[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 MAY 4
What is it?
Here is your chance to become an "ACE REPORTER" for our weekly news magazine.
It is your job to find 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)
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

[Alessa9]

Michigan woman receives 100-year-old postcard in mail

'We've all seen mail get delayed for weeks, but 100 years, that's a piece of history’



When Brittany Keech checked her mailbox one morning this week, it was flooded with the usual junk.

But atop the pile of miscellaneous fliers and bills sat something that caught her eye: a tattered and timeworn postcard.

"At first, I didn't think much of it, other than that it's old and interesting," said Keech, 30, of Belding, Mich. "But then I took a closer look."

Upon further inspection, she spotted a faded green one-cent George Washington stamp - postmarked Oct. 29, 1920.

"I was shocked," said Keech, who received the 100-year-old piece of mail on Sept. 8.

On the front of the postcard is a Halloween illustration, including a black cat, pumpkins, a witch, an owl and a broomstick, plus a play on words: "Witch would you rather be . . . a goose or a pumpkin-head?"

As Keech deciphered the faded cursive on the postcard - which appeared to be addressed to a Mrs. Roy McQueen - she realized it was a letter from one family member to another.

"Dear cousins," the letter starts. "We are quite well but mother has awful lame knees. It is awful cold here."

The note ends with: "Don't forget to write us," followed by a question as to whether Roy got his pants fixed yet.

The letter is signed by Flossie Burgess.

Keech decided she would try to reunite the long-lost postcard with the family to whom it was originally intended.

She started by posting to "Positively Belding," a Facebook page dedicated to celebrating local positive news in the small city of just under 6,000 residents.

Keech quickly discovered that others were also interested in uncovering the origins of the mysterious memento, and how, a century later, it somehow appeared in her mailbox.

After seeing Keech's post, Robby Peters, who lives in Grand Rapids, Mich., and works at the public library there, began digging for answers.

"I do some genealogy research as a hobby," said Peters, 33. "I started helping my own family, and I kind of caught the bug after that."

While sifting through a 1920 census, Peters discovered a Roy McQueen who once lived at the same address where Keech now lives with her husband and two children.

He found that McQueen, who was originally from Canada and moved to the United States in 1887, was married to a Nora Murdock. At the time the letter was sent, he was working as the manager of a produce company.

The probable author of the postcard is Florence "Flossie" Burgess, the daughter of Nora Murdock's sister, Peters learned.

"I found census records, death records and marriage records," he explained. "The postcard contained a couple of names and it had a destination, so I had an idea of where to start searching."

"I built a family tree," Peters continued. "It doesn't look like Roy and Nora had children, and Flossie seems to have remained unmarried, so there are no direct descendants."

Sheryl Ackerman, also of Grand Rapids, became fixated on finding the family, too.

"I've been interested in genealogy since 1976," said Ackerman, who immediately got in touch with Keech upon hearing about the postcard. "I love trying to solve mysteries."

So, she got to work, and her findings aligned with Peters's. Ackerman did, however, manage to track down one relative - the grandniece of Roy and Nora.

Ackerman reached out to the woman, who she then connected with Keech.

"I've been speaking with the possible relative and she is very interested in having the postcard," said Keech. "We're talking about setting up a time to meet at some point."

While the puzzle of who wrote the postcard, and who was intended to receive it, has been mostly solved, what remains in question is how it ended up in Keech's mailbox - nearly 100 years after it was written.

Lost letters from years past seldom reappear, one USPS mail carrier remarked.

"But there are a few things that could have happened here," said Mindy Ponover, who works for the Postal Service in Michigan.

Her best guess is that the postcard got stuck behind a baseboard, a crack in the floor or a piece of machinery in an old post office that was recently renovated.

"There's a very good possibility of that," said Ponover.

She works in a small post office and estimates that on a weekly basis, there are at least 20 pieces of mail that go undelivered for various reasons, including that the address is illegible.

"The letters will then go to what we call the Dead Letter Office, where they try to find family members and where the letter should go," Ponover explained.

But "in most cases these incidents do not involve mail that had been lost in our network and later found," added Sara Martin, a USPS public relations representative.

"What we typically find is that old letters and postcards - sometimes purchased at flea markets, antique shops and even online - are reentered into our system," she continued. "The end result is what we do best - as long as there is a deliverable address and postage, the card or letter gets delivered."

In recent weeks, the Postal Service has been embroiled in political wrangling. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy is at the center of an investigation spearheaded by House Democrats amid accusations in years past he pressured employees at his company to make donations to his preferred GOP politicians.

There have also been significant delays in mail delivery since DeJoy took over as postmaster general in June, as well as mounting controversy over the efficacy and reliability of mail-in voting.

In this case, though, the decades-long delivery delay had nothing to do with politics.

"We've all seen mail get delayed for weeks, but 100 years, that's a piece of history," said Keech. "After all this time, it's finally resurfacing."

Still, we may never know if Roy did, in fact, get his pants fixed.

