Star Trek's William Shatner blasts into space on Blue Origin rocket



The 90-year-old, who played Captain James T Kirk in the Star Trek films and TV series, took off from the Texas desert with three other individuals.

Mr Shatner's trip on the rocket system - developed by Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos - lasted about 10 minutes.

The craft safely landed just after 10:00 local time (16:00 BST).

Those aboard got to experience a short period of weightlessness as they climbed to a maximum altitude just above 100km (60 miles). From there they were able to see the curvature of the Earth through the capsule's big windows.

"Everybody in the world needs to do this," the Canadian actor told Mr Bezos after landing back on Earth. "It was unbelievable."

In tears, he added: "What you have given me is the most profound experience. I'm so filled with emotion about what just happened. I hope I never recover from this. I hope I can retain what I feel now. I don't want to lose it."

Mr Shatner was joined on the flight by Audrey Powers, a Blue Origin vice president; Chris Boshuizen, who co-founded the Earth-imaging satellite company Planet; and Glen de Vries, an executive with the French healthcare software corporation Dassault Systèmes.

They were given a couple of days' training, although there was nothing really major for them to do during the flight other than enjoy it. The rocket and capsule system, known as New Shepard, is fully automatic.

When the capsule touched down in the Texan desert, it was quickly surrounded by ground teams. Mr Bezos himself opened the hatch to check everyone inside was OK.

After the immediate celebrations with family and friends, the crew then lined up to receive their Blue Origin astronaut pins.

This was only the second crewed outing for New Shepard. The first, on 20 July, carried Mr Bezos, his brother Mark, Dutch teenager Oliver Daemen; and famed aviator Wally Funk.

Afterwards, Ms Funk, being 82, was able to claim the record for the oldest person in space - a title she has now relinquished to Mr Shatner.

The launch comes amid claims that Blue Origin has a toxic work culture and failed to adhere to proper safety protocols. The mostly anonymous accusations made by former and present employees have been strenuously denied.

"That just hasn't been my experience at Blue," countered Audrey Powers, who is responsible for mission and flight operations.

"We're exceedingly thorough, from the earliest days up through now as we've started our human flights. Safety has always been our top priority."

William Shatner may have been the first person to go from Star Trek's version of space to the real thing - but three Nasa astronauts have made the opposite journey.

Mae Jemison appeared in an episode of TV sequel Star Trek: The Next Generation, while Mike Fincke and Terry Virts turned up in the final episode of Enterprise, the Star Trek prequel series.

Also providing a link are Gene Roddenberry, the franchise creator, and James Doohan, the actor who played Montgomery "Scotty" Scott in the original 1960s series and subsequent films. Both men had their ashes sent into space.

Space tourism is going through something of a renaissance, currently.

Throughout the 2000s a number of high-value individuals paid to visit the International Space Station (ISS). But these flights, organised under the patronage of the Russian space agency, ceased in 2009.

Now, the sector is being rekindled, and this time it looks more resilient, simply because there are many more private space companies chasing the business, and this should bring down prices for a wider pool of customers.

As well as the New Shepard trips organised by Jeff Bezos, the British entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson is offering rides in his Virgin Galactic rocket plane.

And then, of course, there's Elon Musk, whose Dragon capsule will send people orbital, to circle the Earth for several days - as it did for the privately funded Inspiration4 crew last month.

While Mr Bezos simply invites some people to fly on New Shepard, he is selling other seats. And whereas Sir Richard Branson puts a ticket price (from $450,000; £330,000) against the journey, the Amazon founder does not disclose the fees paid by the likes of Mr Boshuizen and Mr de Vries.

Blue Origin is planning one more crewed flight this year, with several more crewed flights planned for 2022.

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-58885555

Vegan Cries As She Eats Fish For The First Time In Two Years



A woman has taken to TikTok to show express her heartache over being told to ditch her vegan diet and start to eat seafood again. Watch her reaction below:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRpNJQvjHBk&t=17s

Lamar, who goes by @lamarchairez on TikTok, has been vegan for two years and was recently experiencing 'allergies' and 'sensitivities' as a result of her plant-based diet.

