New York animal shelter seeks home for 'fire-breathing demon'



An animal shelter in New York is seeking a home for a dog described as "a terror," "a fire-breathing demon" and a "whole jerk."

The Niagara SPCA said 26-pound Ralphie has been adopted twice, but was returned twice due to his bad behavior.

"At first glance, he's an adorable highly sought after, young dog. People should be banging down our doors for him. We promise you, that won't be the case. Ralphie is a terror in a somewhat small package," the shelter said in a Facebook post.

The shelter said Ralphie's most recent owners took him home with the intention of training him.

"Two weeks into this new home and he was surrendered to us because [he] 'annoys our older dog.' What they actually meant was: Ralphie is a fire-breathing demon and will eat our dog," the post said.

"He's a whole jerk -- not even half. Everything belongs to him. If you dare test his ability to possess THE things, wrath will ensue. If you show a moment of weakness, prepare to be exploited," the shelter warned.

They also claim: "The ideal home for Ralphie is the Mother of Dragons, or an adult home free of other animals, with an owner who will lead him calmly and sternly- putting up with zero crap."

The SPCA said prospective owners who think they can handle training Ralphie should get in touch -- "if you're that crazy."

[Fatima99]

Mum of 16 opens up school for 200 poor kids with best friend after raising £350k through TikTok



A mum with 16 children raised £350,000 through TikTok and opened a school for underprivileged kids - and now she has 200 students.

Dora Moono Nyambe, 30, became an online sensation after sharing videos of her life as a mum-of-15 on TikTok, but being social-media famous was never her goal.

A teacher by trade, Dora was committed to improving the lives of others and when she went to Mapapa, a village in Zambia, in Southern Africa, she was shocked by the number of children she encountered who had no access to education.

She began holding make-shift classes, teaching children under the shade of a nearby tree, then used her TikTok platform to raise money for a local school - and soon the donations came flooding in.

Dora managed to raise more than £350,000 ($450,000) and opened her own school - called Footprints for Hope - where she teaches around 200 students and provides them with food, and if they need it, a safe place to sleep at night.



Dora said: "I came to papa in 2019 to visit with a friend of mine, and that's when I discovered that there was extreme poverty in the village.

"Kids didn't go to school or even have a place to learn, some would spend a day or two days hungry, so I decided it would be better if I just gave everything up and started a school under a tree.

"I came over with my kids, at that stage I had five, I took all my savings and bought some land and started feeding the kids with the money, and buying school supplies and everything else.



"After that my daughter, her name is Grace, she found out about TikTok and she joined. I registered in my name and she used it to watch videos on my account - then we made a dance video. She was like, 'we should make more videos',

"I said I can't because I'm not a dance person, but I decided to share a bit of my life - feeding the kids, educating them under a tree, and people were really interested and my account started gaining traction until I was verified.

"I was hesitant to set up a GoFundMe but it was the best decision, people started coming on and helping, sending me gifts, and now we have 12 classrooms and a library, storage room, kids studying two syllabuses, Zambia and Cambridge.

"The children had never been educated and now they're reading at a tenth-grade level.

"We raised about $450,000 (£363,000). That has been able to feed, clothe, give health care, house, and give employment to 35 employees at the school for about two years.

"Social media is a powerful tool.

"It was different, I came on to share about my life - I wasn't lobbying for money, I didn't ask people to help us or anything like that, if there's a problem right now I would ask for suggestions from my followers, but before I wouldn't do that - people saw I wanted to do something but it wasn't poor people in Africa that need help, it was making a space for children to learn.

"I think people saw that and people like authenticity, when I started there weren't so many people doing what I was doing.



"I grew up in a missionary community and so I saw the effects of having someone foreign who doesn't understand the culture or the people, I didn't grow up here but I knew people wouldn't hide stuff from me.

"Having someone from the West come over they would think how much money would I get from that person, they see me and they know I want to help - that is important for me, but that is not to say that everyone that comes from the west has the white saviour mentality now.

"We have about 180 - 200 students right now, we will be getting more soon. They come on their own, if a child comes and says they want to start school or they want a meal we don't turn them away.

"They have three meals a day and two snacks, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday they have chicken for lunch and supper, then they have a snack at 10am.

