The Bacterium That Eats Heavy Metal And Poops Gold Is A Tiny Badass
And the award for the world's most valuable "poop" goes to...



It might not have a place in a fairytale like the goose that laid golden eggs, but there's a bacterium that can absorb compounds rich in toxic metals and extract gold from them, producing tiny gold nuggets.

The bacterium in question is called Cupriavidus metallidurans and lives in soil rich in toxic elements. As reported in Metallomics in 2018, an international group of researchers worked out the molecular processes that allow this biological gold deposit.

It all has to do with how it deals with copper and gold in the soil. Both copper and gold are toxic in large quantities, but the bacterium has evolved to need copper to survive.

The soil that C. metallidurans live in is rich in toxic heavy metals, which the bacterium converts into a form that is easier to be dealt with. If too much copper is present, the bacterium can activate a special enzyme, called CupA, which can pump out all the excess copper and keep the bacterium healthy.

"Apart from the toxic heavy metals, living conditions in these soils are not bad," senior author Professor Dietrich H. Nies, a microbiologist at the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, said in a statement.

"There is enough hydrogen to conserve energy and nearly no competition. If an organism chooses to survive here, it has to find a way to protect itself from these toxic substances," explained Professor Nies.

However, something peculiar happens when gold is present. Copper gold compounds are extremely toxic, so the bacterium needs to protect itself. To do this, the CupA is made inactive and a different enzyme, CopA, is made active. This transforms the copper and gold compounds into forms that are difficult to absorb.

"This assures that fewer copper and gold compounds enter the cellular interior," added Nies. "The bacterium is poisoned less and the enzyme that pumps out the copper can dispose of the excess copper unimpeded. Another consequence: the gold compounds that are difficult to absorb transform in the outer area of the cell into harmless gold nuggets only a few nanometres in size."

https://www.iflscience.com/the-bacteriu ... dass-68113

[lush]

Ham on the lam until loose piglet captured after 3 days of freedom in New Hampshire
March 23, 2023 / 4:54 PM*



March 23 (UPI) -- A piglet on the loose for multiple days in a New Hampshire town was captured by a local animal lover -- and the rescue was caught on video.

Tori Gamache said she heard the 8-week-old pet pig, Simon, had been on the loose since Sunday, so she went out Wednesday to the area of Goffstown where the swine was last sighted.

Gamache said she spent about 2 hours working to gain the piglet's trust before the animal came close enough that she could grab hold of him.

She said Simon was safely reunited with his family.

[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
FRIDAY MARCH 24
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]

Goalkeeper scores from a goal kick – it could set the record for the longest range goal in history

Argentine goalkeeper Leandro Requena scored one of the most outrageous goals you are ever likely to see during his Cobresal side’s 3-1 win over Colo-Colo in Chile’s top soccer league.

With his team already leading 2-0 in the 77th minute, Requena took what initially looked like a fairly innocuous goal kick.

However, with Colo-Colo goalkeeper Brayan Cortés well outside of his penalty area, the ball bounced over his head and towards goal.

To add to his embarrassment, Cortés stumbled as he tried in vain to chase the ball as it crossed the line.



According to TNT Sports Chile, the goal was scored from a distance of 101 meters which, if ratified by Guinness World Records, would break the record for the longest range goal in history.

The current record is 96.01 meters, set by Tom King in 2021 during a match between Newport County and Cheltenham Town in England’s fourth tier.

“I asked Juan Silva, the club’s manager, if the request for the record application was really going to be made and he told me ‘obviously yes,’” Requena told Radio Bio Bio.


Argentine goalkeeper Leandro Requena scores an outrageous goal direct from a goal kick.

“So now we are waiting for what is needed to verify what the distance really was. [Silva] did tell me that the ANFP [Chilean Football Federation] called him to check the measurements of the field.”

FIFA, soccer’s global governing body, recommends the size of a professional soccer pitch should be 105 meters by 68 meters.

“If so, since the area is five meters, it would be logically over 100,” Requena added. “The truth is that I am happy with all this, more than anything personally, but also for the institution, for Chilean football. Going down in history with an event like this makes me happy.”