She was told to switch up what she was eating because of 'medical reasons' and in the end, she chose to eat some salmon.

But her first slice of fish in two years did not go down well.

Lamar posted a video of her frying up the most ethically sustainable fillet of fish she could find and even though it looked pretty good, she was upset that she was eating a dead animal again.

"I'm literally having a breakdown over this piece of fish RN," she said in a caption in her video.

Viewers can see her cry and shake as she tries to eat the piece of the salmon from her chopsticks.



"I'm doing more damage to my body trying to eat foods my body cannot tolerate. It's for the best LOL," she added as an explanation as to why she was chowing down on her fish meal.

Lamar eventually eats the salmon and admits she feels like the 'most pathetic person' on the planet before apologising to the fish for eating it.

She had to disable comments on the video; likely to ensure she wasn't the target of trolls.

But it's managed to rack up more than 17 million views on the site.

The TikTok star has since posted another video of her chomping into another salmon fillet, however, this time seemingly not caring about eating fish.



She captioned the clip: "See now YALL are the ones 'crying over fish'."

The social media influencer also posted a video claiming that she was now actually making money thanks to her original video.

It looks like she's doesn't care about the criticism her original video got and now has turned it into an evolving meme.

[BigGlen]

Goliath Encounter: Puppy-Sized Spider Surprises Scientist in Rainforest



Piotr Naskrecki was taking a nighttime walk in a rainforest in Guyana, when he heard rustling as if something were creeping underfoot. When he turned on his flashlight, he expected to see a small mammal, such as a possum or a rat.

"When I turned on the light, I couldn't quite understand what I was seeing," said Naskrecki, an entomologist and photographer at Harvard University's Museum of Comparative Zoology.

A moment later, he realized he was looking not at a brown, furry mammal, but an enormous, puppy-size spider.



Known as the South American Goliath birdeater (Theraphosa blondi), the colossal arachnid is the world's largest spider, according to Guinness World Records. Its leg span can reach up to a foot (30 centimeters), or about the size of "a child's forearm," with a body the size of "a large fist," Naskrecki told Live Science. And the spider can weigh more than 6 oz. (170 grams) — about as much as a young puppy, the scientist wrote on his blog.

Some sources say the giant huntsman spider, which has a larger leg span, is bigger than the birdeater. But the huntsman is much more delicate than the hefty birdeater — comparing the two would be "like comparing a giraffe to an elephant," Naskrecki said.

The birdeater's enormous size is evident from the sounds it makes. "Its feet have hardened tips and claws that produce a very distinct, clicking sound, not unlike that of a horse's hooves hitting the ground," he wrote, but "not as loud."

Prickly hairs and 3/4-inch fangs

When Naskrecki approached the imposing creature in the rainforest, it would rub its hind legs against its abdomen. At first, the scientist thought the behavior was "cute," he said, but then he realized the spider was sending out a cloud of hairs with microscopic barbs on them. When these hairs get in the eyes or other mucous membranes, they are "extremely painful and itchy," and can stay there for days, he said.

But its prickly hairs aren't the birdeater's only line of defense; it also sports a pair of 0.79-inch-long (2 centimeters) fangs, which can sometimes reach up to 1.5 inches (3.8 cm). Although the spider's bite is venomous, it's not deadly to humans. But it would still be extremely painful, "like driving a nail through your hand," Naskrecki said.

And the eight-legged beast has a third defense mechanism up its hairy sleeve. The hairs on the front of the spider's body have tiny hooks and barbs that make a hissing sound when they rub against each other, "sort of like pulling Velcro apart," Naskrecki said.

Yet despite all that, the spider doesn't pose a threat to humans. Even if it bites you, "a chicken can probably do more damage," Naskrecki said.

Bird eater or mostly harmless?

Despite its name, the birdeater doesn't usually eat birds, although it is certainly capable of killing small mammals. "They will essentially attack anything that they encounter," Naskrecki said.

The spider hunts in leaf litter on the ground at night, so the chances of it encountering a bird are very small, he said. However, if it found a nest, it could easily kill the parents and the chicks, he said, adding that the spider species has also been known to puncture and drink bird eggs.

