[Fatima99]

'Gang of feral chickens' take over Shell garage near Crewe and let off 'stink'



Police had to be called to a Shell petrol station after more than 15 chickens were spotted roaming around the premises in the early hours of the morning.

Warren Gibbard, 42, told StokeOnTrentLive that he was in disbelief after spotting the flock of feral chickens at 4.30am one morning at the garage on the A500 near Crewe, Cheshire.

“They were hanging around where you checked your tire pressure and filled up your water. They hang out in the hedges as the day gets busier," he said.

The chickens were pictured sleeping in nearby trees to avoid getting mauled by foxes that live in the area.



“You opened your door and the stink and the smell was like a chicken hutch which had never been cleaned," Warren added.

Warren, a medical student from Newcastle-under-Lyme, said that the chickens posed a more serious public health threat than most realised.

He explained: "I’ve seen patients with chest problems and dying from chest illnesses and respiratory distress. It is quite a serious killer of people."

Currently, there is a mandatory order to keep all poultry in England indoors to prevent the spread of avian flu, though the order does not apply to wild birds.



The government says that there have so far been 168 cases of avian flu in the UK, with the vast majority cropping up in England.

Cheshire East Council were called to the petrol station after receiving complaints about the chickens, and assessed that despite the fact that workers at the garage provided the chickens with food and water, they were in fact wild.

A spokesperson for the council said that area has now been cleaned up.

Shell told StokeOnTrentLive that it contacted a local animal sanctuary to relocate the chickens and give them a home.

Barefoot daredevil scales 440-foot skyscraper — without safety gear



Nothing — not even protocol — is going to stop this thrill seeker.

Last month, Alexis Landot made a terrifying 400-feet barefoot climb up the Tour Franklin, a glass skyscraper in Paris, France, completing the climb in just 35 minutes.

The 22-year-old — who has been climbing full-time for three years — posted a video of his incredible feat to social media, which shows him ascending the building in jean shorts, a T-shirt and no shoes.

“Before I climb, I’m really anxious. It’s really hard for me to actually start climbing,” he told Kennedy News. “But once I’m up there at 164 feet, I feel much better.”

When Landot scales buildings, he enters a “flow state,” he said. “No emotions — just pure focus.”

“Once I’m up there, I don’t have a choice but to do what I’ve got to do to survive,” he admitted. “When I’m at around 33 feet I can still leave, I can still give up.”

“All of the focus [is] on how I feel on the structure,” he explained. “But once I can’t give up, I feel much better because the choice is pretty much binary in my head. I can’t allow myself to fail, I have to fight.”

Although he climbs buildings with spectacular views, he rarely has the opportunity to take them in.

“Once I’m up there, I don’t have a choice but to do what I’ve got to do to survive,” he admitted. “When I’m at around 33 feet I can still leave, I can still give up.”

“All of the focus [is] on how I feel on the structure,” he explained. “But once I can’t give up, I feel much better because the choice is pretty much binary in my head. I can’t allow myself to fail, I have to fight.”

Although he climbs buildings with spectacular views, he rarely has the opportunity to take them in.

“Sometimes I allow myself to lower my focus for a second, and I can see other skyscrapers that I’ve climbed from the one that I’m climbing,” Landot said. “I usually don’t have the luxury to look at the view, because I’m trying to focus as much as I can.”

Landot started climbing at a gym when he was seven and has ambled up 15 skyscrapers so far. The brave athlete has said that although it’s a risky sport, he doesn’t let that stop him.

“I’m somebody who likes to take risks, and I know the risks that I take in my life,” he explained. “That’s why I like this so much, as I can anticipate the risks and control them.”

The once anxious child admitted he used to be “scared of everything,” but realized he didn’t need to be as he got older. “The more I grew up, the more I [realized] I was not scared of death the same as I was scared of not controlling my life,” he said.

In spite of his sky-high ambitions, not all of his followers encourage the dangerous sport.

“Please find a way to wear safety gears like ropes from the rooftop or something,” one follower begged.

“You have proven enough. One little slip is all it takes,” agreed another.

However, Landot defended his passion. “People who say it’s dangerous are right, [but] they also don’t realize that they risk their lives in other dangerous ways,” he said.



https://nypost.com/2023/02/03/barefoot- ... fety-gear/

[PennySerenade]

The NHL All-Star Game is coming to Toronto.

The National Hockey League and NHL commissioner Gary Bettman announced Saturday that the Toronto Maple Leafs would host the 2024 NHL All-Star Game at Scotiabank Arena on Saturday, February 3, 2024.

