Science & Environment

[spaminator]

TikTok prankster jailed for spraying groceries with pesticides for clicks
Smith said he performs these pranks as a 'troll for social media'" and earns $6,000-$10,000 a month

Author of the article:Washington Post
Washington Post
Amber Ferguson
Published Dec 30, 2024 • Last updated 1 day ago • 3 minute read

Charles Smith was arrested Dec. 21 after admitting to spraying bug killer on produce in an Arizona Walmart for a social media video.
Charles Smith was arrested Dec. 21 after admitting to spraying bug killer on produce in an Arizona Walmart for a social media video.
Charles Smith walked into a Walmart, picked up a can of bug spray, and sprayed produce and other food items, according to police in Mesa, Arizona – all in the name of going viral on social media.


The 27-year-old, known online as Wolfie Kahletti and Wolfie Party, faces a felony count for “introducing poison,” along with three misdemeanor charges for criminal damage, endangerment, and theft after the Dec. 19 incident at the store.

According to a police report obtained by The Washington Post, Smith entered the store, took a can of bug spray from a shelf, and sprayed it on vegetables, fruit, and rotisserie chickens.

He later posted video of the episode on his TikTok page and Instagram stories. In the now-deleted videos, Smith is seen wearing a black hoodie and pink bandanna as he records the entire incident.

Smith returned to the store about 10 minutes later and recorded himself attempting to gather the contaminated items and wheeling them away in a cart to the rear of the store. It’s unclear whether he managed to retrieve everything. Authorities reported that Walmart ultimately had to remove products worth $931 from the shelves.



“It should be noted that the time between when the defendant sprayed the items to when he placed them into the cart, left plenty of time for customers to take the contaminated items and purchase them,” the police report states.

Mesa Police said Smith was identified through prior police contacts and has an open case with the Tempe Police, along with an active warrant for failure to appear. He turned himself in to Mesa Police and was arrested Dec. 21.

Smith did not respond to a request for comment.

“We’re disgusted by what happened at our Mesa store, and social media pranks like this cannot be tolerated,” Kelsey Bohl, director of media relations for Walmart, told The Post in a statement. “The health and safety of our customers and associates is always a top priority. We removed all directly impacted product and cleaned and sanitized the affected area of the store. We are grateful for the swift action of law enforcement, and we’ll continue to work closely with them throughout their investigation.”


Smith admitted to police to stealing the bug spray and using it on produce before leaving the Walmart, the police report says. He said that online backlash prompted him to return to the store to collect the contaminated items.

“This incident underscores the potential dangers of reckless actions disguised as social media pranks,” Detective Brandi Myers, a public information officer with the Mesa Police Department, told The Post on Friday.



During his interview with police, Smith said he performs these pranks as a “troll for social media” and earns between $6,000 and $10,000 a month from posting these kinds of videos.


He has garnered widespread criticism for his controversial prank videos, which include drawing obscenities on counters, spraying unsuspecting people with fire extinguishers, and throwing food in public spaces. A Reddit thread discussing Smith’s antics surfaced before his latest arrest, warning people in the Tempe, Arizona, area about his history of disruptive stunts. People wrote about him throwing food off balconies and sneaking into fast food restaurants.

Smith’s TikTok account is currently disabled. Newsweek reported earlier this week he had 345,000 followers and his bio read: “tycoon creator,” and “supreme villain.” His Instagram account is still active with more than 370,000 followers.

During a court appearance Monday, Smith asked the judge whether he could leave jail to feed his dog, according to Fox10 Phoenix. The request was denied.

The judge also barred him from using social media if he posts bail.

Smith’s next court appearance is Monday.

TikTok prankster jailed for spraying groceries with pesticides for clicks

Charles Smith walked into a Walmart, picked up a can of bug spray, and sprayed produce and other food items, according to police in Mesa

torontosun.com

i hope no one ate any of the bug sprayed food.

 

[spaminator]

i hope no one ate any of the bug sprayed food.

they should have made him eat the bug sprayed food.

 

[spaminator]

World population will be 8.09 billion after 71 million increase in 2024
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Mike Schneider
Published Dec 30, 2024 • 1 minute read

The world population increased by more than 71 million people in 2024 and will be 8.09 billion people on New Year’s Day, according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates released Monday.


The 0.9% increase in 2024 was a slight slowdown from 2023, when the world population grew by 75 million people. In January 2025, 4.2 births and 2.0 deaths were expected worldwide every second, according to the estimates.

The United States grew by 2.6 million people in 2024, and the U.S. population on New Year’s Day will be 341 million people, according to the Census Bureau.

The United States was expected to have one birth every 9 seconds and one death every 9.4 seconds in January 2025. International migration was expected to add one person to the U.S. population every 23.2 seconds. The combination of births, deaths and net international migration will increase the U.S. population by one person every 21.2 seconds, the Census Bureau said.

So far in the 2020s, the U.S. population has grown by almost 9.7 million people, a 2.9% growth rate. In the 2010s, the U.S. grew by 7.4%, which was the lowest rate since the 1930s.

World population will be 8.09 billion after 71 million increase in 2024

The world population increased by more than 71 million people in 2024 and will be 8.09 billion people on New Year's Day

torontosun.com

 

[spaminator]

’Dinosaur highway’ tracks dating back 166 million years discovered in England
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Brian Melley
Published Jan 02, 2025 • 2 minute read

five extensive trackways that formed part of a “dinosaur highway”
In this undated photo provided by the University of Birmingham on Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025, five extensive trackways that formed part of a “dinosaur highway” are uncovered, at Dewars Farm Quarry in Oxfordshire, England Photo by University of Birmingham /Associated Press
LONDON — A worker digging up clay in a southern England limestone quarry noticed unusual bumps that led to the discovery of a “dinosaur highway” and nearly 200 tracks that date back 166 million years, researchers said Thursday.


