[BigGlen]

July 27 is the 208th day of the year (209th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar; 157 days remain until the end of the year.



Pre-1600
1054 – Siward, Earl of Northumbria, invades Scotland and defeats Macbeth, King of Scotland somewhere north of the Firth of Forth.
1189 – Friedrich Barbarossa arrives at Niš, the capital of Serbian King Stefan Nemanja, during the Third Crusade.
1202 – Georgian–Seljuk wars: At the Battle of Basian the Kingdom of Georgia defeats the Sultanate of Rum.
1214 – Battle of Bouvines: Philip II of France decisively defeats Imperial, English and Flemish armies, effectively ending John of England's Angevin Empire.
1299 – According to Edward Gibbon, Osman I invades the territory of Nicomedia for the first time, usually considered to be the founding day of the Ottoman state.
1302 – Battle of Bapheus: Decisive Ottoman victory over the Byzantines opening up Bithynia for Turkish conquest.
1549 – The Jesuit priest Francis Xavier's ship reaches Japan.

1601-1900
1663 – The English Parliament passes the second Navigation Act requiring that all goods bound for the American colonies have to be sent in English ships from English ports. After the Acts of Union 1707, Scotland would be included in the Act.
1689 – Glorious Revolution: The Battle of Killiecrankie is a victory for the Jacobites.[1]
1694 – A Royal charter is granted to the Bank of England.
1714 – The Great Northern War: The first significant victory of the Russian Navy in the naval battle of Gangut against the Swedish Navy near the Hanko Peninsula.[2]
1775 – Founding of the U.S. Army Medical Department: The Second Continental Congress passes legislation establishing "an hospital for an army consisting of 20,000 men."
1778 – American Revolution: First Battle of Ushant: British and French fleets fight to a standoff.
1789 – The first U.S. federal government agency, the Department of Foreign Affairs, is established (it will be later renamed Department of State).
1794 – French Revolution: Maximilien Robespierre is arrested after encouraging the execution of more than 17,000 "enemies of the Revolution".
1816 – Seminole Wars: The Battle of Negro Fort ends when a hot shot cannonball fired by US Navy Gunboat No. 154 explodes the fort's Powder Magazine, killing approximately 275. It is considered the deadliest single cannon shot in US history.
1857 – Indian Rebellion: Sixty-eight men hold out for eight days against a force of 2,500 to 3,000 mutinying sepoys and 8,000 irregular forces.
1865 – Welsh settlers arrive at Chubut in Argentina.
1866 – The first permanent transatlantic telegraph cable is successfully completed, stretching from Valentia Island, Ireland, to Heart's Content, Newfoundland.
1880 – Second Anglo-Afghan War: Battle of Maiwand: Afghan forces led by Mohammad Ayub Khan defeat the British Army in battle near Maiwand, Afghanistan.
1890 – Vincent van Gogh shoots himself and dies two days later.
1900 – Kaiser Wilhelm II makes a speech comparing Germans to Huns; for years afterwards, "Hun" would be a disparaging name for Germans.