"In the morning they have porridge or bread or oats or whatever is around. Tuesday they have eggs and vegetables and Thursday they have beans and vegetables. We eat a lot of soya porridge so they're very plump kids.

"We teach all year round, we close the second week of December and open in February. That's because it's the farming season so some kids are needed to help their families, farming to them is a very integral part of their life. Some live very far away.

"We have about 120 that live in the school, if they can't go home we find them alternative homes they can visit. Some stay at the school."

Recently, Dora teamed up with Joseph Schmitt, a Fullbright Scholar and American researcher in Africa, and together they have told her story in a book - Under a Zambian Tree.

Joseph spent a year shadowing Dora and conducting interviews and they hope the book, which was released on February 7, will sell 5,000 copies - the profits from which will go to Footprints of Hope.

[goldie0608]

Splash Mountain Officially Closed at Disney World, People Try to Sell Water They Say Is from Ride

Disney announced in December that Splash Mountain would be closing Monday to prepare for the new Tiana's Bayou Adventure attraction



Disney World's Splash Mountain has officially closed, and some are trying to profit from its last day.

The attraction at the Orlando, Florida, theme park shut down on Monday as it prepares to relaunch as Tiana's Bayou Adventure in 2024.

Since its closing, dozens of patrons have tried to sell water they claim is from the ride, with many postings popping up on eBay.

One offer is as low as $3.75 for four ounces as of Monday evening. The post features a photo of a bag of water in a decorated plastic bag. The words "Splash Mountain water" with Sunday's date are handwritten on the bag with permanent marker. As of Monday evening, it has eight bids and 21 watchers.

In that post, a little bit of water is held in a small mason jar in front of a "Splash Mountain" sign.

"Water captured from Disneys Splash Mountain on 1/22/2023 the last day of the ride! We have a limited amount!" the listing read.

Another witty Disney fan is also selling what they described as "tap water from my sink" in a Splash Mountain bag for $25,000.

"This is obviously just for fun and to make fun of the people who are really selling water from a ride," they wrote. "I'm a Disney fan but come one people has the world gotten so doomed that people would buy water from a ride. Smh if you really want this water buy it. I'll even do free shipping!"

Disney World announced last month that it would be closing its location of Splash Mountain on Monday in order to facilitate the transition.

At the time, it unveiled a first look at a new scene from the forthcoming re-theming, which features characters specifically created for the attraction.

Alongside Princess Tiana, Naveen and the jazz-loving alligator Louis, guests will travel through the bayou as they prepare to host a one-of-a-kind Mardi Gras celebration and listen to joyous music inspired by songs from the fan-favorite film.

At the beginning of the boat ride, fireflies will light up the night "almost as if they're waving you forward," inviting guests deeper into the bayou, according a Disney press release.

The ride, which will remain a log flume, will also incorporate zydeco music, a blend of rhythm and blues that originated in Louisiana. A cast of critters will make up the band, including an otter, rabbit, raccoon, beaver, turtle and others.

"It feels like they may have a bigger role to play in this story … but we'll just have to wait and see on that one," Disney teased at the time.

In 2020, the company announced the fan-favorite ride would be getting a refresh based on the 2009 Disney animated film The Princess and the Frog, which features the company's first Black princess, Tiana, at both Disneyland in California and Magic Kingdom in Florida.

Tiana's story takes over the ride previously based on the controversial 1946 Disney film Song of the South, which has long been criticized for its problematic portrayal of the post-Civil War South and for employing racist stereotypes.

Disney noted at the time that a new story for the ride had long been under consideration.

TikTok bride sparks heated debate after saying bridesmaids shouldn’t pay to be in wedding



A bride-to-be has sparked debate after she said that her bridesmaids shouldn’t have to pay a cent to be part of her big day.

The TikTok user, known as @partygirlclauds, took to the popular video app to share her opinion.

“I’m getting married in August, and I don’t expect my bridesmaids to pay for a single thing including the hen’s [bachelorette] party” she said.

“Your wedding is not your bridesmaids’ financial responsibility.”

She said guests pay a certain amount to attend a wedding due to possibly buying an outfit and providing a gift.

But wedding party members have that, as well as bridal showers, bachelorette party costs and hair and makeup.

Claudia said that it’s your wedding and bridal party members shouldn’t have to put their financial goals on hold to pay for your big day – especially when it may not be in their budget.

