Skateboarder grinds out of plane at 9,022 feet (2750 m) for new world record



A champion skateboarder pulled off a grind out the back of an airplane at more than 9,000 feet to set a new Guinness World Record.

Leticia Bufoni, 29, who hails from São Paulo, Brazil, and now lives in Southern California, boarded a C-130 Hercules with her skateboard in Merced, Calif.

Bufoni strapped a nearly 20-pound parachute to her back and performed a feeble grind -- a combination of a boardslide and a 50/50 grind -- across a pipe that led out the back of the plane at an altitude of 9,022 feet.

Guinness World Records confirmed the stunt earned Bufoni the record for highest skateboard grind outside the back of a flying aircraft.

Bufoni also holds the records for most skateboard street gold medals won at the X Games (street, female), five; most medals won in X Games summer disciplines (female), 12; and largest skatepark built in an aircraft and flown.

"It's crazy to think that I'm the first person to skateboard inside a plane and do a feeble in the air. That's something I didn't know was possible or not.

"I've never skateboarded on an airplane. I didn't know that this project would take such a huge proportion as it took," Bufoni told GWR.

Giant new trapdoor spider discovered in Australia is terrifying



A 'rare and giant' trapdoor spider species has been discovered by Queensland Museum in central Queensland's Brigalow Belt.

ABC News reported the brand spanking new spider is around the diameter of a 50-cent piece coin and lives in woodland habitats in the central Queensland region.

It builds its burrows in the black soil around Eidsvold and Monto, west of Bundaberg.

The species' name is Euoplos Dignitas, derived from Latin, which translates to dignity or greatness.



So, these guys aren't exactly small.

The name is also a nod to Queensland Museum's Project DIG, which supported the research project in fieldwork, genetic research and lab work.

"The females, which are the larger trapdoor spiders of the two sexes, they're almost five centimetres in body length," the museum's primary arachnologist Michael Rix said, as per the ABC.

"They've got these really cryptic trapdoors in these woodland habitats on the ground and most people wouldn't even realise that they're there."

He added they’re ‘big beautiful’ creatures.

According to Dr Rix, there aren’t too many of these babies lurking around due to land clearing, meaning they're likely to be an endangered species.

He added that these spiders usually spend six to seven years in the burrows until the males creep out in search of a female mate.



Ah, they’re just like humans.

"The males of this species are what we sort of call a really honey-red colour — they're really quite stunning," he said.

However, the female species is frequently darker and stockier as they spend most of their life underground.

And those of you who aren’t too comfortable around eight-legged beasts, rest assured, as trapdoor spiders don’t pose any threat to humans.

Dr Rix added you might feel a little sting if they bite you, but their fangs don’t possess any dangerous venom.

Phew!

Dr Jeremy Wilson, research assistant of arachnology at Queensland Museum, added as per 7News: “What I really love about the type of work we get to do here at the Queensland Museum.

“You get to come into the collection and look through specimens from across Australia and you just never know what you’re going to find.

“When you then get to see that through to the end, which is giving a name to that species and knowing that that species is now known to everyone and can be protected.”

https://www.ladbible.com/news/rare-gian ... 3-20230321

[Fatima99]

Simon Armitage savours spring ‘ecstasy and melancholy’ on World Poetry Day

Poet laureate celebrates a plum tree in poem commissioned by the National Trust for its blossom campaign



The poet laureate, Simon Armitage, has written a new poem which pays homage to spring, in celebration of World Poetry Day.

Plum Tree Among the Skyscrapers is the first in a collection of poems inspired by blossom and commissioned by the National Trust. Its publication marks the beginning of the Trust’s annual blossom campaign, in which the charity will vow to bring blossom back to landscapes across the UK by planting 20m trees by 2030 to help tackle both the climate and nature crises.

The collection, which will consist of poems and other creative works including music, will be brought together by Armitage and his band LYR in collaboration with communities and creatives across England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

It aims to help bring the National Trust’s blossom campaign to more people, help everyone connect with blossom wherever they are and offer ways for people to celebrate blossom in ways that are meaningful to them.

