Category: World Culture

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A Couple’s Gender Reveal Party Ended With A Plane Crash

Gender reveal parties are getting way out of hand, and this hard-to-believe story about a gender reveal party that ended with a plane crash is proof.

A couple in Turkey, Texas, rented a crop-duster plane and pilot for their over-the-top gender reveal party. The plan was for the plane to fly over the guests and drop pink water — for a girl, duh! The water would turn into pink mist and float all over the guests. And even we can admit the Instagram photos would have been pretty amazing…if the plane hadn’t, uh, crashed.

Photo Credit: iStock

The plane stalled out after dumping its 350 gallons of pink water, possibly due to a shock to its system. It was going “too slow,” CNN reports, and subsequently crashed into the ground. Luckily, it was flying at low altitude for the stunt — but still, a plane crash is a plane crash.

One passenger on the plane had minor injuries, but the pilot made it out without a scratch. The plane was apparently designed to carry only one person, so it’s not clear why there was a passenger in the first place.

Photo Credit: iStock

This disaster is just one in a long string of gender reveal parties gone horribly wrong. One led to a wildfire, while another resulted in an accidental pipe bomb that exploded and killed a grandmother.

All this, despite the inventor of gender reveal parties literally begging people to stop the madness!

Let’s stop, shall we?

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Check Out These Interesting Facts About True Crime and Criminals

True crime is incredibly popular – you can tell by the massive number of true crime TV shows, documentaries, movies, and podcasts that are available out there.

From the old stuff to the new, seemingly unbelievable stories, I find it all fascinating.

Here are 10 interesting crime facts for you to chew on…enjoy.

1. This is wild.

Photo Credit: did you know?

Source

2. Cowboy Bob.

Photo Credit: did you know?

Source 1 Source 2 Source 3

3. Public Enemy Number One.

Photo Credit: did you know?

Source 1 Source 2

4. The Zone of Death.

Photo Credit: did you know?

Source 1 Source 2 Source 3

5. Murder Mansion.

Photo Credit: did you know?

Source

6. Did you know this?

Photo Credit: did you know?

Source 1 Source 2

7. Real-life crime fighter.

Photo Credit: did you know?

Source 1 Source 2

8. French fries!

Photo Credit: did you know?

Source

9. A real wiseguy.

Photo Credit: did you know?

Source

10. Ice Cream Wars.

Photo Credit: did you know?

Source

Some fascinating crime history right there.

What are some of the crime stories that you find the most interesting?

Share them with us in the comments!

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The HPV Vaccine Has Nearly Eliminated Related Cancers in England

Well, this is interesting…

HPV – the human papillomavirus – is the most prevalent sexually transmitted infection among sexually active people. One of the reasons it’s so transmitted is that most people show few or no symptoms and there’s not even a test for men, so there’s often no way to be warned that you might have it, much less be transmitting it. There are dozens of strains, most of which are virtually harmless.

But two strains, HPV16 and HPV18, are not at all harmless. In fact, those two strains alone cause 70% of HPV-related cancers.

 

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For the last decade there has been a vaccine available for teenagers, male and female, that targets HPV16 and HPV18 (as well as other higher-risk strains of the virus), but it (like other vaccines) has faced hesitancy from parents.

England, though, began a mass vaccination program in schools, and the results have been staggering.

The latest statistics from Public Health England suggest there has been a massive slowdown of new infections of HPV among sexually active young women.

Researchers used a group of 584 women between the ages of 16 to 18, and found that none of them were infected – compared to a rate of around 15% infection ten years ago, when the program began.

Dr. Vanessa Saliba, the consultant epidemiologist on the project, says the team also believes the report indicates a wider decline of the virus in England overall.

“This is clear evidence of the success of our immunisation programme, which continues to achieve high coverage. With millions of young women protected by HPV vaccination, we expect to see big reductions in cervical cancer in years to come and the introduction of the boys’ programme will accelerate this progress.”

Even though the vaccine targets the highest-risk strains, researchers also say there’s some evidence suggesting that other types of the virus have also declined.

England’s vaccination rates since the program began have soared to nearly 84%. Scotland has implemented a similar program with equally positive results, and Australia may well be the first country to eliminate HPV-related cervical cancer over the next 20 years.

There has been at least one study to suggest that even if HPV could be curbed, cervical cancer would remain a threat, since HPV is not the only known contributor to the disease, but scientists are quick to cast a shadow over those results.