“To those brides who think ‘it’s a privilege to be my bridesmaid’, I would implore you to think again,” she said.

“Your bridesmaids are donating their time, physical and mental energy for the ways you expect them to show up for, so asking them to pay on top of that when weddings aren’t cheap.”

She said as a bridesmaid, she wouldn’t be comfortable paying $1000 to be a bridesmaid, so why would she expect her friends?

Social media users had differing opinions, with some agreeing with the premise of the video.

One commenter said: “Nope. I asked them, and I pay. Don’t have bridesmaids if you can’t afford it.”

“I can’t fathom asking your bridesmaids to PAY for their own dresses/hair/makeup etc! That’s just bizarre to me,” another said.

One added: “Couple years ago my friend at the time asked me to be a bridesmaid and we all had to pay for everythinggg I spent over $700. ‍️Never again.”

Some didn’t agree at all.

One said: “Bridesmaids have the option to say NO you are an adult.”

Another said: “Well wouldn’t it be nice to have that much money. My bridesmaids paid all their own stuff and so have I, every time.”

One added: “Nope, you ask them to be part of your day, they can say no. Sure gift their jewelry or shoes, etc but not the whole lot. Ur already paying a lot.”

https://nypost.com/2023/01/24/tiktok-br ... n-wedding/

[PennySerenade]

Ham on the lam: This duck named after dinner won't stop wandering off



A fashionable fowl with an insatiable wanderlust has become a local sensation in the British town of Chorley.

Ham the duck has a habit of breaking free from his enclosure and having misadventures all over town, his owner Charlotte Taylor-Dugdal told As It Happens host Nil Köksal.

This, despite the fact that she secures him away in his pen every evening.

"I don't know if you've heard of Houdini over in Canada," she said, referring to the famous American escape artist. "Well, we call him Hamdini. How he gets out, we will never know. But he just manages."

The story of Ham and Pea
Taylor-Dugdal says she adopted Ham, along with his sister, from a farm in 2018.

She was there to pick up some rabbits, which she breeds, when she fell head over heels for the pair of Indian runner ducklings.

The farm's owner told her the baby birds could one day end up on someone's plate, so Taylor-Dugdal decided to spare them that grisly fate and make them pets instead.

"She was having me on. It was a joke," Taylor-Dugdal said. "She just knew that I'd end up taking these ducks on."



At first, Taylor-Dugdal says she was going to name the pair Cat and Dog. But instead, she decided to call them Ham and Pea, inspired by her dinner plans that night.

This led to some confusion that evening, she said, when she informed her children she was making ham and pea soup, and subsequently had to explain that she wasn't referring to their new feathered friends.

For the first couple years of his life, Ham was content to be a homebody with his sister, Taylor-Dugdal said. But something changed when Pea died in December of 2021. That's when he started making his great escapes.

"We think he was looking for Pea originally," she said. "And then he started to get the attention of the locals."

And there's nothing Ham loves more than attention — except, perhaps, for Rice Krispies.

"It's his favourite treat. And there's nothing wrong with a treat, every now and then, is there?" Taylor-Dugdal said.

Friend of children, enemy of cats
Ham has become something of a regular in the neighbourhood. He's befriends the local children, and has made a sport of chasing the neighbourhood cats.

He'll waddle straight into people's houses if they open the door for him, and charms onlookers with his collection of jaunty scarves, hand-knit for him by Taylor-Dugdal's mother.

He doesn't wander too far, but there's plenty to get up to in the neighbourhood, which includes a pharmacy, a nursery and a pub.

"He's trying to get into the nursery because he loves the children. He tried to get in the [pharmacy] when people have gone in for prescriptions," Taylor-Dugdal said. "And he's tried to get into the pub for an ice cold pint, I think. He's naughty."



Despite his galavanting, he's rarely missing for long, she said.

Often, he returns on his own. Other times, she'll crack open her window and shout "Ham!" until the little critter quacks back.

If all else fails, she says a Facebook post will usually lead to his safe return.

"I think … he just quite enjoys being social," she said. "Obviously he spends a lot of time with us, but sometimes you like to see your friends as well as your family, don't you? So I think that's what he's doing."

She's thought about putting up a camera to see how he gets free, or perhaps attaching a tracker to him. But she's hesitant to put a complete stop to his hijinks.

