[FRKJ]

New Fix-It Clinic is Using Zoom and Global Community to Help You Repair Items For Free

How many YouTube tutorials does it take to screw in a lightbulb? One—if that many.



But when you need to fix something that’s beyond your level of DIY expertise, with nearly a bazillion videos offering differing and sometimes conflicting repair advice, it can be hard to know where to turn—or, at least it was until the advent of Fixit Clinic.

With its jaunty motto of “Education, entertainment, empowerment, elucidation, and, ultimately, enlightenment through guided disassembly of your broken stuff,” Fixit Clinic was conceived as a series of in-person events.

Participants brought in various non-working items to get expert guidance. The goal was not only to put the broken stuff to rights but also to help owners understand what made their things tick in the first place.

“Fixit Clinic conveys basic disassembly, troubleshooting, and repair skills using peoples’ own broken things as the vehicle. By sharing these skills while transferring them to others we teach critical thinking through the lens of our relationship to consumption and sustainability. We strive to demystify science and technology so that we can ultimately make better policy choices as a society,” their website explains.

With COVID-19 curtailing most forms of non-essential contact, rather than shut down, Fixit Clinic smoothly shifted gears. The in-person meet-ups have given way to a virtual format that has actually expanded the pool of repair seekers and repair makers exponentially.



The process is fairly simple. After signing up, participants submit their broken items to a “global assembly of community repairers” for troubleshooting tips and suggestions.

Next, the needful things, their owners, and the appropriate Fixit guru or gurus team up in “Zoom breakout rooms to implement the suggestions and, hopefully, fix the items.”

The Fixit Clinic also boasts a Global Fixers Discord Server for synchronous/asynchronous around-the-clock around-the-world repair.

Of course, some things are simply beyond repair. While Fixit Clinic makes no guarantees a broken item brought to them can be made good as new, if nothing else, participants will learn the how and why of what went wrong—all at no cost.

“I did a session with them for my hand-held blender last weekend and they were amazing. It’s all free, of course,” Anya Hart Dyke told The Guardian from her home in Scotland.

While they started out with smaller gadgets, Fixit Clinic can now tackle repairs on larger things including dishwashers, TVs, furniture, and more. To participate in an upcoming Intergalactic Fixit Clinic or set up repair via Discord, click here.

So the moral of this story is: “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” but if it is broke, Fixit Clinic is a great way to go.

[Zbignieww]

Watch: Wild bull moose damages a car with its antlers
In Colorado, a wild bull moose sharpened its antlers on a car.



A wild bull moose decided to sharpen its antlers on a random car out in Boulder County, Colorado, KDVR reports.

· The moment was filmed and shared widely on social media.
· No one was inside the car when the incident happened. The owner of the car returned to the vehicle to find a note from

Chris Devlin, who filmed the incident.
You can view the video here or watch below.

Boulder County Open Space said in a Facebook post that it’s current “rutting season” for moose, so they tend to act a little rude. The season runs until early October for moose.

“It’s rutting season for moose and elk and they’re feeling quite ornery right now! This video was captured yesterday afternoon in the Boulder County foothills.”

https://www.deseret.com/u-s-world/2020/ ... -dangerous

[johngriffen]

I sometimes get REALLY DEPRESSED reviewing the news these days.
It's always about a global pandemic threatening life as we know it,
protests around the world, stupid politicians, natural disasters,
or some other really bad story.
ENOUGH IS ENOUGH

Welcome to The mobi weekly news magazine
IN OTHER NEWS
THURSDAY OCTOBER 15th
What is it?
Here is your chance to become an "ACE REPORTER" for our weekly news magazine.
It is your job to fine weird, funny or "good feel" stories from around the world and share them with our readers in our weekly magazine

How do you play?
Just post a story that you have come across that made you smile, laugh, feel good...
BUT NOTHING DEPRESSING

EXAMPLE POST

​Naked sunbather chases wild boar through park after it steals his laptop bag

A naked sunbather was seen chasing wild boar through a park after it stole his laptop bag.
Amusing photographs from Germany show the man running after the animal to try and claim the plastic bag back.
But the cheeky boar and its two piglets appear to be too quick for the sunbather, who can't keep up with their speedy little trotters.
As the incident unfolds, groups of friends and family sat on the grass watch on and laugh.
Heads are seen turning in surprise and amusement in the hilarious photographs.
The incident happened at Teufelssee Lake - a bathing spot in the Grunwell Forest in Berlin, Germany.

