[FRKJ]

Fossilized Footprints Found in New Mexico Track Traveler With Toddler in Tow
Prehistoric tracks detail a moment when mammoths, sloths and humans crossed paths.


The footprints found at White Sands National Park are more than 10,000 years old.

A small woman—or perhaps an adolescent boy—walks quickly across a landscape where giant beasts roam. The person holds a toddler on their hip, and their feet slip in the mud as they hurry along for nearly a mile, perhaps delivering the child to a safe destination before returning home alone.

Despite the fact that this journey took place more than 10,000 years ago, a new paper published in the journal Quaternary Science Reviews manages to sketch out what it might have looked and felt like in remarkable detail.

Evidence of the journey comes from fossilized footprints and other evidence discovered in New Mexico’s White Sands National Park in 2018, reports Albuquerque TV station KRQE. Toward the end of the late Pleistocene epoch—between 11,550 and 13,000 years ago—humans and animals left hundreds of thousands of tracks in the mud along the shore of what was once Lake Otero.

The new paper investigates one specific set of tracks, noting details in the footprints’ shapes that reveal how the traveler’s weight shifted as they moved the child from one hip to the other.

“We can see the evidence of the carry in the shape of the tracks,” write study co-authors Matthew Robert Bennett and Sally Christine Reynolds, both of Bournemouth University in England, for the Conversation. “They are broader due to the load, more varied in morphology often with a characteristic ‘banana shape’–something that is caused by outward rotation of the foot.”

At some points along the journey, the toddler’s footprints appear as well, most likely because the walker set the child down to rest or adjust their position. For most of the trip, the older caretaker carried the child at a speed of around 3.8 miles per hour—an impressive pace considering the muddy conditions.

“Each track tells a story: a slip here, a stretch there to avoid a puddle,” explain Bennett and Reynolds. “The ground was wet and slick with mud and they were walking at speed, which would have been exhausting.”



On the return trip, the adult or adolescent followed the same course in reverse, this time without the child. The researchers theorize that this reflects a social network in which the person knew that they were carrying the child to a safe destination.

“Was the child sick?” they ask. “Or was it being returned to its mother? Did a rainstorm quickly come in catching a mother and child off guard? We have no way of knowing and it is easy to give way to speculation for which we have little evidence.”

The fossilized footprints show that at least two large animals crossed the human tracks between the outbound and return trips. Prints left by a sloth suggest the animal was aware of the humans who had passed the same way before it. As the sloth approached the trackway, it reared up on its hind legs to sniff for danger before moving forward. A mammoth who also walked across the tracks, meanwhile, shows no sign of having noticed the humans’ presence.

White Sands National Park contains the largest collection of Ice Age human and animal tracks in the world. As Alamogordo Daily News reports, scientists first found fossilized footprints at the park more than 60 years ago. But researchers only started examining the tracks intensively in the past decade, when the threat of erosion became readily apparent.

The international team of scientists behind the new paper has found evidence of numerous kinds of human and animal activity. Tracks testify to children playing in puddles formed by giant sloth tracks and jumping between mammoth tracks, as well as offering signs of human hunting practices. Researchers and National Park Service officials say the newest findings are remarkable partly for the way they allow modern humans to relate to their ancient forebears.

“I am so pleased to highlight this wonderful story that crosses millennia,” says Marie Sauter, superintendent of White Sands National Park, in a statement. “Seeing a child’s footprints thousands of years old reminds us why taking care of these special places is so important.”

Source

[HogwartsExpress]

Rescue ranch adopts sheep spotted roaming streets



A rescue ranch has adopted a sheep called Mary Jane spotted roaming the streets in St. Louis.

A passerby spotted the sheep last week on Natural Bridge Avenue near Union Boulevard. It had a U.S. Department of Agriculture tag in her ear and likely escaped from a slaughterhouse or livestock truck in the area, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.