1901-present
1917 – World War I: The Allies reach the Yser Canal at the Battle of Passchendaele.
1919 – The Chicago Race Riot erupts after a racial incident occurred on a South Side beach, leading to 38 fatalities and 537 injuries over a five-day period.
1921 – Researchers at the University of Toronto, led by biochemist Frederick Banting, prove that the hormone insulin regulates blood sugar.
1922 – The Parliament of Finland passed a law about illegitimate children, which appointed Finnish municipalities to monitor the interests of unmarried mothers and their children.[3]
1929 – The Geneva Convention of 1929, dealing with treatment of prisoners-of-war, is signed by 53 nations.
1940 – The animated short A Wild Hare is released, introducing the character of Bugs Bunny.
1942 – World War II: Allied forces successfully halt the final Axis advance into Egypt.
1947 – In Vatican City, Rome, canonization of Catherine Labouré, the saint whose apparitions of the Virgin Mary originated the worldwide diffusion of the Miraculous Medal.[4][5]
1949 – Initial flight of the de Havilland Comet, the first jet-powered airliner.
1953 – Cessation of hostilities is achieved in the Korean War when the United States, China, and North Korea sign an armistice agreement. Syngman Rhee, President of South Korea, refuses to sign but pledges to observe the armistice.
1955 – The Austrian State Treaty restores Austrian sovereignty.
1955 – El Al Flight 402 is shot down by two fighter jets after straying into Bulgarian air space. All 58 people onboard are killed.
1959 – The Continental League is announced as baseball's "3rd major league" in the United States.
1964 – Vietnam War: Five thousand more American military advisers are sent to South Vietnam bringing the total number of United States forces in Vietnam to 21,000.
1974 – Watergate scandal: The House of Representatives Judiciary Committee votes 27 to 11 to recommend the first article of impeachment (for obstruction of justice) against President Richard Nixon.
1975 – Mayor of Jaffna and former MP Alfred Duraiappah is shot dead.
1981 – While landing at Chihuahua International Airport, Aeromexico Flight 230 overshoots the runway. Thirty-two of the 66 passengers and crew on board the DC-9 are killed.[6]
1983 – Black July: Eighteen Tamil political prisoners at the Welikada high security prison in Colombo are massacred by Sinhalese prisoners, the second such massacre in two days.
1989 – While attempting to land at Tripoli International Airport in Libya, Korean Air Flight 803 crashes just short of the runway. Seventy-five of the 199 passengers and crew and four people on the ground are killed, in the second accident involving a DC-10 in less than two weeks, the first being United Airlines Flight 232.
1990 – The Supreme Soviet of the Belarusian Soviet Republic declares independence of Belarus from the Soviet Union. Until 1996 the day is celebrated as the Independence Day of Belarus; after a referendum held that year the celebration of independence is moved to June 3.
1990 – The Jamaat al Muslimeen attempt a coup d'état in Trinidad and Tobago.
1995 – The Korean War Veterans Memorial is dedicated in Washington, D.C.
1996 – In Atlanta, United States, a pipe bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park during the 1996 Summer Olympics.
1997 – About 50 people are killed in the Si Zerrouk massacre in Algeria.
2002 – Ukraine airshow disaster: A Sukhoi Su-27 fighter crashes during an air show at Lviv, Ukraine killing 77 and injuring more than 500 others, making it the deadliest air show disaster in history.
2005 – After an incident during STS-114, NASA grounds the Space Shuttle, pending an investigation of the continuing problem with the shedding of foam insulation from the external fuel tank.
2015 – At least seven people are killed and many injured after gunmen attack an Indian police station in Punjab.
2016 – At a news conference, U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump expresses the hope that Russians can recover thirty thousand emails that were deleted from Hillary Clinton's personal server.[7]

[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
WEDNESDAY JULY 28
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]

A Huge Meteor Lights Up Norway's Night Sky

You might be well aware of the Northern Lights that light up the Norwegian sky. But this Sunday, a huge fireball lit up the night sky, although, just for a few seconds. Residents in the northern part of the country woke up to a powerful shock wave that broke open windows and doors but no other major damage was reported.

Norwegians have been left awestruck by a bright meteor that illuminated the night sky in the country's south-east.


Click on the picture to see the video

Footage shows powerful flashes of light over Norway, followed by what witnesses described as loud bangs on Sunday.

Norwegian police say they received a flurry of emergency calls but there were no reports of injuries or damage.

A team of experts are hunting for the meteorite, which they believe landed in a forest near the capital, Oslo. A meteor is a space rock that burns brightly after entering Earth's atmosphere at high speed. It becomes known as a meteorite if it survives its passage to the ground.

The Norwegian Meteor Network says Sunday's fireball was visible for at least five seconds after it appeared at about 01:00 local time (23:00 GMT). Travelling at about 16.3km/s (nearly 36,500mph), the meteor could be seen over large parts of southern Scandinavia, the network says.

Norwegian astronomer Vegard Rekaa has told the BBC his wife was awake at the time. She could hear "shaking in the air" before an explosion she assumed was something heavy falling near the house.

Mr Rekaa woke up, he said, to "fantastic" videos of the meteor, which was "something very seldom seen" in Norway or anywhere in the world. A team of experts have been sent to the area where the meteor is suspected to have landed, he added. Initial research suggests thespace rock may have hit the ground in a wooded area called Finnemarka, about 60km (40 miles) west of Oslo.



One group of campers reported "a large explosion just above their heads", Mr Rekaa said. A female camper told him of seeing the fireball from a short distance but thinking it was her friends playing a trick on her.

Analysis of the meteor suggests it could have weighed at least 10kg (22lb). While not astonishingly large, the meteor was special because so many people either heard or saw it, Mr Rekaa said.