Rules:
Each Edition of IN OTHER NEWS will be open for 7 days...
You may post One Story in any 24 hour period
So in other words, you can enter only once a day
Stories may be accompanied with images - but No big images, please! 800x800 pixels wide maximum
Videos are allowed, but please keep them to under a minute, and post a short summary for those that don't like to click on videos
No Duplicate stories - Where a post has been edited resulting in duplicates, then the last one in time gets disallowed.
And please limit this to reasonably family friendly stories

Reward:
Each news story posted that I feel is acceptable (must be a real story, too few words or simply a headline are not considered acceptable) will earn you 50 WRZ$
If you post multiple stories on any given day, you will only earn 50 WRZ$ for the first story of the Day
Special Bonus - Each week I will award "The Pulitzer Prize" for the best story of the week
The weekly winner of the "The Pulitzer Prize" will receive a 100 WRZ$ bonus
It's just my personal opinion, so my judgement is final

So help bring GOOD news to the members of mobi, and join our reporting team...

IN OTHER NEWS

[Fatima99]

UK insect farm awarded £10m to make sustainable animal feed

A pilot insect farm in London that was featured in Positive News magazine earlier this year has been awarded £10m by the UK government to help it scale up. Tucked away under London Bridge station, Entocycle fattens up insects – black soldier flies – on waste food from local businesses before turning them into animal feed.

Entocycle claims the insects have a significantly smaller carbon footprint than alternative animal feed, such as imported soy, which fuels deforestation in South America.

The £10m will fund a new insect farm outside London, which Entocycle says could process 33,000 tonnes of food waste annually. “The idea is to have hundreds of them across the UK,” founder Keiran Whitaker (pictured), told Positive News. It won’t be a silver bullet, though, he adds. “Ultimately people need to eat less meat.”

[FRKJ]

City Keeps Mysterious Plaques on Park Benches Because People Are Loving the Hilarity

When most people think about guerrilla art, the first thing that likely springs to mind is graffiti.

From daredevils tagging trains to plucky grandmas joining in to paint the bandwagon, street artists around the world are making their mark.

North of the American/Canadian border, an anonymous perpetrator of the genre has been making his or her own quieter contributions in the form of a series of cheeky plaques affixed to the benches in Calgary’s Bowmont Park.

As reported by Global News, the insouciant signage—which includes such irreverent observations as “Benjy, the first hamster to fly solo around the world, took off from this spot in April 1937,” “Nothing of note happened here—or at least that is what they want you to believe” and “Humans first invented fire right here in 1903”—initially fell afoul of the city’s policy on commemorative plaques and graffiti and were removed.

It turned out, however, that the public actually loved the quirky missives and demanded their return.



“As the city, we have to err on the side of caution, but in this case, it was a bit too cautious,” the powers that tweet for the city admitted. “Listening to what’s important to Calgarians is part of our job. If we can make changes for a better outcome, that’s what we’ll do.”

With the signs back in place, everyone seems satisfied, although the city would prefer that in future, the artist would give them a head’s up prior to making any additions to his or her current body of work.

Now the fun’s even spreading to other cities, with Alberta’s other major hub, Edmonton, even getting in on the action.

[HogwartsExpress]

Halloween Fire Decoration Is So Realistic, People Keep Calling 911

A California home is now the hottest thing in Halloween decorating.