[ozswede]

Sumatran orangutan becomes first wild animal seen using medicinal plant to treat wound

A Sumatran orangutan has become the first wild animal seen self-medicating with a plant to heal a wound.

The male orangutan, named Rakus, had sustained a wound on his cheek pad, most likely from fighting other males, researchers said in a study published in the journal Scientific Reports.

Rakus was seen chewing liana leaves without swallowing them, then using his fingers to apply the resulting juice onto the wound, the researchers said.


Rakus is seen with a facial wound below his eye

Finally, he covered the wound up completely with a paste he had made by chewing the leaves and continued feeding on the plant.

Five days after he was seen applying the leaf paste onto the wound it was closed, and a month later barely visible.

It is the first documented case of active wound treatment by a wild animal with a plant known to have medicinal qualities.

The leaves were from a liana known as akar kuning (Fibraurea tinctoria in Latin), which is used in traditional medicine to relieve pain, reduce fever and treat various diseases, such as diabetes and malaria.

It also has antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, antifungal and antioxidant properties.

"To the best of our knowledge, there is only one report of active wound treatment in non-human animals, namely in chimpanzees," the researchers wrote.


Two months later, the wound was almost invisible

"This possibly innovative behaviour presents the first systematically documented case of active wound treatment with a plant species known to contain biologically active substances by a wild animal and provides new insights into the origins of human wound care."

Like any case of an animal apparently self-medicating, this case raises a major question: Did Rakus know what he was doing? According to the study authors, it seems he did. The base this conclusion on three factors:

He only applied the plant to his wound, not the rest of his body, and repeated the behavior multiple times, first with juice them with pulp. And he took a considerable amount of time completing the task.

The orangutan's behaviour was recorded in 2022 by Ulil Azhari, a co-author and field researcher at the Suaq Project in Medan, Indonesia. Not only were scientists amazed that the orangutan knew the plant had medicinal powers, but the sight of an ape treating its wounds have never before seen.

Scientists have been observing orangutans in Indonesia's Gunung Leuser National Park since 1994, but they hadn't previously seen this behaviour.



Scientists have seen orangutans medicate themselves before, but never in this way.

For example, orangutans with intestinal parasites will sometimes eat the leaves of medicinal plants known to have anti-parasite properties.

A young orangutan with severe wounds was once seen eating wild ginger, a plant used by local people to treat inflammation and fight infections.

It's possible Rakus learned the technique from other orangutans living outside the park and away from scientists' daily scrutiny, said co-author Caroline Schuppli at Max Planck.

Rakus was born and lived as a juvenile outside the study area. Researchers believe the orangutan got hurt in a fight with another animal. It's not known whether Rakus earlier treated other injuries.

They estimate that Rakus was born in the late 1980s, making him now somewhere in his mid 30s. Male orangutans can live up to 58 years in the wild, but on average their lifespan is closer to 40 years.

[DaveLDaveL]

EasyJet is hiring 1,000 aspiring pilots - and you don't need any flying skills


Aspiring pilots who dream of soaring above the clouds could find their way into the cockpit as part of a huge easyJet recruitment drive.

The budget airline has reopened its Pilot Training Programme and announced plans to recruit 1,000 new pilots by 2028. What is particularly exciting for those who haven't spent much or any time taking off or touching down is that easyJet plans to take individuals with minimal or no aviation experience. By the end of the two-year programme they will be transformed into qualified co-pilots of an Airbus A320 commercial jet, reports ChronicleLive.

This year there are 200 new spots available on the programme. The airline says it has been actively addressing the industry-wide issue of a lack of female pilots through various initiatives such as recruitment campaigns, pilot school visits, and a summer flight school. Currently 7.5% of easyJet's UK pilots are women, a little higher than the UK industry average of 6.5%.





Earlier this month, easyJet introduced an online test to assess some of the key skills needed to become an airline pilot. Hopefuls aged 18 and above can apply provided they have a minimum of five GCSEs of Grade C or higher, including Maths, Science and English Language.

Applicants must also be able to get an EASA or CAA Class 1 medical, have the right to live and work in the UK, EU or Switzerland and the ability to travel across our network without restriction, and be able to speak and write fluent English.

The training occurs at the CAE aviation academies, located across Gatwick, Milan, Brussels or Madrid, with flight training spread out across the United States. After successfully completing the training, the graduates kick start their careers as co-pilots at easyJet.

Speaking about the programme, pilot training manager at easyJet Captain Kate West said: "We are delighted to reopen applications for this year's Generation easyJet Pilot Training Programme as part of our drive to recruit 1,000 new pilots and encourage more people to join this fantastic profession. The training to become a pilot focuses on skills such as communication and problem solving, so when working as a team in the flight deck, diversity is incredibly valuable.

"Tackling stereotypes about our job is critical to driving this and while we are proud to have many more women flying with us today, we know there is always more to be done to increase all forms of diversity and remain committed to leading the industry in this. I joined easyJet over ten years ago as a growing airline with opportunities for career progression and a fantastic reputation for training."

