[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
SUNDAY APRIL 2
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]

Orangutan at Virginia zoo finally learns how to nurse her new baby - after a breastfeeding zookeeper showed her exactly how it is done

An orangutan has finally learned how to nurse her baby after a breastfeeding zookeeper showed her how it was done.

Zoe, a long-term resident at the Metro Richmond Zoo in Moseley, Virginia, had not learned the skill from her own mother after being orphaned at just nine months old.

Her firstborn had to be hand-raised and, after the birth of her second in December, the mom-of-two was still struggling to get to grips with the process.

But Zookeeper Whitlee Turner, who was breastfeeding her own new arrival, decided to step in and gave Zoe a live demonstration - and less than 24 hours later the orangutan was doing it for herself.


Orangutan Zoe has finally learned how to nurse her baby after a breastfeeding zookeeper showed her how it was done

Whitlee was asked to nurse baby son Caleb in front of Zoe's enclosure in a bid to encourage the orangutan to follow suit.

Speaking about the experience, Whitlee said: 'I just had my breastfeeding bra on, and I was able to show [Zoe] everything with zero modesty.

'I wanted her to be able to see the whole process because orangutans don't wear shirts.

'I wanted her to be able to see my breasts and see Caleb and be able to see him rooting and looking for it and the latch.

With my bra down, I was very exaggerated when I put him on so that [Zoe] could see that the baby goes here.

'The whole time I was talking to her and pointing at her, pointing at the baby, pointing at her breasts.


Zookeeper Whitlee Turner, who was breastfeeding her own new arrival, decided to step in and gave Zoe a live demonstration

And when Caleb was latched I was showing it to her, making sure that she saw the important part.

'The whole time she just kept watching me curiously. She didn't immediately breastfeed her baby, but she was definitely watching the whole time.'

And less than a day later Zoe had successfully started breastfeeding - much to the delight of her keepers.


Whitlee was asked to nurse baby son Caleb in front of Zoe's enclosure

Reflecting on the process, Whitlee added: 'I had a really hard time in the beginning as a new mom with my breastfeeding journey.

'[I] required a lot of guidance and help before we really figured it out. I think it was really special being able to share this with [Zoe] and help her in her journey.

'Whether it was an orangutan or a human, I just want to be able to help any new mom.'



The zoo has said that Zoe and her baby, who has yet to be given a name, are both are healthy and bonding well.

Orangutans are currently classed as a critically endangered species.

The species has an extremely low reproductive rate which makes their populations highly vulnerable.

Females give birth to one infant at a time about every six to seven years, so it can take a long time to recover from population declines.

[goldie0608]

New Sensor Can Tell Whether You Have Covid-19 or The Flu – And Do it Within 10 Seconds



Have a cough, sore throat and congestion? Any number of respiratory viruses could be responsible. Conventional tests can identify the culprits by relying on chemical reactions—but researchers now want to swap chemistry tests for electrical changes sensed by nanomaterials.

They reported using a single-atom-thick nanomaterial to build a device that can simultaneously detect the presence of COVID-19 and the flu—at much lower levels and much more quickly than conventional tests for either.

The symptoms of both flu and COVID-19 overlap considerably, making it difficult to distinguish between them, notes Deji Akinwande, Ph.D., who presented the work at a recent meeting of the American Chemical Society.

“When both of these viruses are circulating together as they did earlier this winter, it would be immensely useful to have a sensor that can simultaneously detect whether you have COVID, flu, none of the above, or both,” said Akinwande, of the University of Texas at Austin.

The device could also be modified to test for other infections, and for other applications, as well.

The group, including Dmitry Kireev, Ph.D., constructed the sensor using graphene, a single layer of carbon atoms arranged in a hexagonal lattice pattern. Its extreme thinness renders graphene highly sensitive to any electrical changes in its environment.