Carmen and Travis Long’s fake house fire in their “Pirates of the Caribbean” holiday display is so realistic that people keep calling 911, “ABC World News Now” reported.


https://twitter.com/abcWNN/status/1315939518466449408



Firefighters who responded to the Riverside residence were so impressed with the faux blaze that they high-fived Travis Long and told him “great job,” according to Carmen Long.

Now, hundreds visit the house nightly for the fun of it, LA affiliate KABC noted. The family has taken to alerting the authorities when they turn on the fire effect.

“In California they’re doing this?” an incredulous ABC reporter asked, presumably referring to real fires that have burned millions of acres in the state this year.

Carmen Long said that with the COVID-19 pandemic, the family is glad to “bring a little bit of Halloween joy for everyone.”



Source: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/hallowee ... d033a80370

A day before Hurricane Laura slammed into Louisiana on August 27, Henry “Andy” Roach made one of the hardest decisions of his life. He only had room in his pickup truck for the four adults he needed to evacuate, including his 88-year-old mother, and had no choice but to leave behind his two beloved dogs, Savage, a rescued six-year-old German Shepherd, and Deebo, a two-year-old pit bull who joined the family as a puppy.

“I have a 360-sq.-ft. shop on my property and left them access to it for shelter,” explains Andy, a 51-year-old Iraq War veteran and former paramedic from Sulphur, Louisiana, which is only 30 miles north of where Hurricane Laura made landfall. “My backyard is fully fenced, and I made sure they had food and water.”

Andy and his family drove 93 miles to a temporary shelter in Tioga, Louisiana, where they could safely ride out the hurricane, one of the strongest to ever hit the Louisiana coast.

Getting Good News
The day after the storm, one of Andy’s neighbors texted him photos of his home.

“The first thing I saw was Savage, lying on the ramp in front of my house,” Andy says. “I was so relieved; I knew he was OK.”

Another neighbor who had seen Deebo also contacted Andy, offering to feed both dogs.

Knowing his animals had survived the storm, Andy left for Pittsburg, Kentucky, 800 miles away, where he dropped off his mother at his sister’s house. He then drove back to Tioga and spent another night there.

What Andy didn’t know was that his backyard fence collapsed during the storm, and Savage had wandered off. A neighbor who didn’t recognize Savage feared he might be aggressive and called local animal control to have him picked up.

After learning that Savage had an owner, the neighbor called Andy and put him in touch with the animal control officers.
Andy, a former medic with the 256th Infantry Brigade Combat Team in Iraq, had experienced hurricanes before.

“When I came home from Iraq, Hurricane Rita hit,” he recalls. “But this was far worse.”

When Andy returned to Sulphur on September 3, he called animal control to check on Savage, who was undergoing a veterinary check-up. In two days he would be transferred to the ASPCA’s emergency shelter in Lake Charles where Andy could pick him up.

Andy turned his attention to his mobile home, which had shifted slightly off its blocks, as had his backyard shop. His next-door neighbor’s carport had also broken loose and damaged his own. And the leg to a metal awning from another house had punched a hole in the roof of his 17-year-old daughter Ashlynne’s room, soaking the carpet.

But Andy’s biggest challenge was damage to a utility pole, which made it impossible to hook up his generator.

“Everyone had electricity but me,” says Andy, who suffers from chronic pain, the result of IED (improvised explosive devices) explosions that occurred in Iraq. “I’m throwing away a whole lot of things that are starting to mold. We have running water but there is still a boil advisory. I’m taking it one day at a time. But this is southwest Louisiana; everybody helps everybody else.”
On Tuesday, September 8, Andy visited the ASPCA’s temporary shelter to retrieve Savage.