"I know I've been smoking ... This is Natural Bridge. It's a [expletive] sheep on Natural Bridge," a driver said in a video with more than 10,000 views on Facebook.

The sheep was originally brought to Center for Animal Rescue and Enrichment of St. Louis shelter after she was spotted on Natural Bridge last Thursday night.

While at the shelter, she was named Shrek, and she had matted and dirty wool that groomers from Treats Unleashed in Creve Coeur volunteered to cut, shearing off 6.2 pounds.

"When Shrek was rescued, she was in very rough shape," the shelter said in a Facebook post. "Her wool was matted and there was literally poop all down her backside.

"We found food and sticks and basically anything you could imagine under all of that wool. Today, with the help of Rion Harper and Emily Estes from Treats Unleashed, the shave down commenced.

"She was perfect for the entire groom. We absolutely love her. She will be living a great life, worry free moving forward."

Randy Grim of Randy's Rescue in O'Fallon, Ill., picked her up in truck Wednesday after adopting her and renamed her Mary Jane because he decided Shrek didn't suit her since she was female.

"It's also in honor of the stoned guy on the video that found her and helped get her rescued," Grim said. "I'm hoping to invite him to come by and see her some day."

[krazny9]

Little boy creates a book library of love to help COVID-19 patients feel less lonely




Anaik Sachdev spent months in isolation when his mother and then his grandmother caught COVID-19 in March.

For almost a month, he couldn't see his dad, Harry Sachdev, an anesthesiologist. He couldn’t play with his cousins or friends.

But he could read.

“We had so much fun with books,” said Anaik, who’s 8. He read the “Diary of the Wimpy Kid” series, reading funny parts aloud to his brother, Jovin, who’s 6.

Anaik called his grandmother, who was in the hospital for almost a week. She was lonely with no visitors allowed and not even a window to look outside. He wished he could take her books.

Anaik, staying with grandparents, told his mom he wanted to collect books for COVID-19 patients in hospitals. He could imagine how lonely and bored they must be.

“They were not feeling well and they can’t be around other people, so they’re feeling very lonely,” said Anaik. “We decided to come up with Loving Library so they could entertain them with books.”

When asked why he started the Loving Library, Anaik simply says reading, “helped me a lot and I think it could help them a lot.” He’s still accepting donations from his Amazon list and hopes to expand the Loving Libraries to other cities soon.

His mother set up a donation list on Amazon, Anaik's Loving Library, where people could buy books and send them to Anaik. He puts a sticker in each book.

So far, Anaik has donated 250 books, in English and Spanish, to Valleywise Health Medical Center in Phoenix. The nurses told him the patients were happy to have something to read.

“I was hoping for that,” Anaik said. “I want them to feel cared for.”

Anaik will keep collecting books to donate to the hospital, and he'll keep reading. (He's reading "Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library" now.)

“You can’t be bored or lonely," Anaik said, "if you have books.”

[PennySerenade]

Dinosaur skeleton found by 12-year-old near Drumheller, Alta., hailed as 'significant discovery'



Nathan Hrushkin and his father have hiked through the Drumheller, Alta., area for years.

The Calgary boy has always loved dinosaurs, so it's natural that the 12-year-old is an aspiring paleontologist — figuring such a vocation is the easiest way to get up close and personal with fossils.

This summer, while hiking with his father through Horseshoe Canyon in the Badlands region, Nathan made a discovery at the top of a hill that would excite even the most seasoned paleontologist.

"When I looked at it, it was very, very obviously a bone. It looked like a bone you'd see in a TV show," Nathan said.

"I was basically just breathless. I was so excited that I didn't feel that excited, I was just so in shock."

"These animals were probably the most common in Alberta in the late Cretaceous period, they were probably as common as deer were today," Therrien said.

Few juvenile skeletons have been recovered in the Badlands, and Nathan's discovery is even more notable due to the skeleton's location in the rock formation, which preserves few fossils.