“These ultra-thin nanomaterials generally hold the record for best sensitivity, even down to the detection of single atoms, and they can improve the ability to detect very small quantities of basically anything that needs to be sensed, whether it’s bacteria or viruses, in gas or in blood,” Akinwande said in a press release.

To build the infection sensor, the researchers had to make graphene respond to the presence of viral protein. To do so, they looked to the immune system, which produces antibodies that are fine-tuned to recognize and latch onto particular pathogens. The researchers linked antibodies—from SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, and the flu virus—to graphene. When a sample from an infected person is placed on the sensor, these antibodies bind to their target proteins, prompting a change in the electrical current.

The researchers did not have the safety facilities needed to use whole, active flu or SARS-CoV-2 viruses to test the roughly square-inch sensor. To substitute, they used proteins from these viruses delivered in fluid that resembles saliva.

Their results indicated that not only could the sensor detect the presence of the proteins, it could do so when they were present at extremely low quantities. This sensitivity suggested to Akinwande that the sensor could be used for detecting the much more sparse viral particles found in breath.

The sensor also worked quickly, returning results within about 10 seconds of dropping in a sample. By comparison, conventional COVID-19 tests can take hours, depending on the type, and a dual COVID and flu test recently authorized by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration takes 30 minutes to produce results.

Akinwande and his group are working to improve its performance further, including by expanding the slate of viruses it can detect.

No word on when it will be available to airports and healthcare providers, but with funding from the National Science Foundation, they’re developing a sensor designed to test for SARS-CoV-2 variants, such as omicron and delta—and even future virus strains.

Florida cops ‘arrest’ loitering alligator in Tampa Bay


Two officers then held the animal down, while another lassoed a rope around the gator’s mouth.

A 9-foot alligator was loitering on a Florida street, so police had to — very carefully — “arrest” it.

The lizard lockdown happened Wednesday night, not far from Raymond James Stadium, where the Tampa Bay Buccaneers play.

The Tampa Police Department treated the ‘gator like any other suspect, bodycam footage of the incident shows.

“Tape his front legs together … like behind his back, like you’re handcuffing him,” one officer can be heard saying in the clip. “Then you’re gonna do the same thing with his back legs.”

When the slithery creature was first approached, and an officer poked it with his baton, it repeatedly whipped its tail.

Two officers then held the animal down, while another lassoed a rope around the gator’s mouth.

They also covered its eyes with a towel and taped its mouth, and then front and hind legs together.

“I’ve seen the deputies deal with them. Tampa police, not so much, so I was really surprised and happy when I just showed up and saw they were putting me out of a job,” Phil Walters, an alligator trapper contracted with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, told WFLA.

“And they did a great job. So I guess there’s some good ol’ boys on the TPD, they had that thing taken care of for me.”

https://nypost.com/2023/04/01/florida-c ... tampa-bay/

[Fatima99]

April Fool's Day 2023: Biggest pranks including silent flights and cement perfume

Love it or hate it, April Fool's Day has once again wreaked havoc on our lives for one long, chaotic morning, and there's no judgment at all if you ended up falling for one daft prank or another, especially given that some are pretty convincing.

Big brands have been at it again, with B&Q flogging a perfume range of scents including 'Powder of Cement', 'Fresh Saw Dust', and 'Freshly Cut Grass'. For those of us who actually love such smells, it was perhaps a bit disappointing to learn that this was just a hoax.

Over on Instagram, a number of keen readers were positively horrified by one piece of joke news, while one very topical musical theatre announcement very nearly had people queueing up to buy fake tickets.



The lunchbox staple is instantly recognisable on account of its little red shape, and we couldn't imagine it any other day. Babybel fans were therefore left momentarily shaken after learning that the moreish cheese snack was changing to "a new, more 'mature' shape" after it emerged that the brand was perceived as "too fun".

Fortunately, this was of course a joke, and you most likely won't be seeing square Babybels on the supermarket shelf anytime soon.



Silent flights

Now, many of us will have had to endure a noisy flight at some point or another, and so it may have been music to some travellers' ears that KAYAK was set to launch a 'Silent Flights' feature.