If you've ever fancied trying your hand at steering a hefty Boeing through the clouds or entertaining a cabin load of passengers over the intercom, but don't have much or any experience in the cockpit and easyJet isn't your cup of tea for whatever reason then you could be in luck as Ryanair might just train you up. The budget airline announced last week that it was also hiring new pilots.

[Fatima99]

Couple in Their 80s Who’ve Fostered More Than 150 Children Have No Plans to Retire



English couple Margaret Isdale and her husband Robert decided to welcome a teenage girl into their home for foster care back in 1978.

Now almost 40 years later, they are receiving a lifetime achievement award, because the octogenarians have fostered an incredible 150 children and teenagers.

They’ve seen many dramatic circumstances, including a boy who had to have a kidney removed, and a child who came with no possessions of any kind apart from a set of pajamas, but they have no plans on slowing down.

From the town of Grantham in Lincolnshire, they received a lifetime achievement award from Lincolnshire Foster Services, whose administrator, Michelle Sawmynaden, was in awe of the pair, saying that over their 46 years of raising other people’s children, lots of them have either gone back to their birth families or gone on to be adopted.

“It’s really quite humbling. It’s not about us, it’s about the kids we look after—they’re the important ones,” said Margaret, on the occasion of the award.

Their years have seen the love they offer children manifest in different ways. There was Kim, who was 4 years old when she entered the Isdale household with a heart complication and Down syndrome. They traveled as much as they could with her before she passed away at age 21.

In other cases, there are happier endings, such as a child for whom they were asked to be the godparents. They had two children of their own, and even in their older age, they’re still going strong—fostering an eight-month-old baby.

“People say, how can you hand them over? Well, that’s part of what we do, and sometimes when you hand [a child] over the adoptive parents or birth parents keep in touch and they say how appreciative they are,” said Mr. Isdale. “That in itself is a reward.”

[rflash8]

How to watch the Eta Aquariid meteor shower this weekend

The Eta Aquariid meteor shower appears as we pass through the debris of Halley's Comet, which has been spotted in our skies for thousands of years.


Meteors appear in our skies when debris in space enters our atmosphere. File pic: VWPics/AP

Meteors will be streaking across the sky this weekend as Earth passes through the debris of Halley's Comet.

The annual Eta Aquariid meteor shower peaks on Sunday night into Monday morning but should be visible, weather-permitting, all weekend.

Where to watch the show

You should see the meteors low in the sky if you look to the east before dawn. They are more easily visible in the southern hemisphere but you can still spot them in the UK.

Of course, your stargazing may depend on the weather. This weekend, it is very unsettled.

The Met Office says its "computer models are disagreeing" about where will see the worst weather around the UK.

Their cloud cover map currently suggests southern England will have the clearest night on Saturday, however, and most of Wales will have the best chance on Sunday.

If you spot clear skies, head out before dawn and settle in.

"Hunting for meteors, like the rest of astronomy, is a waiting game," says the Royal Observatory Greenwich's site.

"It's best to bring a comfy chair to sit on and to wrap up warm as you could be outside for a while."

You'll need to allow your eyes to adjust to the dark, so try to get away from sources of light pollution, like street lights or houses.

What is the Eta Aquariid meteor shower?

Named after Eta Aquarii, the star it appears to radiate from, the meteor shower comes around annually.

Unlike most big annual meteor showers, there is no sharp peak. Instead, they're best spotted across a number of days around this time in May.

The meteors are the debris from Halley's Comet.

This is particularly famous because when observing it, astronomers realized for the first time comets could pass through the solar system multiple times.



When historians dug into it, they realised Halley's Comet had been spotted by humans for thousands of years. It even features in the Bayeux Tapestry, which chronicles the Battle of Hastings in 1066, according to NASA.

Meteors appear in our skies when debris in space enters our atmosphere. Their speed means they heat up and begin to glow, leaving a trail that we can see when we stargaze.

[HogwartsExpress]

Harry Potter original book cover art set to auction off for whopping record breaking sum


Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone original cover artwork is set to sell at auction for a whopping record-breaking sum.




Back in the mid-1990s JK Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone was rejected by no less than 12 publishers before being accepted by Bloomsbury.

The book, which became the fourth best-selling novel of all time, had its original cover art painted by 23-year-old Thomas Taylor, who was fresh out of art school.

And now his original watercolour work of Harry standing in front of the Hogwarts Express is going up for auction.

According to Sotheby’s New York, the piece is expected to sell for between $400,000-$600,000 (£319,000-£479,000)

This is the highest pre-sale estimate ever placed on Harry Potter-related work.

The artwork was originally auctioned at Sotheby’s London for $107,000 (£85,500). The current record for the most expensive Harry Potter item ever sold is an unsigned first edition of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, which went for $421,000 (£336,000) at auction in Dallas back in 2021. Assuming the watercolour cover art trumps this figure, we’d be looking at a new record.




src: https://www.express.co.uk/entertainment ... rt-auction

[PennySerenade]

Does your dog really know what ‘fetch the ball’ means? New science says yes



If you’ve ever owned a dog, you know that even just saying the word “ball” may have them sprinting toward their favourite one, hoping for a game of fetch.