The charity will be planting several orchards at sites including Brockhampton in Herefordshire, Bateman’s in East Sussex, Arlington Court in Devon and Carrick-a-Rede in County Antrim, as well as new urban blossom gardens in Birmingham, Swindon, Manchester and Leeds.

Armitage said: “The National Trust is one of the great British institutions, a guardian of our past, present and future. When I became poet laureate in 2019, I made the environment a cornerstone of my work and my activities, so to be working with the National Trust on a project that celebrates the annual renewal of the natural world was a perfect fit.

“For this first poem, I was particularly keen to examine how nature might flourish in our urban landscapes, and about the tenacity of trees to be able to adapt to the most unlikely places.

“There is both ecstasy and melancholy associated with blossom, in its coming and its going; blossom trees are powerful metaphors for our own existence, as well as important indicators of the health of the planet.”

Andy Jasper, the head of gardens and parklands at the National Trust, said: “Simon’s poem is a wonderful reminder of the need to cherish the powerful connections we all have with the natural world. Whilst these rhythms of life appear to last for millennia, we know they are vulnerable, particularly in a changing climate.

“The National Trust’s blossom campaign is a celebration of the fleeting beauty of blossom and a celebration of spring not just in our wonderful gardens and parklands, but also throughout urban areas in every region and country of the UK. It is the investment in, and belief of, a future that will be there – for everyone, for ever, as we say – that makes this campaign and Simon’s poem so relevant and wonderful.”

The Trust’s Festival of Blossom will additionally take place at more than 100 locations across England, Wales and Northern Ireland, consisting of blossom-themed events and activities.
Plum Tree Among the Skyscrapers by Simon Armitage

She’s travelled for years

through tangled forests

and formal gardens,

edged along hedgerows,

set up her stall

on tenanted farms

then moved on, restless,

empty handed sometimes,

sometimes with fruit

in her arms.

She’s hopscotched

through graveyards and parks,

settled down in allotments,

clung to a church roof

by a toe.

She’s pitched camp on verges

and hard shoulders,

stumbled on threadbare moors

above the tree-line

and slummed it on wasteland,

but dug in on steep hillsides

and rough ground.

She was Queen of the May

on a roundabout once

in a roundabout way.

She’s piggy-backed

across trading estates, hitched

in a mistle thrush beak,

drifted with thistledown.

She’s thumbed a lift into town.

Now here she is,

in a cracked slab

in a city square

in a square mile

mirrored by glass and steel,

dwarfed by money

and fancy talk.

Hand-me-down brush,

pre-loved broom,

to the paid-by-the-minute

suits and umbrellas

and lunchtime shoppers

she’s a poor Cinderella

rootling about

in a potting compost

of burger boxes

and popped poppers.

In that world,

orchard and orphan

are one and the same.

But she’s here to stay -

plum in the middle -

and today she’s fizzing

with light and colour,

outshining the smug sculptures

and blubbering fountains.

Scented and powdered

she’s staging

a one-tree show

with hi-viz blossoms

and lip-gloss petals;

she’ll season the pavements

and polished stones

with something like snow.

[goldie0608]

Tumbleweed the Great Pyrenees Puppy Survives Nasty Run-in with a Cactus and Is Ready for Adoption

An emergency animal medical technician with the Arizona Humane Society found the 5-month-old puppy stuck on a cactus and rushed the dog to an animal hospital



Tumbleweed is preparing to roll into a new home.

In early March, the 5-month-old great Pyrenees puppy ended up at the Arizona Humane Society (AHS) after an AHS emergency animal medical technician spotted the canine while outside.

The technician, named Nina, found the dog stuck in a cactus in Phoneix. Nina removed the pup from the sticky situation, but Tumbleweed was still covered in painful burrs and sharp spines.

Nina didn't hesitate. After freeing the dog from the cactus, she brought the canine to AHS' trauma hospital for treatment. At the facility, veterinarians discovered that the great Pyrenees' long, fluffy coat had turned Tumbleweed into a burr magnet. The dog had cactus burrs deeply entangled in fur all over his coat.