The extraordinary find made after a team of more than 100 people excavated the Dewars Farm Quarry, in Oxfordshire, in June expands upon previous paleontology work in the area and offers greater insights into the Middle Jurassic period, researchers at the universities of Oxford and Birmingham said.

“These footprints offer an extraordinary window into the lives of dinosaurs, revealing details about their movements, interactions, and the tropical environment they inhabited,” said Kirsty Edgar, a micropaleontology professor at the University of Birmingham.

Four of the sets of tracks that make up the so-called highway show paths taken by gigantic, long-necked, herbivores called sauropods, thought to be Cetiosaurus, a dinosaur that grew to nearly 18 metres in length. A fifth set belonged to the Megalosaurus, a ferocious 9-metre predator that left a distinctive triple-claw print and was the first dinosaur to be scientifically named two centuries ago.


An area where the tracks cross raises questions about possible interactions between the carnivores and herbivores.

“Scientists have known about and been studying Megalosaurus for longer than any other dinosaur on Earth, and yet these recent discoveries prove there is still new evidence of these animals out there, waiting to be found,” said Emma Nicholls, a vertebrate paleontologist at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History.


Nearly 30 years ago, 40 sets of footprints discovered in a limestone quarry in the area were considered one of the world’s most scientifically important dinosaur track sites. But that area is mostly inaccessible now and there’s limited photographic evidence because it predated the use of digital cameras and drones to record the findings.


The group that worked at the site this summer took more than 20,000 digital images and used drones to create 3-D models of the prints. The trove of documentation will aid future studies and could shed light on the size of the dinosaurs, how they walked and the speed at which they moved.

“The preservation is so detailed that we can see how the mud was deformed as the dinosaur’s feet squelched in and out,” said Duncan Murdock, an earth scientist at the Oxford museum. “Along with other fossils like burrows, shells and plants we can bring to life the muddy lagoon environment the dinosaurs walked through.”

The findings will be shown at a new exhibit at the museum and also broadcast on the BBC’s “Digging for Britain” program next week.

’Dinosaur highway’ tracks dating back 166 million years discovered in England

A worker digging up clay in a southern England limestone quarry noticed unusual bumps that led to the discovery of a "dinosaur highway"

torontosun.com

 

[spaminator]

How to get that drain unclogged, and other wisdom from plumbers
Sticks of deodorant, undergarments, children's toys, adult toys - you name it, plumbers have extracted it from a pipe

Author of the article:Washington Post
Washington Post
Jolie Kerr
Published Jan 03, 2025 • Last updated 2 days ago • 6 minute read

A funny thing about plumbing disasters is that they are, indeed, quite funny – unless they’re happening to you, that is.


There’s a wild world of hilarious clogs out there: Sticks of deodorant, undergarments, children’s toys, adult toys – you name it, plumbers have not just seen it, they’ve extracted it from a pipe.

Of course, we would all like to avoid a plumbing disaster, and who better to advise us on how to coddle our pipes than the experts themselves? We spoke to plumbers about the most common clogs (and some of the strangest), how to prevent them, how to deal with them and how to know when you should call a professional.

– – –

Know thy drains – and their clogs
Weird clogs make for the best stories, but the majority of clogs plumbers are called upon to service are actually quite predictable. “We can usually determine the culprit depending on what type of drain is clogged,” says Docia Boylen, the owner of Handyman Connection.


Toilets: “With a toilet, the number one thing obviously is toilet paper,” says Roy Barnes, a partner at Service Force Plumbing, “and flushable wipes. Golly, there’s times where we snake these pipes and we’ll pull out a couple hundred of them.” He says that tampons and “sometimes condoms” round out the three most common causes of a clog in the commode.

Tub and shower drains: Hair and soap scum mingle in tub and shower drains, forming an unholy union. “In the shower, you are using soap, you’re using shampoo, you’re using conditioner,” Boylen says. “That stuff can clog up drains.” Experts recommend placing a hair catcher in drains to prevent clogs from forming in the first place.

Sink drains: In the bathroom, sink drains suffer the way that tub and shower drains do, namely at the hands of hair and soap scum. Over in the kitchen, oil and grease from cooking are enemies No. 1 (they’re a bonded pair). Fibrous vegetables, which coil around garbage disposal blades like hair wrapped around a vacuum’s beater bar, are another. Things that pretty obviously don’t belong in a drain, like silverware or melted wax, are not uncommon. And starches, including and especially potatoes, expand in pipes, creating massive blockages that can require extreme measures to repair.


Washer stand pipes: The wild card entry on the list is the laundry standpipe, which connects to a washing machine’s discharge hose. “You get a lot of oil saturation there,” Barnes says, “and when you add the lint from your clothes, it becomes like Velcro.” He recommends putting a metal lint sock over the washer’s discharge line to trap debris before it enters your plumbing system and cleaning it out every three to six months.

Put down the bottle of liquid drain opener, please! “The first thing I’ll tell you is, when it comes to any type of clogs, as a plumber, we don’t use any type of chemicals,” Barnes says.

The experts we spoke to agreed that when it comes to clearing a clog, tools designed to open drains are the way to go – chemical drain openers are simply not as effective as augers, plungers and those little zipper-y tools designed to snare hairballs. If you must pour something down a clogged drain, make it boiling water, Boylen says. “Boil a kettle of water and run it slowly down your drain in stages. You would be amazed at what boiling water will do – basically, it will heat up anything that got stuck there because it got cold.” She says this technique is particularly effective on a clogged kitchen sink drain.


One chemical agent that plumbers do recommend is an enzyme-based product called Green Gobbler. “They come in strips that you put down the drain,” Boylen says. “The strips disintegrate, and the enzymes break down organic matter, like grease or fat or food particles.” Enzymes work slowly, so these products will not offer relief for clogs, but they can help to keep clogs from forming. They are also safe to use in septic systems, unlike other chemical drain openers, which should never be used to clear a pipe that drains into a septic system.