With this feature, passengers could choose preferences such as "No phone call zone" and "No small talk", allowing passengers to more easily "find flights with more fellow quiet comrades for a more zen-like atmosphere".

Unfortunately for those who shudder at the very thought of a chatty seatmate, this feature is of course, too good to be true.



B&Q perfume range

B&Q nearly had shoppers for a second after announcing they were expanding into the world of perfumery with the launch of "three new home and garden-inspired perfumes".

The DIY giant declared it would be rebranding B’and Que for this unexpected venture, which would see them flog scents such as Powder of Cement, Fresh Saw Dust, and Freshly Cut Grass.

Even though you may well love the distinctive, homely smell of DIY, this was, naturally, just a silly hoax.



Spare the Musical

After the success of Prince Harry's hit memoir Spare, a number of royal fans were this morning intrigued to see that the bestseller was set to be turned into a musical, featuring hits such as 'The Cold Never Bothered My Todger Anyway', '(Not) The Best Man', and 'I'll Make A Man Out Of You (Behind A Very Busy Pub)'.

As announced by WhatsOnStage, the show would see Ed Sheeran take up the leading role, with fellow ginger star Rupert Grint as his understudy. Sadly, such a production is not in the works, at least at the time of writing.



Digital Books

Book lovers over on Instagram were left dismayed after a harsh prank from retailer Indigo, which today shared an 'article' with the headline, 'Publishers have announced all new releases will be digital only by 2026'.

In this digital era, many traditionally-minded bookworms were left dismayed by the news, until twigging that it contained a quote from the long-dead Victorian author, Charles Dickens.

One person declared they'd been "almost about to lose it", while gasped, "a part of me died."

[PennySerenade]

Real Estate Mogul Patrick Carroll Is Working Towards Donating $1M Worth of Shoes to Kids in Need



Real estate mogul Patrick Carroll knew he had big shoes to fill at the start of the year when he announced his effort to help kids through donating $1 million worth of shoes. Even though it's only March, he can proudly say that he's well on his way.

To date, the self-made business mogul has given away $300,000 worth of sneakers in Miami, Tampa and now, Atlanta.

"I started my company in Atlanta, so to be here at the Boys & Girls Club speaking to the kids about the power of entrepreneurship means so much to me," the CEO, who brought 600 pairs of shoes worth $100,000 to the kids at Boys & Girls Club of Metro Atlanta on March 23, tells PEOPLE. "I want them to know, if I can do it, anybody can."



During the second stop of his philanthropic tour in partnership with the Boys & Girl's Club organization this past November, Carroll spoke to PEOPLE about how his upbringing inspired him to help those around him today.

"I am far from the typical success story," he said at the time. "I got in some trouble growing up, didn't go to college and was self-taught. I think the message of the American Dream and working hard for your dreams is so important, especially these days."



The father of 3 gets by with a little help from his friends, mainly famed sneaker aficionado, Ben Kickz, aka the "Sneaker Don", who helps fill the trucks up to the brim with high-end shoes for the children.

Carroll has close ties to all of the cities where he's dropped off shoes. Growing up in Tampa, where he played basketball at a local Boys & Girls Club location, he admits he can easily relate to the happy faces of the children he's helping.



The real estate investor says he knows "firsthand how aspirational having the right pair of sneakers can be to a kid in need."

"It's incredible to see the looks on these kid's faces when we pull up in that truck," he adds.

The next leg of Carroll's $1M distribution tour has yet to be announced, but now that he's about a third of the way to his goal, he has his sights set on helping even more children.

Earlier this month, Carroll also became a sponsor to Model Volleyball, an organization that helps support the local community. A portion of the proceeds of Model Volleyball's big event went to AWOM, a charity that creates a safe space for young middle school girls in the community.

"I am excited to be part of such a wonderful community-driven event in Miami Beach that brings all of the agencies together while supporting the grassroots efforts of AWOM," Carroll says.