To save Tumbleweed from the discomfort, AHS' veterinary staff shaved down the dog's fur to remove all the burrs and spines. Tumbleweed is now rocking a shorter haircut, perfect for the approaching spring and summer months.

According to AHS, Tumbleweed was "gentle" and calm throughout "the entire ordeal" and patiently waited for vets to remove all the burrs covering his body.

Everyone's hard work paid off. After treating Tumbleweed, AHS kept an eye on the pup at its hospital. The dog bounced back quickly from his cactus run-in and, on March 19, got the all-clear to start searching for a home.

Those interested in adopting Tumbleweed should visit azhumane.org/adopt for more information. The lucky pup is just one of 18,000 animals AHS cares for each year. Many of these furry friends are looking for a home as well.

[PennySerenade]

Texas Hospital Dresses NICU Babies in Western Outfits to Celebrate Their First Rodeo



It's never too early to celebrate your first rodeo — just ask these Texas newborns!

Babies being cared for at Texas Children's Hospital's neonatal intensive care unit recently got all dolled up for an adorable rodeo-themed photoshoot in honor of The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, which runs through March 19.

A hospital spokesperson tells PEOPLE the adorable shoot took place last week.

Each participating baby received their own special outfit for the shoot — and some even smiled for the camera!



Olivia Priolo Pigeon, a Child Life Specialist at TCH, says documenting these kinds of "first experiences" for NICU babies leaves families with "lasting legacies" that they can enjoy "for years to come."

It can also help alleviate some of the stress that comes with a child's stay in the NICU.



"A hospital stay can be very stressful for families," the specialist tells PEOPLE. "Providing normalized events can help to create positive memories for families and celebrate various milestones despite hospitalization."

The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo is held at NRG Park, which is just a few blocks away from Texas Children's.



And the rodeo is one of the biggest in the world, as is TCH's NICU, Priolo Pigeon tells PEOPLE.

"Dressing up in your best western wear during the rodeo is a rite of passage for all Houstonians, even the tiniest ones!" the specialist adds.

Although the hospital hasn't done many rodeo-themed photoshoots with their NICU babies, it's not the first time newborns have gotten all dressed up to celebrate special occasions, like Halloween and Christmas.

"At Christmas, oftentimes a staff member volunteers to dress up as Santa so the babies can get their first photo with the big guy!" adds a hospital spokesperson.

[Misstee]

World's longest beard reaches 8 feet, 3 inches long
By Ben Hooper
Subscribe | UPI Odd Newsletter




March 22 (UPI) -- The Guinness World Record holder for the world's longest beard on a living person broke his own record in Canada when the hair on his chin was measured at a staggering 8 feet and 3 inches long.

Sarwan Singh of Surrey, British Columbia, initially earned the record in 2008, when his beard measured 7 feet and 8 inches long, and the record was updated in 2010, when it was measured at 8 feet and 2.5 inches long.

Singh, who has been growing his facial hair out since the age of 17, has now broken his own record yet again when his beard was measured at 8 feet and 3 inches long.

The record-holder said his beard is a symbol of his Sikh faith.

"This is something that was given as a gift from god. It's not a personal achievement," he said. "I'm blessed that I was chosen to be the person with the longest beard. As Sikhs, we all keep the beard and we grow it and comb it and go through the daily routines, but I feel lucky that I'm the one that has the longest beard."

[lush]

Look: Overturned truck spills 10,000 wine bottles onto California highway
MARCH 22, 2023 / 4:46 PM*


An overturned truck spilled 10,000 empty wine bottles onto Highway 101, near Healdsburg, Calif. Photo courtesy of CHP-Santa Rosa/Facebook

March 22 (UPI) -- The California Highway Patrol said clean-up crews were summoned to a stretch of highway when a truck overturned and spilled its load of about 10,000 empty wine bottles into the roadway.

The CHP's Santa Rosa office said the truck overturned on Highway 101, near Healdsburg, and the trailer ripped open, spilling its load of about 10,000 empty wine bottles into the roadway.