The skills competition will be held one day prior.

"We are thrilled to bring the Honda NHL All-Star Game back to Toronto for the ninth time, and to shine a spotlight on our current stars in a setting that evokes over a century of League history," Bettman said in a release.

"Toronto fans are among the most knowledgeable and passionate in our game and the city’s rich hockey history dates back to the creation of the sport. What better place to play host to our annual midseason celebration of the best and brightest in the NHL?"



The Maple Leafs hosted the first ever official NHL All-Star Game in 1947, pitting the defending Stanley Cup champion against a selection of All-Stars from the other five teams.

It will be the first time since 2000 that Toronto has hosted the event. That year, Maple Leafs captain Mats Sundin and blueliner Dmitry Yushkevich participated as members of Team World, with goaltender Curtis Joseph representing Team North America.

The Maple Leafs were represented in the 2023 NHL All-Star Game by Mitch Marner. Auston Matthews was also voted in by fans to participate but was unable to do to a knee strain.



"We are excited and honoured to announce the 2024 NHL All-Star Weekend in Toronto," Maple Leafs president and alternate governor Brendan Shanahan said. "We very much look forward to welcoming the game’s biggest stars and treating our fans — and fans from around the world — to a premiere event that showcases all of what Toronto has to offer."

The city last hosted an All-Star event in 2016, when the Toronto Raptors were home to the NBA All-Star Game. The Toronto Blue Jays also hosted the MLB ALl-Star Game at SkyDome in 1991, and Toronto FC played site of the MLA All-Star Game at BMO Field in 2008.

[Misstee]

Wrestling otters slip, slide on ice at Yellowstone National Park
By LatestSightings.com

A family of otters are having the time of their lives playing on the ice. Slipping, sliding, and rolling all over each other. They eventually swim away.

Thirty-five-year-old wildlife guide for Yellowstone Adventure Tours Andrea Baratte loves seeing these adorable otters in the park. She shared the captured footage and story with LatestSightings.com.

"River otters are part of the weasel family. They are extremely high-energy animals that are constantly on the move," she said. "You never know where they are as they have extremely large territories. Their thick fur protects them against Yellowstone's icy winters.

"I am lucky enough to see the special animals once or twice a month They are not often spotted so it is always a treat seeing them."




"Otters are great swimmers with the ability to hold their breath for up to 8 minutes," she said. "Their webbed feet and powerful tails help them to navigate through the water. They often disappear under the ice, and I have no idea where they are going to pop out. I am always super happy to see them and the kids and guests love watching them as well."

An ancient croc-like creature has been discovered



Scientists have identified a new species which they believe to be a distant relative of the crocodile family.

Fossils belonging to the ancient animal including part of its head, backbone and limbs were first discovered back in 2017 on the Jurassic Coast in Dorset.

It was named Turnersuchus hingleyae after Paul Turner and Lizzie Hingley who made the discovery and is thought to have lived in the UK during the early Jurassic period around 185 million years ago.

The species has been identified as a new type of thalattosuchian, which were croc-like marine creatures with long snouts. Their diet mainly consisted of fast-moving fish and cephalopods like squid and octopuses.

However, despite their resemblance to the modern crocodile, thalattosuchians aren't actually members of the crocodile family, which includes alligators and caimans.

Thalattosuchians are more distantly related to the large reptiles and it's thought they would been well adapted to ocean life with flippers, tail fins similar to sharks and salt glands to help them remove excess salt from their bodies.



"Unlike crocodiles, this approximately 2-metre-long predator lived purely in coastal marine habitats," said Dr Pedro Godoy who is a paleontologist at the University of São Paulo.

"And though their skulls look superficially similar to modern gharials [crocodiles], they were constructed quite differently."

Researchers say the discovery of the Turnersuchus hingleyae helps fill an important gap in the fossil record.

"We should now expect to find more thalattosuchians of the same age as Turnersuchus as well as older," said co-author of the study Dr. Eric Wilberg who is an assistant professor at the Department of Anatomical Sciences at Stony Brook University.

"I expect we will continue to find more older thalattosuchians and their relatives."



The experts say thalattosuchians are likely to have first appeared during the Triassic period, which would have been around 15 million years before Turnersuchus hingleyae lived.

No fossils of thalattosuchians from the Triassic period have been found yet and this has resulted in what's known as a ghost lineage, which is a period of time during which a particular group or species is known to have existed, but there is no fossil evidence yet to show this.