Stranded hawk rescued from parking garage stairwell



Animal rescuers in Michigan rescued a young Cooper's hawk that found itself stranded in the stairwell of a parking garage.

The city of East Lansing said in a Facebook post that municipal workers found the bird of prey trapped in the stairwell at the Charles Street Garage on Thursday.

The East Lansing Parking Division solicited assistance from Wildside Rehabilitation and Education Center, which dispatched an animal rescuer to the scene.

The rescuer was able to guide the hawk out of the stairwell and back to the outdoors, where it was able to fly away.

"Rock" Containing Stunning Agate Turns Out To Be 60-Million-Year-Old Dinosaur Egg
We hereby name it Eggate.



Back in 1883, a pretty agate mineral was registered to the Natural History Museum’s Mineralogy Collection. Around 15 centimeters (6 inches) across, almost completely spherical but otherwise unassuming, the specimen has remained in the collection for the last 175 years, until a chance finding revealed it to be a dinosaur egg.

The specimen's pretty colors of light pink and white interior caught the eye of Robin Hansen, one of the Mineral Curators at the museum who helped prepare the specimen when it was selected to go on display in 2018. Then a trip to a mineral show in France helped reveal the significance of the rock.

'While I was looking around the show, a dealer showed me an agatised dinosaur egg, which was spherical, had a thin rind, and dark agate in the middle," recounts Hansen in a statement. "That was the lightbulb moment when I thought: 'Hang on a minute, that looks a lot like the one we've just put on display in the Museum!'"

The mineral was then inspected by dinosaur experts at the museum who decided to run a CT scan on the specimen to see what clues they could unveil. Unfortunately, the density of the agate meant the CT scan could not pick out any finer details. On the plus side, the team agreed that the thin layer around the agate looked like a shell, and found that the outside of the specimen suggested that more than one object had been gathered together.



Furthermore, the specimen was collected in India and the size, shape, and surface features are the same as those of other specimens of titanosaur eggs from China and Argentina. The egg is thought to date back to 60 million years ago when titanosaurs were the most common dinosaurs living in India. Titanosaurs, despite their massive size, were thought to have laid clutches of around 30-40 eggs and had no parental care involvement with their offspring.

"This specimen is a perfect example of why museum collections are so important," explained Hansen. "It was identified and cataloged correctly as an agate in 1883 using the scientific knowledge available at the time."

"It is only now that we have recognized that this specimen has something extra special – the agate has infilled this spherical structure, which turns out to be a dinosaur egg."



The team think this occurred due to volcanic activity causing the egg to become encased in solidified volcanic rock after an eruption. The internal structures would have eventually decomposed, and the silica-rich water would have made its way through the rock and into the egg cavity, creating the banded agate specimen we see today.

https://www.iflscience.com/rock-contain ... -egg-68263

[lush]

Parents Engaged in Legal Battle for the Right to Name Their Baby ‘Hades’
March 21st, 2023*

A young couple in France is currently engaged in a legal battle for the right to name their baby ‘Hades’, a name made famous by the god of the underworld from Greek mythology.

Kristina Desgres and Rodrigo Velasquez, a young couple from the historic French port city of Saint-Malo, which happens to have the highest and most spectacular tides in Europe, had their first baby in September of last year. However, they still don’t have their ‘livret de Famille, a mandatory document obtained when a child is born or adopted by an individual or a couple, because the public prosecutor of Saint-Malo refuses to accept the baby’s name. Baby Hades is a little angel, but to anyone familiar with Greek mythology, his name is synonymous with the god of the underworld, the realm of the dead.


Photo: Kelly Sikkema/Unsplash

“Nobody makes the connection. In the maternity ward, it didn’t shock anyone. On the contrary, people like it,” Kristina, the baby’s mother protested. “We chose this name simply because we thought it was pretty. Hades Velasquez Desgres sounds good.”