Jonathan Ball, a molecular biology professor at the University of Nottingham, admits that the authors do “raise some important points highlighting that HPV vaccination isn’t the absolute panacea for cervical cancer prevention,” but also reminds us that “undoubtedly the current HPV vaccines are effective at preventing infection with the types of virus known to cause cervical and other cancers.”

It all boils down to this: we have a vaccine that has a 70% (or maybe better, if we can get the rates up high enough) chance of preventing your child from contracting at least one type of cancer, and we know that it works.

So, even if you can’t protect them from everything, you can protect them from this one thing, and isn’t that something to celebrate?

It’s definitely something to do. 

I mean, if you ask me.

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Experts Claim That 98.6 Is No Longer Reliably the Average Body Temperature

This is bad news for all of those kids headed to the nurse’s office, praying their thermometer spits out a temperature of 100 degrees or higher – you’re most likely starting from a point lower than 98.6.

The world’s “normal” body temperature was established back in the 19th century, and though most accept it as a reasonable average, doctors and scientists have always known that variables like gender, size, age, time of day, and other factors can play into the thermometer’s readout.

 

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Recent research, though, shows that not only has the average body temperature dropped since it was established by Carl Reinhold in 1851, it’s dropped significantly just since the 1970s – about 0.05 degrees Fahrenheit per decade, based on your birth year, explains Dr. Julie Parsonnet.

“People are stuck on the 98.6 number, but that number has always been wrong. There’s never been a real number because people vary.”

Also, Parsonnet and others involved in the study aren’t afraid to admit that there are still variables that remain unknown, as well. They looked at the temperatures of three groups of data – one from a study of Civil War veterans’ as they returned from war, another from a CDC record from the 1970s, and a third of Stanford health clinic patients from 2007 to 2017.

 

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Men born in the 2000s typically run about 1.06 degrees Fahrenheit lower than men born in the early 1800s. For women, they’re running around 0.58 degrees Fahrenheit lower than women born in the 1890s.

The researchers say it’s unclear what’s causing the continued decline, or what it could mean for our health moving forward. That people have grown both taller and heavier, and that metabolic rates have slowed, likely all factor in.

The fact that a good portion of the population in the mid-19th century could have been fighting diseases like syphilis, tuberculosis, and periodontal disease also means infections (and fevers) may have been raising the average.

 

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Doctors like Dr. Edward Ward, an emergency medicine physician at Rush University Medical Center, say that for now, the information won’t change they way they assess and treat patients.

“It’s not surprising that there will be changes (in normal body temperature) since the Industrial Revolution. As an ER doctor, I’m looking for abnormalities. …there’s a difference between having what is medically considered having a fever and feeling feverish. If someone is normal 96 and then suddenly they’re 99, they probably feel uncomfortable.”

Parsonnet and her team echoed the sentiment, stating that how you feel is more important than the numbers on your thermometer.

That said, they are excited to follow the research further.

“We are having human cooling, and we don’t know what that means, but its’ good to know that it’s happening.”

Until we know more, trust your instincts out there. You know your body better than anyone else, and if you feel like you’re ill or feverish, stay home until you feel better.

If you’re a kid, you could try printing off this research for your school’s nurse, but no promises.

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A Rescued Sea Turtle’s Digestive System Was Jammed Full of Plastic Trash

You probably know that trash dumped into waterways around the world makes its way to the ocean, where it’s endangering the lives of all manner of marine life.

It can be a difficult problem to look directly at because no one wants to see animals hurting because of human behavior, but until we recognize the power we have to fix the problem (i.e. reduce, reuse, recycle), nothing is going to change.

So we have to look.

Scientists rescued a green sea turtle from a fisherman’s net off the coast of Buenos Aires, in Argentina, and passed it to a conservation group called the Mundo Marino Foundation.

Workers there quickly figured out that the animal’s health was endangered by the amount of plastic trash clogging its gut.

“Through radiographic images, we could see foreign bodies inside. Therefore, we started a treatment with a medication that increases peristaltic movements (movements of the digestive tract) and allows it to excrete what we saw in images,” explained Ignacio Pena, a veterinarian at the Foundation.

The turtle – a member of an endangered species that faces grave threat due to the degradation of their habitat – spent a full month excreting over 13 grams (half an ounce) of nylon bags, netting, and other plastic trash.

Green turtles typically keep a herbivorous diet, but juveniles will branch out, and a young and inexperienced hunter like this one was can easily mistake trash for food, scientists say – particularly because many sea turtles will eat jellyfish, which look alarmingly like plastic bags floating along. The mistake is often deadly according to one 2018 study that found that a turtle who eats just one piece of plastic has a 22% chance of dying.