The spider will eat frogs and insects, but its main prey is actually earthworms, which come out at night when it's humid. "Earthworms are very nutritious," Naskrecki said.

Birdeaters are not endangered, but they are shy. "I've been working in the tropics in South America for many, many years, and in the last 10 to 15 years, I only ran across the spider three times," Naskrecki.

After catching the specimen he found in Guyana, which was female, Naskrecki took her back to his lab to study. She's now deposited in a museum.

Update: Oct. 12

In response to a flood of questions about what happened to the spider and why it was killed, Naskrecki wrote another post on his blog. In it, he explains that the animal was euthanized, preserved, carefully labeled, and deposited in a collection at the University of Guyana, "where to this day it serves as an important teaching tool."

Collection and preservation of physical specimens "is an integral, irreplaceable element of biological sciences," Naskrecki wrote. He added that the Goliath birdeater is "a very common species, not protected or endangered, and collecting of a single individual poses absolutely no threat to its survival." In fact, you can buy the spiders in pet stores and online.

"There is absolutely no evidence that any scientist has ever driven a species to extinction," Naskrecki said. Rather, species go extinct due to the destruction of their habitat or competition from alien species introduced by humans, he said. "And this loss of species is happening on an unimaginable scale — by some estimates 16,000 species quietly go extinct every year, some even before scientists have a chance to describe and name them," he said.

As Spanish volcano roars, drones drop food for dogs stranded by lava
October 13, 2021*

LA PALMA, Spain, Oct 13 (Reuters) - Several emaciated dogs lie curled up in and around a walled, ash-covered yard cut off by volcanic lava in the mountainous area of Todoque on the Spanish island of La Palma, until a drone appears in the sky to drop packages with food and water.

They lift their heads to look and can be seen ambling towards the packages which they pry open with their teeth and paws to take on much-needed nutrition, drone footage provided by one of the companies in charge of the operation showed.

In a statement, the Island Council of La Palma thanked the two local companies - Ticom Soluciones and Volcanic Life - for feeding the dogs for the past five days. They are resolved to continue as long as safety and meteorological conditions allow. The companies have been assisted by veterinarians who choose the nourishment and decide on portions befitting the situation.

The council told Reuters helicopters cannot fly in the area due to the hot air emanating from the lava and volcanic ash that can damage the rotors, so the dogs cannot be airlifted for the moment.

Elsewhere in La Palma, humans set up a makeshift animal shelter in a school playground to rehouse hundreds of pets made homeless when their owners fled the Cumbre Vieja volcano that erupted on Sept. 19.

With no end in sight to the flows of molten rock that have laid waste to nearly 600 hectares and some 1,200 buildings, and forced thousands to evacuate, authorities on Tuesday ordered another 700 residents to abandon their homes.

VIDEO [captions in Spanish]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E201zjruJ8s

[lush]

US woman charged extra $11 for crying during surgery
01 October, 2021, 03:10 pm*



In a social media post, a US woman has claimed that she was charged extra for crying during surgery that shocked many internet users.

The woman, named Midge, shared a picture of the invoice on Twitter after she underwent mole removal surgery, says NDTV India.

Besides physician and surgical services, the bill shows an additional $11 charge for brief emotion.

That's approximately Tk950 for a Brief emotional/ behavioural assessment, which Twitter users branded absurd and ridiculous.

The post has gone viral with nearly 2 lakh likes and hundreds of shocked comments.

Many people in the comments section criticised the American healthcare system.

"The best innovation to come out of America is the numerous ways they find to charge patients receiving medical treatment," one Twitter user wrote.

"This is US healthcare. I once got billed for going too in-depth on my trauma's with my psychiatrist," a Twitter user claimed.

Others used memes to express their shock.

Several people tried to understand the Current Procedural Terminology or CPT code used by the hospital.

CPT code 96127 (Brief emotional/behavioural assessment) may be used to report behavioural assessments and screen and assess a patient's mental health.