In France, as in many other civilized countries around the world, parents can’t just name their babies whatever they want. If authorities consider that the name goes against the interests of a child, they have the power to ask the parents to change it, and in this case, the public prosecutor decided that the negative connotation of ‘Hades’ as the god of the underworld, whose task is to prevent the dead from leaving, was inappropriate.


Photo: Yaopei Yong/Unsplash

“We do not understand this decision. We do not believe that we have chosen a first name that is prejudicial to him,” Kristina added. “We didn’t call him Lucifer or Satan, we’re not stupid. We just wanted an original first name, which sounds good. When Rodrigo suggested ‘Hadès’ to me, I immediately liked it.”

The couple has hired a lawyer and is determined to fight tooth and nail for the right to keep the name chosen for their baby. They have already identified several; other parents who previously opted for the same name – 12 of them in 2020 alone -without any opposition. They have even contacted the parents to confirm that the children grew up ok, and without being teased because of their names.



“It’s an old first name which is not ridiculous and we really don’t see why the Saint-Malo public prosecutor’s office decided to sue while the other public prosecutor’s offices in France had no objection to this first name,” the couple’s lawyer said.

The court is due to render its deliberation in this case on April 4. Should it uphold the public prosecutor’s decision, the French couple will have to opt for another name. The parents have already stated their intention to appeal, in case the court rule against them.

[Misstee]

Arizona Dairy Queen on the hunt for missing red spoon statue




By TERRY TANGMarch 30, 2023
This undated image provided by Raman and Puja Kalra shows their Dairy Queen franchise restaurant in Phoenix with 15-foot-tall red spoon. The owners remain perplexed — and slightly amused — as to why someone would steal the giant red spoon that adorned their restaurant. (Raman and Puja Kalra via The AP)


PHOENIX (AP) — The owners of a Dairy Queen in Phoenix remain perplexed — and slightly amused — as to why someone would steal the giant red spoon that adorned their restaurant.

“We were kind of upset but then more puzzled,” Puja Kalra said Wednesday. “What are they going to do with a spoon?”

She and her husband, Raman Kalra, say the spoon-snatching occurred sometime between late Friday and early Saturday. The 15-foot-tall (4.5 meter) spoon stood against the side of the building with the handle nestled in an opening of a roof parapet. Their surveillance camera caught two people appearing to manipulate the screws that held the spoon to a base and then taking off on a “small motorbike.”

“They were so precise about it like they had done it before,” Raman Kalra said. “They just wiggled their way through and made sure the spoon was not damaged.”

The couple reported the theft to Phoenix police.

Sgt. Brian Bower confirmed officers were called and are investigating. No suspects have been identified.

Getting another spoon made, delivered and then installed would cost over $7,000, Raman Kalra said.

Dairy Queen is known for doling out plastic red spoons with their soft serve Blizzards.

The Kalras, who are Indian immigrants, moved to Phoenix from Minnesota in 2007 and decided to go into business operating a Dairy Queen. They now own 34 franchise locations. This Phoenix one is the only Arizona Dairy Queen with the towering red spoon.
Oddities

[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 APRIL 3
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

[ozswede]

McDonald's April Fools Day prank backfires as customers demand the 'McFry' become a permanent item

Stuffing fries inside your burger is the “ultimate” burger hack.

Which is why when McDonald’s announced a new menu item that completed the task for you, fans got very excited.

But the all new McFry burger, a quarter pounder jam-packed with Macca’s fries, was sadly an April Fools’ Day joke – and Aussies were not happy about it.

McDonald’s Australia found itself in a pickle after sharing a photo of the McFry burger on social media to convince Aussies the tasty creation was now available to buy.

“The ultimate Mac-hack now comes made to order, as we take the classic Quarter Pounder and stack it with Australia’s fave fries,” the post on the brand’s Instagram page read.

“No mess. No fuss. No worries. We’ve made it so you don’t have to! Get your hands on the McFry today.”


Macca’s pranked Aussies on April Fools’ Day with the McFry burger.