Pena says that this particular turtle, though, is doing well.

“Today the turtle is eating green leaves, mainly lettuce and seaweed. We’re viewing this with an optimistic attitude, the progress is favorable.”

Sadly, the same can’t be said for other turtles who have been found in a similar state – even at Mundo Marino, they’ve been unable to save many that came into their care.

Plastics are insidious for animals like turtles, says biologist and conservation manager Karina Alvarez, for a couple of big reasons.

“There is not only a risk of a mechanical obstruction due to plastic intake. The accumulation of non-nutritive elements in the digestive systems of these marine reptiles can cause them a false sense of being full, which gradually weakens them. …In addition, a large amount of gas could be generated in their organisms, product of the accumulated plastic. Which would affect their ability to dive, both to feed and to find more suitable temperatures.”

Please do your part to keep turtles like this one from accidentally ingesting your trash; put your garbage where it belongs, and try to find alternatives to single-use plastics wherever you can.

Think of the turtles (and the fish and the dolphins and whales and sea lions)!

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A Melting Glacier Revealed 28 New Virus Groups and Scientists are Worried

There are a whole lot of reasons to lament the demise of glaciers around the world – for one, they are the visual proof that the earth is warming, no matter what the weather outside your window or the politicians in their offices want to claim.

For another, many of them have been around for millennia, and as they melt, things are thawing out of them that modern human beings have never encountered.

In 2015, researchers from China and the United States drilled a 164-foot hole into a Tibetan glacier, gathering 2 ice core samples to study in a lab. The 15,000-year-old glacier is melting, and the scientists have so far found 33 virus groups in their core sample.

28 of them are completely new to science.

These scientists and researchers are not alone; their peers around the world are desperately trying to identify potential microbial threats in the melting ice before they escape and put us on the spot.

Image Credit: Pixabay

The meltwater from glaciers and ice caps could release these potentially harmful pathogens into streams, rivers, and pretty much any other type of waterway…and once a previously unknown microbe finds its way into human beings, there’s no telling what might happen.

The permafrost around the world is melting, too, and presents similar microbial challenges. It’s also releasing an alarming amount of methane gas and carbon dioxide – it is estimated to hold twice as much carbon as currently resides in our atmosphere.

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For 141 years since its first ascent, mountaineers from around the world traveled to climb la Meije in the Massif des Ecrins of France. Meanwhile, the permafrost that held its stones together was melting. On August 7, 2018, rockfall destroyed much of the normal route. In this On Belay story from Alpinist 68—which is now available on newsstands and in our online store—two locally based guides—Benjamin Ribeyre and Erin Smart—recount a search for a new way up the peak amid the uncertainties of the planet’s future. . You can now read the story at Alpinist.com. . Did you know—only a small fraction of our many long-form stories from the print edition are ever uploaded to Alpinist.com. Be sure to pick up Alpinist 68 for all the goodness: https://shop.holpublications.com/products/alpinist-magazine-issue-68 . The south face of la Meije (3983m) and the upper Etancons Valley is pictured here with the Glacier Carre covered in snow during spring, Massif des Ecrins, France. [Photo] Manu Rivaud . @benjaminribeyre @erinsmart_mountainguide #lameije #glaciercarré #frenchalps #snowmelt #rockfall #climatechange #meltingpermafrost #alpinistfeature #theclimbinglife #alpineclimbing #mountaineering

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Researchers have pulled samples of smallpox, Spanish flu, bubonic plague, and even anthrax from thawing permafrost, along with pollutants like mercury, all previously trapped inside permanently frozen ground.

There are important buildings in jeopardy, too, as thawing ground begins to result in more slumping or sagging of previously hardened earth. In Sweden, for example, there is a nuclear waste containment facility that could be in danger, and in Norway, the world’s global seed vault, built to safeguard seeds against exactly this kind of environmental impact, could itself be threatened.

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Humans are very good at self sabotaging ourselves, controlling and manipulating others, colonizing and dominating over other live and sentient beings. All these behaviours are driven by fear, anger, greed, hunger for power, status and control. ?? Would we still buy into all this nonsense if we fully realized that we are destroying ourselves, all living beings and our planet? What if we only have few years to live? Would we contemplate life and death? Seek reconciliations between peoples with different religions, nations, genders, classes, generations? ❤ Let's make universal love our compass. ❤ Let's live in present. ❤ Let's seek and adapt inner peace and love. ❤ Let's be human again. ❤ Let's share love and show compassion. ❤ Love, enjoy, live. Now. #love #behuman #awakeninghumanity #humanrights #climatecrisis #sixthmassextinction #climaterefugees #consumerismkills #foodshortages #heatwave #flooding #reducereuserecycle #circulareconomy #govegan #carbondrawdown #risingsealevel #meltingpermafrost #plasticfreelife #socialcollaps #noplanetb? #universalconsciousness

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Basically, we’ve only encountered the tip of the iceberg (pun intended) when it comes to the potential disastrous effects of global warming – not only on the planet, but on humanity, too.