– – –

When it comes to clogged pipes, tools > agents
Once you’ve put down the chemical drain openers, it’s time to pick up some tools: a plunger, an auger or one of those little zippy things (technical term).


Plungers: Of course you know about plunging a toilet, but plumbers want you to know that plungers are great for all kinds of clogs – including clogs in sinks, tubs and showers. “I love plungers for sinks because it gets the back pressure and it can get a stubborn clog pulled out,” Boylen says. “For a sink, the old fashioned round plungers work the best.” When plunging a sink or tub, block the overflow by holding a wet washcloth over the opening. “If you block that overflow and create pressure with the plunger while you’re plunging, it can be very effective on minor clogs,” says Nathan Hudelson, the owner of Schlueter Plumbing.

Augers: Drain augers, or drain snakes, are tools designed to remove obstructions from drains. Power augers should only be used by professionals, but hand augers can be a useful tool for amateur use – just take care when working with one, especially if you don’t know what you’re doing. “We see more problems from hand augers with homeowners than we see things fixed,” Hudelson says. “Of course, maybe they’re not calling us when they fix things with them.”


Zipper snakes: Plastic drain snakes with teeth like a zipper designed to grab hair and other clog-y messes are a fantastic tool for the home plumber. “If it’s a tub or bathroom sink,” Hudelson says, “I always recommend using the zip strip first.”

– – –

Consider the plumber
You’ve put down the chemicals, picked up a plunger or a snake and still, the clog persists. At what point do you call a plumber? Boylen says that if you don’t know how to use a snake properly, don’t risk damaging your pipes: “I always say, when in doubt, call a plumber.”

Another thing plumbers would like you to know relates to truth-telling: Do not lie to your plumber – if you poured a chemical drain opener in your pipes, tell the plumber for their safety (they promise you will not get in trouble) – but be aware that your plumber may be willing to lie for you!


Hudelson tells a story about a customer who poured a box of instant mashed potatoes into the sink and ran just enough water to flush them out of the sink basin – but not nearly enough to keep them moving through her plumbing system. “It made mashed potatoes in her pipes,” he says, “all the way down to the basement was completely full of mashed potatoes. I couldn’t open it with an auger because when I put the auger in it, the mashed potatoes would collapse behind it.” The solution was to cut the pipe apart and use a Shop Vac to suck the mashed potatoes out. “She made me promise not to tell her husband. She said: ‘Please don’t write that on the service ticket. Just put the kitchen drain was blocked. I’ll pay the bill.’ So I did that for her.”


– – –

Children and adulterers are the enemy of toilets
Here’s something that would be infuriating if it wasn’t so cute: “For some reason, kids love to throw things in the toilet and watch it go down,” Hudelson says. “So a lot of the big things we see that stop up toilets are toys. We’ve pulled out stuffed animals, Matchbox cars, Superman.” Poor Superman.

Children’s toys aren’t the only playthings that find their way into toilets. “Of course, we found sex toys down in there,” Barnes says, listing other oddball finds that include deodorant and tiny cups used for gargling mouthwash.

And the most odd objects they found? “We found about 150 condoms that were stuck in the toilet,” he says, “and it was just the woman and her husband that lived there.” Can you guess the sordid punch line? “Her husband doesn’t use condoms.”

How to get that drain unclogged, and other wisdom from plumbers

Sticks of deodorant, undergarments, children's toys, adult toys - you name it, plumbers have extracted it from a pipe.

torontosun.com

 

[petros]

How to get that drain unclogged, and other wisdom from plumbers
Sticks of deodorant, undergarments, children's toys, adult toys - you name it, plumbers have extracted it from a pipe

Author of the article:Washington Post
Washington Post
Jolie Kerr
Published Jan 03, 2025 • Last updated 2 days ago • 6 minute read

A funny thing about plumbing disasters is that they are, indeed, quite funny – unless they’re happening to you, that is.


There’s a wild world of hilarious clogs out there: Sticks of deodorant, undergarments, children’s toys, adult toys – you name it, plumbers have not just seen it, they’ve extracted it from a pipe.

Of course, we would all like to avoid a plumbing disaster, and who better to advise us on how to coddle our pipes than the experts themselves? We spoke to plumbers about the most common clogs (and some of the strangest), how to prevent them, how to deal with them and how to know when you should call a professional.

– – –

Know thy drains – and their clogs
Weird clogs make for the best stories, but the majority of clogs plumbers are called upon to service are actually quite predictable. “We can usually determine the culprit depending on what type of drain is clogged,” says Docia Boylen, the owner of Handyman Connection.


Toilets: “With a toilet, the number one thing obviously is toilet paper,” says Roy Barnes, a partner at Service Force Plumbing, “and flushable wipes. Golly, there’s times where we snake these pipes and we’ll pull out a couple hundred of them.” He says that tampons and “sometimes condoms” round out the three most common causes of a clog in the commode.

Tub and shower drains: Hair and soap scum mingle in tub and shower drains, forming an unholy union. “In the shower, you are using soap, you’re using shampoo, you’re using conditioner,” Boylen says. “That stuff can clog up drains.” Experts recommend placing a hair catcher in drains to prevent clogs from forming in the first place.

Sink drains: In the bathroom, sink drains suffer the way that tub and shower drains do, namely at the hands of hair and soap scum. Over in the kitchen, oil and grease from cooking are enemies No. 1 (they’re a bonded pair). Fibrous vegetables, which coil around garbage disposal blades like hair wrapped around a vacuum’s beater bar, are another. Things that pretty obviously don’t belong in a drain, like silverware or melted wax, are not uncommon. And starches, including and especially potatoes, expand in pipes, creating massive blockages that can require extreme measures to repair.


Washer stand pipes: The wild card entry on the list is the laundry standpipe, which connects to a washing machine’s discharge hose. “You get a lot of oil saturation there,” Barnes says, “and when you add the lint from your clothes, it becomes like Velcro.” He recommends putting a metal lint sock over the washer’s discharge line to trap debris before it enters your plumbing system and cleaning it out every three to six months.