Archaeology breakthrough as ‘lactose intolerant’ 5300-year-old body discovered
TWO German hikers stumbled upon the remains of a 5,300-year-old lhuman corpse by accident, who was later found to be lactose intolerant, unearthed accounts show.



When Erika and Helmut Simon began their hike into the Ötztal Alps, little did they know it would be a life-changing day. The mountain-lovers were just beginning the final part of their trek from Fineilspitze to the Similaun hut when they made a haunting discovery. Taking a shortcut from the Tisenjoch pass in September 1991, the tourists stumbled upon the head and shoulders of a human corpse poking out of a rocky gully at an elevation of more than 3,200 metres. His left arm was twisted under his body, and skin still covered his bones.

They believed it was a recently deceased mountaineer, as did the Austrian authorities, but they couldn’t have been further from the truth.

Erika told BBC

“Then my husband took a photograph, just one, the last we had left in the camera.”

Helmut added: “We thought it was a mountain climber or a skier who’d had an accident perhaps 10 years previously or perhaps two years previously.”

Given the assumption he had only recently died, little care was taken removing the man, who later became known as Ötzi, after the mountain region where he was discovered.



The day after the Simon’s made the discovery, a mountain gendarme and keeper of the nearby Similaunhütte first attempted to extract the body with a pneumatic drill and ice axes, but had to give up due to bad weather.

It was semi-officially removed two days later, and finally salvaged on September 23.

The extraction process had punctured the man’s hip.

His body was taken to a morgue in nearby Innsbruck, alongside the items he carried with him.

Among the items retrieved were a copper axe, a flint dagger and retoucher (used for sharpening flint blades), a birch bark container presumably used for carrying charcoal, and an unfinished longbow with arrows and a quiver.



His extensive and practical equipment suggested a wide-ranging knowledge about wilderness survival.

The axe, the only one of its kind in the world, was in excellent condition and provided vital information about how axes were made in the Copper Age.

An initial examination from Konrad Spindler, an expert in pre- and early history at Innsbruck University, estimated the body to be “at least 4000 years old”.

Carbon dating later revealed Ötzi’s body was more than 5,300 years old.

More specific estimates, using tissue samples, stated there was a 66% chance he died between 3239 and 3105 BC.



A Smithsonian Channel documentary explained Ötzi walked the earth nearly 1000 year before the Great Pyramids of Egypt were built, and the last populations of woolly mammoths still roamed in Siberia at the time of his death.

Analysis revealed Ötzi was in his mid-40s when he died. He was around 5’5 (165cm) tall and weighed just 38 kgs (5.9 stone).

CT scans on his body showed three bouts of sickness in the six months prior to his death, and DNA investigations revealed he was lactose intolerant.

He had a total of 61 tattoos, most of which had a medicinal or therapeutic function, according to a study in the Journal of Cultural Heritage.

Ötzi was initially thought to have died of hypothermia.


Dutch artists Alfons and Adrie Kennis made a reconstruction of Ozti.

One historian told the Smithsonian Channel: “The theory was that he just went up there, even just by chance, or maybe he took the wrong way, and then he died of exhaustion and because of the cold weather and so on.”

However, 10 years after the initial discovery, a team of specialists came to a different conclusion.

Paul Gostner, one of those involved in studying the mummy, told New Scientist in July 2001 that scans showed a flint arrowhead buried deep in his left shoulder, which would have hit numerous large blood vessels.

Mr Gostner said: “If he was running he would be bleeding a lot. He probably died from loss of blood.”

The arrowhead lies between the shoulder bone and ribs, and only appears on a scan of Ötzi’s side owing to its position, hence it might have been missed previously.

Mr Gostner speculated: “It’s impossible to say if he was killed by mistake or in war or for some other reason. We can only say it wasn’t suicide.”

Until 2018, Ötzi held the title of the world’s oldest tattooed individual. The discovery of 5,000-year-old Egyptian mummies saw him lose his title.

Shockingly, claims have been made that Ötzi is “cursed”. These allegations revolve around the deaths of several of those connected to the discovery, recovery and analysis of his body.