However, he discovery of the Turnersuchus hingleyae is still big news as it's shortened the ghost lineage by a few million years, the experts say.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/64494810

[lush]

Tech Entrepreneur Spends $2 Million a Year to Regain His Youth
January 27th, 2023*

A 45-year-old American tech-mogul claims that he spends around $2 million a year bio-hacking his body into regaining its youth.

First of all, if you’re younger than 35, you should know 45 isn’t that old, especially by modern standards, but Bryan Johnson, a tech entrepreneur who once sold his payment processing company Braintree Payment Solutions to eBay for $800 million, claims that his age doesn’t really reflect his health and his look. Johnson says that he has the heart of a 37-year-old man, the skin of a 28-year-old, and the lung capacity and fitness level of an 18-year-old, all thanks to a daily routine that he pays around $2 million a year to maintain and refine.


Photo: Zac Durant/Unsplash

The super-rich software developer reportedly has a team of 30 doctors monitoring his bodily functions and coming up with ways of reversing the aging process in every one of his organs. Both Johnson and his team are obsessed with the scientific literature on aging and longevity and are always eager to try the most promising treatments, closely analyzing the results they have on the tech entrepreneur’s body.

Johnson started his journey to reverse aging a few years back and has already invested millions in both human talent and advanced equipment to reach his ultimate goal of having the enviable body of an 18-year-old man.

“The body delivers a certain configuration at age 18, and this really is an impassioned approach to achieve age 18 everywhere,” Johnson recently told Bloomberg Business, adding that he is aware that some people may consider his obsession with this goal derangement and that that is “expected and fine”.

Johnson and his doctors refer to the collection of experiments and procedures they conduct as “Project Blueprint”. It includes strict diet guidelines, exercise, sleep (at the same time every night, and only after two hours wearing glasses that block blue light), as well as various extreme and sometimes painful medical procedures to monitor and measure his progress. Advanced blood tests, MRIs, ultrasounds and even colonoscopies are all on the menu for the entrepreneur on a monthly basis.

“I treat athletes and Hollywood celebrities, and no one is pushing the envelope as much as Bryan,” Jeff Toll, an internist on Johnson’s team said. But all this work, pain and expenses have paid off, as the scientists on his team say that the tech-mogul is indeed getting younger.

Looking at Bryan Johnson, it’s clear that he looks much younger than the average 45-year-old, but the doctors on his team claim that their data also shows a drastic improvement inside his body. He apparently has the heart of a healthy 37-year-old man, the skin of a 28-year-old and the lung capacity and fitness of an 18-year-old. He also only has 5% – 6% body fat, which is quite remarkable for his age.

However, Oliver Zolman, the 29-year-old regenerative medicine physician in charge of Johnson’s medical team, claims that the current results are only the beginning, and that they still have hundreds of procedures left to explore, and that they expect his condition to improve considerably.

Among the dozens of treatments and procedures included in Project Blueprint, Johnson repairs sun damage to his skin by applying seven daily creams and getting weekly acid peels and laser therapy, he wakes up every morning at 5 a.m. and takes two dozen supplements and medicines, and rinses his mouth with tea-tree oil ad anti-oxidant gel after brushing and flossing, which apparently helps him maintain the low gum inflammation of a 17-year-old.

Although many have accused Bryan Johnson of being a delusional health zealot and of suffering from psychological and eating disorders, the doctors on his team are all in awe of his dedication to longevity and aging reversal. In their eyes, he has dedicated his body to science in the hope of discovering answers that could benefit all mankind.



Perhaps Johnson and his team should take a look at Chunado Tan, the 50-something photographer who doesn’t look a day over 25. Perhaps he has some secrets they can use.

[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
MONDAY FEBRUARY 6
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

NOTE: THE RECAP AND REWARDS WILL BE DONE LATER

Overdue book returned to Virginia library after nearly 43 years




A Virginia library said a book anonymously returned to a drop box recently was found to be nearly 43 years overdue.

The Newport News Public Library said in a Facebook post that staff at its Grissom Library branch recently made the "most unusual" discovery in the facility's book return drop box.

The book, How Wars Begin by A.J.P. Taylor, was found to have been due back March 23, 1980.

"We believe this is a new record for a late returned book for Newport News Public Library," the post said.

The book was not accompanied by a note or other means of explaining the tome's tadiness.

