be Rescued By A Penguin Pal



Have trouble telling penguins apart?
You’re not alone: Apparently, penguins can get just as confused as us, as this video from the Falkland Islands shows:

https://youtu.be/bbKqHKOxezg

Two groups of rockhopper penguins ― the kind known for their punk-rock eyebrows ― stopped for a chat. Or maybe to sing sea chanteys. When the groups went their separate ways, one little rockhopper hopped off with the wrong group.

Fortunately, a penguin pal was able to pick him out of the crowd and bring him back to the right group.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/rockhopp ... 4153aa702e

Company seeking paid 'candyologists' to taste test candy

A Canadian company is seeking full-time and part-time "candyologists" to serve as taste testers for the company's confections.



Candy Funhouse, based in Mississauga, Ontario, said the remote working positions offer $47 an hour to sample and review some of the company's 3,000 candy and chocolate treats.

"Candidates should have enthusiasm and eagerness to try confectionary products," the job posting states. "We are looking for honest and objective opinions on the products that will be taste tested."

Applications are being accepted online through Feb. 15.

https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2021/01/22 ... 611343269/

[Fatima99]

Geologist Finds Rare Formation Inside Rock That Looks Exactly Like Cookie Monster on Sesame Street

When geologists go on research trips, they’re normally looking to observe specific rocks, minerals, and fossils. What this Californian scientist wasn’t expecting was to open up a volcanic rock in Brazil—only to find an uncanny resemblance of the Cookie Monster.

From the outside, the rock looks pretty ordinary–it’s plain brown, and shaped like an egg.



On the inside? It’s a glorious cream and blue. And it looks just about ready to growl “om nom nom nom nom” at the world.



Turns out—while many are looking to buy, say, the perfect rose quartz to meditate with—there’s also a market of people who feel a Sesame Street-themed piece of agate rock is just the thing they need in their lives.

Bowers has received offers over $10,000 for the rock so far.

He spoke to the Daily Mail about his surprise on finding such a perfect rendition of a much-loved character: “This is very unusual! There are a few famous agates out there: the owl, the scared face… there are many approximate ones, but it’s rare to find clear well-defined like that.”