His colleague at the Norwegian Meteor Network, Morten Bilet, was among the witnesses. He told Reuters news agency the meteor had probably hit our solar system's asteroid belt as it was travelling between Mars and Jupiter. Mr Bilet described it as a "spooky" event, rather than a dangerous one.

Such meteor strikes are rare, but one did cause widespread damage and injure at least 1,600 people when it crashed down in Russia's Ural Mountains in 2013.

Source

[Zbignieww]

Behold the ‘Borg’: Massive DNA Structures Perplex Scientists
Researchers say they have discovered unique and exciting DNA strands in the mud; others are not sure of their novelty



The Borg have landed—or, at least, researchers have discovered their counterparts here on Earth. Scientists analysing samples from muddy sites in the western United States have found novel DNA structures that seem to scavenge and ‘assimilate’ genes from microorganisms in their environment, much like the fictional Star Trek ‘Borg’ aliens who assimilate the knowledge and technology of other species.

These extra-long DNA strands, which the scientists named in honour of the aliens, join a diverse collection of genetic structures—circular plasmids, for example—known as extrachromosomal elements (ECEs). Most microbes have one or two chromosomes that encode their primary genetic blueprint. But they can host, and often share between them, many distinct ECEs. These carry non-essential but useful genes, such as those for antibiotic resistance.

Borgs are a previously unknown, unique and “absolutely fascinating” type of ECE, says Jill Banfield, a geomicrobiologist at the University of California, Berkeley. She and her colleagues describe their discovery of the structures in a preprint posted to the server bioRxiv. The work is yet to be peer-reviewed.

UNLIKE ANYTHING SEEN BEFORE

Borgs are DNA structures “not like any that’s been seen before”, says Brett Baker, a microbiologist at the University of Texas at Austin. Other scientists agree that the find is exciting, but have questioned whether Borgs really are unique, noting similarities between them and other large ECEs.

In recent years “people have become used to surprises in the field of ECEs”, says Huang Li, a microbiologist at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing. “However, the discovery of Borgs, which undoubtedly enriches the concept of ECEs, has fascinated many in the field.”

Their vast size, ranging between more than 600,000 and about 1 million DNA base pairs in length, is one feature that distinguishes Borgs from many other ECEs. In fact, Borgs are so huge that they are up to one-third of the length of the main chromosome in their host microbes, Banfield says.

Banfield studies how microbes influence the carbon cycle—including the production and degradation of methane, a potent greenhouse gas—and, in October 2019, she and her colleagues went hunting for ECEs containing genes involved in the carbon cycle in Californian wetlands. There, they found the first Borgs and later identified 19 different types from this and similar sites in Colorado and California.

Borgs seem to be associated with archaea, which are single-celled microorganisms distinct from bacteria. Specifically, those Banfield and her team have discovered are linked to the Methanoperedens variety, which digest and destroy methane. And Borg genes seem to be involved in this process, says Banfield.

Scientists can’t yet culture Methanoperedens in the laboratory—an ongoing challenge for many microbes—so the team’s conclusions that Borgs might be used by the archaea for methane processing are based on sequence data alone.

“They’ve made an interesting observation,” says systems biologist Nitin Baliga, at the Institute for Systems Biology in Seattle, Washington. But he cautions that when researchers sift through fragments of many genomes and piece them together, as Banfield’s team has done, it’s possible to make errors. Finding Borgs in cultured Methanoperedens will be necessary for the finding to be considered definitive, he adds.

COSTS AND BENEFITS
Assuming Borgs are real, maintaining such a massive ECE would be costly for Methanoperedens, Banfield and colleagues say, so the DNA structures must provide some benefit. To learn what that might be, the researchers analysed the sequences of hundreds of Borg genes and compared them with known genes.

Borgs seem to house many genes needed for entire metabolic processes, including digesting methane, says Banfield. She describes these collections as “a toolbox” that might super-charge the abilities of Methanoperedens.

So what makes a Borg a Borg? In addition to their remarkable size, Borgs share several structural features: they’re linear, not circular as many ECEs are; they have mirrored repetitive sequences at each end of the strand; and they have many other repetitive sequences both within and between the presumptive genes.