But when you ask your dog to “fetch the ball,” do they really know what you mean by “ball?”

Or is it just that they’re seeing something familiar in your body language? The pitch of your voice? The expression on your face?

Well, thanks to a new study from scientists in Hungary, it turns out they may actually understand what you mean.

The new study was published last month in the science journal Current Biology.

It claims that dogs create a mental image of objects that we say, suggesting a deeper grasp of language similar to humans.



Scientists recruited 18 dogs for the study and used a non-invasive technique to measure electrical activity in their brains.

Dog owners in the study would play an audio clip of them saying a familiar object like “ball” or “toy.”

Then, researchers would show the dog a picture of that object or a picture of something totally different and measure the dog’s brain activity.

Researchers discovered that the dogs had different patterns of brain activity depending on whether the image matched the word or didn’t.

They said this suggests that the dog was picturing the object in their head after hearing the word.

If they weren’t, scientists think they would have had the same brain activity regardless of what image was shown to them.

In other words, if the word ball didn’t carry any meaning for them, they wouldn’t have been surprised when they saw the picture of a bird, for example.



Scientists who conducted the study said the findings suggest dogs have something called referential understanding — the ability to associate words with specific objects.

They said the findings are further proof that the ability isn’t just unique to humans.

While some have praised the new findings, others have doubts.

In a post on Facebook, Clive Wynne, a behavioural scientist and professor of psychology at Arizona State University, said he believes all the study shows is that dogs respond to “human speech sounds” rather than actually grasping the meaning of words.

[Misstee]

'Dance Your Ph.D.' winner on science, art, and embracing his identity
May 4, 20246:00 AM ET




Weliton Menário Costa (center) holds a laptop while surrounded by dancers for his music video, "Kangaroo Time." From left: Faux Née Phish (Caitlin Winter), Holly Hazlewood, and Marina de Andrade.
Nic Vevers/ANU




Nic Vevers/ANU

Weliton Menário Costa grew up in rural Brazil. "I come from the countryside of the countryside of the countryside," he says. He didn't have much, but from his earliest days, he loved to sing.

"I just remember looking at the singers on television and loving them," Menário Costa recalls. "I think if I could have picked a profession — if the world was equal and you could pick anything — I would have picked 'musician.'"

He took a detour into science, but ultimately he's returned to embrace music professionally. And he recently picked up a major accolade. Menário Costa won this year's "Dance Your Ph.D." contest, an annual competition organized by Science magazine where doctoral students and Ph.D. graduates showcase their research through dance.

Menário Costa's winning submission highlights his work on kangaroo behavior and personality, but it also celebrates his identity — and what he's had to overcome to embrace it.





'I would just sing ... every day'

When Menário Costa was a boy in Brazil, he would try to sing and dance with his younger sister outside. That's when the comments would start.

"People were always like, 'Oh, that's a girl thing, you're a f** or whatever,'" he says. "Back then, I didn't even know what it was. I just knew it was negative. It's a very sexist space and homophobic and all that."

When Menário Costa did receive a compliment, it was usually for how smart he was. So he buried himself in school and excelled. He got into a competitive high school. But even so, he was chronically anxious about what others thought of him and worried that he wasn't good enough.

"So instead of going to parties and dancing or performing and doing the things I actually loved," Menário Costa says, "I would just lock myself in the room and say, 'Hey, I have homework.' But when I would shower, I would just sing ... every day."

With time, Menário Costa made it to Australia — first to study English, and then he received a scholarship to pursue his Ph.D. in behavioral ecology at the Australian National University in Canberra. His research focused on eastern gray kangaroos in Wilsons Promontory National Park in southeastern Australia.

"And my main question was, do kangaroos have personality ... different personalities?," Menário Costa explains. "And then, what's driving the behavior you see? Is it due to personality, or is it the social environment?"

It was during his Ph.D. — when Menário Costa was on this other continent half a world away from Brazil — that he managed to connect with who he really was. He came out as queer. He started singing and dancing out in the world again. And after finishing his Ph.D. amidst the struggles of COVID and bushfires, Menário Costa decided to leave science and dive into creative work.

"Now I'm gonna be a singer, now I'm gonna be a dancer, and now I'm gonna be all these things I liked as a kid," he says. Menário Costa started performing at pubs and small venues, mostly singing covers. "Then, last year, I started writing as well, and performing my own original songs."
Diversity in kangaroos — and in dance

To Menário Costa, Science magazine's "Dance Your Ph.D." competition felt like "a perfect way of exposing my work as a singer songwriter."

His submission — the song and dance "Kangaroo Time" — was born in an act of exuberant collaboration. The music video opens with Menário Costa driving to what appears to be his field site. There are a couple of kangaroo shots, but mostly it's a joyous sequence of dancers on an open landscape in Canberra — drag queens, Capoeira performers, ballet dancers, and people doing samba, salsa, hip hop, Brazilian funk, and traditional Indian dance.