Requena said he thought altitude – Cobresal’s stadium is 2,400 meters above sea level – might have played a part in his remarkable goal.

“I wanted to take the kick quickly as we have done so many times at altitude, to try to catch the rival off guard and it came out a little stronger than normal,” Requena told Radio Bio Bio.

“The first thing I did as soon as the ball left my foot was hold my head because there were two players in a clear position to counterattack and I realized that it had gone long.

“When I saw the bounce made it difficult for Brayan and it went past him, I thought the ball could go in.”

Guinness World Records has said that it has not yet received an application for this record.

(With that tremendous “Goooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooal”, surely the commentator could break a record of his own… )

[goldie0608]

Shelter Dog Rescues Elderly Owner Shortly After Getting Adopted: 'She Really Is Our Hero'

Ruby, the German shepherd/Labrador Retriever mix, brought help to her owner when the man fainted and fell into a ditch



After her owner saved her life by adopting her from an animal shelter, Ruby the rescue dog returned the favor and saved her new pet parent.

According to Dogs Trust Salisbury, Peter Bradley and his partner Debbie Ackers from Dorset, England, recently adopted Ruby from the U.K. animal rescue.

It didn't take long for the 5-year-old German shepherd/Labrador retriever mix to prove her worth to her new pet parents. Shortly after her adoption, Ruby and Bradley were out on a walk when Bradley fainted due to low blood sugar.

Bradley fell to the ground and into an 8-foot-deep watery ditch, where he could not get up. Following the incident, Ruby flipped to hero dog mode and stayed beside Bradley while barking for attention.

"I woke up and had no idea where I was or what had happened. I could feel my boots filling up with water but could not find the strength to move. I could hear Ruby barking; she was making sure someone found me; that is a sure thing. Once I found some strength, I tried to climb out, but I could not as the sides were wet," Bradley said in a statement recounting the accident.

Ruby's loyalty and quick thinking worked; someone nearby heard her barking and showed up to check in on the commotion.



"If Ruby had not barked as she did, I could have been there for an awfully long time without anyone knowing I was missing," the man added.

Bradley got out of the ditch with help from those who responded to Ruby's barks. Not long after he fainted and fell, Bradley fainted again, and once again, Ruby stayed by his side.

"I must have fainted again at home, and the next thing I knew, my friend was beside me. He found me out like a light and Ruby lying over me. He called paramedics," Bradley explained.

"Ruby continued to protect me and let the paramedics assist once she knew they were there to help. I did not want to go to the hospital, so thankfully, the nurses treated me at home instead. With the nurses and Ruby continuing to look after me, I am much better now," he added.

After an eventful few weeks with Ruby, Bradley does not doubt that he and the dog are meant to be.

"Ruby has bonded with me and Debbie so well, and it feels like she has always been in our lives. We walk her every day and feel safe with her by our side," Bradley said.

"She really is our hero."

[Fatima99]

Teen covers parents' entire kitchen in peanut butter in elaborate prank



A prankster has shocked his parents after covering their entire kitchen in peanut butter - including on their appliances, worktops and cabinets. TikTok user Corbin Millet used up 28lbs of peanut butter to pull off the prank, painstakingly applying it to every kitchen surface for seven hours.

However, it seems his parents got the last laugh after making him spend another three to four hours cleaning it all up by himself. The 19-year-old, from Pennsylvania, America, uploaded two videos of his creation on social media with one captioned: "All the peanut butter was eaten by doggies", and the other "This is the moment he knew..."

Together, his videos racked in almost 60 million views and have received more than 60,000 comments.

Commenting on his video, one user said: "You're going to have a huge ant problem."

Another user added: "Covering my child's room in eviction notices."

A third user said: "The house is going to smell like peanut butter forever."

One more user added: "I would utterly reject your relation to me."

But this isn't the only elaborate prank Corbin has pulled on his parents, as he has also shared videos of him wrapping his parents' house in tin foil and painting their bathroom pink.

In his most recent video, one of his followers asked him to put a swimming pool inside his dad's house - and he was happy to oblige.