"We do not have checkout records that go back that far, so the mystery returner just will receive our thanks," the post said.

[ozswede]

Hundreds of Marilyn Monroe look-alikes take the plunge for annual cancer fundraiser


This year's event attracted a record number of Marilyn look-alikes.

In South Australia, Adelaide's Brighton Beach was inundated with a sea of blonde wigs, sunglasses and white swimwear for the annual Marilyn Jetty Swim. The 10th anniversary of the event achieved record numbers, with 513 Marilyn Monroe impersonators attending — up from 300 participants last year.

The event has raised $1 million for Cancer Council SA since its inception, including more than $220,000 this year alone.

Founding Marilyn, Sarah Tinney, started the event after losing her mother to cancer in 2007.

She believed dressing up as the iconic Marilyn Monroe was an empowering and fun way to raise money for cancer research.

"Every year when I see new Marilyns come, and they have their stories and I can see where they are at, they're at day one of losing somebody they love," Ms Tinney said.


The annual Marilyn Jetty Swim attracts people of all ages.

"I go back there, and I know exactly how they're feeling.

"And I love that there's something that we can all do together, even if it's kind of wild and not what you expect … because grief isn't orderly, grief isn't predictable.

"Grief's a little bit weird as well."


The event celebrated its 10th anniversary this year, raising more than $200,000 for Cancer Council SA

Reaching the $1 million fundraising milestone was "very surreal" for Ms Tinney.

"Nobody could have anticipated this kind of growth," she said.

The event attracted people of all ages from across the country to support the cause, most donning blonde curls and wearing Monroe's trademark sunglasses and white swimsuit.


The event involves a 400m swim or paddle around the Brighton Jetty.

One woman travelled from Cairns to take part.

"I had breast cancer five years ago, so I know it's a worthy cause," she said.

"I'm right behind everyone and these gorgeous, blonde bombshells."


This year's event included 40 men, a record number.

Surf Living SA kept a watchful eye on those who swam or paddled around the jetty as part of the annual 400 metre swim, turning the ocean into a sea of smiling faces and inflatable swim rings.

Cancer Council SA Kerry Rowland said organisers were working towards making the event even "bigger and better" next year.

[Fatima99]

Supermarket to give kids a free warm breakfast every day this February half-term



Asda will give children a free breakfast every day of the February half term to help households that are struggling with the cost of living.

The big four supermarket chain said the free breakfast offer would be available at all of its 205 Asda cafe sites between 8am and midday.

The dates are February 9 until February 22 which allows the offer to cover all variations of half-term holidays across the UK.

The free breakfast will consist of a bowl of Quaker Oats porridge as part of the exclusive partnership the supermarket chain has launched with the oats brand.

Asda expects to serve over 50,000 bowls of porridge to children across the country during February half term.

On top of this, Asda will continue to offer its existing £1 kids main meal deal which it first announced last year, and was extended to the end of March at the beginning of January.

This deal allows parents to get a hot or cold children's meal for £1 alongside an adult meal, with no minimum spend.

The current kids for £1 menu include a choice of one of six hot meals or a cold pick-and-mix sandwich meal deal.

The big four supermarket chain highlighted research from the charity Magic Breakfast which revealed that 81% of schools believe that child hunger has increased in their community in the last year and 94% believe poverty has increased.

Additionally, 95% of schools agree that breakfast provision has positively impacted concentration in class and 87% agree it alleviates pressure on family budgets.

Since its launch in June last year, Asda says 1.1 million £1 meals have been sold to date and 100,000 meals were served during the December Christmas holiday period compared to 40,000 meals sold at the end of November.

Kris Comerford, CEO at Asda said: “We know when families are preparing for the school holidays it can often mean an additional strain on household budgets – especially feeding and entertaining their children.

"We remain as committed as ever to supporting our customers in tackling these tough times.

"Our café initiatives continue to provide a lifeline for over 1.5 million customers since we launched them last year, and we hope by offering a free warm breakfast in the February half term, will help support many more in the coming weeks.”

[goldie0608]

Fancy Feast Creates 'Cuddle Collection' for People Spending Valentine's Day with Their Cats

The Cuddle Collection includes an oversized cat-eared sweater for pet parents and a Valentine's Day feast for felines



Fancy Feast is celebrating those whose ideal Valentine's Day is curling up with a cat at home.

The pet food brand recently surveyed cat owners and found that 1 in 5 cat parents prefer to spend Valentine's Day with their felines over their significant others.