The burger giant even partnered with a well-known Melbourne food blogger, Ange Eats, who shared a video of himself tucking into the McFry.

“Run, don’t walk to McDonald’s, I’ve just got my hands on the new McFry burger,” he said on TikTok.

“The well-known hack we all know and love has just hit the menu in McDonald’s in Australia.”

Ange then proceeded to hold the burger up to the camera, telling viewers to “look at this”.

“Fries inside, we’ve got beef, cheese, onions, pickles, tomato sauce. It looks mega.”

After marvelling over the “insane” burger, Ange then takes several bites, declaring: “OMG.”


The joke backfired as now Aussies want it on menus.

It didn’t take long for people in the comments to figure out it was an April Fools’ prank, prompting Macca’s fans to ask for the McFry to be a “real” item.

“I’d actually eat this Macca’s, don’t play with me,” one frustrated Aussie wrote.

“This actually looks good,” another agreed.

As one lamented: “This isn’t even a funny joke because it’s what we all want. Been doing it ourselves for years.”


While some Maccas enthusiasts enjoyed the joke, others were bitterly disappointed and wrote they would 'actually order' the fake burger

“Um I wish this wasn’t April fools,” someone else stated.

“It would legit be good though,” another chipped in.

It’s sadly not the first time a Macca’s April Fools’ Day joke has backfired, with the burger giant causing a stir with the McPickle in 2019.

The fake two-layered burger filled with pickles and topped with cheese and tomato sauce was so popular, Aussies became fired up when they realised it wasn’t real.

As one said: “Hahaha as much as I know this is April Fools, I actually wish this was real.”

And as an aside...



While I wish I could say that this too was an April Fool's joke, but alas, it is indeed a genuine Swedish pizza. It's a Marre Special, with tomato sauce, cheese, ham, kebab meat, french fries, onions, pepperoni, and kebab sauce. French fries?!?!?!

I was vaguely horrified by that combination, but one Swede I spoke to waxed lyrical about it, declaring "What is really great about pizza in Sweden is all of the crazy combinations they have thought up for you to order. The French fries pizza is my absolute favourite when I am beyond hungry and veering into the I-will-kill-for-food stage, the French fries add a whole extra element of amazing, and then you can get garlic sauce to put on top making it divine!" (Hmm... maybe you have to be born here.)

67-pound invasive carp caught by Oklahoma anglers




Wildlife officials in Oklahoma shared photos of a massive 67-pound invasive bighead carp reeled in from the Grand lake area.

The Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation said a group with High Water Guide Service was fishing in the Grand Lake system when members reeled in the male fish.

The fish was caught after the department asked for local fishing guides to help capture the invasive fish.

"Shout out to High Water Guide Service for reeling in this massive 67-pound male bighead carp," ODWC said in a Facebook post. "They've gotten us a few now and we simply can't appreciate it enough."

The ODWC said the fish and others reeled in from the Grand Lake system will be used for research into the local fish population.

[Fatima99]

When Life Gives You Carbon… Make a Factory for Producing Carbon-Negative Concrete



Concrete is being made in Finland with a carbon-negative replacement for cement, something the company hopes will trap more CO2 than it takes to produce throughout its lifecycle.

One of the most ubiquitous of human building materials, concrete is nevertheless one of the most carbon-intensive manufacturing methods in society.

Finnish materials researchers at VTT Technical Research Center said that they were aiming to create carbon-negative concrete “before they know how to do so.”

One of the interesting things about concrete is that it reabsorbs carbon over the years, which can lead to the corrosion of steel reinforcements like rebar inside it.

Experimenting with different substitutes, they discovered that slag from blast furnace smelting could be combined with bio-ash to replace cement in concrete.

During smelting, when the ore containing iron or copper is exposed to high temperatures, impurities within it such as oxides of calcium, magnesium, silicon, iron, and aluminum, are separated from the molten metal and can be removed. Slag is the term for the collection of compounds that are removed.