"The way they move is very different," says Menário Costa, "but also what they wear to perform is quite different. I decided to use the actual diversity we have in a dance community."

This was how Menário Costa represented one of his central findings — that kangaroos have distinctive personalities, based on how much they squirm when they're handled as joeys and at what distance subadults and adult females move away from an approaching human.

In addition, kangaroo siblings often have similar personalities, and for that Menário Costa dances alongside his own sister — the first family member to ever visit him in Australia. "One of the main reasons that made her want to come was to be in that video," he says. "It was so special having her here."

Menário Costa also discovered that when kangaroos move between groups, they adjust their behavior to conform to that of their companions. In the video, he makes his way to other groups and adopts the new dancing styles as he goes.

The main lyrics are simple, but catchy: "I'm gonna share with you... hope you don't mind... some things I learned from my kangaroo time." The phrase "kangaroo time" has a rainbow of meanings.

"It means the time I did my kangaroo research," says Menário Costa. "But [it] also means the first time I lived as a gay man. It's the first time I lived as an immigrant, five years without going home. The time of reconnection to myself, of exploring my sexuality, of bridging these beautiful communit[ies]."

Menário Costa, who now goes by the stage name WELI, says that filming this music video — when all his worlds came together in a single afternoon — feels like his most significant achievement to date. He likens his first place finish to winning the Eurovision Dance Contest.

The video ends with text emblazoned onscreen — "Differences lead to diversity. It exists within any given species; it is just natural."

Vitamin D Improves Immunity to Cancer And Reduces Tumor Growth in Mice, Study Finds

Researchers have found that vitamin D improves immunity to cancer by encouraging the growth of a type of gut bacteria in lab mice.

Given a diet rich in vitamin D, they had better immune resistance to cancers and improved responses to immunotherapy treatment.

The team found that vitamin D acts on cells in the intestine, which in turn increases the amount of a ‘good’ bacteria called Bacteroides fragilis. This microbe gave mice better immunity to cancer as the transplanted tumors didn’t grow as much.

The team from the Francis Crick Institute, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health and Aalborg University in Denmark reported their findings in the journal Science.

To test if the bacteria alone could give better cancer immunity, mice were split into two groups. One received a normal diet but with Bacteroides fragilis, which improved immune response. The mice placed on a vitamin D-deficient diet were not able to resist tumor growth.

“What we’ve shown here came as a surprise,” said Caetano Reis e Sousa, head of the Immunobiology Laboratory at the Crick, and senior author. “Vitamin D can regulate the gut microbiome to favor a type of bacteria which gives mice better immunity to cancer.”

Previous studies have proposed a link between vitamin D deficiency and cancer risk in humans, although the evidence hasn’t been conclusive—but Bacteroides fragilis is found in our human microbiomes, too.

To investigate this, the researchers analyzed a dataset from 1.5 million people in Denmark1, which highlighted a link between lower vitamin D levels and a higher risk of cancer. A separate analysis of a cancer patient population also suggested that people with higher vitamin D levels2 were more likely to respond well to immune-based cancer treatments.

“This could one day be important for cancer treatment in humans.”

“A key question we are currently trying to answer is how exactly vitamin D supports a ‘good’ microbiome. If we can answer this, we might uncover new ways in which the microbiome influences the immune system, potentially offering exciting possibilities in preventing or treating cancer,” said Evangelos Giampazolias, a former postdoctoral researcher at the Crick.

So far, they’ve found that vitamin D helps gut bacteria to elicit cancer immunity, improving the response to immunotherapy in mice.

“These findings contribute to the growing body of knowledge on the role of microbiota in cancer immunity and the potential of dietary interventions to fine-tune this relationship for improved patient outcomes,” added Romina Goldszmid, Stadtman Investigator in NCI’s Center For Cancer Research.

Meanwhile, researchers in Japan believe vitamin D could be key in preventing ovarian cancer, after they found it stopped a key transformation in the metastasis of this highly lethal cancer. It actively reversed a process by which ovarian cancer turns the host’s defenses against them, suggesting it could be key as part of a treatment plan for early stage diagnosis.

“We know that vitamin D deficiency can cause health problems, however, there wasn’t enough evidence to link vitamin D levels to cancer risk. This early-stage research in mice, coupled with an analysis of Danish population data, seeks to address the evidence gap,” explained Cancer Research UK’s Dr. Nisharnthi Duggan.

A bit of sunlight can help our bodies make vitamin D—and most people can make enough vitamin D by spending short periods of time in the summer sun.

We can also get vitamin D from our diet and supplements.

[goldie0608]

World’s Oldest Bird Named Wisdom Lost Her Mate But is Courting New Suitors at 72



The world’s oldest bird may have lost her mate, but she’s now courting new suitors in her 70s.