“Savage ran toward his Andy, tongue out, wagging his tail,” says Jessica Rushin, the ASPCA’s Director of Placement Partnerships. Jessica interacted frequently with Savage at the shelter and reported that while Savage was stressed, he was also very sweet and docile. “It’s gratifying to see pets go home after such a stressful time,” Jessica tells us. “He was definitely glad to see Andy.”Jessica also spoke to Andy about steps he could take to ensure his pets are safe during future emergencies.

“Andy understood how close he was to losing Savage,” says Jessica, who recommended Andy microchip the dogs and have an evacuation plan that includes pets.

Despite the damage caused by Hurricane Laura, Andy feels very fortunate that his dogs are okay.

“I was ecstatic to see Savage not only alive, but in good spirits and healthy,” he says. “I feel bad that some people won’t come back to collect their animals, but I also understand many may have nothing to come home to.”

Now safely in the loving care of Andy’s family, Savage and Deebo provide much-needed support and comfort as they rebuild their lives. They also seem to have no memory of their ordeal.

“I’m so grateful for these animals,” Andy says. “They love us no matter what.”

[krazny9]

Vietnamese Architecture Student Builds the Batmobile From ‘The Dark Knight’




An architecture student in Hanoi, Vietnam built a real-life Batmobile after he was inspired by “The Dark Knight.”

Nguyen Dac Chung, 23, and a student at Hanoi University of Architecture, told Vice he immediately fell in love with the vehicle after he saw it for the first time in the 2008 Christopher Nolan movie.

“The vehicle uses a 400 cubic centimeter engine with four cylinders,” he said. “It runs using A95 gasoline. I used electronic cylinders, remote control and air cylinders for the back designs.”

However, he had to compromise one of the exciting aspects of the original Batmobile from “The Dark Knight.”

“I didn’t use a jet engine in the back like in the movie,” he said. “My car only has the replicated shape and uses motorbike exhaust pipe.”

With the help of some teammates, Nguyen was able to complete the project, but it still took a lot of work.

Nguyen was able to find some of the parts he needed for the vehicle in Vietnam, but he had to import the other required parts from the United States and South Korea. It took the team 10 months to build the Batmobile and ended up costing them a total of 500,000,000 Vietnamese dong ($21,600).

Nguyen said he is not done and plans to work more on the Batmobile. Nguyen added that he had other ideas for future projects but is keeping them to himself for now.

[PennySerenade]

Musical performers on the autism spectrum band together for local charity



TORONTO -- Rawan Tuffaha’s says singing is one of her favourite things to do, and is one of her many talents.

“It helps improve my mood,” she tells CTV News Toronto. “Music always seems to have soul.”

The vocalist is part of a musical group, assembled by the charity Jake’s House, an Etobicoke, Ont.-based charity that provides support to families living with autism.


They call themselves ‘ASD Band’, for autism spectrum disorder. Each of the members of the band is on the autism spectrum.

"Autism effects communication and each of us communicates in a different way and at a different level,” says David Bodanis, co-founder of Jake’s House. “One of the platforms we’ve found that you can have tremendous success in uniting and bringing everybody together, creating inclusion, is in fact music.”

Bodanis and his wife, who have two sons of their own with autism, began searching their networks for individuals that had various talents in music and instruments in hopes of forming the group.

“What we found shocked us,” Bodanis tells CTV News Toronto. “So, the culmination in putting together all of that talent is ‘ASD Band’.”

The five musical performers have joined forces to cover and record some of their favourite songs, from classics to current pop hits.



Tuffaha says she enjoys getting to collaborate with others.

“I really like the camaraderie,” she says. “Sometimes we might have our ups and downs, but we all seem to be in sync together.”

However, the band says that getting together to perform has become more challenging since the COVID-19 pandemic began.

“It has been a little difficult,” admits Bodanis. “Being parents of children with autism, the number one issue for us is always the health and safety.”

“You’ll notice we’re all socially distanced,” he adds.

Tuffaha says the COVID-19 pandemic hasn’t been easy on her, either.