Put down the bottle of liquid drain opener, please! “The first thing I’ll tell you is, when it comes to any type of clogs, as a plumber, we don’t use any type of chemicals,” Barnes says.

The experts we spoke to agreed that when it comes to clearing a clog, tools designed to open drains are the way to go – chemical drain openers are simply not as effective as augers, plungers and those little zipper-y tools designed to snare hairballs. If you must pour something down a clogged drain, make it boiling water, Boylen says. “Boil a kettle of water and run it slowly down your drain in stages. You would be amazed at what boiling water will do – basically, it will heat up anything that got stuck there because it got cold.” She says this technique is particularly effective on a clogged kitchen sink drain.


One chemical agent that plumbers do recommend is an enzyme-based product called Green Gobbler. “They come in strips that you put down the drain,” Boylen says. “The strips disintegrate, and the enzymes break down organic matter, like grease or fat or food particles.” Enzymes work slowly, so these products will not offer relief for clogs, but they can help to keep clogs from forming. They are also safe to use in septic systems, unlike other chemical drain openers, which should never be used to clear a pipe that drains into a septic system.

– – –

When it comes to clogged pipes, tools > agents
Once you’ve put down the chemical drain openers, it’s time to pick up some tools: a plunger, an auger or one of those little zippy things (technical term).


Plungers: Of course you know about plunging a toilet, but plumbers want you to know that plungers are great for all kinds of clogs – including clogs in sinks, tubs and showers. “I love plungers for sinks because it gets the back pressure and it can get a stubborn clog pulled out,” Boylen says. “For a sink, the old fashioned round plungers work the best.” When plunging a sink or tub, block the overflow by holding a wet washcloth over the opening. “If you block that overflow and create pressure with the plunger while you’re plunging, it can be very effective on minor clogs,” says Nathan Hudelson, the owner of Schlueter Plumbing.

Augers: Drain augers, or drain snakes, are tools designed to remove obstructions from drains. Power augers should only be used by professionals, but hand augers can be a useful tool for amateur use – just take care when working with one, especially if you don’t know what you’re doing. “We see more problems from hand augers with homeowners than we see things fixed,” Hudelson says. “Of course, maybe they’re not calling us when they fix things with them.”


Zipper snakes: Plastic drain snakes with teeth like a zipper designed to grab hair and other clog-y messes are a fantastic tool for the home plumber. “If it’s a tub or bathroom sink,” Hudelson says, “I always recommend using the zip strip first.”

– – –

Consider the plumber
You’ve put down the chemicals, picked up a plunger or a snake and still, the clog persists. At what point do you call a plumber? Boylen says that if you don’t know how to use a snake properly, don’t risk damaging your pipes: “I always say, when in doubt, call a plumber.”

Another thing plumbers would like you to know relates to truth-telling: Do not lie to your plumber – if you poured a chemical drain opener in your pipes, tell the plumber for their safety (they promise you will not get in trouble) – but be aware that your plumber may be willing to lie for you!


Hudelson tells a story about a customer who poured a box of instant mashed potatoes into the sink and ran just enough water to flush them out of the sink basin – but not nearly enough to keep them moving through her plumbing system. “It made mashed potatoes in her pipes,” he says, “all the way down to the basement was completely full of mashed potatoes. I couldn’t open it with an auger because when I put the auger in it, the mashed potatoes would collapse behind it.” The solution was to cut the pipe apart and use a Shop Vac to suck the mashed potatoes out. “She made me promise not to tell her husband. She said: ‘Please don’t write that on the service ticket. Just put the kitchen drain was blocked. I’ll pay the bill.’ So I did that for her.”


– – –

Children and adulterers are the enemy of toilets
Here’s something that would be infuriating if it wasn’t so cute: “For some reason, kids love to throw things in the toilet and watch it go down,” Hudelson says. “So a lot of the big things we see that stop up toilets are toys. We’ve pulled out stuffed animals, Matchbox cars, Superman.” Poor Superman.

Children’s toys aren’t the only playthings that find their way into toilets. “Of course, we found sex toys down in there,” Barnes says, listing other oddball finds that include deodorant and tiny cups used for gargling mouthwash.

And the most odd objects they found? “We found about 150 condoms that were stuck in the toilet,” he says, “and it was just the woman and her husband that lived there.” Can you guess the sordid punch line? “Her husband doesn’t use condoms.”

How to get that drain unclogged, and other wisdom from plumbers

Sticks of deodorant, undergarments, children's toys, adult toys - you name it, plumbers have extracted it from a pipe.

torontosun.com

Firecrackers...whip bam BOOM!

 

[spaminator]

U.S. surgeon general calls for alcohol to carry cancer warning
Alcohol consumption is the third-leading preventable cause of cancer in the United States, Vivek H. Murthy said

Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Amanda Seitz
Published Jan 03, 2025 • Last updated 1 day ago • 3 minute read

WASHINGTON — Alcohol is a leading cause of cancer, a risk that should be clearly labeled on drinks Americans consume, U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy proposed on Friday.


Murthy’s advisory comes as research and evidence mounts about the bad effects that alcohol has on human health, but his proposal for a label would require a rare approval from the U.S. Congress.

Americans should be better informed about the link between alcohol and cancer, in particular, Murthy argues in his advisory, noting alcohol consumption is to blame for nearly one million preventable cancer cases in the U.S. over the last decade. About 20,000 people die every year from those alcohol-related cancer cases, according to his advisory.

Bottles of beer, wine and liquor already carry warning labels that say pregnant women should not drink and that alcohol consumption can impair someone’s ability to drive a car. But Murthy’s proposed label would go even further, raising awareness about the risk for cancer, too.


“It’s pretty crazy that there’s a lot more information on a can of peas than on a bottle of whiskey,” said Dr. Timothy Naimi, who directs the Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research at the University of Victoria in British Columbia. “Consumers have the right to basic information about health risks, serving size and drinks per container.”