The Laysan albatross named Wisdom, was photographed dancing with potential mates on Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge, the seabird’s home.

Thought to be around 72 years old and recognized by her band number Z333, she returned again for nesting season in late November.

Her long-time mate, Akeakamai, has yet to be seen and was absent the last two nesting seasons.

But Wisdom was spotted in the spring socializing with other male birds.

Laysan albatross females lay a single egg in the first half of December, said Jonathan Plissner, supervisory wildlife biologist at the national wildlife refuge.

“She is quite spry for a septuagenarian,” Plissner reported to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. “She was actively courting other birds.”

It is estimated that Wisdom has produced 50-60 eggs and as many as 30 chicks that fledged during her lifetime, according to Plissner.

Biologists first identified and banded Wisdom in 1956 after she laid an egg. They aren’t known to breed before age 5.

Along with Wisdom, millions of seabirds return to Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge in the North Pacific Ocean to nest and raise their young.

[midgemental]

Sometime... beauty is skin deep
I’m a dietitian — these 12 foods will give you a collagen boost

Collagen is essential for skin health.

If you’re looking for a diet high in collagen — the world is your oyster, according to a dietitian.

Collagen, which makes up 30% of your body’s protein, gives structure to the skin, muscles, bones and connective tissue, according to Cleveland Clinic. Collagen is also found in your organs blood vessels and intestinal lining.

The body produces collagen naturally but aging and exposure to UV light from the sun can lessen your collagen production. Most people looking to up their collagen intake want to do so in order to improve the youthful look of their skin or have healthier nails. You can take a collagen supplement or get collagen from your diet.

Lauren Manakar, a registered dietitian, wrote an article for Health detailing all the foods people can eat to increase their collagen intake.

Bone broth makes it easy for the body to absorb collagen.

Bone broth

Animal bones are high in collagen and when the bones are simmered in water, collagen breaks down into gelatin and is more easily absorbed by the body, Manaker explained.

Fish skin is very high in collagen.

Fish skin is very high in collagen.

Shellfish and fish

Fish has a type of collagen called marine collagen. Marine collagen has something called Type I collagen which is particularly beneficial for skin, bone, tendon and tissue health.

The collagen is mostly found in the fish’s skin or scales.

Chicken, especially the skin, has collagen.

Chicken

Chicken cartilage has something called Type II collagen which can help arthritis and be healthy for joint health. Eating the chicken skin will provide you with more collagen.

Beef, particularly short rib, is a great source of collagen.

Beef

Beef collagen, called bovine collagen has Type I and Type II collagen which contribute to the health of skin, teeth, bone, tendons, connective tissue and fibrous cartilage.

Steak is a great source of collagen but short ribs, which have more tendon meat are a better source, the dietitian explained.

Egg whites help the body build collagen.


Egg whites

Egg whites have an amino acid called proline which the body needs to produce collagen.

Certain fruits like berries and citrus fruits help the body create collagen.

Fruit

Citrus fruits and berries both help the body create collagen. Both have Vitamin C which helps the body make collagen.

Garlic

Garlic also helps the body create collagen because it has sulfur, which helps produce collagen and prevents it from breaking down in your body.

The taurine and lipid acid In garlic help rebuild any damaged collagen fibers, the dietitian said.

Dairy provides building blocks for collagen.

Dairy

Dairy products don’t have collagen but they support collagen production in the body thanks to the two amino acids proline and glycine, which help make up collagen molecules.

Cashews

Cashews also don’t have collagen but they have the mineral copper which helps the body make collagen and elastin. Elastin gives the skin both strength and flexibility.

Cashews aid in collagen production.

Pork rinds

Pork rinds are made out of pig skin which are a great source of naturally occurring collagen. When people eat this collagen it can be used to rebuild the body’s collagen.

Pork rinds also have protein and glycine which help create collagen.

Oysters have zinc which is essential for collagen production.

Oysters

Oysters have zinc which is essential to making and repairing collagen. Zinc has the collagen building blocks, glycine and proline and it’s great for skin health and healing.

https://nypost.com/2024/05/03/lifestyle ... -collagen/

Pro tips for turning meh guacamole into great guacamole, for Cinco de Mayo and beyond

What makes the difference between meh guacamole and great guacamole


A recipe for guacamole, served in an avocado shell, appears in New York in June 2019.

Americans have been having a love affair with avocados in recent years. Especially in guacamole.

According to the California Avocado Commission, some 81 million pounds of avocados are consumed in the U.S. during Cinco de Mayo, the annual celebration of Mexican American culture that falls on May 5.

But some guacamoles are disappointing — bland, or watery, or lacking in creaminess. So, what makes the difference between meh guacamole and great guacamole?

“The conversation has to begin with the avocados themselves," says Julian Rodarte, a chef and co-owner of Beto and Son in Dallas, and a guacamole aficionado.

There are hundreds of varieties of avocados, though only a few are commonly available in the U.S. Rodarte says that Mexican Hass avocados (specifically from the Michaocan region of Mexico) are the best avocados for guac, with the highest oil content.