"He [once] stayed in for about a week and a half, and honestly, he was so miserable," she said. "Then when he finally escaped, he came back happy as anything."

Not to mention, the waterfowl's wanderings have him somewhat famous. He has his own TikTok account, and he's recently travelled all the way to London to make his first TV news appearance.

"He loved all the attention, all the cuddles. And they brought him a box of Rice Krispies," she said. "He's quite the celebrity down there."

[Misstee]

Dog rescued from under rock pile at San Francisco beach
By Ben Hooper



Jan. 24 (UPI) -- An animal control officer in San Francisco came to the rescue of a dog found trapped under a large pile of rocks near a beach shoreline.

San Francisco Animal Care and Control said in an Instagram post that a jogger running on Ocean Beach heard the sound of barking near a sewage treatment plant and discovered after some investigation that a springer spaniel was trapped underneath a pile of rocks.

Animal Care and Control Officer Carlos Ortega responded to the scene and became concerned about the dog's safety amid the rising tide.

Ortega was able to remove some of the large rocks and free the dog, who he was able to identify as Gwen, a 1-year-old that had earlier been reported missing by her owners. Ortega gave Gwen a ride to her home in Noe Valley.

San Francisco Animal Care and Control said it was unclear how Gwen came to be trapped under the rocks.

"Possibly, she dislodged a large rock, fell in, and the rock rolled on top," the department said. "However it happened, we're so glad she's now safe and sound at home!"

[lush]

African serval captured after six months on the loose in Missouri
Jan. 24, 2023 / 3:04 PM*



Jan. 24 (UPI) -- A wildlife refuge in Arkansas said an African serval cat on the loose in Missouri for at least six months has been safely captured on a farm and will have a new home at the refuge.

Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge said it was contacted by Missouri Game and Fish about an African serval cat that had been spotted on multiple occasions over a six-month period in the Ozarks.

The refuge set up a trap on the property of a farmer who had repeatedly sighted the cat in the area, and the serval was ensnared within 12 hours.

Officials said the serval was likely an exotic pet that escaped or was abandoned by its owner. The cats are common as exotic pets and are used to breed Savannah cats, a hybrid of a serval and a domestic feline.

"It was amazing that this young serval could survive six months like she has, but she obviously was successful by the amount of bird feathers we found onsite. The skilled huntress had obviously been bringing her kills back to her adopted 'den' to consume them in safety," refuge president Tanya Smith said in the announcement.

The cat will have a new permanent home at the refuge. Officials said they may offer naming rights for the animal to a donor who gives a "substantial donation" to the facility.

Plan for London 'death pyramid' mausoleum that could have stored '5million' corpses
EXCLUSIVE: London's 'death pyramid' could have stored 5million dead bodies in a structure that would have resembled a 'beehive' on the inside, but plans were canned



A "beehive"-like structure dubbed the London 'death pyramid' would have stored 5million dead bodies had plans for the mausoleum gone ahead.

The horrifyingly huge structure, which would have been "higher than St Paul's Cathedral, would have boasted a hive that families could bury their loved ones in.

Chilling structures such as that were in production and ultimately, thankfully, rejected by the planning board at the time, who stepped in to prevent the maddening 1800s structure from ever happening.

But author Catharine Arnold, writing in her book Necropolis: London and Its Dead, believes it would have been a structure of "awe and wonder".



Writing of the wonderous structure, Arnold described the design, which was set to be an "investment" that would house millions of the dead.

Arnold wrote that "this massive mausoleum, higher than St Paul's, would contain five million Londoners. It was designed as an investment, with investors invited to apply for the 'Five Per Cent Pyramid Stock'".

Such a stock was set to address a booming burial problem facing London at the time, with a shortage of space needing to be adapted to.

Investors treating themselves to a stock under the Pyramid General Cemetery Company would have bagged themselves or their loved ones a spot in the catacombs.



Arnold continued: "The catacombs would be rented to parishes or individual families at £50 per vault. More than 40,000 bodies would be buried each year.

"Resembling a beehive, it would be a thing of awe and wonder to all who saw it."

London's death pyramid, also known as the Metropolitan Sepulchre, was drafted by architect Thomas Wilson as a way of countering a burial problem within London, although planners opted instead for a ring of cemeteries.