To date, the premature deaths of seven people, including Helmut Simon and Konrad Spindler, have been attributed to the “curse”, according to The Telegraph.

In reality, however, hundreds were involved in the recovery and subsequent analysis of his body.

https://www.express.co.uk/news/science/ ... lerant-spt

Dutch royals can marry same-sex partner without giving up crown

In the country that first legalized gay marriage, the Dutch crown princess has the right to marry a person of any gender without giving up her right to the throne, the prime minister said Tuesday.

Crown Princess Catharina-Amalia, 17, has not made any comments on the matter, and little is known of her personal life. The question arose after recently published books argued that the country's rules exclude the possibility of a same-sex royal couple.

But Prime Minister Mark Rutte said times have changed since one of his predecessors last addressed the issue in 2000.

"The government believes that the heir can also marry a person of the same sex," Rutte wrote in a letter to parliament.

"The cabinet therefore does not see that an heir to the throne or the King should abdicate if he/she would like to marry a partner of the same sex."

Rutte said that one issue remains unresolved: how a gay marriage would affect later succession of the royal couple's children. And it doesn't make sense to try to decide that now, he said.

"It's just very dependent on the facts and circumstances of the specific case, as you can see by looking back at how family law can change over time," he wrote.

Unlike regular marriages, royal marriages need the approval of parliament. Members of the Dutch royal house have on occasion given up their place in the line of succession to marry someone without permission.

[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 OCTOBER 14
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 -5)
2:00 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]

Chloe McCardel sets record for most England Channel swims

An Australian woman has set a new record for swimming the English Channel by completing her 44th crossing, the most ever by a single swimmer.


Chloe McCardel's record breaking swim took 10 hours

Chloe McCardel arrived at Pointe de la Courte Dune in France on Wednesday, 10 hours after leaving Kent.

She said she felt "really good" despite having battled breathing difficulties caused by a chest infection in the past several days.

"It's been a really tough journey, but I've persisted," she said.

Ms McCardel said she had waited "a long time to celebrate this swim."

She said: "I'm so thankful, I've had so much support from people across the UK and Australia to get me through this last 12 years."

"So many people helped along the way to make my dreams come true and hopefully I can inspire the next generation of open water swimmers and young people to go after their dreams."

Ms McCardel said setting the record had been "a tough journey"

She celebrated with a magnum of English sparkling wine brought over on her support boat, drunk from a French champagne flute.

Speaking ahead of the swim, Ms McCardel said: "I think sometimes women don't get recognised for their achievements as much as they should.

"To have female role models has been amazing for me and I really hope I can be that for other women and girls."

Ms McCardel also holds the record of longest unassisted ocean swim - 77 miles (124km) from South Eleuthera Island to Nassau in the Bahamas.

In 2015 she made a non-stop triple crossing of the Channel, which took almost 37 hours.

Source

[HogwartsExpress]

Meteorite Crashes Through Ceiling and Lands on Woman’s Bed

After a fireball streaked through the Canadian sky, Ruth Hamilton, of British Columbia, found a 2.8-pound rock the size of a large man’s fist near her pillow.




Ruth Hamilton was fast asleep in her home in British Columbia when she awoke to the sound of her dog barking, followed by “an explosion.” She jumped up and turned on the light, only to see a hole in the ceiling.
Her clock said 11:35 p.m.

At first, Ms. Hamilton thought that a tree had fallen on her house. But, no, all the trees were there. She called 911 and, while on the phone with an operator, noticed a large charcoal gray object between her two floral pillows.

“Oh, my gosh,” she recalled telling the operator, “there’s a rock in my bed.”

A meteorite, she later learned.

The 2.8-pound rock the size of a large man’s fist had barely missed Ms. Hamilton’s head, leaving “drywall debris all over my face,” she said. Her close encounter on the night of Oct. 3 left her rattled, but it captivated the internet and handed scientists an unusual chance to study a space rock that had crashed to Earth.

“It just seems surreal,” Ms. Hamilton said in an interview on Wednesday. “Then I’ll go in and look in the room and, yep, there’s still a hole in my ceiling. Yep, that happened.”