Individually, these features of Borgs can overlap with those seen in other large ECEs, such as elements in certain salt-loving archaea, so Baliga says the novelty of Borgs is still debatable at this stage. Borgs also resemble giant linear plasmids found in soil-dwelling Actinobacteria, says Julián Rafael Dib, a microbiologist at the Pilot Plant for Microbiological Industrial Processes in Tucumán, Argentina.

Banfield counters that although the individual features of Borgs have been seen before, “the size, combination and metabolic gene load” is what makes them different. She speculates that they were once entire microbes, and were assimilated by Methanoperedens in much the same way that eukaryotic cells gained energy-generating mitochondria by assimilating free-living bacteria.

Now that scientists know what to look for, they might find more Borgs by sifting through old data, says Baker, who used to work in Banfield's lab. He thinks he might already have discovered some candidates in his own genetic database since the preprint was posted.

RESISTANCE IS FUTILE
When analysing the Borg genome, Banfield and colleagues also saw features suggesting that Borgs have assimilated genes from diverse sources, including the main Methanoperedens chromosome, Banfield says. This potential to ‘assimilate’ genes led her son to propose the name ‘Borg’ over Thanksgiving dinner in 2020.

Banfield’s team is now investigating the function of Borgs and the role of their DNA repeats. Repeats are important to microbes: differently-structured repeats called CRISPR are snippets of genetic code from viruses that microbes incorporate into their own DNA to ‘remember’ the pathogens so they can defend against them in the future.

CRISPR and its associated proteins have been a boon for biotechnology because they have been adapted into a powerful gene-editing technique—hinting that Borg genomes might also yield useful tools. “It could be as important and interesting as CRISPR, but I think it’s going to be a new thing,” says Banfield, who is collaborating on future investigations with her preprint co-author, Jennifer Doudna, a pioneer of CRISPR-based gene editing at the University of California.

One potential application that the researchers see for Borgs could be as an aid in the fight against climate change. Fostering the growth of microbes containing them could, perhaps, cut down the methane emissions generated by soil-dwelling archaea, which add up to about 1 gigatonne globally each year. It would be risky to do this in natural wetlands, Banfield says, but it might be appropriate at agricultural sites. So, as a first step, her group is now hunting Borgs in Californian rice paddies.

https://www.scientificamerican.com/arti ... cientists/

[Fatima99]

Party with pigs at bonkers music festival raising cash to 'save their bacon'

The pigs at the sanctuary In Huddersfield are said to love jazz, rap and classical music with the event raising funds to help abused animals, so go pig or go home!



A vegan music festival is gearing up for a weekend of live entertainment in a rather unusual venue.

And it’s a ‘world first’, because the entertainment isn’t just for humans - but pigs too!

The Orchard Pig Gig is set to be held this weekend at Pigs in the Woods sanctuary, in Huddersfield, offering a totally one-of-a-kind opportunity, reports 2Chill.

The vegan-friendly event aims to raise funds for the protection of abused and abandoned pigs - so quite literally, saving their bacon.

During the unique event, the pigs - who are said to enjoy jazz, rap and classical music, will be free to roam and interact with ticket holders.



Russell Haggata, operations director and chairman at Pigs in The Wood, said: “Our pigs are one of a kind and love to socialise and dance to music.

"They can’t wait for this year's Orchard Pig Gig. Our sanctuary wouldn’t exist without the generosity of donations, and we’re aiming to raise over £50,000 to improve the facilities for our pigs, so that everyone can experience the joy these animals can bring.”

The festival will be held in the 10-acre pig sanctuary, with a selection of vegan street food and local artists.

The rescue pigs will be free to roam around the festival and interact with revellers

The festival hopes to raise awareness and education around ‘micro pigs’, and people selling pigs as pets.

A spokesperson for the festival said: “Currently, there is no legislation that protects pigs as pets. Many are duped into buying ‘micro-pigs’ (a breed that doesn’t exist) to soon discover they are, in fact, piglets that are set to grow - and grow! This misleading con means more pigs end up in the slaughterhouse.

“The Orchard Pig Gig aims to raise funds to support the Pigs in the Woods sanctuary and, more importantly, to drive awareness around the growing number of abused and mistreated pigs that deserve a better life and a forever home.”

Tickets to the festival, running from July 31 to August 1, cost £22 , with sales supporting the pig sanctuary to fund their ongoing work and education.