The £7million project would have, by Wilson's own account, "be completely filled" and require "another" pyramid, had his work been given the greenlight.

At the very least, Wilson's pyramid of death appeared a far wiser idea than that of Sir Francis Seymour Hayden, who Arnold says had "proposed using corpses as landfill for the Thames Estuary".

https://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/weird- ... m-28448270

[Fatima99]

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
WEDNESDAY JANUARY 25
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 can post as many stories as you like, but you will only get paid for One Story in any 24 hour period
So in other words, you can only earn WRZ$ 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 short, 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
All payments will be made at THE END of the weekly news cycle.
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

[ozswede]

Dandenong resident's wife's precious gold jewellery recovered from rubbish truck

When Frank returned to Victoria from a holiday in Queensland, his kitchen reeked.

The freezer door had been left ajar and the food had spoiled, so he threw the entire contents of the freezer into the bin.

It was only after his rubbish was collected last Monday that Frank remembered he had stored thousands of dollars' worth of his wife's gold jewellery in the freezer.

Frank, contacted councillor Jim Memeti, who he had gone to primary school with, to ask for help.

"Frank was so upset and distressed that day," Cr Memeti told ABC Radio Melbourne.

"We were trying to work out how we're going to retrieve this gold from this truck."


A JJ Richards manager said it would have been too dangerous to search for the gold if the truck had made it to the tip.

Greater Dandenong City's depot contacted the rubbish contractors, JJ Richards, and discovered that the truck had been quarantined overnight and was yet to be emptied.

The next day JJ Richards' domestic contract manager, Lisa Fox, took the truck to the council operations depot, where the contents were tipped out and the search began.

"We had about 500 bins on board, so there was anywhere from six to eight tonnes of rubbish to search," she said.

"We were able to narrow down the types of garbage bags he used, so we knew which bags to focus on."


The gold was rapidly recovered from this pile of rubbish.

Ms Fox said she was able to guess where his rubbish would be in the pile based on when his bin was collected.

Nonetheless, she thought the chances of finding the small bag of gold were slim.

"Frank was observing while the rubbish was tipped out, he saw some of his garden waste and we found the jewellery within five minutes," she said.

"It was the day where it was really hot, so that added to the joy of finding it so quickly."

Cr Memeti said it was an "incredible outcome".

"We just wanted to support him and we did everything we possibly can," he said.

"Frank wanted me to pass on his thanks to everybody at council and everybody at JJ Richards."

Maryland 9-year-old finds 15 million-year-old megalodon tooth



A Maryland 9-year-old searching for shark teeth on a beach made her largest discovery to date -- a 15 million-year-old megalodon tooth.

Molly Sampson was out searching for shark teeth on Calvert County Cliffs on Christmas Day when she found a megalodon tooth the size of her hand.

"I couldn't believe it, it was so exciting," Sampson told WJLA-TV. "I usually find little ones, I never thought I would find a big one like that."

Sampson took her discovery to the Calvert Marine Museum in Solomon's Island, where experts confirmed it was an ancient megalodon tooth.

"Based on where she found it on Calvert cliff, we estimate that it's about 15 million years old," said Stephen Godfrey, the museum's curator of

[goldie0608]

Aaron Judge on how teammate’s dog helped convince him to return to Yankees



The Judge of New York has spoken.

Beloved Yankees slugger Aaron Judge opened up on “The Tonight Show” with Jimmy Fallon about re-signing with the Yankees and it turns out Anthony Rizzo’s dog played a role.

Fallon revealed Judge’s dog, Penny, and Rizzo’s dog, Kevin, were the best of buds, and it would be hard to separate the two.

Rizzo, who had also re-signed with the Yankees this offseason, would text and call Judge every day, even sending pictures of Kevin and Penny together, and was “working hard” to get him to re-sign.

“It always comes down to your pet, right?” Fallon jokingly asked.

“He went for my heart,” Judge said about Rizzo’s tactics.

“The Tonight Show” host then pulled up a picture of the two weiner dogs frolicking together in the outfield at Yankee stadium.

Judge, 30, who signed a nine-year, $360 million contract on Dec. 7, 2022, after months of speculation if he would re-sign with the Bronx Bombers, called his brief free agency a “fun process.”

“Every athlete wants to get to that position, where they can kind of choose, you know, where they get to play. It just so happened I got drafted by the best team on the planet,” the superstar told Fallon.