“The pandemic has affected all of us psychologically,” she says. “Every time I would be all depressed about it, I would always imagine at one point when the pandemic ends. I usually end up singing.”

The ASD Band says they are happy to be singing and playing music this month, as October is Canadian Autism Awareness Month.

“To celebrate the one in 66 children that are being born with Autism in North America at the moment,” Bodanis says.

One of the songs ASD Band recorded is a cover of Sonny and Cher’s ‘I got you babe.’ The songs ASD Band has recorded are available on major audio streaming platforms, with proceeds from the downloads going to Jake’s House.

“We’re all talented in our own way,” says Tuffaha. “I would love for all our band to be successful.”

[goldie0608]

Canadian Researchers Gave Homeless People $7500 Each And The Results Are So Uplifting



Challenging the stereotypes of homeless people in Canada, a research project from a Vancouver-based charitable organization found that simply giving money to homeless people isn’t as bad an idea as some people might think.

The New Leaf project took 115 homeless people who were confirmed not to have serious mental or substance abuse problems, and put $7,500 in the pockets of 50 of them to see if they could turn their life around.

The average age was 42, with 1 in 3 participants also having a kid. They had been on average homeless for six months, while 1 in 4 were employed somewhere.

The study took monthly and quarterly self-reported surveys on conditions and expenditures.

Many people might argue that the money would be spent irresponsibly, for example on drugs or alcohol, but the results of the study were a refreshing perspective on the mindset of those living on the fringes of Canadian society.

Tight pocket books

After a year of spending on what they judged to be important, average spending on alcohol or drugs went down by 39%, perhaps because the individuals recognized they had a real shot of turning their fortunes around.

An impact report done by the Foundation for Charitable Giving found that recipients moved into housing two months faster than those who didn’t receive the $7,500 allowance.

Two months might not seem like that much, but spend it on the street and it certainly will. Additionally, the two-month difference also allowed emergency services previously utilized to be freed up for others.

The spending habits of the recipients in the study were, as you might imagine, more frugal than the control group of non-cash participants.

However, the spending was spread out over a year, with 52% of it going to food and rent, 15% going to medication and transportation, and an average of $700 on one-time cash purchases like a bike or computer.

After 12 months, most recipients still had $1,000 in savings and 67% were food secure.

The final topic of analysis is that in a roundabout way, handing $7,500 to homeless people actually saved the state of British Columbia an average of $600 per person, compared to spending for a year of their emergency services.

“By spending fewer nights in shelters, the cash group saved the shelter system approximately $8,100 per person for a total of roughly $405,000 over one year,” reads the impact report. “Factoring in the cost of the cash transfer, that’s a savings of $600 per person for society.”

“Cash transfers provide choice, control and purchasing power at a critical time in people’s lives,” reads a policy suggestion based on New Leaf Project’s data. “This is not merely a gesture of help. It is a signal that society believes in them.”

“By preventing people from becoming entrenched as homeless, NLP transforms lives while saving community resources that could be better spent elsewhere.”

One New Leaf Project recipient mentioned that the money gave them the hope and foundation they needed to have the courage to try and turn their life around, and another, speaking with CBC news, explained he was able to take a course in computers that put him on his dream career path of being a community councilor for those with substance addictions.

[hija]

Going back to school



“I can’t explain to children who have come to Germany as refugees why it is that they are suddenly here,” says Basel Alsayed (pictured). “But I think I know how they feel.”

Formerly a teacher in Damascus, Alsayed left Syria to avoid being conscripted into the war, and ended up in Zehdenick, near Berlin. Having taken an 18-month refugee teacher-training course at Potsdam University, he now teaches at a primary school, where a third of the pupils are similarly displaced, hailing from countries such as Bosnia, Ghana and Syria.

“I was thrown in at the deep end,” says Alsayed, who had to master the German language during his course. “Suddenly, I was having to do my own homework instead of handing it out.”