He is seen pushing a sofa to the side of the room before inflating a large paddling pool and filling it with water.

However, his dad wasn't at all impressed with the décor change, telling him to "grow up".

Boy, 9, breaks Rubik's cube speed record



A 9-year-old Rubik's cube prodigy from China broke a Guinness World Record when he averaged a time of 4.69 seconds in his attempts at solving a 3x3x3 cube.

Young speedcuber Yiheng Wang made five attempts March 12 at the Yong Jun KL Speedcubing 2023 event in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and recorded times of 4.35, 3.9, 4.41, 5.31 and 6.16 seconds.

World Cube Association rules required the fastest and slowest times to be discounted when calculating the average, giving Yiheng an average time of 4.69 seconds.

Guinness World Records said the boy broke the record for fastest average time to solve a 3x3x3 rotating puzzle cube, beating the record of 4.86 seconds, which was jointly held by Max Park of the United States and Tymon Kolasiński of Poland.

The WCA said Yiheng's 3.9-second solve was the fourth fastest on record.

I partied so hard, I almost lost a leg



Her leg nearly fell asleep for good.

A Canadian woman is warning people about the perils of hard partying after nearly losing a leg following one booze-soaked soirée gone bad.

Julia Anderson had reportedly blacked out in an awkward position, cutting off her circulation for hours, and causing her stems to swell to a terrifying size.

The paralyzing ordeal occurred three years ago, but the reveler only just shared her story recently with the hope that others won’t make the same mistake.

“I was in pain constantly,” the 36-year-old told Kennedy News. “The nerve damage was so bad I was screaming out in the middle of the night with the pain.”

The Ontario native’s agonizing saga began back in February 2020 after she embarked on a “night out with friends.”

“I remember I was drinking vodka all night,” described Anderson. “I was drinking a lot of straight liquor.”

By the end of the night, the Canuck had reportedly consumed a whopping 20 drinks — and without any food to soak up the suds.

With her head still spinning, the “drunker than normal” Anderson decided to try and sleep it off, not knowing that this one evening would change her life forever.

“When I got home I just thought ‘go to bed Julia’ and I passed out curled up on top of my legs face down,” described the party gal. “I was living with my mom and she came down to check on me because she knew I’d not been in a good state.”

That’s when she realized something was terribly wrong: “She said I needed to move but I couldn’t,” described the horrified Canadian. “At first she didn’t believe me, but she had to help roll me onto my back and then I still couldn’t move.”

Despite going back to sleep, she woke up an hour later to discover that she still couldn’t move her legs. She recalled, “All I could think to myself was ‘did I break my legs or something? Why can’t I move my legs?'”

If that wasn’t frightening enough, Anderson’s nocturnal contortions had reportedly caused her legs to balloon up to “double their usual size.” She alerted her mom, who called an ambulance to take her to Garron Hospital in Toronto.

“When I got to the hospital my whole body was very swollen,” she said. “I’m tiny, I’m only 100 pounds, to them I just looked like a 140-pound girl.”

Anderson added, “I told them ‘guys I don’t look like this, something is wrong.”

Following a series of tests, doctors diagnosed the patient with compartment syndrome, which occurs when “when pressure rises in and around muscles,” usually in the lower leg, per the Cleveland Clinic.

Generally caused by serious injuries or physical exertion, this condition can become life-threatening.

“The pressure is painful and can be dangerous,” the medical site describes. “Compartment syndrome can limit the flow of blood, oxygen and nutrients to muscles and nerves. It can cause serious damage and possible death.”

Anderson’s case was peculiar given that the condition is generally associated with car accidents and overtraining during sports rather than post-party slumber posture.

Either way, her situation was dire.

“I was immediately rushed into surgery because my muscle was deteriorating and releasing toxins into my bloodstream causing my body to swell up and my kidneys to shut down,” the petrified patient described. “After the first surgery, I was in intensive care for two weeks strapped to a device to drain the fluid as I was still huge.”

Graphic photos show the gaping gash in her leg where the surgeons made the incision. Doctors were also forced to hook Anderson up to a kidney dialysis machine, take a skin graft from her thigh and administer several blood transfusions as her hemoglobin levels had dropped so low.