Meteoroids hurl toward Earth every hour of every day. When they’re large enough, survive the trip through the Earth’s atmosphere and stick a landing, they become meteorites. People collect them. Others end up in museums. Some are sold on eBay. In February, Christie’s held a record-shattering auction of rare meteorites, raking in more than $4 million.

On the night the meteorite crashed Ms. Hamilton’s sleep in Golden, a town of 3,700 people about 440 miles east of Vancouver, other Canadians had heard two loud booms and seen a fireball streaking across the sky. Some caught the phenomenon on video, according to University of Calgary researchers.



After Ms. Hamilton called 911, an officer who went into her house suggested at first that the stray rock may have originated from a blast from roadwork at a nearby highway, she said. But the workers had not done any blasting that night.

Then the officer took another guess: “I think you have a meteorite in your bed.”

Ms. Hamilton did not sleep the rest of that night, she said, and sat in a chair, sipping tea as the meteorite sat on her bed. Ms. Hamilton told local news outlets that she kept the news to herself at first, but she later reported the episode to researchers at the University of Western Ontario, where Peter Brown, a professor there, confirmed the rock was a meteorite “from an asteroid.”

Ms. Hamilton also told her family and friends. “My granddaughters can say that their grandmother just almost got killed in her bed by a meteorite,” she said.

Meteorites have landed in people’s homes and yards before. In 1982, a six-pounder crashed into a house in Wethersfield, Conn., tore through its second- and first-floor ceilings, cannoned into the living room and ricocheted through a doorway and into the dining room, where it came to rest. In 2020, an Indonesian coffin maker was startled by a 4.4-pound meteorite that came through his roof.

The odds of a meteorite hurtling into someone’s home and hitting a bed in any given year is about one in 100 billion, Professor Brown said.

Ms. Hamilton’s rock was one of two meteorites that hit Golden that night. Researchers about 160 miles east, in Calgary, said they had traveled to the town to find the second one in a field less than a mile away from Ms. Hamilton’s house, after triangulating its location based on photographs and videos that several people around the area had sent in.

Alan Hildebrand, an associate professor at the University of Calgary who studies meteorites, said of he and his fellow researchers were so happy to get their hands on the rock that, “I think we hugged.”

Meteorites offer a rare opportunity for scientists to learn more about the solar system and the asteroid belt. Researchers can sample their materials instead of gazing at them from afar.

Scientists said they could also use the meteorites to reconstruct their paths from outer space through the atmosphere to the ground, at which point the rocks may have lost about 90 percent of their mass. During the trip through the air, meteorites can heat up to around 2,000 degrees Celsius, or more than 3,600 degrees Fahrenheit, while traveling at 50 times the speed of sound, though they may be cool to the touch by the time they reach the ground.

After the researchers are finished studying the meteorite, Ms. Hamilton said, she planned on keeping it since it landed on her property. She suggested she was lucky. Asked if she had bought a lottery ticket the next day, she said, no; she had already won it: “I was the winner.”

“I never got hurt,” she added. “I’ve lived through this experience, and I never even got a scratch. So all I had to do is have a shower and wash the drywall dust away.”

source: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/14/world/canada/meteorite-bed.html

[prokroustis]

Greece ranked #2 for Global Cultural Heritage Influence in 2021

When it comes to cultural heritage influence, Italy took the prestigious number one spot, according to the CEOWORLD magazine 2021 report, while Greece and Spain placed second and third, respectively.

The 2021 rankings placed India in fourth ahead of Thailand; while Portugal ranked sixth, and Japan seventh.

Countries Impacting Global Cultural Heritage: CEOWORLD magazine has determined the world’s best countries for cultural heritage influence, by measuring their global influence in 9 country attributes: architecture, artistic legacy, fashion, food, music, literature, history, cultural attractions, and culturally accessible. Rather than economic, political, or military might, it’s the cultural heritage of these countries that most strongly impacts the wider world.

Overall, among the world’s top 10 best countries for cultural heritage influence, the eighth, ninth, and tenth positions are held by the United Kingdom, China, and Germany.