I dunno about jazz but my pigs used to love a Kit-Kat (other chocolate bars are available)

[prokroustis]

The Greek Village that Boasts the True Descendants of the Spartans



There is a Greek village in Mani, on the Peloponnesian peninsula, called Neochori where all the residents boast that they are true descendants of the Spartans.

While Maniots claim their ancestors were natives to the southeastern part of Peloponnese even before Sparta became a famed city-state, the ties between Sparta and Mani have been continuous since historical antiquity.

Ancient Maniots were both slaves and landowners who paid 50 percent of their agricultural products as a tithe, or tax, to Sparta. In the wealthier areas of outer and lower Mani, the landowners had helots (slaves) as well.

The close ties of ancient Maniots and Spartans are also demonstrated by the common worship of certain deities. The Spartans not only respected the traditional religious ceremonies of the Maniots, but also adopted them.

The Sparta descendants of Neochori

In an earlier BBC report in the Neochori village of Mani, former coffee shop owner Giorgos Oikonomeas — who never left his birthplace — claimed that the villagers are true descendants of the brave Spartans.

“If you want to get a taste of what life would have been like in Ancient Sparta, look no further,” he told the reporter. “We are as Spartan as can be.”

To further prove his point, the 86-year-old Maniot, whose physique still suggests that he could jump onto the battlefield at any moment, served the reporter a lalangi, a crispy strip of dough deep-fried in olive oil.

Oikonomeas explained that the lalangi is named after Lelegas, the first king of Sparta, who asked that lalangi should be prepared for his army, then became a staple for all Spartans.

“Maniots are descendants of the ancient Spartans,” Oikonomeas said flatly, recalling his mother feeding him boiled eggs to make him strong to continue the family tradition.

Spartans and Maniots
During the Hellenistic period, the Mani peninsula remained controlled by the Spartans. The Macedonians under the command of King Philip V tried to invade Mani and the rest of Laconia during 219 BC — 218 BC, but failed.

When Nabis took over the Spartan throne in 207 BC, he implemented some democratic reforms. In 195 BC, during the Roman-Spartan War, the Romans — allied with the Achaean League — captured the important port of Gythium after a lengthy siege.

The allies then went on to besiege Sparta and tried to force Nabis to surrender. As part of the terms of the peace treaty, the coastal cities of Mani were forced to become autonomous.

The cities formed the “Koinon of Free Laconians” with Gythium as the capital under the Achaean League’s protection. Nabis built a fleet and strengthened his army and advanced upon Gythium in 192 BC.

The Nabis forces defeated the Achaean League’s army and navy under Philopoemen off Gythium, forcing the Achaean League army to retreat to Tegea.

After that, a Roman fleet under Atilius managed to re-capture Gythium a few months later. Nabis was murdered later that year and Sparta was then made part of the Achaean League.

Man left mortified after doorbell camera catches him insulting girlfriend's dad

Meeting your partner's family is always a huge step in any relationship - and one that could potentially make or break it.

You never get a second chance at a first impression, so it's usually wise to be on your best behaviour to begin with as failing to get the nod of approval from your partner's loved ones can make things very tricky moving forward.

And one man learned that lesson the hard way when he arrived at the house of his girlfriend's dad and made a cheeky remark - before his face dropped in terror when he spotted the doorbell camera.

TikTok user Corighteous uploaded the painfully awkward clip, captioning it 'When you realise her dad has a doorbell cam', and it's racked up more than 2.4 million views as viewers experienced second-hand embarrassment just watching it.


The clip, taken on the camera which starts recording automatically when it detects movement outside the front of the home, shows the man in a cap and orange jumper walking up to the front door while on a phone call.

He can be heard saying: "Alright, well, yeah, I gotta go meet this d***head so", before he instantly realises his huge blunder by looking directly into the camera, mumbling "Uhhh god damn it" and making a swift move to get out of its line of sight.

Hundreds of viewers took to the comments to offer their opinions, although it might not have been what the man wanted to hear, as one wrote: "I hope you just turned around and went home because that was it for dad, I can promise you that."

A second said: "My dad would greet him by pumping his shotgun."

A third warned: "Dad digging a hole out back already."

And another added: "OMG you'd be single SO fast if this were me. Luckily my guy has respect."

Pimp my ride: The psychedelic world of Indian truck art

Sheena McKenzie, for CNN •

11/18

(CNN) — If you're going to spend 10 months of the year on the road, you'd want a pretty sweet ride.
For truckers in India, that means a kaleidoscope of colors, slogans, and intricately painted symbols that are as much about bling -- as shrewd business sense.