Consuming alcohol raises the risk of developing at least seven types of cancer diseases, including liver, breast and throat cancer, research has found. His advisory also notes that as a person’s alcohol consumption goes up, so does the risk for developing those illnesses.

“For individuals, be aware that cancer risk increases as you drink more alcohol,” Murthy wrote Friday on the social media platform X. “As you consider whether or how much to drink, keep in mind that less is better when it comes to cancer risk.”


Even with the Surgeon General’s advisory and new research that shows the dangers of drinking, it’s unlikely Congress would act swiftly to enact a new Surgeon General’s warning on alcohol products.

It’s been nearly four decades since Congress approved the first government warning label on alcohol, the one that says pregnant women shouldn’t drink and warns about the dangers of driving while drinking. No updates have been made since then.

Before that, Congress approved a label on cigarettes cautioning users that smoking is hazardous to health, a move that is credited with helping America substantially reduce its bad habit.

Any effort to add a cancer warning label to alcohol would face significant push back from a well-funded and powerful beverage industry, which spends nearly $30 million every year lobbying Congress.


Other research around alcohol, including reports that moderate drinking can be associated with lower risks to of heart disease compared to no alcohol consumption, should be considered, said Amanda Berger of the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States.

“Many lifestyle choices carry potential risks, and it is the federal government’s role to determine any proposed changes to the warning statements based on the entire body of scientific research,” Berger said in a statement.

The surgeon general’s advisory comes as the government is in the process of updating dietary guidelines, including those around alcohol, that will form the cornerstone of federal food programs and policy. The updated guidelines are expected later this year.

The current guidelines recommend women have one drink or fewer per day while men should stick to two or fewer.

— Associated Press writer Carla K. Johnson contributed.

U.S. surgeon general calls for alcohol to carry cancer warning

Alcohol consumption is the third-leading preventable cause of cancer in the United States, Vivek H. Murthy said in an advisory.

torontosun.com

 

[petros]

U.S. surgeon general calls for alcohol to carry cancer warning
Alcohol consumption is the third-leading preventable cause of cancer in the United States, Vivek H. Murthy said

Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Amanda Seitz
Published Jan 03, 2025 • Last updated 1 day ago • 3 minute read

WASHINGTON — Alcohol is a leading cause of cancer, a risk that should be clearly labeled on drinks Americans consume, U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy proposed on Friday.


Murthy’s advisory comes as research and evidence mounts about the bad effects that alcohol has on human health, but his proposal for a label would require a rare approval from the U.S. Congress.

Americans should be better informed about the link between alcohol and cancer, in particular, Murthy argues in his advisory, noting alcohol consumption is to blame for nearly one million preventable cancer cases in the U.S. over the last decade. About 20,000 people die every year from those alcohol-related cancer cases, according to his advisory.

Bottles of beer, wine and liquor already carry warning labels that say pregnant women should not drink and that alcohol consumption can impair someone’s ability to drive a car. But Murthy’s proposed label would go even further, raising awareness about the risk for cancer, too.


“It’s pretty crazy that there’s a lot more information on a can of peas than on a bottle of whiskey,” said Dr. Timothy Naimi, who directs the Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research at the University of Victoria in British Columbia. “Consumers have the right to basic information about health risks, serving size and drinks per container.”

Consuming alcohol raises the risk of developing at least seven types of cancer diseases, including liver, breast and throat cancer, research has found. His advisory also notes that as a person’s alcohol consumption goes up, so does the risk for developing those illnesses.

“For individuals, be aware that cancer risk increases as you drink more alcohol,” Murthy wrote Friday on the social media platform X. “As you consider whether or how much to drink, keep in mind that less is better when it comes to cancer risk.”


Even with the Surgeon General’s advisory and new research that shows the dangers of drinking, it’s unlikely Congress would act swiftly to enact a new Surgeon General’s warning on alcohol products.

It’s been nearly four decades since Congress approved the first government warning label on alcohol, the one that says pregnant women shouldn’t drink and warns about the dangers of driving while drinking. No updates have been made since then.

Before that, Congress approved a label on cigarettes cautioning users that smoking is hazardous to health, a move that is credited with helping America substantially reduce its bad habit.

Any effort to add a cancer warning label to alcohol would face significant push back from a well-funded and powerful beverage industry, which spends nearly $30 million every year lobbying Congress.


Other research around alcohol, including reports that moderate drinking can be associated with lower risks to of heart disease compared to no alcohol consumption, should be considered, said Amanda Berger of the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States.

“Many lifestyle choices carry potential risks, and it is the federal government’s role to determine any proposed changes to the warning statements based on the entire body of scientific research,” Berger said in a statement.

The surgeon general’s advisory comes as the government is in the process of updating dietary guidelines, including those around alcohol, that will form the cornerstone of federal food programs and policy. The updated guidelines are expected later this year.

The current guidelines recommend women have one drink or fewer per day while men should stick to two or fewer.

— Associated Press writer Carla K. Johnson contributed.

U.S. surgeon general calls for alcohol to carry cancer warning

Alcohol consumption is the third-leading preventable cause of cancer in the United States, Vivek H. Murthy said in an advisory.

torontosun.com

Finally?

 

[spaminator]

Firecrackers...whip bam BOOM!

the shit might literally hit the fan.

 

[petros]

the shit might literally hit the fan.

Good

 

[spaminator]

Tuna weighing as much as a grizzly bear sells for $1.3 million in Japan
Author of the article:Washington Post
Washington Post
Leo Sands, The Washington Post
Published Jan 05, 2025 • 2 minute read

A bluefin tuna sold for $1.3 million at a predawn auction in Tokyo on Sunday morning, making it one of the most expensive tuna to be sold in the history of sushi.


The 608-pound fish, equivalent in weight to a typical male grizzly bear, was caught off the coast of Oma in northern Japan’s Aomori prefecture on Saturday morning, according to Japan’s Kyodo News agency. The fish was sold to a Michelin-starred Japanese sushi restaurant chain for 207 million yen, the Onodera Group said in a statement about its winning bid.