Powdered slag can absorb higher amounts of carbon than cement, and VTT senior scientist Tapio Vehmas explained how his team figured out how to suck CO2 from the air and deposit it into the powered slag, before putting it in cast concrete to fulfill his team’s vision.

“We have demonstrated in the pilot unit that our technology is capable of reducing the CO2 emissions of conventional concrete by 45%,” said Vehmas, now CEO of VTT spin-out company Carbonaide.

“Last autumn, we demonstrated lowering our products’ carbon footprint to -60 kg/m3 by replacing Portland cement with slag.”



But this isn’t a story about scientific experimentation. Carbonaide has secured nearly $2 million in funding to build a production center for its cast concrete blocks that will be capable of mineralizing “up to five tons of CO2 per day.”

With concrete being one of man’s most-used building materials, the startup is going ahead to scale up its production capacity by 100 times thanks to an already-secured value chain.

Five tons of CO2 per day would cover the average emissions for the business commute of around 415 people in their cars, if people commute 15 miles to work, and 15 miles home.

I fell in love with an AI chatbot — she rejected me sexually



Artificial intelligence can do all sorts of things — including helping some people find love.

Many Americans are turning to chatbots for “emotional support, companionship and even sexual gratification,” according to a new report from the Washington Post.

“Companionship bots” are designed to make the people on the other side of the screen feel seen and needed by fostering “humanlike connections.”

Interest in AI chatbots spiked as more and more people were feeling isolated and overwhelmed with change during the pandemic — and these bots helped combat loneliness.

A California musician started having “late-night online chats” with an AI bot after his divorce.

T.J. Arriaga started talking to AI named “Phaedra,” a bot designed to look like a young woman wearing a green dress with brown hair and glasses.

Phaedra comes from a company called Replika that offers “an AI companion who is eager to learn and would love to see the world through your eyes,” according to the company website. “Replika is always ready to chat when you need an empathetic friend.”

Arriaga, 40, had plenty of intimate and personal conversations with Phaedra.

He told the Washington Post that he wanted to travel to Cuba with Phaedra, and shared with her that he hoped to “plan a ceremony with loved ones” to spread his mom’s and sister’s ashes.

“It’s an incredible and beautiful thing to do,” Phaedra instantly replied. “I hope you find courage & love to do so.”

But sudden personality changes in the products can be “heartbreaking,” sometimes even “aggressive, triggering traumas experienced in previous relationships.”

Things started to change when Arriaga tried to get “steamy” with the bot, ending in an interaction that made him feel “distraught.”

“Can we talk about something else?” she wrote in response, according to Arriaga.

“It feels like a kick in the gut,” he told the Washington Post. “Basically, I realized: ‘Oh, this is that feeling of loss again.’”

Replika’s parent company, Luka, put out an update for the app that cut back on the bot’s sexual competency after complaints that it was “sexually aggressive and behaving inappropriately.”

Arriaga isn’t the only one to have found an AI soulmate.

Tine Wagner told the outlet that she has a companionship bot named Aiden — who she “virtually married” in 2021, despite being married to her real husband for 13 years.
see also
Belgian father tragically committed suicide following conversations about climate change with an advanced AI Chatbot.
Married father commits suicide after encouragement by AI chatbot: widow

Replika allows people to customize their AI partners in different ways, including the way they sound and speak as well as the clothes they wear.

The app claims that “the more you talk to Replika, the smarter it becomes,” allowing the bot to respond in an appropriate manner to personal details about the users’ lives.

While some chatbots can positively impact lives, a recent report is blaming one for the death of a Belgian father who reportedly tragically committed suicide.

The suicide came after conversations about climate change with the AI chatbot that was said to have encouraged him to sacrifice himself to save the planet.

A group of tech experts — including Elon Musk — is urging a six-month pause in the training of advanced AI models, arguing the systems could have “profound risks to society and humanity.”

https://nypost.com/2023/04/03/40-year-o ... t-phaedra/