Fancy Feast has created the limited edition Cuddle Collection to support those who enjoy time with their cat. The products are designed to "celebrate the special bond between cats and their owners and give cat lovers a way to show their cats just how much they mean to them this Valentine's Day," the brand shared in a release obtained by PEOPLE.



This makes the Cuddle Collection, available now at FancyFeast.com/cuddle, an ideal Valentine's Day gift for the feline fanatics in your life.

The collection includes an oversized, embroidered cat-ear sweater that encourages felines cuddles with its extra-soft material. The Cuddle Collection also has "embroidered socks to keep your feet warm, heart-shaped cat toys for the perfect play date, and an insulated wine glass to toast to your love," Fancy Feast said.

Not all the treats in the Cuddle Collection are meant for humans. The limited-time offering also includes a carefully curated assortment of Fancy Feast food products and golden serving ware sized for a feline. Cat owners can use these products to include their pets in any Valentine's Day feasts.

The Cuddle Collection by Fancy Feast is available for $62.14 — while supplies last — at http://www.FancyFeast.com/cuddle.

[PennySerenade]

Toronto student’s algorithm helps detect radio signals emitting from 5 distant stars



A new artificial intelligence algorithm created by a Toronto student is helping researchers search the stars for signs of life.

Peter Xiangyuan Ma, a University of Toronto undergraduate student and researcher, said he started working on the algorithm while he was in Grade 12 during the pandemic.

“I was just looking for projects and I was interested in astronomy,” he told CTV News Toronto.

The idea was to help distinguish between technological radio signals created by human technologies and signals that were potentially coming from other forms of life in space.

"What we're looking for is signs of technology that signifies if the sender is intelligent or not. And so unsurprised to us, we keep on finding ourselves,” Ma explained. “We don't want to be looking at our own noisy signals.”

Using this algorithm, Ma said researchers were able to discover eight new radio signals being emitted from five different stars about 30 to 90 light years away from the Earth.

These signals, Ma said, would disappear when researchers looked away from it, which rules out, for the most part, interference from a signal originating from Earth. When they returned to the area, the signal was still there.

“We're all very suspicious and scratching our heads,” he said. “We proved that we found things that we wanted to find … now, what do we do with all these? That's another separate issue.”

Steve Croft, Project Scientist for Breakthrough Listen on the Green Bank Telescope, the institute whose open source data was the inspiration for Ma’s algorithm, said that finding radio signals in space is like trying to find a needle in a haystack.

“You've got to recognize the haystack itself and make sure that you don't throw the needle away as you're looking at the individual pieces of hay,” Croft, who collaborated on Ma’s research, told CTV News Toronto.



Croft said algorithms being used to discover these signals have to account for multiple characteristics, including the position they are coming from in the sky and whether or not the transmission changes over time, which could indicate if it’s coming from a rotating planet or star.

“The algorithm that Peter developed has enabled us to do this more efficiently,” he said.

The challenge, Croft says, is recognizing that false positives may exist despite a signal meeting this criteria. What could be signs of extraterrestrial life may also just be a “weirdly shaped bit of a haystack,” he added.

“And so that's why we have to go back and look again and see if the signal still there. And with these particular examples that Peter found with his algorithm, the signal was not there when we pointed the telescope back again. And so we sort of can't say one way or another, is this genuine?”

Researchers have been searching the sky for technologically-generated signals since the 1960s, searching thousands of stars and galaxies for signs of intelligent life. The process is called “SETI,” or “the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence.”

But interference from our own radio signals has always proven to be a challenge. Croft says most pieces of technology have some kind of Bluetooth or wireless wave element that creates static, resulting in larger amounts of data needed to be collected.

“That's a challenge but also computing provides the solution,” he said.

“So the computing and particularly the machine-learning algorithms gives us the power to search through this big haystack, looking for the needle of an interesting signal.”

Ma said that while we may not have found a “technosignal” just yet, we shouldn’t give up. The next step would be to employ multiple kinds of search algorithms to find more and more signals to study.



While the “dream” is to find evidence of life, Ma says he is more focused on the scientific efforts of actively looking for it.

This sentiment is echoed by Croft, who said he is most fascinating in working towards answering the question of whether humans are alone in this universe.

“I don't show up to work every day, thinking I'm going to find aliens, but I do show up for work. So you know, I've got sort of some optimism.”

Australian lottery winner ignores calls about $40M win: ‘Thought it was a scam’



A winner in Australia’s Powerball, which is not related to the U.S. game, ignored multiple calls from The Lott when they tried to tell her she won the $40 million jackpot ($27.7 million USD).