Here, a truck isn't just a way to get around. It's a moving work of art reflecting the character of its driver -- and a brilliant beacon for new customers.

"A better looking truck attracts more business," says Shantanu Suman, graphic designer and filmmaker behind 2013 documentary "Horn Please," which explores India's spectacular truck art tradition.
"Imagine the truck is like a moving billboard. It travels from one side of the country to the other, carrying the message of the truck driver and owner."

Home on wheels
In a nation spanning almost four million square kilometers, truck drivers are the ones quite literally keeping the Indian economy moving -- delivering goods to rural parts of the country inaccessible by railway.
It's a job which entails long months on the road, and these hefty vehicles transformed into mobile homes away from home, kitted out with bunk beds and photos of loved ones far away.
For trucks drivers in India, their vehicle is a home away from home.

"Since they're missing their kids and wives, they like to decorate their trucks with ornaments to remind them of home," explained Suman.
"They might adorn the cabin with bangles -- things that remind them of their wives."

Spectacular symbolism
The symbolism continues on the richly painted exterior, with images of gods and goddesses, Bollywood stars, and political logos that say much about the person behind the wheel.

"Depending on which region they're from, you'll see Hindi, Muslim, Sikh, and Christian iconography," said photographer Dan Eckstein, who traveled over 10,000kms of the country for his book "Horn Please: The Decorated Trucks of India."

"There's also a lot of decoration that has to do with luck on the road and warning away bad omens. There's a little demon face they put on the front of the truck, or they might tie shoes to the bottom which is meant to keep away the evil eye."

Horn Please
Come face-to-face with the luminous rear end of one of these trucks, and you'll also likely see the words "Horn Please" emblazoned across the back.
It's a call for other drivers to honk their horns when overtaking the truck; a long-standing tradition on Indian roads.
But whether the tradition of truck art itself will continue, is less certain.
Truck artist Raja Gharu works his magic.

"Truck painting is now undergoing a transformation. A lot of things that were once hand painted are now being replaced by stickers," explained Suman.

"Some of these truck artists who have been carrying forward this profession for generations, now don't want their kids to do it because they realize the hardship. They say: 'I want my kids to go to collage and work in an air-conditioned office, rather than be here in the sun painting trucks all day.'"
That said, it's still a skill both artist and driver take huge pride in -- and the journey isn't over yet.

[PennySerenade]

Monarch butterflies are triumphantly taking over Toronto again this summer, with lots of nature lovers eagerly snapping photos of the beautiful black, white and orange creatures.

Monarch butterflies migrate in late summer and fall from North America to winter in Mexico. In the process, they travel thousands of kilometres, and can travel 80 kilometres in a single day.

In Canada, Monarch butterflies are most abundant in Quebec and Ontario where breeding habitats and the milkweed plants they feed on are plentiful.



Monarch sightings for 2021 in Toronto first started around April, but by June and then into late July sightings have exploded. It's great that we're seeing lots of these butterflies, as Monarchs are on the list of species at risk in Ontario. Monarchs in their caterpillar and butterfly form have been spotted in areas of Toronto like High Park and the Music Gardens.



Sightings aren't just about fun and pretty photos: recording sightings is actually one of the things you can do to help protect monarch butterflies, and being specific about location and even mapping coordinates is even better.

Other things you can do include making sure your lawn and garden are pesticide-free, and volunteering with local parks or nature clubs to participate in surveys or stewardship work.



If we want to continue to take pretty pictures of Monarchs and see them flock in breathtaking clouds of thousands during their migrations along Lake Ontario, there are things we can all do to help these fragile insects.

[lush]

Villagers Hand-Carve 1.2Km Mountain Tunnel to Connect Their Home to the Outside World
July 27th, 2021 *

The Guoliang Tunnel connecting the clifftop village of Guoliang, in China’s Henan province, to the outside world was carved by hand using basic tools like chisels and hammers, and is now referred to as the eight wonder of the world.

For centuries, the people of Guoliang, a small Chinese village perched atop a cliff in the Taihang Mountains, were virtually cut off from the outside world. The only way in and out of the village was the “Sky Ladder,” 720 steps carved into the mountains during the Song Dynasty (960-1279). This made it extremely hard to get things in and out of the village, so most of the 300 or so inhabitants considered moving away in search of a better, easier life. However, everything changed in 1972, when the village council decided to carve a tunnel through the mountains to finally connect Guoliang to the outside world.