“Basel is a firefighter,” says head teacher Gerald Schneider. “He translates when there are language problems with parents and steps in when other teachers are ill.”

And Germany needs more like him. A forecast by the Bertelsmann Foundation predicts a shortfall of around 35,000 primary school teachers in Germany by 2025.

[Governor3]

Scientists Are Fascinated By An 8-Year-Old, Moldy Twinkie



For eight years, a box of Twinkies sat in Colin Purrington's basement until last week when he finally opened them. Varying levels of mold had developed on the snack cakes, and he eventually sent them to two West Virginia University scientists to study the kind of fungus growing on them.

Last week, craving sweets, Colin Purrington remembered the Twinkies.

He'd purchased them back in 2012 for sentimental reasons when he heard that Hostess Brands was going bankrupt and Twinkies might disappear forever.

"When there's no desserts in the house, you get desperate," says Purrington, who went down to the basement and retrieved the old box of snack cakes, fulling intending to enjoy several.

He busted out the Twinkies now, instead of waiting a couple more years, in part because he was "just so bored, with the pandemic," Purrington says. "It's terrible, but it just is mind-numbing after a while."

Like many people, Purrington believed Twinkies are basically immortal, although the official shelf life is 45 days. He removed a Twinkie from the box, unwrapped it — it looked fine — and took a bite. Then he retched.

"It tasted like old sock," Purrington says. "Not that I've ever eaten old sock."

That's when he examined the other Twinkies. Two looked weird. One had a dark-colored blemish the size of a quarter. The other Twinkie was completely transformed — it was gray, shrunken and wrinkly, like a dried morel mushroom.

He posted photos on Twitter, and they caught the attention of two scientists: Brian Lovett and Matt Kasson, who study fungi at West Virginia University in Morgantown.

"Matt is going to want that Twinkie," thought Lovett, the instant he saw the mummified one.

That's because, in the past, their lab has tested how well molds grow in Peeps, the classic Easter treat. Fungi actually found it difficult to survive on Peeps, because of the food's low water content. "In a way, they are kind of like an extreme environment, right?" Kasson notes. "The food industry has crafted the ability to make foods that have a long shelf life."

Still, Kasson says, fungi are everywhere and have an amazing set of chemical tools that let them break down all kinds of substances. "You find fungi growing on jet fuel," he says.

The researchers immediately thought some kind of fungus was involved in attacking the 8-year-old Twinkies, because they've studied fungi that kill insects and dry them out in a similar way. Plus, the reddish blotch on one Twinkie seemed to have a growth pattern that's typical of fungi.

They reached out to Purrington, who was only too happy to mail them the Twinkies immediately. "Science is a collaborative sport," he says. "If someone can take this and figure out what was actually growing, I'm all in. I really want to know what species exactly was eating my Twinkies."

The Twinkies arrived at the lab, and the researchers got to work.

One of the Twinkies from the 2012 box had collapsed into a shriveled mass. On Twitter, Purrington wrote, "You might be curious why I had Twinkies from 2012 in my basement. That was the year the company was reported to be going belly up, so I'd rushed out and bought a box for future giggles."

They noticed that the wrapping on the mummified Twinkie seemed to be sucked inward, suggesting that the fungus got in before the package was sealed and, while the fungus was consuming the Twinkie, it was using up more air or oxygen than it was putting out.

"You end up with a vacuum," Lovett says. "And very well that vacuum may have halted the fungus's ability to continue to grow. We just have the snapshot of what we were sent, but who knows if this process occurred five years ago and he just only noticed it now."

Lovett had expected a horrific smell to hit them when they opened the snack cakes. "I though the smell would possibly kill one of us, but because of the mummification there really was no smell at all," he says, "which was really a pleasant surprise."

A quick examination with a magnifying scope revealed fungal sporulation on both the marred and mummified Twinkies, again suggesting the involvement of fungi.