"No other vehicles involved and the driver wasn't injured," the CHP said in a Facebook post.

The cause of the crash was unclear. Crews responded to clean up the mess and repair a guardrail.

[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
THURSDAY MARCH 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 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]

Billy Joel’s ‘Uptown Girl’ helps lost cockatiel find its way home

The “Piano Man” played an unusual role in the rescue of a pet bird in South Carolina.

Last month Christine Iturrino was loading groceries into her Myrtle Beach home when Joel, the pet cockatiel she had adopted from a bird rescue group 18 months ago, flew out of the door.

“In a panic, I tried to grab him, which you’re not supposed to do with birds,” Iturrino, 58, told the Washington Post. “That freaked him out and he flew away toward the ocean, screaming all the way. I was heartsick.”

Iturrino, a bus driver, said her flying friend liked to listen to 1980s pop music and had free rein in her home, only staying in his cage at night.


Billy Joel helps in reuniting a lost bird with his owner.

In a Facebook post about the missing bird, she wrote that he particularly liked “Uptown Girl” by Billy Joel, which she assumes inspired his name.

After Joel got loose, a devastated Iturrino printed up “Parrot Alert” fliers offering a reward and tacked them up all over her neighborhood.


Iturrino put up missing bird notices up around her neighborhood.

“He’s very people friendly, so I had a lot of hope. But I was still pretty upset, especially as more time passed. I began to worry I’d never see him again,” she said.

But after “the longest time” — or nine days later to be exact –Iturrino received a text while at work.

“I work at the beach — I think we found your bird,” it said.

The message was from an employee of Sky Wheel Myrtle Beach, 200-foot Ferris wheel with 42 enclosed gondolas.

The employee, Theresa Glazer, sent a picture of Joel perched on her shoulder inside the SkyWheel ticket booth.


“Uptown Girl” fan Joel in his cage.

During a morning safety check at the wheel, employee Gavin Scire, who is often referred to as Spider-Man for his climbing prowess, was about 100 feet up on a ladder when he heard chirping.

He looked over and saw Joel hopping on one of the bars.

The bird, who was too afraid to fly to the ground, made its way to Scire, who then nestled him in his hoodie.

The cockatiel wouldn’t go into a pet carrier but found comfort on Glazer’s shoulder. When Glazer told her mother about the bird, her mother mentioned the story to a neighbor.


Singer-songwriter Billy Joel appears to have at least two cockatiels in his massive fan base.

“The neighbor had seen the ‘missing bird’ notices about Joel and remembered the fact that he liked Billy Joel music,” said the park’s marketing manager, Sean Bailey. “Theresa was then able to get Christine’s phone number from the notice and text her.”

When they saw the post about his affinity for Billy Joel, they started playing some Piano Man tunes to see if it was indeed Joel.

“When he started bobbing his head up and down, that’s when everyone knew this was definitely Christine’s bird,” Bailey said.

Joel isn’t the only cockatiel to love “Uptown Girl.”

Nine months ago, a Reddit user posted an adorable video of their pet Moe whistling along to Billy Joel’s 1983 hit.

As for Joel, he was reunited with his distraught owner.


Christine Iturrino with her pet cockatiel Joel.

“He squawked at me, then flew over to my shoulder. I kept telling him how much I’d missed him, and what a brave boy he was. It really was a series of miracles that brought him home,” said Iturrino, who took her feathered companion to the vet.

The bird was pronounced healthy, save for having lost a bit of weight.

“I’m so happy to have him back — Joel is such a big part of my life,” Iturrino said. “I realized that every day while he was gone.”

(We had a pair cockatiels a while back and they were also very definite in their music tastes. They hated The Beatles and screamed if they heard one of their songs. But they adored Elvis Presley - much to my husband's horror. Favourite song was Jailhouse Rock )

Entangled seagull rescued from plastic bag in Rhode Island



A group of bystanders came together in Rhode Island to rescue a seagull they found with a plastic bag wrapped tightly around its neck.

Raf Brown, who captured video of the rescue, said he was out for a run in the Watch Hill neighborhood of Westerly when he spotted the seagull in the water.