The first auction of the year at Tokyo’s Toyosu Market – one of the world’s largest wholesale fish markets – typically reels in eye-watering prices.

Japanese public broadcaster NHK reported that the auction began shortly after 5 a.m., with frozen and fresh tuna attracting bids from the country and around the world. This year, the prize tuna fetched over $2,100 per pound – making for some extremely expensive sashimi slices.


“It was as fat as a cow,” 73-year-old fisherman Masahiro Takeuchi told reporters in Oma, Kyodo News reported, recalling the moment he saw the giant tuna caught on a longline.

Onodera said it bought the fish with the cooperation of seafood wholesaler Yamayuk and intends to make it available on sushi menus at 13 of its restaurants. It marked the fifth consecutive year in which the sushi group won the auction, it added.

Photographs showed sushi chefs hauling the gigantic fish onto a sushi counter and preparing the tuna into slices to be served at a Tokyo branch of the Onodera sushi chain.

Oma tuna, a form of Pacific bluefin, is highly prized by sushi restaurateurs as the “black diamond” of tuna fish. A diet of squid and fatty saury fish, combined with its colder-water habitat, gives the tuna a unique balance of fat that makes it a favored sashimi ingredient.


The fish is typically caught in the Tsugaru Strait – a channel frequented by tuna traveling between the Sea of Japan and the Pacific Ocean – using traditional pole and line methods rather than a trawling net, the most popular method for catching Pacific Bluefin. Oma’s tourist board describes itself as “Japan’s Most Famous Tuna Town.”

In 2019, a 613-pound Oma tuna fish at the same Tokyo market fetched $3.1 million, making it the most expensive fish to be sold since records began in 1999.

Pacific Bluefin tuna are among the world’s largest and fastest fish, migrating back and forth from the shores of Japan to California in one of Earth’s most remarkable migratory journeys for its sheer scope.

In 2017, Japan was among the tuna-fishing nations to reach a historic agreement imposing strict quotas on fishing of the species, after overfishing caused its population to dwindle to less than 3 percent of historical highs.

According to global fishery bodies, those international efforts paid off – and the Pacific bluefin species is making something of a comeback.

In 2022, the most recent year for which data was available, the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation found that Pacific bluefin had been restored to almost one-quarter of its unfished levels – exceeding a target of 20 percent set by regulators for the year 2034.

According to NOAA Fisheries in the United States, fishing limits on Pacific bluefin have allowed younger fish to multiply and for the stock to recover faster than anticipated.

Tuna weighing as much as a grizzly bear sells for $1.3 million in Japan

The first auction of the year at Tokyo's Toyosu Market typically reels in eye-watering prices.

torontosun.com

 

[spaminator]

Study reveals annual activity of sneezing sea sponge off B.C. coast
Author of the article:Canadian Press
Canadian Press
Brieanna Charlebois
Published Jan 07, 2025 • 3 minute read

Image of Belinda the sea sponge underwater is shown in this handout image provided by Ocean Networks Canada. A study into the behaviour of a sea sponge off the coast of British Columbia has revealed the animals possess the ability to sneeze.
Image of Belinda the sea sponge underwater is shown in this handout image provided by Ocean Networks Canada. A study into the behaviour of a sea sponge off the coast of British Columbia has revealed the animals possess the ability to sneeze. Photo by Ocean Networks Canada/handout /The Canadian Press
VANCOUVER — A study into the behaviour of a sea sponge off the coast of British Columbia has revealed the animals have the humanlike ability to sneeze.


Researcher Sally Leys said her team examined footage captured over a span of four years by eight cameras installed on the sea floor by Ocean Networks Canada in an effort to study the sponge’s response to the changing climate and weather patterns.

She said they observed the sponge performing regular “sneeze-like” contractions lasting upwards of a day at a time to clear debris that accumulated while it was filter feeding.

“If you put dirt onto the sponge … it’s an irritant to the system, and it has to get rid of it, so it wraps it up in mucus, and it pumps it through and out it goes,” she said in an interview. “But it’s a slow sneeze.”

Leys said the smaller the sponge, the quicker the sneeze.

“A little, tiny sponge — they’re about an hour, maybe 40 minutes, for a sneeze, and then for Belinda, it’s like a day.”

Belinda was the nickname researchers gave to the sea sponge they focused their study on, which Leys noted is about the size of a fist.


She said it was “a pretty active critter,” although if a diver went down to view the sponges in their natural habitat — like a plant in the garden — it would seem unmoving.

Long-term monitoring of the animals proved otherwise, she said.

“I was blown away of how active it was,” Leys said. “This thing was bouncing up and down, and doing all kinds of things.”

Leys, who is a professor in the faculty of science at the University of Alberta, said the experiment tracked the animal over daily, yearly and seasonal changes in shape, colour and size.

Hundreds of hours of video was collected between 2012 and 2015 from the research site about 25 metres under the surface off the Vancouver Island coast. Leys said researchers then spent the next decade analyzing the data.


The study, recently published in Marine Ecology Progress Series, highlighted the sea sponge’s response to its changing environment, she said.

Leys said she was “most surprised” by the sponge’s “annual behaviour.”

She said the sponge contracted to half its size, and entered a dormant state during winter months, despite lacking muscles and a nervous system.

“It suggests the mechanism doesn’t require nerves to withdraw. Once you stop feeding, once there’s less food, there’s sort of an innate response,” she said. “The really interesting question (is) how this animal reduces its activity in response to less food by becoming smaller.”

The study said the sneezing behaviour was observed during the summer months, when phytoplankton blooms increased particulates in the water as the sponge regained its shape.


Ley said studying behaviours will allow researchers to better understand how sponges respond to changes in their environments.

This study marks the longest continuous recording of the animals in the wild.

Although the camera array was removed in 2015 with the conclusion of the project, Leys said divers have confirmed as recently as two months ago that Belinda remains at the site, and is healthy and back to its original colour.