The northern California native met with his hometown Giants and was also linked to the Dodgers and Padres this offseason. Judge was asked by Fallon how the courting process with other teams went during his free agency.

Despite meeting with “a lot of great teams,” Judge said he knew he would return to the Bronx.

“After every meeting, I’d sit down with my wife, and we kinda look at each other and are like, ‘we’re Yankees,'” Judge said of his bride, Samantha Bracksieck.

Once Judge re-signed with the Yankees, the organization announced that he would also be the 16th captain in the franchise’s lengthy history.

Judge, who said he was shocked about being named captain, revealed he was on the phone with Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner, finishing up the deal, when he was told at the end about the news at the end of the call.

Fallon asked if the newly appointed Yankees captain had any contact with the Yankees’ previous captain, Derek Jeter.

Judge said he talked to Jeter during the free-agency process and the five-time World Series champion said he’d take him out to lunch to discuss some of what he experienced during his free agency.

Before the two icons could meet, Judge had signed the multi-million dollar contract, and the conversation between him and Jeter changed its tone.

“‘Now you’re going to take me out to breakfast, lunch and dinner,'” Judge said Jeter told him.

Judge finished the 2022 season with 62 home runs, breaking the American League record that Yankees great Roger Maris held since 1961. He was also named the AL MVP and was selected for his fourth All-star game appearance.

[Fatima99]

Paleontologists in India Have Hit on an Epic Find: Hundreds of Bowling Ball-Sized Titanosaur Eggs



Indian paleontologists recently uncovered a find of titanic proportions—a series of sauropod nests or “clutches” that contained 256 dinosaur eggs in total.

The eggs yielded a trove of insights about sauropod reproductive strategies, and turned up 6 new species of dinosaur in the same dig.

Located in the sedimentary bed of the Lameta Formation in the Dhar district of Madhya Pradesh, central India, paleontologist Harsha Dhiman uncovered 92 dinosaur clutches filled with eggs that averaged around 6.3 inches in diameter. They were made by Titanosauria, a clade containing many long-necked dinosaurs.

Titanosaurs were the largest land animals to ever live—they could reach 100 feet in length, and it appears they were cognizant of their massive bulks because their clutches were all placed in close proximity.

This was among the many deductions made of the legendary find—these massive animals nested like birds, laying their eggs and positioning their clutches together as a colony, and more or less leaving them to fend for themselves.

“Closely spaced nests would not have allowed them to visit the nests to maneuver and incubate the eggs or feed the hatchlings,” paleontologist and the study’s co-writer Guntupalli Prasad told CNN, “as the parents would step on the eggs and trample them.”



Much like birds, the eggs were determined to be laid sequentially. Some of the eggs had defects, such as eggs that were embedded within other eggs, and the authors note that this is the first ever recorded discovery of egg-in-egg pathology in reptiles or dinosaurs.

Around the clutches were also a wealth of fossilized bones, such that 6 new Titanosaurids have been tentatively discovered, adding to the 3 found in past excavations of the Lameta Formation.

The authors propose that some of the clutches were preserved because they had been overcome with water. Based on the characteristics of the sediments and minerals around them, it seems they were perhaps made near to a water source that flooded the nesting site.

[PennySerenade]

Woman Gives Birth to 16-Lb. Baby in Brazil: 'I Didn't Expect This Surprise'



A woman in Brazil recently welcomed an extra special bundle of joy: a 16-lb. baby boy.

When it was time to give birth earlier this month to her son — and sixth child — Cleidiane Santos dos Santos said she "didn't expect this surprise."

"I thought it would be four kilos, but he came to seven kilos," the 27-year-old mother told Portuguese-language newspaper El Globo.

Baby Angerson was born via cesarean section on Jan. 18 at Hospital Padre Colombo in Parintins, weighing 7.328 kilograms (about 16.1 lbs.), per the newspaper.

According to the American Pregnancy Association, the majority of full-term babies are born weighing between 6 and 9 lbs. Having a higher birth weight can lead to increased health risks for the newborn and "can make [the] delivery of the baby difficult," per the U.S. National Library of Medicine.



The newborn, sweetly referred to as "bebê gigante" in social media posts by the hospital, is thought to be the largest baby to be born in the state, the newspaper reported, citing the State Department of Health.