The researchers used a bone marrow biopsy tool to sort of drill through the tough outer layer of the gray, mummified Twinkie. "We certainly hit the marrow of the Twinkie and quickly realized that there was still some cream filling on the inside," Kasson says.

Hitting the soft interior was unexpected — they'd thought it would be hard all the way through. "It seems that the fungus was more interested in the cake on the outside than the filling on the inside," Lovett says.

They first put their little Twinkie samples in lab dishes with nutrients commonly used to grow fungi. Their scientific control was bits of an "asymptomatic" Twinkie from the same box.

From the Twinkie marked with just a dark circle of mold, they were able to grow up a species of Cladosporium. "Cladosporium is one of the most common, airborne, indoor molds worldwide," says Kasson, who cautions that they haven't done a DNA analysis to confirm the species.

So far, however, no fungi have grown from the sample taken out of the mummified Twinkie. "It may be that we don't have any living spores despite this wonderful, rare event that we've witnessed," Lovett says. "Spores certainly die, and depending on the fungus, they can die very quickly."

They're not giving up, though. They'll fill lab dishes with all kinds of sweet concoctions to try to coax something back to life from the mysterious Twinkie mummy. "We enjoy the challenge of trying to culture fungi," Kasson says.

Purrington, meanwhile, has reflected on his Twinkie experience. While his father had no objection to eating moldy foods, he recalls, his mother generally treated "sell-by" dates with more respect.

"I'm more with my mom on expiration dates now," Purrington says. "I think if you're browsing baked goods at the store, if you get the freshest one, it's probably going to taste better."

Holding on to a Twinkie for eight years is not that long in the grand scheme of things. At the George Stevens Academy in Maine, for example, there's a Twinkie that's been around since a science teacher started an observational experiment in 1976.

That Twinkie currently resides in the office of Libby Rosemeier, who reports that it "sits in a little glass and wood display case much like the shield on my desk that is necessary because of the pandemic." The venerable Twinkie will be given back to the science department, she says, when she retires at the end of this school year.

It's safe and sound for now, but nothing lasts forever — not Twinkies, and not people.

Perhaps that's why folks are so fascinated with the shriveled, mummified Twinkie, which offers such a harsh contrast to the golden sponge cake icon that lives in their memories.

"When those memories are tainted by a visual reality like the Twinkie experiment, we are kind of caught off guard," Kasson says. "We're like, no, that's a symbol of my childhood! You can't take that from me, too.'"

Lovett agrees. "We're living in a time where we're all really grappling with our mortality," he says. "Eventually, all of us are food for fungi. Seeing that is sort of facing the reality of our mortality and our destination."

https://www.npr.org/2020/10/15/92341157 ... ed-science

[Zbignieww]

ANOTHER Mysterious Jetpack Man Spotted Flying 6,000 Feet Over LAX

· Airline crew members spotted a person in a jetpack flying at an altitude of 6,000 feet high near Los Angeles · International Airport (LAX) on Wednesday.
· This is the second such jetpack sighting near LAX in six weeks.
· The FBI is currently investigating both cases.

Stop us if you've heard this one before: On Wednesday afternoon, crew members on an airliner flying near Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) once again spotted a person in a jetpack gliding at an altitude of 6,000 feet high, a few miles northwest of the flight hub.
It’s the second time in six weeks that aviation professionals have observed someone in a jetpack flying near LAX.
At 1:45 p.m. PST, the crew of the LAX-bound China Airlines Flight 006, a Boeing 777 coming from Taipei, alerted air traffic controllers of the strange sight. Here’s part of the transcript of the conversation between the China Airlines crew and air traffic control, according to audio obtained by The War Zone:

China Airlines 006: “We just saw a bright object at 6,000.”

LAX Tower: “006 heavy can you say that one more time please?”

China Airlines 006: “We saw a flying object like a [this part is hard to decipher, but it sounded like] flight suit jetpack at 6,000.”