Brown said he found the plastic bag was wrapped tightly around the bird's neck, making it difficult for the gull to breathe.

Brown and a group of bystanders worked together to get the seagull out of the water and cut the bag to free the bird.

Another entangled seagull was rescued in early February in Branford, Conn. The Dan Cosgrove Animal Shelter elicited help from J. Witkowsky & Sons Tree Service LLC to rescue a seagull spotted dangling from a high tree branch with a kite string wrapped around its body.

[goldie0608]

Woman Finds Deadly 6-Foot Snake While Changing Her Sheets: 'Check the Bed Carefully Tonight!'

"If you see a snake, back away slowly, leave it alone, confine it to the one room and call in a professional," says snake catcher Zachery Richards, who made a recent house call in Australia



This is one strange — and unwanted — bedfellow.

A woman in Queensland, Australia, made a very unhappy discovery when she went to change her sheets on Monday: there was a deadly 6-foot eastern brown snake in her bed, according to Newsweek.

Zachery Richards, the snake catcher who was called to the scene, told the outlet that while she was waiting for him to arrive she "shut up the room" and "put a towel underneath the door."

According to Richards, that's exactly what she should have done.

"If you see a snake, back away slowly, leave it alone, confine it to the one room and call in a professional," he explained.

Eastern brown snakes, which are common throughout eastern Australia, are found in "some of the most populated parts of the country," according to the Australian Museum.

And while their bites are "generally painless," the reptiles have "the unfortunate distinction of causing more deaths from snake bite than any other species of snake in Australia."

"Anyone suspected of receiving a bite from an Eastern Brown Snake should call for medical attention without delay," the museum cautioned.

Fortunately, Richards said that when he arrived at the woman's home, he found the snake had stayed in the same exact place and "having a snooze."

As for what brought the snake indoors, Richards told Newsweek that "it was quite a hot day" so the reptile "probably came inside looking for some shelter."

After it was captured, the snake was returned to its rightful home: outdoors, and a comfortable distance away from its human neighbors.

Richards went on to share a photograph of the reptile on social media.

"Check the bed carefully tonight!" he wrote.

Amazon driver delivers package during police standoff, hands to SWAT member




It was the scene of the Prime.

An Amazon driver went above and beyond the call of duty after fearlessly dropping off a package in the middle of an active police standoff.

The dangerous delivery transpired last month but has amassed 6.7 million views since then as viewers praise the courier’s dedication.

“When you’re about your business…nothing will get in your way,” reads the caption to the video of the dramatic drop-off, which occurred last month in Cary, North Carolina.

SWAT team members were reportedly engaged in a nearly 24-hour standoff with an armed suspect.

Despite the dangerous situation, the Amazon courier wasn’t about to be deterred from his parcel-delivering pilgrimage.

In the ludicrous clip, the unnamed driver in a blue Amazon vest strolls nonchalantly along a street lined with flashing police cars as officers look on incredulously.

“In the midst of a standoff, he’s going to deliver his package,” muses the videographer as the driver swaggers through the police perimeter.

The courier gets momentarily stopped from entering the heavily patrolled property, only to casually hand the package to a SWAT team member, who heads towards the apartment with it in tow.

The steel-nerved driver then gets out his phone, presumably to check off the order, before snapping a picture of the epic spectacle.

The clip concludes with the lone delivery hero walking away from the scene of the crime.

The circumstances surrounding the delivery have not yet been released. However, it is suspected that the intended Amazon recipient was either locked in or locked out of their apartment, per police protocol established during the standoff, the Daily Mail reported.

Needless to say, viewers admired the courier’s courage with one gawker writing, “Now that’s what you call AMAZON PRIME.”

“Package delivery note was ‘handed to SWAT officer,’ ” joked one TikTok wit, while another wrote, “Their slogan is rain, sleet, snow or standoff.”

“More scared of Jeff Bezos than getting taken out,” exclaimed one commenter.

However, alleged fellow Amazon workers claimed that the driver’s response wasn’t as a-typical as it seemed.