Throughout the ordeal, the patient was in constant pain. “Imagine your leg is falling asleep but that tingling feeling is times a thousand, like a sharp shooting electric shock up my leg,” described Anderson.

After a whopping five weeks in the hospital, she was then sent home where she remained bedridden for another three weeks. She relied on painkillers for another year after that.

Nonetheless, Anderson said she was lucky her complications weren’t worse given people often “do lose their limbs.” Indeed, in severe cases of compartment syndrome, amputation may be required to correct the problem.

Now, three years on, Anderson still hasn’t fully recovered.

“It still feels like my foot is mildly asleep all the time, I’m used to it,” she described. “I can’t walk properly on that foot, I walk on my left foot like I’m wearing a high heel — almost like a Barbie foot.”

The Ontarian lamented, “My toes are starting to curl under, I don’t know if I’ll need further surgery or if there’s anything they can do at this point.”

And the aftershocks aren’t merely physical: Anderson was so ashamed of the ordeal that she waited three years to tell her story.

“At the time I was embarrassed about it, because who wants to be like ‘I passed out drunk like an idiot,'” she lamented. “The shame’s kind of dissipated because it’s been years now, it could happen to anyone.”

She is now using her saga as a cautionary tale against the dangers of passing out after drinking.

“I’ve never been open about this on social media, but if I can save someone’s limb, or even life, it’s worth sharing,” she wrote in a Facebook post on February 24. “NEVER pass out really drunk! ‘Sleeping it off’ is dangerous!! Have some food and water instead and try to sober up before bed!”

This isn’t the first seemingly innocuous movement that has caused catastrophic complications.

In January, a “super-fit” dad tore a neck artery and suffered three strokes all because he turned his head “too quickly” while playing pickleball.

https://nypost.com/2023/03/24/woman-nearly-loses-leg-after-passing-out-drunk/

[PennySerenade]

Ice Cream Is Served with Extra Joy at Howdy Homemade, a Shop Created to Employ People with Special Needs



At the Dallas-based Howdy Homemade, employees serve large scoops of ice cream handed over with love.

Restauranteur Tom Landis, 54, has hired people with special needs for many years. But he couldn't always find a job for everyone who came to his fast-paced sandwich shops and pizza joints looking for work. Determined to create a business where friendliness mattered and kitchens were safe, he landed on ice cream.

In 2015, he opened the first Howdy Homemade ice cream shop; there are now seven franchises in cities including Asheville, El Paso, Indianapolis and Denver. Each shop creates 15 jobs in a safe environment for people with special needs. Two more franchises are opening soon, he says.

"Our relentless mission is to employ all," he shares

Employees are behind some of the best ideas at the shops, which boast fun flavors like top-selling Dr. Pepper Chocolate Chip, and other favorites like Cold Brew & Cookies and Strawberry Milkshake. In-store sampling events are leading to deals with Sam's Club and other grocery stores in the coming months.



"It just works," Landis says of the varieties. "We sell out every time."

In the sunny, brightly colored Howdy Homemade shops, employees spread kindness and happiness to their customers as they dish out extra ice cream and free sprinkles.

"That's what ice cream is," Landis says of the joy.

His employees, he says, are heroes.

"They lead me," he adds.

[Misstee]

Colorado man becomes oldest to cross the Grand Canyon at 91
By Ben Hooper






John Jepkema became the oldest person to cross the Grand Canyon rim-to-rim on foot at the age of 91. Photo courtesy of Guinness World Records

Subscribe | UPI Odd Newsletter

March 24 (UPI) -- A 91-year-old Colorado man took an approximately 24-mile trek to become the Guinness World Record holder for oldest person to cross the Grand Canyon rim-to-rim on foot.

Guinness World Records said John Jepkema was 91 years and 152 days old when he and his group of friends completed their five-day backpacking hike.

The group started on the North Rim's North Kaibab Trail and descended 14.3 miles and 6,000 feet to the bottom of the canyon, where they headed toward the Bright Angel Trail and ascended about 9.6 miles and 4,500 feet to the South Rim.