Leys said she is hopeful that researchers will reinstall the cameras to continue the study as ongoing monitoring could reveal even more about how sea sponges respond to changing ocean conditions.

“I’d like to see 10 years of dormancy, then we would be completely sure of this pattern that goes on,” she said.

“I think that having cameras back down there would allow us to really get a long-term view of why it’s undergoing these different kinds of behaviours, whether they are very predictable, and I think, in the long run, it would allow us to understand whether it correlates with changes that we see in the bigger picture of the ocean.”

Study reveals annual activity of sneezing sea sponge off B.C. coast

A study into the behaviour of a sea sponge off the coast of British Columbia has revealed the animals have the humanlike ability to sneeze.

torontosun.com

 

[Tecumsehsbones]

Yeah, boy! Canada. . . the cutting edge of science!

 

[spaminator]

Why Alberta and B.C. are still grappling with the threat of winter 'zombie' wildfires
'I'm beginning to think that we are going to see fires that started in 2023 still burning in 2025, which is kind of mindboggling for here'

Author of the article:Jackie Carmichael
Published Jan 07, 2025 • 5 minute read
Beneath the ground in Western Canada, dozens of zombie fires that started last year are still burning in the dead of winter, and with very little snow likely to lead to drought conditions, Canadians are bracing for another apocalyptic forest fires season this summer.
Beneath the ground in Western Canada, dozens of zombie fires that started last year are still burning in the dead of winter, and with very little snow likely to lead to drought conditions, Canadians are bracing for another apocalyptic forest fires season this summer.
Beneath some of Alberta’s snowy cold, “zombie” wildfires are smoldering, slumbering dragons waiting for air and warmth to snarl back to life.


The remnants of some 2024 wildfires have gone nearly anaerobic in Alberta — overwintering and flameless, thriving on peat and dry foliage detritus deep under the forest bed, with wisps of smoke rising from remote forest floors, like giant Dutch ovens, with heat signatures only detectable by satellites and infrared technology.

“I’m beginning to think that we are going to see fires that started in 2023 still burning in 2025, which is kind of mindboggling for here,” said former University of Alberta professor Mike Flannigan, now professor of wildland fire at Thompson Rivers University, and the B.C. Innovation Research Chair for emergency management, predictive services and fire sites.

The 2023 fire season, with more than 100 fires burning in Western Canada, was exceptional, he said.


“That’s really triggered something that I’ve never seen before, which is kind of rare, because I thought I’ve seen just about everything.”

In the first part of the 2024 fire season, most of the first 500,000 hectares burned were the result of fires that started in the previous year, he said.

“I’ve never seen anything like that,” said Flannigan, who’s been watching wildfire statistics since the 1970s.

Continuing drought unchecked by an unexpectedly weak La Nina climate effect means more wildfires will survive and wake up come spring, living up to their “zombie” nickname.

Traditionally, fires started in the spring or summer are extinguished, either by fire suppression activities or by Mother Nature’s rain.

There were fires overwintering in the Northwest Territories and Quebec, but only B.C. and Alberta really seem to be documenting them in any degree, Flannigan said.


Fighting overwintering fire
In the deep organic layers of sphagnum mosses and “peat,” fire can smoulder anaerobically for long periods, a phenomenon not limited to Canada. Some peat fires have burned in Indonesia for decades, Flannigan noted.

The smouldering ground could rise to 350 degrees — temperatures for baking cookies or roasts.

“We actually could put something in tinfoil, and it would take a while, because it’s moving really slowly, but yeah, it could cook potatoes or beans or fish or whatever,” Flannigan said ruefully.


During fall, things get quieter for firefighters, and fire management goes into less-emergent mop-up mode, putting out hot spots in the perimeter of fires.

“Hot spots in the interior (of the fire) are of less concern, because even if they wake up the following spring, after the snow melts, they’ve got nothing to burn. Whereas the ones on the edge, they can grow,” Flannigan said.


Historically, Alberta fire season used to start April 1. But around 2015, because they were getting fires in February, the season start was moved to March 1, then bumped up again to mid-February in 2024, because the 2023 fire season was so exceptional.

The fire season went well into the fall, with crews busy fighting massive active fires. It became physically impossible to go around all fire perimeters and put out all hotspots.

A mild 2024 winter with not much precipitation has left northeastern Alberta relatively dry.

“They’ve got some precipitation, but not enough to overcome the drought. So these fires are continuing to smoulder. And when spring comes, the snow melts, weather conditions are conducive. These fires will continue to grow,” Flannigan said.


“As we get warmer and drier, I expect to see more of these overwintering fires causing problems.”

Overwintering fires are typically dug in between 50 centimetres to one metre below the surface.

“The difficult part is extinguishing it. You can flood it out if you have lots of water, like with pumps and hoses. Sometimes they use backhoes if it’s a really deep spot, but it takes a lot of effort. It’s very time-consuming to get these smouldering fires and deep organic layers,” Flannigan said.

“That’s what they were doing last February — actioning these fires and mostly digging them up. Yes, it will freeze depending on the conditions. But you know, if you can get the water to the fire or at least raise the water table above where the fire is, it will go out.”

Beneath the ground in Western Canada, dozens of zombie fires that started last year are still burning in the dead of winter, and with very little snow likely to lead to drought conditions Canadians are bracing for another apocalyptic forest fires season this summer.
Conflicting forecasts
Climate has an immediate bearing on forest fire prospects, and when it comes to climate effects, some predictions are more solid than others, Flannigan said.

Seasonal forecasts are expected to start sometime in February. The overarching question is which climate effect pattern will hold weather sway over Western Canada.

“All the models said we’d be well into a La Nina starting months ago, and it did not happen.

“The models were wrong, it stayed neutral,” he said.

A cooler La Nina cycle with increased precipitation is more elusive than the warm and dry climate of El Nino, Flannigan said.