LAX Tower: “Was it a UAV or was it a jetpack?”

China Airlines 006: “Like a jetpack. Too shiny. It’s too far.”

LAX Tower: “006 heavy, roger, thank you… Emirates 215 heavy there was a jetpack reported about 13 miles ahead.”

The Federal Aviation Administration confirmed to CNBC it received the report, and promptly alerted local law enforcement. Rest assured the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is also on the case, as a spokeswoman told the New York Times the Bureau is “investigating multiple reports of what, according to witnesses, appeared to be an individual in a jetpack near LAX.”

The FBI is already digging into a similar recent escapade at LAX. On August 29, a pilot for American Airlines Flight 1997 spotted what he believed to be “a guy in a jetpack” just 300 yards to the left of his plane, which was soaring over the busy airspace above the airport at an altitude of about 3,000 feet. (Another pilot headed for LAX summed up the whole situation pretty succinctly: “Only in L.A.”)

These feats sound farfetched—especially at 6,000 feet, which the Times points out is nearly six times the height of L.A.’s Wilshire Grand Tower, the tallest building west of the Mississippi—but the stunts aren’t totally unprecedented. For example, an Indian pilot almost reached an altitude of 6,000 feet in a short jetpack flight in Dubai earlier this year, per the Times.

And perhaps the LAX daredevil wasn’t technically using a jetpack. In 2016, Martin Aircraft Company of New Zealand debuted a prototype that could reach a maximum speed of 46 miles per hour and a flight ceiling of 3,000 feet. The apparatus isn’t a true jetpack, as it uses twin-ducted fans, and the wearer can't put it on like a backpack—but it’s still an experimental flying device that could possibly propel a person up to the level of airplanes in the sky.

While Martin Aircraft shuttered in 2019, if someone already had their hands on the technology, it could have been in the sky. Martin intended on providing its gear to first responders for use during natural disasters and search-and-rescue missions, such as battling the wildfires that continue to blaze across California. But that appears to be a stretch.

Needless to say, flying in a jetpack in the vicinity of a commercial airliner is an extraordinarily dumb thing to do. Veer too close to the craft and you could be sucked into the engine, damage the plane, and, you know, die. Don’t be like the mysterious LAX jetpack man.

Note: The lead photo shows French pilot Franky Zapata flying his Flyboard jetpack during the 2018 Red Bull Air Race World Championship on April 21, 2018 in Cannes.

https://money.yahoo.com/another-mysterious-jetpack-man-spotted-124800818.html?

[Fivetide]

Fla. firefighters treat man who fell ill in heat, finish mowing his lawn


A firefighter finishes mowing the lawn of Prince Pinkney, 83, who suffered heat exhaustion
and received treatment from rescuers. Photo courtesy of Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue/Facebook

Firefighters and paramedics in Florida finished mowing a man's lawn after treating him for heat exhaustion he suffered while mowing it.

The Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue crew said they immediately treated the Army veteran and cooled him off.

Prince Pinkney, an Army veteran in his 80s was working on his yard Monday when he started feeling ill and his leg, which never fully recovered from a stroke years ago, gave out on him, WSVN reported.

The rescue crew arrived within minutes after a passerby, who saw Pinkney on the ground and his wife, Rebecca, struggling to hold him up, called for help.

After they were treated, one of of the paramedics began to finish cutting their lawn, as cellphone video captured the moment.

Pinkney and his wife thanked the firefighters and paramedics and took a photo with them afterward.

The veteran served as a missile tech in Vietnam, and the first responders said they appreciated Pinkney's service to the country.

"Their story is amazing in itself," Fire Rescue Capt. Terry Maylor told WSVN. "Their age, what they've gone through, his history as a veteran serving this country. If that doesn't move you to go ahead and do what you're capable of, then nothing will."

[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
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FRIDAY OCTOBER 16
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

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Just post a story that you have come across that made you smile, laugh, feel good...
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​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.

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