Ivy Stark, chef/owner of the restaurants Mexology and BKLYNwild in New York City, also recommends Hass avocados for guacamole. In general, Hass avocados, which can also come from California and other locales, are denser than the larger varieties, creamier and richer in flavor. Avocados with more water in the flesh will break down more quickly, especially when blended with the other ingredients.

To check the ripeness of the fruit (we all know avocado is a fruit, yes?), Rodarte suggests looking for two indicators. First, touch. Gently press the skin and "it will tell you right away if it’s soft.” Second, break off the little piece of stem at the top of the avocado and look at the little navel-like circle underneath. If it’s bright green, the avocado should be ripe. White is under-ripe, and brown is past its prime.

If you need to help your avocados ripen faster, place them in a brown bag or other container with a banana and let them sit for half a day to a day or two. The natural gases emitted by the banana will accelerate the ripening of the avocados.

As for seasonings, Rodarte says, “I eat guacamole for the flavor of the avocados,” so he recommends using a thoughtful, light hand. Fine sea salt is his preference, as it melts into the guac “without interrupting the creaminess with crunchy bits of salt.”

He also feels that lime or lemon juice alone is too assertive and will overwhelm the delicate flavor of avocado. He always adds in some orange juice, too, and sometimes uses orange juice all on its own, liking the natural balance of sweetness and tartness.

Rodarte recommends mashing the avocados with the seasonings until creamy, and then folding in the other ingredients so they don’t break down and make the guacamole watery.

Both Rodarte and Stark recommend using a mortar and pestle to mash the avocados. Rodarte aims for a “whipped butter consistency” while Stark describes her ideal consistency as “soft and chunky.” For those of us who don’t have a mortar and pestle in the kitchen, Rodarte says a fork is fine, too.

Both Rodarte and Stark recommend using a mortar and pestle to mash the avocados. Rodarte aims for a “whipped butter consistency” while Stark describes her ideal consistency as “soft and chunky.” For those of us who don’t have a mortar and pestle in the kitchen, Rodarte says a fork is fine, too.

He then stirs in chopped meaty tomatoes, with the juice and seeds removed, and recommends a finely minced white or red onion. He adds finely minced or chiffonaded cilantro, but says “a little goes a long way,” so be judicious when adding this strong herb.

Stark thinks cilantro and jalapeños are essential to good guacamole. Rodarte also like the heat of chile peppers in his guacamole, but prefers fresnos or serranos to jalapeños.

Rodarte says the molcajete, or base of the mortar, is the “cast-iron pan of Mexico,” taking on flavors from different ingredients over the years.

“Nothing will ever taste like a dish made using your abuelita’s mortar and pestle, with years of gradual seasoning," he says.

Rodarte does play with more non-traditional ingredients, too. He’s used chili crunch as a finisher, blended in yuzu ponzu sauce, and added a few drops of toasted sesame oil in some versions of guacamole.

Stark offers many twists on guacamole, playing with tropical fruits and berries. She also likes to make versions with shrimp, crab and lobster, and at Mexology they offer a guac with pomegranate seeds and toasted pepitas.

As for the challenge of storing guacamole without it browning, both chefs recommend pressing plastic wrap right on top of it to minimize oxidation. Rodarte also suggests brushing the top of the guacamole with a bit of oil to seal it from exposure to the air.

Keep the guac in the fridge, and if there is some browning, Stark says to just scrape a thin layer from the top before serving.

If I know I'm making the guacamole to serve later, I hold back on adding the lime juice to the recipe. I blend everything up, then pour the lime juice over the top, using it to “seal” the top of the guac, and then stir it in just before serving. The proportions will still be perfect, and you will have avoided the browning.

Consider serving guacamole in scooped-out avocado shells. They might be a little wobbly, but you can nestle the shells in a bed of tortilla chips for more stability.

The following guacamole recipe is inspired by Rodarte’s tips:

CLASSIC GUACAMOLE

Ingredients:

2 ripe Hass avocados, preferably from Mexico

Fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

2 teaspoons fresh lime or lemon juice

2 teaspoons fresh orange juice

⅓ cup minced red or white onion

1 Roma tomato (cored, seeded, and chopped; about 1/2 cup)

½ to 1 teaspoon minced seeded serrano or Fresno pepper

½ to 1 teaspoon minced fresh cilantro

Directions:

Cut the avocados in half, remove the pits, and use a knife to cut the avocado flesh into chunks right in the skin, cutting in one direction and then crosswise in a grid-like fashion. Use a spoon to scoop out all of the flesh into a medium-size bowl. Mash with a fork, or use a mortar and pestle. Blend in the salt, pepper and citrus juices.

Add the onion, tomato, chile pepper and cilantro and gently fold into the avocado until well blended. Taste, then adjust the seasonings.

You can serve the guacamole with tortilla chips or use on tacos, burritos, quesadillas or other dishes.