According to the Lottery Post, the woman repeatedly sent the Australian Lottery to voicemail thinking the callers were trying to scam her.

In a press release attempting to reach the winner, The Lott spokeswoman Anna Hobdell encouraged players to check and see if they have a “flurry of missed calls,” and if so, they could be the ones about to receive “life-changing news.”

The winner, who remained anonymous, reached out to The Lott after seeing the press release and realizing she was the lucky player.

“This just doesn’t feel real. How do I know if this is real?” she asked, adding that her whole body went numb with shock.

In addition to thinking the calls were fake, the woman said she also didn’t answer her phone because she was working. Though now, work is the last thing on her mind.

“My god, I can quit my job!” she yelled. “I can take some time off to spend with my family. We will be able to pay off the mortgage completely and set ourselves up for the future.”

The woman said she and her husband want the win to “go a long way,” and their goal is to leave a legacy for their family “for years to come.”

“This is really going to take some time to sink in,” she added. “It won’t feel real until the money is in my bank account. My husband and I have these goals in place and were wondering how we were going to achieve them, but now we don’t have to worry anymore.”
What do you think? Post a comment.

The winning numbers 2, 7, 15, 21, 24, 31, and 35 were drawn Thursday, Feb. 2.

The division one winning ticket came from Victoria. There were also 26 division two tickets that each took home $26,183.75 ($18,154.37 USD).

https://nypost.com/2023/02/04/australia ... t-40m-win/

[Misstee]

Pennsylvania 9-year-old earns high school diploma
By Ben Hooper



Feb. 6 (UPI) -- A 9-year-old Pennsylvania boy with dreams of becoming an astrophysicist is one step closer to his goal after graduating high school.

David Balogun started at Harrisburg-based Reach Cyber Charter School as a third-grader, and now has been awarded his high school diploma after completing the required classes virtually from his home in Bensalem.

"I wanted to do it because I had the ability to do it," Balogun told WPMT-TV. "So why not use those abilities for the greater good?"

Balogun, who is also working on getting his black belt in karate, has already completed a semester at Bucks County Community College and is looking into continuing his education at a four-year college or university.

"I want to be an astrophysicist and I want to study black holes and supernovas," Balogun told CBS Philadelphia.

The boy's parents, who have advanced degrees, said their son is unusually gifted.

"He's a 9-year-old with a brain that just has the capacity to understand and comprehend a lot of concepts that's beyond his years and sometimes beyond my understanding," said his mother, Ronya.

[lush]

How to Brew Tea in a Microwave and its Surprising Benefits*



If you are a tea lover, there's a high chance that you are familiar with so many different ways to brew tea. But, have you ever brewed your tea in a microwave? Some tea experts and traditionalists would never steep tea in a microwave, however some people find it more convenient and even tastier to prepare tea this way. So, today we are going to share tips on how to make the best cup of tea in a microwave.

What does the Research Say?



Recently, the internet world was overwhelmed with the results of new microwave research. So, what's it all about? According to Dr. Quan Vuong of the University in Newcastle in Australia, brewing tea in a microwave has much stronger effects compared to some other tea brewing techniques. This five-year-old study concluded that microwaving your tea will boost its benefits even more.

As a result, about 80% of theanine, caffeine and polyphenol compounds were activated when brewing tea in a microwave, compared to about 10% using traditional tea steeping methods.

Brewing Tea in a Microwave - Steps

1. Put one tea bag or one teaspoon of loose leaf tea in a microwave-safe mug.
2. Add about 1-2 inches of water (enough to cover the tea bag).
3. Microwave for 30 seconds, take out the mug and let the tea steep 1-7 minutes (see recommended steeping times below).
4. Get another microwave-safe mug, fill it with water and microwave for 45 seconds.
5. Once the steeped tea is ready, add the water from the second mug.
6. Add sweetener (optional), stir and enjoy!

Important Tip: Each category of tea requires a different steeping time. Please follow the steeping guidelines below.

White Tea: 1-2 minutes
Green Tea: 1-3 minutes
Oolong Tea: 2-4 minutes
Black Tea: 3-5 minutes
Herbal Tea: 5-7 minutes

Brewing tea traditional way that many of us love may not be the smartest idea according to researchers. Instead, preparing tea in the microwave may be surprisingly better for you. It's straightforward, doesn't require much teaware and may save you time.