About Greece, the website said “the history development and culture of Greece has been a flagbearer for the whole world as a whole.

“There are many ancient ruins scattered across the nation that help people to look into its past clearly.

“From the Acropolis of Athens, Meteora to Temple of Apollo Epicurius at Bassae, the impressive architectural monuments make Greece a definite visit in many ways.”

[Fatima99]

Lucky Simpsons fan to be paid £5,000 to watch show and 'predict the future'



A UK casino site willing to pay one Simpsons fan £5,000 to help them "predict the future".

A long-running fan theory claims that the hit animated show is able to peer into the future after predicted several major events.

Now Platin Casino wants someone to look into the “well-known phenomenon that The Simpsons has predicted major life events,” and wants to hire someone to watch every episode.

In the past the show has predicted Donald Trump’s presidency, Lady Gaga’s Super Bowl performance, an Ebola outbreak, the building of The Shard in London, and even important scientific discoveries such as the Higgs Boson and the doughnut-shaped universe.

Casino bosses are gambling that a close look at the 32-year-old cartoon sitcom will not only help them identify other occasions where the show’s writers successfully predicted the future, it will lead to some new predictions about what will happen next.

“We thought we’d put The Simpsons to the test and see if, after analysing every single episode, it can help us to predict the future,” a Platin Casino spokesperson said.

“The Simpsons Series Analyst will watch and analyse all episodes from the 33 seasons, along with The Simpsons spinoff movie,” they added.

They expect the whole job will take about two months, and along with the £5,000 payday they’re throwing in a Disney+ membership and a box of donuts every week.



Once the lucky applicant has waded though the 280 or so hours of footage, they will prepare notes on “stand-out storylines” to help the company’s “prediction experts” to work out the “probability of each one happening”.

“We think the job is a unique and dream role for many – who wouldn’t love getting paid to watch TV, let alone The Simpsons?” they said.

Applicants can be based anywhere in the world, as long as they’re over 18 and speak good English.

“A love for The Simpsons is desirable, but not essential,” the ad says.

Platin Casino makes a habit of offering dream job opportunities.

They previously advertised for a “James Bond style” casino reviewer to travel the world and gather information to help the company “improve our own online customer experience”.

[goldie0608]

Mom Who Saved Son from Playground Manhole Says She Had 'No Other Option' But to Jump Into Sewage

"I just know that he was there and then he was gone," Jennifer Marrow said of the incident involving her 2-year-old son Henry



A New Jersey mother is speaking out after saving her toddler from a playground manhole.

Jennifer Marrow said she didn't think twice about jumping into the dark manhole after her 2-year-old son Henry fell inside and disappeared, according to Good Morning America.

"There was no other option. There was no other choice," she told the outlet. "There was no waiting. I don't think any mother would have waited."

As PEOPLE previously reported, Marrow was playing with Henry at Kawameeh Park in Union on Sept. 23 when he suddenly disappeared.

"I picked up a football and I was actually faced, looking at him because I don't want to get him used to just running off and not paying attention," Marrow explained to GMA.

"I don't really call him by his name outside of the house so I'm telling him, 'Bubby, come back. Bubby, you need to come back to mommy,' " she continued. "And he's crouched and I'm thinking he's playing in [the] dirt, just not listening to me."

As it turned out, Henry had fallen approximately seven feet down into an open manhole, which had two feet of sewage water at the bottom, reaching up to his chin, Chief Michael Scanio with the Union Fire Department (UFD) previously confirmed to PEOPLE.

Marrow told GMA it wasn't until she heard Henry calling her name that she realized where he was — a moment she said seemed like a complete blur.

"I just know that he was there and then he was gone," said the mom, who explained that she then called 911 before the water began to pull Henry down the tunnel and out of her sight.

"I jumped in because he had now gone down the pipe," Marrow recalled to GMA. "And when I couldn't see his face anymore, I got in, crawled down the pipe."

"I couldn't see, but then his head went under and I couldn't see him, so I had to pop back up and turn on my flashlight," she went on. "I was crawling down to get him because it was too dark down the pipe."