I don’t know about you, but the idea that I could get smallpox is one more reason I want to do my part.

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Parsley Joins the List of Herbs You Should Not Stick in Your Vagina

You might think it would be common sense that food items don’t belong anyplace inside you other than your stomach. You’d think that, but you would sadly be wrong.

Last year, doctors had to put out a warning that cucumbers shouldn’t go inside your vagina, and this year, they’re having to do the same with parsley – all thanks to Marie Claire (an actual real media publication), which published an article about the herb being useful to bring on your period.

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This may look like a parsnip but it’s not a parsnip. It’s an old fashioned allotment veg known as parsley. It’s a great winter option as it’s completely hardly. The roots can be roasted or thrown in a casserole and the tops give you parsley (as in the herb) all year round ??? Harvested today, this one’s on the small side but if left they can get huge xx . . #parsley #winterveg #winterveggies #rootvegetables #vegetarian #pescatarian #vegan #plantbased #allotment #allotmentlove #allotmentlife #allotmentgarden #countryliving #growyourownfood #eatwhatyougrow #mykitchengarden #myediblegarden #organic #urbanorganicgardener #kelloggarden #urbangarden #urbangardener #raisedbedgarden #growninsussex #growveggies #growyourownveggies #lovegardening #gardenlove #outdoorliving

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According to the article:

“Parsley can help to soften the cervix and level out hormonal imbalances that could be delaying your cycle, helping your period come faster. …If you’re struggling to find a dish based on parsley, don’t panic – the most effective forms are said to be parsley tea and parsley vaginal inserts.”

Yes, you read that right.

The internet has many suggestions on using parsley to induce a miscarriage herbally, including this horrifying tidbit:

“Fresh parsley (preferably organic…I don’t want pesticides in my vagina, so I go organic). Insert a fresh sprig of parsley as far as possible into the vagina (parsley induces contractions, yum). Change every 12 hours. When soft, it may be difficult to remove, but this is not dangerous.”

In fact, that is so dangerous.

Putting anything that gathers bacteria into your nethers presents a risk of infection, which can have life-threatening consequences.

“There is no evidence of any benefit to a woman of doing this, and clear risk of significant harm as deaths have been reported. I would urge women not to insert anything unless they have taken proper medical advice,” Dr. Shazia Malk told The Independent.

One woman who died after trying to induce a miscarriage with parsley lived in Argentina, where abortion is illegal. She was 34, and even though surgeons removed her uterus in an attempt to stop the spreading infection, she still passed.

Also? Dr. Jennifer Gunter told IFLScience that using parsley to bring on a miscarriage “can’t work. To think it could work would reflect a belief in magic.”

As abortion clinics close all over the country, I imagine that we’re only going to see more people looking for ways to take matters into their own hands.

And I don’t see how that’s going to be good for anyone.

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Here are Some Interesting Maps of Stuff You Wouldn’t Normally Think to Map

I remember studying atlases for hours when I was a kid and being fascinated by all of the exotic and strange places around the world.

So in the spirit of rekindling my childhood obsession with all things map-related, here are some very interesting maps about all kinds of random things that are quite fascinating.

Let’s take a look.

1. An eagle’s movements tracked over a 20-year period.

Photo Credit: Reddit

2. Tracking different packs of wolves in Voyageurs National Park. You can see how they avoid each other’s territory.

Photo Credit: Reddit

3. Countries talked about in the Bible.

Photo Credit: Reddit

4. The U.S. from an Alaskan perspective.

Photo Credit: Reddit

5. Where flamingos live around the world.

Photo Credit: Reddit

6. The longest possible way to travel by train in the world.

Photo Credit: Reddit

7. Different giraffe patterns in Africa.

Photo Credit: Reddit

8. Each section contains 10% of the world’s population.

Photo Credit: Reddit

9. Locations from Johnny Cash’s song “I’ve Been Everywhere.”

Photo Credit: Reddit

10. The populations of the Dakotas and Manhattan, NYC.

Photo Credit: Reddit

11. 50% of Canadians live below that red line.