Nathan joined workers at the site on Thursday, watching them remove pieces of the skeleton in protective jackets of plaster and burlap and taking them back to the museum for cleaning and research.

Nathan said the experience has motivated him even more to pursue his dream.

"Every year we've come here, we've found something a little bit better than the last year," he said. "Now we have to try to outdo ourselves from the skeleton."

The discovery of the hadrosaur was made on the Nodwell property of the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC), named after Leila Nodwell.

The Nodwell family entrusted the land to the NCC after her death in 2000, in recognition of her desire to maintain the canyon's natural state.

According to the NCC, the way the Hrushkins handled the find was a "perfect example" of what to do when discovering fossils — leaving them undisturbed in the ground, recording one's location via GPS, and reporting the find along with photos to the Royal Tyrrell Museum.

"You never know. Something that may look insignificant may end up being a significant discovery," Therrien said.


Dion Hrushkin, left, along with his son Nathan.

Nathan and his father sent photos of the partially exposed bones to the Royal Tyrrell Museum in Drumheller, which confirmed that the bones came from a young hadrosaur, otherwise known as a duck-billed dinosaur.



Fills in gaps of knowledge

François Therrien, a paleontologist at the museum, said a discovery like this in Horseshoe Canyon is uncommon.

"It represents a gap about 69 million years ago, when we don't know what type of dinosaurs lived around here," Therrien said. "So now, the discovery that Nathan made is of great significance because it fills those gaps."

Since Nathan's discovery, between 30 and 50 bones have been found by paleontologists in the canyon's wall, all of which belonged to a single young hadrosaur aged between three and four years old.

[Fatima99]

Caerphilly: 'Scarecrows' used in bid to slow speeding traffic



Residents are using "scare tactics" of a different kind to encourage motorists to slow down through their villages.

A dozen scarecrows have been placed in Draethen, Waterloo and Rudry in Caerphilly county to provide something eye-catching for passing traffic.

Community council chair Jayne Garland said other communities with road safety concerns had found alternative approaches had helped.

"We need to slow the traffic down," she said.

The community council, Caerphilly County Borough Council and Gwent Police have been organising speed watch campaigns since 2013.

Speeding motorists can expect a visit from the police if they are found speeding for a third time.



Ms Garland said the villages' roads could sometimes be used as a "rat-run" by motorists, despite sharing the space with pedestrians, cyclists and horse riders.

She said, while there had been four crashes in about six months on one stretch of road, there had been an increase in traffic since lockdown.

Caerphilly county was the first area in Wales to be placed under tighter local restrictions following a spike in coronavirus cases there.

Making the scarecrows was also a good reason to get people outside and to provide some light relief, she said, with a local farmer providing straw for the stuffing.

"Already we have seen people slow down to see the scarecrows and read the signs," said Ms Garland.

[goldie0608]

‘Woweee’ Says World’s First Nobel Prize-Winning Dog As He Reacts to Big Win



From his humble beginnings as a homeless street pup to surviving near-fatal illness to becoming the official mascot for a globally-recognized humanitarian organization, Foxtrot is one lucky dog.

On top of that, his humans just won the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize.

Foxtrot lives at a World Food Programme outpost in Bangladesh, one of the world’s largest and most densely populated refugee camps. As GNN reported in August, the dog was just about a month old when WFP workers found him during a beach clean-up and took the hungry dog back to their camp after they couldn’t find his owners.

The pooch’s year just keeps getting better. Last week, the WFP was honored with the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize for “its efforts to combat hunger and bettering conditions for peace in conflict-affected areas…”

Reacting “in his own words” on his Instagram page, humanitarian_pup, Foxtrot was thrilled when the award was announced, greeting the news with a tail-wagging, “Woweee!”

The head of the WFP was similarly thrilled by the win. “This is the first time in my life I’ve been speechless,” David Beasley said in a video posted on Twitter.

“Wow. Wow. Wow,” he continued. The “WFP family… out there in the most difficult, complex places in the world… They deserve this award.”