Blacksburg volunteers rescue hunting dogs from cave
Source: Richmond Times-Dispatch

The two hunting dogs had a raccoon in their sights and weren't giving up the chase even when it led them into a cave.

Unfortunately, the lack of light and unfamiliar terrain immobilized them. Their owners worked throughout the night on April 13, and into the night the next day to get the pair — Ruger and Lady — to come out of the cave. Their efforts were to no avail.


Blacksburg Volunteer Rescue Squad's Ellen Crowder is shown with Lady.

On the next morning, Constance Pickel said her husband Jason "went back to the cave with the attitude that he wasn't leaving 'til he brought them home."

He heeded others' advice to call 911. Dispatchers connected him with Smyth County Animal Control.

Chris Bennett, animal control chief, knew specialized help would be required. A call was made to Blacksburg Volunteer Rescue Squad's Cave Rescue Team. Almost immediately, according to a statement, "an alert was sent to start team members toward the station to gather equipment and head to the scene."

In 45 minutes, the team was on its way.

Meanwhile, Constance Pickel said, her husband had taken another hunting dog with him and encouraged it to bark at the cave's entrance to see if Ruger and Lady would respond. Ruger did.

However, "Lady is a young inexperienced dog, and she was not budging," she said.

However, Lady did budge for the team's Ellen Crowder, who entered the cave and made contact with the dog.

Lady was then quickly reunited with her owner and her companion.


Ruger and Lady are back on the hunt.

In their statement, the rescue squad said, "Dogs are people, too — especially in cave rescue."

Constance Pickel acknowledged that while their dogs work, they are family.

Her husband always knew where the dogs were thanks to trackers on their collars.

"They are bred to hunt and live for the hunt," Pickel said. "Just like soldiers on the battlefield, no man will be left behind, and we intended no matter what, we were bringing them out one way or another. We respect our dogs and what they do for us."

"We will always be grateful for Blacksburg Volunteer Rescue Squad and Smyth County Animal Control for helping and letting us know they care as much as we do. Good people do still exist, and it was a blessing seeing them in action, my husband said. We thank the Lord for them and now we have out of this world respect for them and the unexpected ways they serve our communities."

Both agencies, Constance said, "viewed my dogs as important as any other job they are called out on, and that's incredible dedication and love for your community two-legged or four-legged."

Lady and Ruger were quite tired when they made it home, but Constance Pickel said they recovered quickly and "were raising cane come night to go again."

[Zbignieww]

Top Of Ramesses II Statue Was Missing For 94 Years – Archaeologists Just Found It
The surprise find came during the excavation of an ancient city.


The newly discovered portion of the statue may soon be reunited with its lower half.

An international team of archaeologists have unearthed the long-lost upper half of a statue of the Egyptian pharaoh Ramesses II. The discovery comes nearly 100 years since the statue’s lower half was first identified.

In 1930, Günther Roeder, a German archaeologist, unearthed the lower part of a statue that depicted Ramesses II, otherwise known as Ramesses the Great. Ramesses ruled the Nile Valley and the wider Egyptian Empire from 1279 to 1213 BCE, which made him one of the longest ruling pharaohs in history.

The newly discovered statue portion was found by a joint team of Egyptian and American archaeologists from the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and the University of Colorado Boulder. It was recovered while the team were researching the ruins of the ancient city of Hermopolis (present day el-Ashmunin), which is about 150 miles south of Cairo.

The top of the statue is about 3.8 meters long (12.5 feet) and depicts Ramesses in a seated position, wearing a double crown and headdress that shows the royal cobra. When erect (stop it), the complete statue would have stood about 7 meters (23 feet) tall, so the researchers believe.

The statue itself is made of limestone and it has hieroglyphic writings on its back that exalt the Pharaoh.

The excavation at Hermopolis was initially launched to find the religious center that once stood there during the New Kingdom era (otherwise known as the Egyptian Empire), which extended from the 16th century BCE to the 11th century BCE, and lasted until the Roman era (30 BCE to 641 CE).

Along with the recovered statue piece, the researchers also found traces of ancient blue and yellow pigments that they can analyze to gain more insights into the statue and when it was created.

“It will be quite exciting to have a scientific analysis of the pigment,” Yvona Trnka-Amrhein, assistant professor of classics at the University of Colorado Boulder, expressed in a statement.

It is possible that the soil samples that were mixed in with the pigment can offer even more information about the history of the area.

Ramesses II is one of the few Egyptian pharaohs known to non-experts in the Western world. He was a source of inspiration for Percy Bysshe Shelley’s Ozymandias sonnet, was played by Yul Brynner in the film The Ten Commandments, and was voiced by Ralph Fiennes in the animation The Prince of Egypt.

Now that the top half of the statue has been recovered, Trnka-Amrhein's colleague Basem Gehad, with the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, has submitted a proposal to reunite them. However, it is currently unclear where the completed statue will be placed if the proposal is approved. It will likely remain at the site or be placed in a museum.

https://www.iflscience.com/top-of-rames ... d-it-74065