Per Guiness World Words, the heaviest baby to survive infancy was born in Italy in September 1955, and weighed 22 lbs., 8 oz.

The Brazilian mom's healthy newborn is currently being monitored in the hospital's NICU, per the newspaper. And according to the hospital's social media posts, he has already started breastfeeding.



Santos dos Santos has also praised the hospital staff for their care.

"I want to thank the team at the Padre Colombo Hospital, who are giving me strength and treating me very well, since when I got here, if it weren't for them, I don't know what would become of me," she told the newspaper. "I appreciate each one."

And I thought my boys were big at 9 pounds and 10 pounds 13 ounces.

I spotted my husband in a new restaurant promo — 9 years after his death



A widow said she spotted a dead ringer for her late husband in a promotional video for an Indian restaurant that the establishment claims was filmed earlier this month.

Spice Cottage in West Sussex, England, has had their Facebook page flooded with comments after Lucy Watson commented that she saw her late husband and his son in the video — but he died nine years ago.

“How old is the footage? My late husband and his son are on the first shot, and he died in 2014??” Watson, 59, commented on the video.

The restaurant responded to the widow, writing, “Hi Lucy, sorry to hear this. This footage was recorded last week.”

The video was posted to Facebook on Jan. 16 and has garnered hundreds of comments from people wanting updates on the mystery.

On Tuesday, Bodrul Islam, a manager of the restaurant, posted an update from their point of view to “clarify some misunderstandings.”

“I run the social media side of the business and recorded a promotional video to portray our new wooden tables and interior refurbishment. The refurbishment was completed in early January 2023 and the promotional video highlights these changes. All videos used in the video were recorded w/c 9th January 2023,” the comment read.

“Before January 2023, all of our tables were covered by white and red cloths, henceforth it is evident this footage is recent,” Islam continued. “This is a very unusual situation and we hope this clarifies any confusion.”

Many commenters have come up with their own theories for how the husband ended up in the video, with one comparing him to the John “Canoe Man” Darwin, who faked his death in a life insurance scam in 2002.

“Lucy Watson we need an update! Was his body ever found, or just a canoe?” the person commented.

Another said that the person in the video was her own dad and brother — not Watson’s late husband, to which some people responded that the commenter must’ve been Watson’s stepchild.

But Watson is rejecting all the “ridiculous conspiracy theories” and said her husband, an award-winning journalist and popular local figure, is “instantly recognizable.”

Harry Doherty was born in Northern Ireland and won many awards for his coverage of the Troubles — also called the Northern Ireland conflict — before moving to England to be a music journalist and work for the magazine Melody Maker, according to the Daily Mail.

He founded his own rock magazine and wrote a book about Queen, which landed him a friendship with guitarist Brian May.

“I don’t really use Facebook apart from snooping on friends or catching up with people. I was scrolling through and the video popped up,” Watson told the outlet. “The moment I saw the thing I thought, ‘Oh my God — that’s Harry.’ It was so instant. I didn’t even have to think. He’d be eating a chicken korma because that’s all he ever ate.”

“There was no doubt in my mind it was my husband. I couldn’t pause the thing, so I had to replay it about 30 times, and each time I was surer and surer,” she continued.

Watson explained that her late husband was a “distinctive” man, and she even recognized the sweatshirt he was wearing in the video, as well as his son Alex, 39 — who she said she lost touch with after his father’s death.

She thought it must’ve been an old video and decided to ask “out of interest.”

“Then it all went crazy. It annoyed me when they sent a message back saying it was filmed last week. It can’t have been,” she explained.

“They just don’t get that many people in there anymore. I think they’ve picked and chosen out of various videos. I’m sure it’s a montage. It’s the only explanation I can think of,” she said. “I’m totally bemused by the response. I don’t understand how people have picked it up in this way to be quite honest, and there’s all these crazy theories.”

Even though there are conspiracies that her husband might still be alive, she said there’s “no doubt” he died in 2014.

“’He was seriously ill in hospital for the last few months. They were going to do a liver transplant, but he didn’t make it,” Watson shared. “He was as skinny as anything before he died, so the video must have been taken some months before that.”

https://nypost.com/2023/01/25/i-spotted-my-husband-in-a-new-restaurant-promo/