The organization as a whole took to Twitter, too, noting its staff were “deeply humbled” by the win.

“Thank you so much for all your support, and for joining me and my colleagues in doing everything we can to keep food on families’ tables as we work toward a more peaceful world,” the Foxtrot page added.

What could be more bow-wow-wonderful than that?

[Fivetide]

Lemur located after break-in at San Francisco Zoo


This undated photo provided by the San Francisco Police, courtesy of the San Francisco Zoo, shows a missing lemur named Maki.
The ring-tailed lemur was missing from the San Francisco Zoo after someone broke into an enclosure overnight and stole the
endangered animal, police said Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2020. The 21-year-old male lemur was discovered missing shortly before the
zoo opened to visitors, zoo and police officials said. They're seeking tips from the public in hopes of finding the lemur, explaining
that Maki is an endangered animal that requires specialized care. (Marianne V. Hale/San Francisco Zoo via AP)

A ring-tailed lemur stolen from the San Francisco Zoo has been found, police said Thursday.

The 21-year-old male lemur named Maki was discovered missing shortly before the zoo opened to visitors on Wednesday.

Investigators found evidence of a forced entry to the lemur enclosure.

Someone called police Thursday evening to say that Maki was spotted in Daly City, a few miles south of the zoo, officials said.

“Around 5pm, we got a report he was in the playground area of the Hope Lutheran Church. We contained him until staff from the zoo took him back home,” Daly City police tweeted.

Maki was found to be in good health and was transported back to the zoo, San Francisco police said in a statement.

Detectives are still investigating the break-in.

Maki was born at the zoo in 1999 and has an offspring in the enclosure, zoo spokeswoman Nancy Chan said.

The outdoor lemur habitat houses seven different lemur species native to Madagascar, according to the zoo’s website. Some are endangered.

“Guests can see the lemurs from several vantage points: from across a surrounding pond, looking eye to eye at lemurs in the trees or gazing down below from an elevated boardwalk,” the website says.

[Governor3]

Statue Honoring Ruth Bader Ginsburg Coming to Downtown Brooklyn’s City Point



A new statue of the late United States Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is coming to Downtown Brooklyn’s City Point development next year. The memorial to the Brooklyn-born legal eagle will be permanently installed outside the mall and condo complex’s Albee Square entrance on March 15, according to one of the building’s managers.

“From the people who work here, to the diverse shoppers and shopping at City Point, everyone feels welcome, equal and respected. We are honored to have this great statue grace our property, and to bring Justice Ginsburg’s ‘pathmarking’ spirit back to Brooklyn to inspire us for generations,” said Acadia Realty’s executive vice president Chris Conlon in a release Tuesday.

The date next spring would have been Justice Ginsburg’s 88th birthday and is in the middle of Women’s History Month, and Borough President Eric Adams — whose office pushed for renaming the nearby Municipal Building on Joralemon Street after the highest-ranking judge — said he will declare the day Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg Day in the borough.

“No one can dispute the towering achievements of this judicial giant and the value of adding her likeness to the landscape of our city,” Adams said in a statement on October 13. “We are pleased to champion these tributes to her commitment to justice, Brooklyn birthright, and enduring legacy.”

The 6-foot bronze statue was designed last year by international husband-and-wife artist duo Gillie and Marc as part of their 2019 installation “Statues for Equality” which set up 10 memorials in Manhattan of notable women like Oprah Winfrey, P!nk, and Nicole Kidman.

The artists hope that the sculpture will be an inspiring commemoration to Justice Ginsburg’s trailblazing achievements.

“With the two steps on its large base representing the Supreme Court and the climb she made to get there, the work is designed to provide the public with an opportunity to stand at her side, and gain inspiration from her journey fighting for equal rights,” said Gillie and Marc in a joint statement.