Jepkema, who had already completed the journey on previous trips to the canyon, said he decided to make another trek when he learned about the world record category.

He said he prepared for his attempt by walking 5-8 miles a day for four months.

"I did lots of walking with a full pack and as much trail and elevation changes as possible," Jepkema told Guinness World Records. "I would walk three miles to morning coffee with a 30-pound pack and then walk back home."

[lush]

Alien Mothership Could Be Sending Probes to Earth
March 24, 2023*

• Well, we can’t prove that there ISN’T an alien ship out there, at the very least.

We suppose there’s no point trying to hide it, so let us be clear. There is an alien mothership somewhere in our solar system and it’s bombing Earth with probes — probably for some nefarious reason.

Or at least that’s what a [url]recent draft paper[/url] from the Pentagon would have you believe.

Avi Loeb, an astronomer at Harvard University, and Sean M. Kirkpatrick, the director of Pentagon’s All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO), posit in the paper that an alien ship’s presence in our galactic neighborhood is “energetically viable.” They also suggest that the ship could be sending out smaller objects into space to chart it, like a dandelion’s seeds leaving the stem.

The authors claim these “dandelion seeds” could potentially make it to Earth. To support their theory, the duo points to two separate incidents.

Do you remember Oumuamua that visited our solar system in 2017? It was a bizarre cigar-shaped asteroid that exhibited strange movement patterns and other unusual phenomena.

Not only that, six months later after Oumuamua passed, a small meteor about three feet wide crashed into Earth. Coincidence?

Loeb doesn’t think so. He and Kirkpatrick suggest that the aliens could be sending similar objects out into space from the mothership to somehow probe interesting planets.



Just Seeds in the Wind

Now, in all fairness, they don’t seem to think that Oumuamua and the rock that fell to Earth were necessarily alien probes. But Loeb says that the two stellar objects got him thinking.

The close proximity of the encounters made him “consider the possibility that an artificial interstellar object could potentially be a parent craft that releases many small probes during its close passage to Earth, an operational construct not too dissimilar from NASA missions,” Loeb told LiveScience.

“These ‘dandelion seeds’ could be separated from the parent craft by the tidal gravitational force of the Sun or by a maneuvering capability.”

In their paper, Loeb and Kirkpatrick dive into the theory deeper. They suggest that the probes could be using starlight and liquid water as their fuel.

They also state that they could explore Earth without us noticing them as they are potentially too small to register on our telescopes.

“Equipped with a large surface-to-mass ratio of a parachute, technological ‘dandelion seeds’ could slow down in the Earth’s atmosphere to avoid burnup and then pursue their objectives wherever they land,” the paper reads.

Once down on the ground, the probes could use whatever raw materials they find to make copies of themselves or just send data back to their alien masters. Yet, we may not have to worry about Earth’s secrets getting into extraterrestrial hands.

Loeb and Kirkpatrick state that it’s possible the probes’ builders are long gone. Intergalactic travel is so slow that the aliens could’ve gone extinct thousands of years ago.

But the probe wouldn’t know that, now would it?




Finding a Grain in a Sand Stack

That’s a wild theory, that’s for sure. But Loeb believes he may be able to prove it.

After all, he thinks he knows where one of the probes might be.

In 2014, a roughly 1.5-foot meteor from outside of our solar system — titled CNEOS1 2014-01-08 — plummeted into the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Papua New Guinea. Space science people detected that the meteor consisted of extremely hard rock — or possibly even metal.

Loeb thinks it may have been a probe. And he intends to find it.

The astronomer is mounting a $1.5-million expedition to comb the ocean floor and discover the meteor’s remnants. And when we say comb, we mean it.

Loeb’s team — with the assistance of U.S. military — have managed to narrow the object’s crash site into an area smaller than a square mile. Whatever’s left of it lies on the bottom of the ocean at a depth of a bit over a mile.

But knowing where the thing is won’t make finding it any easier. The meteor broke into tiny, tiny fragments during its flight and impact.