Photo: Fang Chen/Flickr

“It was a tough life. Commodities from the outside world could not reach the village, and our fresh farm products could not be transported to other places,” 72-year-old villager Song Baoqun told Xinhua. “We had to limit the weight of pigs to 50 or 60 kg; otherwise it would be difficult to carry them down the mountain.”

Guoliang struggled economically because of its isolation, but the toughest challenge by far was getting a sick person to the hospital in time. If someone fell ill, eight people had to carry a stretcher down the mountain using the “Sky Ladder”, and then undertake a four-hour journey to the nearest hospital. Something had to change.

Despite having any experience or engineering knowledge, 13 of the strongest villagers in Guoliang volunteered to start work on the mountain tunnel. Using only rudimentary tools like chisels and hammers, they lowered themselves on the sides of the Taihang Mountains using ropes, and carved into the rock inch by inch. At the most difficult stage, the tunnel progressed at a rate of one meter every three days, but the important thing is no one gave up.

As the tunnel started to take shape, more villagers joined the fray, and within five years the 1,250-meter-lomg Guoliang Tunnel was completed. For the first time ever, the secluded village of Guoliang could be accessed by car, and that changed everything.

“In the past, hungry villagers envied those living on the plains. Now nobody wants to leave this clifftop village. We feel good about our home,” local man Shen Heshan said.

Soon after the impressive hand-carved tunnel was completed, Guoliang went from being a small village virtually no one even knew existed, to a bustling tourist destination. Located at 1,700 meters above sea level, it offers some stunning natural vistas, but it’s the tunnel that attracts most visitors.

Xinhua reported that entrance ticket sales in Guoliang reached 120 million yuan (about 17 million dollars) in 2018, and locals who once struggled to fill their bellies, are now business owners investing in hotels and other amenities for tourists. And it was all because of 13 brave men who proved that nothing is impossible.

Also known as the “Long Corridor in Cliffs”, the Guoliang Tunnel is considered one of the most dangerous roads to drive on, mostly because of how narrow and twisty it is. In reality, though, there is little risk of driving over the edge of the mountain.

[click image to play video]


The hand-carved Guoliang tunnel is reminiscent of another epic project – the Chinese man who spent 36 years digging a 10-kilometer-long water canal through three mountains, in order to bring water to his village.

[mrvictor]

This Beloved Alaskan Fish has the Lowest Carbon Footprint of Any Major Protein in the World



Off the pristine waters of Alaska, there is a harvest of an almost magical fish that everyone loves, but that maybe doesn’t get the recognition it deserves.

For those who believe their dietary choices should account for the impact on climate, the choice is clear, and it isn’t fake meat, but rather Wild Alaskan pollock which has the lowest carbon footprint of any major protein source in the world.

The finding, based on a life-cycle assessment (LCA) by the leading sustainability consultancy firm Quantis, is staggering, because when we say major, we mean major.

Wild Alaskan pollock is the world’s largest sustainable wild-caught fishery, and the Association of Genuine Alaskan Pollock Producers (GAPP) produce more wild caught fish for consumption than any other single fishery in the world at 3.3 billion pounds per year.

It is the most consumed whitefish in Europe, and the third most consumed fish in the U.S.

Staggeringly, pollock from Alaska provides for the entire world’s supply of McDonald’s filet-of-fish sandwiches, as well as the bulk supply of beloved European processed fish products like fish fingers in England, schlemmer-filets in Germany, and kibling in the Netherlands.

Furthermore, pollock is the number-one source for surimi, or imitation crab, in Asia and most of the world’s sushi and hotpot restaurants, having cornered the market for products like kamabuko—fish balls for traditional Chinese hotpot—and the California roll.

Astonishingly all this supply and demand, all 3.3 billion pounds of it, can be achieved annually with 15% of the total stock of fish.

“It schools in volumes that are really unmatched in the world, in any other ocean,” says GAPP CEO Craig Morris. “It schools in what we call very clean biomass. There’s very little bycatch—far less than 1% of what we catch is not what we’re fishing for.”