Ruth Bader Ginsburg at the 1993 confirmation hearing for her appointment to the Supreme Court. Photo by Michael R. Jenkins via Library of Congress

At the time of the artists’ last exhibit on the distant isle of Manhattan, City Point partnered with Gillie and Marc to hang portraits of those same notable women inside their shopping center. In wake of Ginsburg’s passing, the managers of the Downtown Brooklyn shopping complex wanted to bring the newest effigy to her native borough, according to a spokeswoman for the development.

The late justice was born in Brooklyn in 1933 and grew up in Midwood. She died on September 18 at the age of 87.

The planned statue in the heart of America’s Downtown might not be the only one in the borough as Governor Cuomo announced last month he plans to install one at Brooklyn Bridge Park.

https://www.brownstoner.com/brooklyn-li ... llie-marc/

LONDON — They get a bad rep, especially for being dirty.

But one rat redeemed his species on Friday becoming the first rodent to receive a gold medal for his work in sniffing out unexploded landmines and saving countless lives in Cambodia.

Magawa, a so-called "hero rat" was presented with a small blue collar and mini-gold medal by the British veterinary charity the People's Dispensary for Sick Animals (PDSA) on Friday.

"Magawa's work directly saves and changes the lives of men, women and children who are impacted by these landmines. Every discovery he makes reduces the risk of injury or death for local people," PDSA director general Jan McLoughlin, said in a statement.

"We are thrilled to award him the PDSA Gold Medal."
The African Giant-Pouched Rat was trained to detect landmines by Belgium-based charity APOPO.

Using an excellent sense of smell and memory, Magawa has discovered 39 landmines and 28 items of unexploded ordnance and can search an area the size of a tennis court in 30 minutes, something that would take a human with a metal detector up to four days, the charity said.

"Unlike metal detectors, the rats ignore scrap metal and only sniff out explosives making them fast and efficient landmine detectors," said Christophe Cox, chief executive of APOPO, the non-profit organization which trained Magawa. It also trains the creatures to detect tuberculosis.

"This not only saves lives but returns much-needed safe land back to the communities as quickly and cost-effectively as possible," Cox added.

It takes about nine months to train up rats like Magawa, APOPO said, adding that they can live up to eight years. The creatures are light-footed, so do not set off the landmines and no rat has yet been harmed during operations.

Wet-nosed Magawa was formally presented with his miniature medal in a virtual ceremony from London on Friday, becoming the first rat in the PDSA's 77-year history to receive the honor. Former winners include police dogs, horses, pigeons and a cat.

An estimated 5 million landmines were laid in Cambodia during internal conflicts in the southeast Asian country between 1975 and 1998, mainly in the northern region along the Thai border — leaving agricultural land unsafe to farm and impacting communities and livelihoods.

Britain's Princess Diana raised the global profile of landmines in a campaign in the southern African nation of Angola in 1997, when she stepped through a live minefield. Last year, her son Prince Harry walked in his late mother's footsteps, visiting the same Angolan community that is now free of landmines following her work.

[angellove0810]

NY Philharmonic Cancels Season, Plays Along City Streets

NY Phil Bandwagon performed in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

The New York Philharmonic made the historic decision this week to cancel its entire performance season.

The president of the famed symphony orchestra Deborah Borda said on Tuesday that it had lost a combined $30 million in ticket sales for this season and next. The orchestra’s total budget for the 2019-2020 season is $87 million.

Borda said the company raised more money than expected from individual donors. But that money, “cannot make up for those massive amounts of lost ticket revenue," she said.

"Because we live on earned ticket revenue.”

The New York Philharmonic is the oldest orchestra in the United States at 178 years old. It is part of the country’s so-called “big five” symphonies. It has continued its performance seasons through crises including the Civil War, Great Depression, the September 11th terror attacks and even other disease outbreaks.

But the spread of the new coronavirus, and restrictions related to it, has brought the organization to its breaking point.

The full Philharmonic has not performed since March 10. It announced on June 10 that it had canceled the autumn part of the 2020-21 season and would restart normal performances in early January.