So, Loeb’s team is basically trying to find weird grains of sand among normal grains of sand. And you thought finding a needle in a haystack was hard.

Yet, Loeb feels positive about the expedition. If he manages to find anything resembling technology… Well, he has his evidence for alien life.

And even if the meteor indeed turns out to be a chunk of rock, Loeb thinks studying it will nonetheless be a victory for science.

“We will learn something new,” Loeb summarized for The Daily Beast.

Let no one say Dr. Loeb doesn’t at least have the right attitude for such a wild goose chase.

[HogwartsExpress]

Mortified woman alerts train staff to 'unwell man' on platform - but he's just a statue






A concerned train passenger has gone viral online after she reached out to station staff to ask them to check on an "unwell man" she saw at a platform - only to discover he was actually just a statue.

Emma Obank was on a train passing through Woking, Surrey, when she spotted what she thought was a man sitting on a bench covered in snow, who looked "frozen to death".

Worried for his safety, Emma contacted South Western Railway on Twitter to ask them to check on the man, but was left red-faced when she was told he wasn't really a man at all, but rather one of a series of sculptures found throughout Woking.



In a tweet, Emma said: "Hi, I've just been on the train passing through Woking. It looked like there was a man very unwell on Platform one on a bench. Can station staff check he's ok?"

In response, the train company wrote: "That's ok Emma. He is a permanent fixture on the station - he is one of a series of sculptures in the town."

Thankfully, Emma was able to see the funny side, as she reached out once again and posted: "Oh thank god! It was covered in snow so I thought someone had frozen to death!"

Fellow Twitter users found the incident hilarious, with many of them praising Emma for having a kind heart and wanting to do the right thing.


One person said: "This must be the funniest thing I have seen online today. Hahaha."

While another added: "You're so cute."

The incident took place in March 2018 but the tweet is going viral again after Emma re-shared the "mad moment" on its anniversary.

Commenters on her re-post described the interaction as "golden" and reassured Emma that it's an easy mistake to make as they also think the statue looks realistic.

Emma wrote: "Five years since this mad moment. It never gets old."


Someone said: "This is so funny but also genuinely very sweet. I'm glad you checked and I’m glad this was the outcome."

As someone else posted: "Fantastic, that's brilliant! To be fair it's seriously realistic! Most importantly though good for you to reach out to help someone you thought was in need!"

A South Western Railway spokesperson said: "We can confirm that Seated Man is still okay, but we are glad that our customers are keen to look out for one another."

[johngriffen]

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

Welcome to The mobi weekly news magazine
IN OTHER NEWS
SATURDAY MARCH 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]

Feline adventurous! We take our pet cat on all our travels across Europe and the US and she loves it

A curious cat has been broadening her horizons after spending the last two years travelling the world with her owners.

Hélène Vincent, 34, who works in education technology, and her wife, Alice, 38, who works in insurance, both from Boston, have been taking their cat Bao Zi, six, a half Maine Coon rescue, on trips around the world.

The trio of travelers have been nomad living for the last two years and have so far visited five countries, 45 states and 22 national parks.


The trio in Santa Rosa, New Mexico

Inspired by their love of freedom and spontaneity the couple encouraged their cat's curiosity to see and experience new things all over America and Europe.

Hélène said: 'The most amazing part is the chance to experience the world through her eyes.


The couple use a carrier backpack for Bao Zi when she gets tired, and keep her on a leash so she can explore safely

'We always want to keep a close eye on her to keep her safe, we have to be super in the moment when hiking outdoors which is fantastic.

'She explores the world from a different vantage point, she also helps us notice things we wouldn't notice otherwise.

'We absolutely love the freedom and spontaneity. We move almost every week and only decide on our next destination about five days in advance.

'We started this lifestyle back in Covid when our jobs both went remote. Before, we had lived in the city and always felt like something was missing from our life.

'Despite this feeling of unease, we couldn't pinpoint what was causing it. During Covid, we took longer and longer trips and realized that we had never been happier than being out in nature with a frequently changing home.


Bao Zi and Hélène taking in the views during a recent adventure.

'She used to be a very anxious cat who was afraid of everything. During our first trip, she spent the first couple of days nervous in the car but gradually got used to it.