“It’s a fishery that learned from the challenges some of the other fisheries around the world faced. When we started fishing for Alaska pollock 40 years ago, we had to be more efficient than other fisheries because [it] doesn’t school off major population centers.”

https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/this-fi ... the-world/

[BigGlen]

Workers digging well in back yard find world's largest sapphire cluster



July 28 (UPI) -- Authorities in Sri Lanka said workers in a man's back yard made a stunning discovery -- the world's largest star sapphire cluster.

Local authorities in the Ratnapura area said the stone, known as the Serendipity Sapphire, was found by workers digging a well in the back yard of a man identified only by the surname Gamage.

"The person who was digging the well alerted us about some rare stones. Later, we stumbled upon this huge specimen," Gamage told the BBC.



The cluster weighs in at about 1,124 pounds -- or 2.5 million carats.

Gamage, a gem trader, said some stones that came loose from the cluster were tested and confirmed to be high-quality star sapphires.

Ratnapura translates to "city of gems" in Sinhalese. The city is known as the gem capital of Sri Lanka.

Experts said the cluster could be worth up to $100 million on the international market.

Bird watcher goes viral and the internet can't get enough of his blue tits (I couldn't resist. I'm basically a 12yr old teen)

Twitcher John Chadwick, 43, live streams footage from inside his birdbox, showing a family of blue tits, and he gets over 41m hits a month from viewers around the world

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7EPJEg6R3SM



A twitcher has gone viral after setting up a camera inside his bird box to capture a family of blue tits - and now gets 41 million hits a month.

John Chadwick, 43, started live-streaming footage of the birds with their chicks so his family could watch their progress before they flew the nest.

He bought his bird box on a whim in lockdown and set it up in the garden of his home in Loughborough, Leicestershire, and soon a family of birds had moved in.

He filmed them, and just weeks after uploading the videos to YouTube he racked up more than 41 million views from around the world - and his fans can't get enough.



John said: "It's gone a little bit bonkers.

"I only wanted to show my neighbours, friends, nieces and nephews what the birds were up to. I had no idea the films would attract such interest.

"To think that literally tens of millions of people have been avidly watching the birds from around the world is just incredible and quite overwhelming."



The sound engineer, who has toured with Aerosmith and Ringo Starr, said that his videos are mostly watched by people in America and India with UK audiences accounting for just five per cent of his total views.

He continued: "Within a day the birds moved in I wanted to know what was going on inside.

"I'd learnt how to live stream to help my local pub do their open mic and over lockdown, and in February I bought a bird box camera.



"I started to live stream and do a highlights video every day and on the first day 100 people watched it. It showed things like the chicks being fed in the nests as the parents carried in caterpillars.

"Daily highlights continued and about three days before the chicks fledged I hit 100 subscribers which was great.

"After three months of doing three hours editing a night of 15 hours of daily footage I had 2,000 subscribers.

"I decided to put a final video together and keep it as short as possible of the birds going into the nests, the eggs hatching and the chicks fledging.



"I put that up on June 7 and by Thursday 100,000 people had watched it and by Saturday I had five million views.

"I went to a barbecue on Saturday afternoon and when I came back I had two million more.

"In the first week I had done 10 million and now more than 41 million

"It is just bizarre."

[goldie0608]

Florida Man Hospitalized After Putting His Hand Inside Jaguar Exhibit at Jacksonville Zoo

The man was not identified. He has non-life threatening injuries and is expected to survive



A Florida man was hospitalized on Wednesday after he jumped over a gate and stuck his hand inside the jaguar exhibit at the Jacksonville Zoo.

The man was not identified, but Jacksonville Fire-Rescue told WJXT that he is in his 20s. He has non-life threatening injuries and is expected to survive.

The incident occurred Wednesday afternoon, when the man scaled a gate at the Range of the Jaguar exhibit.

He then put his hand inside the pen and was clawed by one of the jaguars, the deputy zoo director Dan Maloney told the news station.

One witness explained that the man appeared to be antagonizing the big cats before trying to make contact, WJXT reports.

"This is an individual that wasn't using his head," deputy zoo director Dan Maloney said, adding that luckily the animal was not able to latch onto the man's hand.

Had the cat done so, "it would have been a very different story," Maloney warned.

This is the only time a visitor has been injured since the jaguar exhibit opened 11 years ago, WJXT reports.

Officials reminded zoogoers that it is advised that they do not engage with animals or try to jump over fences put in place for their safety.

The Jacksonville Zoo did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's request for comment.

https://youtu.be/yIV4msZSHyk

[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 JULY 29
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