Members of the NY Phil Bandwagon perform outside the Casita Maria Center For Arts & Education in the Hunts Point neighborhood of the Bronx borough of New York, Friday, Oct. 2, 2020. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

Some have continued to perform in less formal settings.

At the end of August, the orchestra launched NY Phil Bandwagon, a series of socially-distanced outdoor performances.

The bandwagon itself is a bright red Ford truck. It holds a sound system, music stands, lights and an operations crew. The musicians follow it in another vehicle.

Fiona Simon plays the violin for the Philharmonic. She took part in a day of outdoor shows this month. She said the experience returned to her a sense of purpose, something she had not felt since indoor shows stopped in March.

“You’re not a complete musician if you’re just playing for yourself,” Simon said.

She and a few other Philharmonic musicians played at three different street corners that day. The first show took place near a Bronx school. The second was held outside a public library in Queens. The final show took place in a Brooklyn greenspace.

As the group began its final performance of the day, singer Anthony Roth Costanzo opened the show, standing in the open back of the Bandwagon.

“We’re going to play you a little concert,” he said as people began to gather around in the warmth of an early autumn sunset.

The show lasted 20 minutes and included famous songs by George Gershwin and Charlie Parker.


People listen as members of the NY Phil Bandwagon perform outside the Casita Maria Center For Arts & Education in the Hunts Point neighborhood of the Bronx borough of New York, Friday, Oct. 2, 2020. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

As the audience grew, it became clear that the concert was as much an emotional release for the crowd as it was for the musicians. Violinist Curtis Stewart, a guest performer, expressed it this way: “We need a place to put our feelings, we need a place to feel safe,” he said.

“You don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone.”

The Philharmonic is holding its final 2020 Bandwagon concert this weekend. It plans to restart the program next spring.

On the New York Philharmonic’s website, President Borda expressed her hope for a return to full orchestra shows.

“We cannot wait to be reunited with you, our audience, and we look forward to sharing that magical moment when you hear the very first downbeat of a New York Philharmonic concert.”

[hija]

Cafe owner feeds hungry migrants



The former war-torn Bosnia has become the latest thoroughfare on the European migration route and has struggled to cope with the arrival of thousands of migrants and refugees en route to Croatia.

Not all the locals are happy about their uninvited guests, but Asim Latić, a café owner in the border town of Velika Kladua, responded straight from the heart. “I saw a man standing in the street. I asked if he was hungry and he said he didn’t have any money. I said it didn’t matter and fed him.”

The next day more people came and before long Latić’s café had become a kitchen for migrants. He and three friends served thousands of free meals, funding them from their own pockets for two months. “We are all war veterans. We know what it means to be hungry,” says Latić.

Amazing optical illusion tattoo makes Utah man look like he has a large hole in the back of his head

· Matt Pehrson is a tattoo artist who runs Zion Tattoo Company in St. George, Utah
· Pehrson posted an image of a tattoo that he drew on his friend, Ryan
· It shows several lines on bald head that make it appear as if there's a hole in skull
· Image was posted on Instagram, where it generated thousands of likes

Someone apparently needed a tattoo like a hole in the head - and got both.
A tattoo artist from Utah posted an image on social media showing an optical illusion inking that makes it look as if one of his clients has a hole in the back of his head.
The tattoo was the work of Matt Pehrson, an artist who runs the Zion Tattoo Company based in St. George, Utah.
‘Did a crazy thing on my friend Ryan today…’ Pehrson wrote on his Instagram account.




The tattoo is the work of Matt Pehrson, who runs Zion Tattoo Company based in St. George, Utah

‘We have a lot left to finish on his dome. What do you all think of a piece like this?’
Pehrson drew several thick lines on Ryan’s bald head that turn inwards to the back of his skull.
With clever shading, the artist created an eye-catching illusion making it look like Ryan had a massive hole in his skull.
As of Thursday, the image on Instagram has amassed more than 11,400 likes.
‘Literally looks like he has a hole in the back of his head holy s*** good job,’ one Instagram user commented.