'We didn't want to have a litter box in the car so we got a harness so she could do her business outside like a dog. She enjoyed walking on the leash during her bathroom outings and eventually she was the one who started taking us on walks.'

According to Hélène, Bao Zi is more like a dog than a cat as she is super curious, adventurous and very attached to the couple.


They say the cat has been happier and healthier than she's ever been since they've started taking her on their travels

She is also a very easygoing traveler and has no trouble flying long distances because she loves her little carrier backpack and feels safe tucked away under the seat on flights.

Hélène said: 'We've never had to use it, but I do carry a travel litterbox just in case, however, because she goes to the bathroom on a leash like a dog, she prefers that over the litterbox.

'When we arrive at our destination, we quickly find some dirt for her to dig around in.

'She loves car rides and just falls asleep until we get to our destination.


Bao Zi is an easygoing traveler who can fly long distances and has already been to France and Italy

'She's happier and healthier than she's ever been. She used to have all kinds of medical problems that cleared up when we started travelling with her at four years old.

'We've spent the last two years as digital nomads travelling to 45 states and five countries and our kitty has been with us every step of the way.

'We are currently in Paris and Italy. We will then travel to the American Southwest for a few months in Arizona and New Mexico.'

The trio's favorite locations have been, Utah, because Bao Zi loves the desert, especially the slot canyons, Arkansas, with Bao Zi loving long kayak trips and France, which is a 'super pet-friendly country so the cat was welcome in cafés, stores, and even museums.'

There's a video of the happy cat here.

Mystery of ‘bleeding’ waterfalls in Antarctica finally solved after decades



The mystery of the 'bleeding' waterfalls in Antarctica were solved after decades of confusion and speculation.

Take a look at any picture or video of Blood Falls and you'll soon see where it gets its name.

Situated in the McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica, the flow of water looks like some sort of crime scene as bright red and orange hues overpower the otherwise grey and white backdrop.

Ever since it was discovered in 1911 by Australian geologist Thomas Griffith Taylor, people have tried to figure out why the phenomenon looks the way it does.

For decades, numerous hypotheses were put forward, ranging from the regular, such as red algae, to the ridiculous, i.e. alien portals.

As said by Arlo Pérez, co-host of PBS Terra's Antarctic Extremes series: "It looks more like Mars than Earth."

Meanwhile, fellow co-host Caitlin Saks jokes: "Honestly? I think of the glacier having its period."

Although it might look like the time of the month has arrived for this corner of the world, there's a far more reasonable explanation.



As well as its red hues, scientists wanted to figure out why Blood Falls consists of flowing water, considering it does so in a place where the mean temperature is nearly -19 degrees Celcius and there's minimal melting at the surface.

Thanks to a study by researchers at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, including National Geographic explorer Erin C Pettit, we now know the answers to these questions.

Using radio-echo sounding, which allowed the team to map out the features of the area, they discovered the water is extremely salty - we're talking more than twice as much salt content as sea water.

They also found that the brine is high in iron, and since it is initially cut off from the atmosphere, when it comes into contact with oxygen, it oxidises - or rusts. Hence the unusual colouring.

As for why the water flows rather than freezes, it's because saltwater has a higher freezing point.

Pettit explains: "While it sounds counterintuitive, water releases heat as it freezes, and that heat warms the surrounding colder ice.



"This source of heat within Taylor Glacier combines with the lower freezing temperature of salty water (brine) to make brine movement in the extremely cold ice possible.

"Taylor Glacier is now the coldest known glacier to have persistently flowing water."

Now, you might be wondering why the water here is so rich in salt and iron, and to answer this we have to go back around five million years.

Back then, it's believed that the Dry Valleys were actually beneath the ocean, and when the climate changed and the sea level dropped, the salty water was left isolated as a lake.

The team's hypothesis goes on to suggest that approximately 1.5 million years ago, a glacier advanced over the lake, leading to the salty brine that feeds Blood Falls today.

https://www.ladbible.com/news/why-is-blood-falls-antarctica-red-067188-20230322