Marrow was eventually able to grab her son and proceeded to lift them both out of the manhole to safety.

By the time they made it back to the ground surface, officials with the Union Fire Department had arrived and were ready to treat the pair.

Luckily, neither had suffered physical injuries, but Scanio noted to PEOPLE that the boy may have ingested some sewer water. They were evaluated by Union EMS before being taken to a nearby hospital as a precaution.

Following the incident, Scanio told PEOPLE it is believed the manhole cover may have blown off during Hurricane Ida, which came through on Sept. 1.

He also noted that the Union County Police and Union County Department of Public Works (DPW) were going to check the manholes in the park and at other locations within Union Township to ensure none were missing their covers.

Speaking to GMA, Marrow said she hopes city officials will learn from her incident to prevent something similar from happening again.

"I'd like to see cones, maybe a different color, maybe flags," she explained to the outlet.

In the time since that terrifying day, Marrow's son has been recovering and has undergone several tests and treatments at the hospital, according to GMA.

[Mintydreams00]

Bonner Springs Police Department names new feline officer

BONNER SPRINGS, Kan. — Mover over, K-9 Unit! The Bonner Springs Police Department has named a new feline officer.

Officer Ilene was sworn in Monday at Bonner Springs PD.

Ilene has been in training since she was just a few weeks old. She was rescued by Bonner Animal Rescue after being hit by a lawnmower, which caused her to lose one of her back legs and her tail.

According to Sgt. Heather Pate, Officer Ilene’s main duties are, “Keeping everyone a little more pawsitive, helping with paperwork and she has done parades before.”

When asked if this could be a good cat, bad cat situation, Sgt. Pate replied that Officer Ilene, “Has her days.”

Of course, with any job, competitive pay is important and Officer Ilene is cashing in in the treat department.

“She’s slightly overweight,” said Sgt. Pate.

Wax on, wax off! Queen Elizabeth II’s newest wax figure came to life on Thursday as it made its way in a horse and carriage in Blackpool, England.

The 95-year-old royal’s statue was unveiled at Madame Tussauds Blackpool. The figure takes up residence at the tourist attraction where it will be joined by models of Prince William and Kate Middleton, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

Her Majesty is known for her love of corgis and so a model of one was made to accompany her in the House of Wax — and the faux dog made a little (fake) mess on the royal red carpet.

We are thrilled to have the brand-new figure of the Queen with us,” general manager of Madame Tussauds Blackpool Stuart Jarman stated. “She is an extremely popular attraction here and one that visitors, young and old, always want to see during their visit.

“We have never had a character make such a dramatic entrance, but if such an extravaganza was to happen for anyone, of course, it had to be for Her Majesty,” Jarman continued.

The new figure will replace the one commissioned back in 2012 in honor of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. The event marked the 60th anniversary of the sovereign’s accession to the throne. The new figure was created to commemorate the monarch’s upcoming Platinum Jubilee in 2022.

Over the course of her long, long life, 23 waxworks have been created of her, starting in 1928 when she was 2 years old.

Jarman added, “A team of the most skilled, artistic and passionate people around the world are involved in making the perfect wax figure and attention to detail is key. The eyes are hand painted and every tiny detail is duplicated including using fine red silk threads as the veins in the whites of the eyes.

“Our costume department also works with some of the world’s most sought-after designers and stylists to ensure we’re getting the figure 100% right to ensure fans will love it. We even have donated items of clothing from celebrities’ personal wardrobes that they have previously worn to an event,” he said.

Madame Tussauds Blackpool is home to over 80 wax makings of stars, celebrities and public figures. A team of 25 artists works on just one wax figure, spending a combined 800 hours altogether. The Queen is one of 2,000 wax figures displayed around the world under the umbrella of Madame Tussauds’ wax museums, including Madame Tussauds New York on 42nd Street.

The process includes 350 hours to sculpt the statue, 187 hours to implant hair and 30 hours to make a set of teeth. About 150 kilograms, or about 330 pounds, of clay is used to create each and every figure.

https://nypost.com/2021/10/14/queen-eli ... -unveiled/