Pehrson’s work typically focuses on black line drawings, with mandalas, geometric patterns, and black and grey hyper-realistic portraits featuring heavily

Another person wrote: ‘OMG that looks fantastic!!!!’
‘This is the most insane optical illusion,’ another fan wrote.
Ryan plans to get even more work done on his head.
He currently has a colorful shark on his neck and some patterns on his forehead.
Pehrson will probably concoct a design that will link everything up to create an awesome design.
Pehrson’s work typically focuses on black line drawings, with mandalas, geometric patterns, and black and grey hyper-realistic portraits featured heavily.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/articl ... -head.html

[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 OCTOBER 17
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 may post One Story in any 24 hour period
So in other words, you can enter only once a day
Stories may be accompanied with images - but No big images, please! 800x800 pixels wide maximum
Videos are allowed, but please keep them to under a minute, 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
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

[FRKJ]

Owl boards helicopter fighting California wildfire



A helicopter pilot helping to fight the Creek Fire in California snapped a photo of an "unheard of" scene -- an owl that boarded the chopper mid-flight.

Dan Alpiner, a pilot with aircraft charter company Sky Aviation, said he was helping conduct water drops over the Creek Fire in Fresno and Medera counties when an owl flew in through the window and perched calmly inside his helicopter.

"It's odd to have an owl enter an aircraft," Sky Aviation said in a Facebook post. "It's unheard of to have it enter while the helo is in-flight. It's an unexplainable and magical miracle for it to stay with you for several water drops, then leave just as it arrived -- safe and unannounced."

Alpiner said he was initially concerned the owl would fly dangerously around the cockpit, but it rode with him calmly for several minutes before flying back out the window.

Video

[HogwartsExpress]

Scientists discover spider wearing 'Joker' makeup, name it after Batman villain

A newfound spider species wears a striking red-and-white pattern on its back that resembles the grin worn by Batman's long-standing nemesis, the Joker. The resemblance is so uncanny that the researchers who described the arachnid named the species after actor Joaquin Phoenix, who portrayed the tormented, smiling villain in the 2019 film, "Joker."

Ironically, the colorful spider belongs to a genus that was named for the late punk rock icon Lou Reed, who famously wore black and rarely smiled.

Scientists discovered Loureedia phoenixi in Iran; it's the first Loureedia spider to be identified outside the Mediterranean region, they reported in a new study. The genus, first described in 2018, now includes four species.



On the backs of the male L. phoenixi spiders, a splash of vivid red stands out against a background of white, much like the Joker's unnerving smile contrasts with his white facial makeup, the scientists wrote in the study. Though, you'd need magnification to see it clearly, as the spider's body measures only about 0.3 inches (8 millimeters) long and is covered in tiny hairs.

In fact, spiders in this family — Eresidae — are known as velvet spiders because they sport dense, velvety coats, said lead study author Alireza Zamani, an arachnologist and doctoral candidate in the Biodiversity Unit at the University of Turku in Finland. Velvet spiders are especially interesting to arachnologists because some have unusual habits, such as cooperating to build communal nests and collectively caring for their young, Zamani told Live Science in an email.

Discovering Loureedia spiders is challenging, because the arachnids are active aboveground only for a three-week period each year.

"These spiders spend most of their lives in their subterranean nests," Zamani said. Males leave their burrows to hunt for females, "usually from late October to mid-November," and spiderlings come to the surface when they leave their mother's nest, he explained.



So far, scientists have collected and described only male Joker spiders. But the search will continue for the elusive females, targeting locations where males have been found.

"Ideally, if you have enough time and patience, it would be interesting to track

a wandering male. He should know how to find the female better than anyone else," Zamani said. "This way, you would also have the chance of observing and photographing the actual mating behavior, which has not been documented for any Loureedia species yet," he added.

Source: https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/offbeat/ ... r-BB165PCJ