“I used to work as an Amazon delivery driver,” claimed one purported courier. “If you didn’t deliver all your packages you’d get in trouble.”

Amazon guidelines stipulate that if a delivery isn’t made by a guaranteed date, they’ll “refund any shipping fees associated with that order.”

The police arrived on the scene after an armed man barricaded himself inside the Windsor apartments with his 11-year-old son in an apparent hostage scenario, ABC 11 reported.

This resulted in a standoff with police that lasted for 20 hours and ended with the unidentified suspect taking his own life.

The boy also had a gunshot wound, but the juvenile survived and was subsequently secured by police.
What do you think? Post a comment.

“I wanted to express my condolences to the family of the individual who was in crisis today,” said Cary Police Chief Terry Sult.

“It’s always a sad time when someone is in crisis, and it should bring attention to mental health across this country.”

https://nypost.com/2023/03/22/amazon-dr ... th-gunman/

[Fatima99]

Newly Discovered Enzyme Turns Air Into Electricity, Promising a New Clean Source of Energy



Imagine being able to draw moisture from the air through your fingertips and create an electrical current as a result—that’s pure comic book superhero stuff right?

Not so, since researchers have been able to use a bacterial enzyme that conducts hydrogen to create electricity, literally out of thin air.

The discovery promises to open up a new field of clean energy that would take on all kinds of sci-fi forms.

Recent work by the team at Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute at Monash University, Australia, has shown that many bacteria use hydrogen from the atmosphere as an energy source in nutrient-poor environments.

“We’ve known for some time that bacteria can use the trace hydrogen in the air as a source of energy to help them grow and survive, including in Antarctic soils, volcanic craters, and the deep ocean,” said Monash Univ. Professor Chris Greening. “But we didn’t know how they did this, until now.”

In their discovery paper published in Nature, the researchers extracted the enzyme responsible for using atmospheric hydrogen from a bacterium called Mycobacterium smegmatis. They showed that this enzyme, called Huc, turns hydrogen gas into an electrical current.

“Huc is extraordinarily efficient,” notes co-author Dr. Rhys Grinter. “Unlike all other known enzymes and chemical catalysts, it even consumes hydrogen below atmospheric levels—as little as 0.00005% of the air we breathe.”

Laboratory work performed by Ph.D. student Ashleigh Kropp showed that it’s possible to store purified Huc for long periods.

“It is astonishingly stable,” she said. “It’s possible to freeze the enzyme or heat it to 80 degrees Celsius, and it retains its power to generate energy. This reflects that this enzyme helps bacteria to survive in the most extreme environments.”

The bacteria that produce enzymes like Huc are common and can be grown in large quantities, meaning humanity could potentially have access to a sustainable source of the enzyme. Dr. Grinter says that a key objective for future work is to scale up Huc production. “Once we produce Huc in sufficient quantities, the sky is quite literally the limit for using it to produce clean energy.”

“This is a really exciting discovery that could be a game changer in addressing climate change. It speaks to the strength of Monash research in developing smart solutions to the world’s most pressing problems. A big congratulations to [the team] what a fantastic achievement,” said Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Professor Rebekah Brown, who was not involved in the study.

[PennySerenade]

Kitchen renovation unearths paintings nearly 400 years old



Murals believed to be nearly 400 years old have been discovered at an apartment in northern England following a kitchen renovation.

Luke Budworth, 29, his partner Hazel Mooney, 26, and their dog Leonard had temporarily moved out of the one-bedroom apartment in the cathedral city of York while their new kitchen was being fitted in December.

Then Budworth received a call from the contractors. He told CNN Monday: "In a very casual way they said, 'Did you know there's a painting behind here?'"

By the time Budworth went to take a look, the new kitchen cupboards were on the wall, covering the frieze -- the only evidence of the discovery was a blurry picture taken by the fitters.

Though disappointed, Budworth, a research data analyst at the University of Leeds, suspected that a similar "bit of paneling" on the other side of the open plan living area may be hiding something too.