“They’re now updating the forecast and saying it’s probable we’ll get a weak La Nina for a couple of months and then flip back to neutral.”


If the ocean temperature is within a half-degree above or below the long-term average, that’s considered “neutral.”

“The ocean isn’t quite behaving the way it’s supposed to,” Flannigan said.

Overall, seasonal forecasts for temperature remain above normal for most of Canada, for most models — although some say it’ll be wetter or drier than normal in northern Alberta, Flannigan said.

The drought cycle Alberta has seen won’t be sated unless the province gets much more precipitation over a longer period — a rainy spring to dampen the already-dry landscape.

“I’d say odds are that we could have an active (fire season) in spring again, in part due to these overwintering fires, because their ignition’s ready to roll, as opposed to new fires that lightning or people start,” Flannigan said.


“As soon as the snow goes, and it gets warm, dry and windy, the fires pop up to the surface and start spreading.”

Zombies know no limits
The limbo of the underground fire isn’t just a rural phenomenon limited to the wilds outside Lac La Biche in northern Alberta.

One local example was the 2023 fire on the western rim of Anthony Henday Drive, said Derrick Forsythe, provincial information officer with Alberta Wildfire.

“That was a peat fire. That was a fire that had been underground for who knows how long, who knows what the source was,” Forsythe said.

It popped up and caught a good whiff of oxygen.

“There were some other fuels, and some trees and stuff in and around the area, and those kind of ignited and away we went,” he said.


“One of the most volatile times for us is that period between when the snow leaves and before the grass turns back to green, when we’re looking for green up and we’re not at green-up yet,” Forsythe said.

jcarmichael@postmedia.com

Why Alberta and B.C. are still grappling with the threat of winter 'zombie' wildfires

The remnants of some 2024 wildfires have gone nearly anaerobic in Alberta — overwintering and flameless, thriving on peat and dry foliage.

torontosun.com

 

[spaminator]

Study reveals annual activity of sneezing sea sponge off B.C. coast
Author of the article:Canadian Press
Canadian Press
Brieanna Charlebois
Published Jan 07, 2025 • 3 minute read

Image of Belinda the sea sponge underwater is shown in this handout image provided by Ocean Networks Canada. A study into the behaviour of a sea sponge off the coast of British Columbia has revealed the animals possess the ability to sneeze.
Image of Belinda the sea sponge underwater is shown in this handout image provided by Ocean Networks Canada. A study into the behaviour of a sea sponge off the coast of British Columbia has revealed the animals possess the ability to sneeze. Photo by Ocean Networks Canada/handout /The Canadian Press
VANCOUVER — A study into the behaviour of a sea sponge off the coast of British Columbia has revealed the animals have the humanlike ability to sneeze.


Researcher Sally Leys said her team examined footage captured over a span of four years by eight cameras installed on the sea floor by Ocean Networks Canada in an effort to study the sponge’s response to the changing climate and weather patterns.

She said they observed the sponge performing regular “sneeze-like” contractions lasting upwards of a day at a time to clear debris that accumulated while it was filter feeding.

“If you put dirt onto the sponge … it’s an irritant to the system, and it has to get rid of it, so it wraps it up in mucus, and it pumps it through and out it goes,” she said in an interview. “But it’s a slow sneeze.”

Leys said the smaller the sponge, the quicker the sneeze.

“A little, tiny sponge — they’re about an hour, maybe 40 minutes, for a sneeze, and then for Belinda, it’s like a day.”

Belinda was the nickname researchers gave to the sea sponge they focused their study on, which Leys noted is about the size of a fist.


She said it was “a pretty active critter,” although if a diver went down to view the sponges in their natural habitat — like a plant in the garden — it would seem unmoving.

Long-term monitoring of the animals proved otherwise, she said.

“I was blown away of how active it was,” Leys said. “This thing was bouncing up and down, and doing all kinds of things.”

Leys, who is a professor in the faculty of science at the University of Alberta, said the experiment tracked the animal over daily, yearly and seasonal changes in shape, colour and size.

Hundreds of hours of video was collected between 2012 and 2015 from the research site about 25 metres under the surface off the Vancouver Island coast. Leys said researchers then spent the next decade analyzing the data.


The study, recently published in Marine Ecology Progress Series, highlighted the sea sponge’s response to its changing environment, she said.

Leys said she was “most surprised” by the sponge’s “annual behaviour.”

She said the sponge contracted to half its size, and entered a dormant state during winter months, despite lacking muscles and a nervous system.

“It suggests the mechanism doesn’t require nerves to withdraw. Once you stop feeding, once there’s less food, there’s sort of an innate response,” she said. “The really interesting question (is) how this animal reduces its activity in response to less food by becoming smaller.”

The study said the sneezing behaviour was observed during the summer months, when phytoplankton blooms increased particulates in the water as the sponge regained its shape.


Ley said studying behaviours will allow researchers to better understand how sponges respond to changes in their environments.

This study marks the longest continuous recording of the animals in the wild.

Although the camera array was removed in 2015 with the conclusion of the project, Leys said divers have confirmed as recently as two months ago that Belinda remains at the site, and is healthy and back to its original colour.

Leys said she is hopeful that researchers will reinstall the cameras to continue the study as ongoing monitoring could reveal even more about how sea sponges respond to changing ocean conditions.

“I’d like to see 10 years of dormancy, then we would be completely sure of this pattern that goes on,” she said.

“I think that having cameras back down there would allow us to really get a long-term view of why it’s undergoing these different kinds of behaviours, whether they are very predictable, and I think, in the long run, it would allow us to understand whether it correlates with changes that we see in the bigger picture of the ocean.”
View attachment 26648

Study reveals annual activity of sneezing sea sponge off B.C. coast

A study into the behaviour of a sea sponge off the coast of British Columbia has revealed the animals have the humanlike ability to sneeze.

torontosun.com

Yeah, boy! Canada. . . the cutting edge of science!

the study is nothing to sneeze at.