Photo Credit: Reddit

12. How much snow it takes to cancel schools.

Photo Credit: Reddit

13. The entire continent of South America is east of Michigan.

Photo Credit: Reddit

Those are awesome!

What did you think? Are you a big map fan?

Tell us all about it in the comments. And if you have a map you’d like to share with us, let’s see it!

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Koala Bears Aren’t Bears at All

We’ve been hearing a lot of sad news about koala bears lately because of the bushfires ripping through Australia. The flames and smoke have decimated a huge portion of the koalas’ natural habitat and killed enough individuals that experts estimate they may now be an endangered species.

But how much do we in the States know about this cute, furry little guys, really? I know that I learned a ton of new things when I visited a sanctuary outside of Brisbane, but I definitely don’t remember them telling us that the animal we know as a koala bear isn’t a bear at all.

Image Credit: Pixabay

In fact, they’re not even closely related to bears – they’re much more like another Australian animal, the kangaroo, which also raise their underdeveloped young in a pouch.

Both animals are mammals, like bears, but they re classified as Marsupialia, order Diprotodontia, family Phascolarctidae, genus Phascolarctos.

And that’s a very different branch of the tree of life from where you’d find a grizzly.

Image Credit: Pixabay

Koalas are known scientifically as Phascolarctos cinerus, and they are the only living species in the genus. Though there are three subspecies of koala, their differences are very minor.

Therefore, the koala is more closely related to the kangaroo and the wombat, both members of the order Diprotodontia, than to bears, which are in the order Carnivora.

You might be wondering, then, how they got so mis-named in the first place. Well, as with most things, we can blame English-speaking settlers.

In the 18th century, they spotted the animal for the first time, and, due to it’s bear-like appearance and behavior, they made an assumption.

Image Credit: Pixabay

You know, like how they met Natives all over the world and assumed they were “savages” based on strange (to them) appearances?

The koala’s scientific name comes from what Englishmen thought they observed – Phascolarctos is derived from the Greek phaskolos (pouch) and arktos (bear).

And now you know, though I doubt the sleepy little animals will much care what we call them as long as we save them from burning alive.

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Babies Nap Outside in Scandinavian Countries – Even When It’s Below Freezing

Some folks prefer to sleep with the thermostat turned down or with a fan blowing on them. Cooler temps promotes more restful sleeping.

But could you stand napping outside when it’s almost zero or even below zero degrees F? Would you make your child do it?

Let me ask you another question. Do you want your child removed from your custody and raised by other people? Because that’s what would happen – at least in the United States.

Midday nap
But in the cold-climate countries that make up Scandinavia, no one would bat an eye. In fact, infants’ that are only days old commonly put outside to catch a few z’s in sub-zero weather.

If that sounds cold, it’s because it is cold. You’re not nuts.

According to the BBC, it’s not even just parents putting the freeze on their kids. Preschools will routinely wheel the babies outside at nap time in the winter. In the Stockholm area, one school pushes the kiddies out until the age of three.

Head teacher Brittmarie Carlzon says,

When the temperature drops to -15C (5F) we always cover the prams with blankets … It’s not only the temperature that matters, it’s also how cold it feels. Some days it can be -15C but it actually feels like -20C (-4F) because of the wind.

To be clear, that’s a day the kids can nap inside, When it feels -4 F.

Photo Credit: Pxhere

So, what exactly is the deal?

Linda McGurk, author of There’s No Such Thing As Bad Weather, wrote on Rain or Shine Mama about these outdoor naps. She explains that it’s one of those charming Scandinavian concepts that’s hard for Americans to understand at first and impossible for Americans to pronounce ever.

She calls it friluftsliv, which translates to “spending time outdoors to get a change of scenery and experience nature with no pressure to compete or achieve.” It’s a return to nature, learning about nature, an immersion in nature, while also cultivating love and respect for it.

Sticking your baby outside for a nap is part of friluftsliv. There’s no need for music players, wave machines or heartbeat noises because the sounds of nature are lulling and relaxing enough.

Scandinavian style nap: outside

There is also the belief that kids who spend a large amount of outdoors and away from the petri-dish that is preschool are less likely to get sick.

If you want to try this, make sure your baby is reclined in a stroller. They should wear a wool layer under a snow suit with attached mittens, plus a hat and bunting bag. You should be able to see their face and they shouldn’t be able to turn their head. Check your baby often for signs they are getting too cold. Watch for wild animals, nosy neighbors and child protective services.

Or, embrace your American-ness, put them in a onesie and let them sleep inside. That’s okay too.

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