"It was painted the same as the rest of the wall and I knew it was hollow," he said. "I always thought it was probably just covering some pipes."

His suspicion proved correct. "It was a matching piece," he said.

According to Budworth, both friezes measure about 9 feet by 4 feet -- though they are cut off at the top by the ceiling.

The old city of York is encircled by an ancient wall and Budworth's apartment, which he bought in October 2020, lies within that in Micklegate -- one of the city's main streets. The apartment, which sits above a cafe and a charity book shop, is part of a Grade II listed Georgian building dating back to 1747.

"We thought maybe it was Victorian wallpaper, but it was way, way beyond how old I thought it was initially," said Budworth.



The newly exposed frieze depicts a Biblical scene in which a man in a cage is pulled along by an angel. There is also a man in a white cart who, according to Budworth, "looks like he's riding to the kingdom of heaven."

"Really excited," Budworth contacted Historic England, a public body that looks after the country's historic environment. A representative was then sent to survey the artwork and take some detailed professional photographs.


Historic England gave the couple a high quality, life size replica of the frieze and advised them to cover it up in order to preserve it.

Undertaking some historic detective work, Budworth went online and found that both friezes featured scenes from a 1635 book called "Emblems," written by poet Francis Quarles.

"The wall paintings pre-date the flat itself," said Budworth, explaining that the artwork was carried out on a wall of a building that no longer exists. In other words, the building was constructed around an existing wall.

The paintings are believed to have been created between 1635, when "Emblems" was written, and 1700 when such artwork fell out of fashion, Historic England has advised the couple, according to Budworth.

'FASCINATING' FIND

Though the couple do not have the resources to invest in professional conservation of the exposed frieze, they have been keen to incorporate it in their decor.

Budworth said: "If we could find some sort of funding to help conserve it I would be willing to go to the extent of taking the [kitchen] cupboards off the wall but unfortunately I don't see that happening. The other one though will be preserved as best we can."

Historic England confirmed to CNN that it had visited the property and had now passed on images of the paintings to the Conservation of Wall Painting department at the Courtauld Institute of Art in London.

In a statement to CNN, a spokeswoman for Historic England said: "The discovery of these 17th century murals in a home in Micklegate, York is fascinating. They were first discovered in 1998 then covered over. We have been involved with documenting the murals and supporting the present owner with how best to look after them since they were rediscovered recently.

"They raise various questions about the ages of the buildings in this row of historic homes and the history of Micklegate itself. Finds like this tell us that our historic homes have many secrets and we've been pleased to work with this homeowner on looking after these murals for the future."

[Misstee]

What made Beethoven sick? DNA from his hair offers clues


By MADDIE BURAKOFFMarch 22, 2023




This photo provided by researchers in March 2023, shows the Stumpff Lock, from composer Ludwig van Beethoven, in a laboratory at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History in Germany. Hundreds of years after Beethoven's death, researchers have pulled DNA from strands of his hair — and found clues about what killed him, according to a study published Wednesday March 22, 2023. (Anthi Tiliakou via AP)


NEW YORK (AP) — Nearly 200 years after Ludwig van Beethoven’s death, researchers pulled DNA from strands of his hair, searching for clues about the health problems and hearing loss that plagued him.

They weren’t able to crack the case of the German composer’s deafness or severe stomach ailments. But they did find a genetic risk for liver disease, plus a liver-damaging hepatitis B infection in the last months of his life.

These factors, along with his chronic drinking, were probably enough to cause the liver failure that is widely believed to have killed him, according to a study published Wednesday in the journal Current Biology.

This Sunday marks the 196th anniversary of Beethoven’s death in Vienna on March 26, 1827, at the age of 56. The composer himself wrote that he wanted doctors to study his health problems after he died.

“With Beethoven in particular, it is the case that illnesses sometimes very much limited his creative work,” said study author Axel Schmidt, a geneticist at University Hospital Bonn in Germany. “And for physicians, it has always been a mystery what was really behind it.”

Since his death, scientists have long tried to piece together Beethoven’s medical history and have offered a variety of possible explanations for his many maladies.