Science & Environment

[spaminator]

Why you should never take a shower during a thunderstorm
Experts also caution people to avoid other water-related activities such as washing hands, clothes or dishes

Author of the article:Washington Post
Washington Post
Lindsey Bever
Published Apr 22, 2025 • Last updated 22 hours ago • 3 minute read


Is it true that you can get electrocuted while showering during a thunderstorm?


With peak thunderstorm season upon us, it may be wise to heed the age-old advice against showering during a thunderstorm, experts said.

The chance of being struck by lightning in general is low — less than 1 in a million in the United States, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Lightning strikes a few hundred Americans each year — about 90 percent of whom survive – most often in the summertime and most commonly during outdoor activities.

The chance of being struck indoors is even lower, but it is possible to be zapped during water-related chores or self-care activities such as showering. “If lightning is traveling through the wiring or through the plumbing, you could get that shock,” said Chris Vagasky, meteorologist with the National Lightning Safety Council.


When lightning strikes, the electrical current travels 360 degrees in less than a second. Well-constructed buildings, including houses, often act as a cage and protect inhabitants as the electric current travels through electrical wiring or plumbing and goes into the ground – which is why people should avoid contact with those pathways during a thunderstorm, experts said.

If the electrical current comes into contact with plumbing, particularly metal pipes, both the pipe and the water in it act as conductors, experts added. Anyone touching the plumbing or water during a lightning strike could experience a nonfatal electric shock or – in some cases – fatal electrocution.

Plastic pipes, which are used in many homes, may decrease the risk, but “water remains a good conductor of electricity, meaning that a possibility of electrocution still exists,” said Keith Sherburn, severe weather program coordinator for the National Weather Service.


Because lightning-related injuries are not well tracked, experts said it is difficult to know how many people have been shocked while showering. But, Sherburn said, none of the documented lightning-related fatalities in nearly two decades in the United States have been associated with these activities.

Not only is there a risk while showering, but experts also caution people to avoid other water-related activities such as washing hands, clothes or dishes.

The concern is not with rain but with thunder as it signals lightning. People 10 to 15 miles from the eye of the storm can hear thunder and be struck by lightning, Vagasky said.

“That’s why we always say, ‘When thunder roars, go indoors,’ because if you can hear the thunder, you are close enough to be struck by lightning,” he said.


– – –

What else you should know
Electrical wiring poses a similar risk during a thunderstorm as a lightning bolt that strikes a home can travel through the wiring to any device that is plugged in, such as an appliance, game controller, landline phone, desktop computer, or wireless devices that are charging at the time, the CDC said.

In 2022, five people were killed in Brazil while using smartphones that were plugged into electrical outlets when lightning struck, according to a study examining lightning safety indoors.

Additionally, “there may be undocumented injuries” tied to using electronic devices that are wired or plugged in, Sherburn said.

The bottom line: Although the risk of electric shock or electrocution while showering in a thunderstorm is low, it is not zero, experts said.

Why you should never take a shower during a thunderstorm

The chance of being struck indoors is low, but it is possible to be zapped during water-related chores or activities such as showering.

torontosun.com

 

[spaminator]

B.C. government sued by family, neighbours of landslide victims
The plaintiffs are also suing the Village of Lions Bay and Steven Vestergaard, who built roads and a small reservoir high above the properties

Author of the article:Gordon Hoekstra
Published Apr 22, 2025 • Last updated 1 day ago • 4 minute read

David and Barbara Enns were killed when their home at 6 Glendale Ave. in Lions Bay was swept away after a mudslide on Dec. 14, 2024. This photograph, taken on Jan. 16, 2025, shows the remnants of the Enns's home, to the right of the photo and the path of debris flow.
David and Barbara Enns were killed when their home at 6 Glendale Ave. in Lions Bay was swept away after a mudslide on Dec. 14, 2024. This photograph, taken on Jan. 16, 2025, shows the remnants of the Enns's home, to the right of the photo and the path of debris flow.
The children of a couple who died in a landslide in Lions Bay in December last year, and the couple’s two neighbours, are suing the B.C. government for negligence.


The plaintiffs are also suing the Village of Lions Bay and Steven Vestergaard, the man who built roads and a small reservoir high above the properties of the couple and their neighbours.

David and Barbara Enns were killed on Dec. 14 when a debris flow carrying mud, rocks and trees cascaded down the Battani Creek ravine about 750 metres and swept away their house. The debris also hit the busy Sea to Sky Highway.

The lawsuit claims the debris flow was “caused, or alternatively contributed to,” by the allegedly illegal construction of the roads and small reservoir on provincial land.

“Since at least 2013, the province knew or ought to have known of the illegal works on Crown land and that these illegal works posed a serious risk to the residents, their properties and members of the public, including users of the Sea to Sky Highway,” says the notice of civil claim.


The lawsuit was filed on April 16 by Enns’s children Barbara (Jody) Dyer and Michael Enns, the executors of their parents’ estate. The plaintiffs also include Michelle Medland and Sean Barry, and Fiona and Raymond Fourie, the Enns’s neighbours whose properties are also beside Battani Creek.

The lawsuit says their properties remain exposed to elevated geo-hazard risk, which the province and Vestergaard have failed to address in a timely manner. A local state of emergency remains in place for the neighbours’ properties on Goldenrod Avenue, which are above the Enns’s property.

Dyer and Enns are seeking damages for the wrongful death of their parents.

The Enns’s children and the neighbours are also seeking general and special damages. Those include damage and destruction to property, decreased property value, expenses, loss of use and enjoyment, pain and suffering, and emotional distress.


None of the defendants have responded in court and the allegations have not been proven in court.

The province did not respond Tuesday to a request for comment on the lawsuit.

Vestergaard said Tuesday that he had not been served with court documents and had no knowledge of the case and could not comment.

Previously, Vestergaard has provided documentation to Postmedia News showing work to reduce slope failure risks at the reservoir was signed off by a professional geoscientist as “satisfactorily completed” in 2015. He said he spent $400,000 on slide prevention, engineering and remediation on the reservoir and an access road about a decade ago.

The reservoir was meant to provide water to Vestergaard’s private property that covers the equivalent of about 4½ city blocks. No home has been built and the property is now in foreclosure, according to B.C. Supreme Court records.


Enns
David and Barbara Enns died in a landslide on Dec. 14, 2024, in Lions Bay. Photo by supplied by family
The lawsuit has the potential to unveil details of how construction took place on the roads and reservoir, and what provincial oversight, if any, was in place, including whether construction was approved by the province, and, if there were approvals, what requirements were stipulated.

So far, the province has provided little detail on its oversight, saying they could not comment because of a continuing RCMP investigation into the deadly landslide.

In a previous response to Postmedia, not related to this court case, the province said following an inspection in 2014 of the reservoir by one of its senior geotechnical engineers, Vestergaard procured the services of qualified professionals to address concerns.


The engineer’s concerns, as reported earlier by Postmedia, included debris flow risks related to construction of the reservoir and access road.

Provincial officials said that qualified professionals prepared remediation plans, supervised the work and provided assurance statements to the province.

The lawsuit filed by the Enns’s children and the neighbours notes that on or before November 1999 a geotechnical report obtained by one or more of the residents confirmed Battani Creek and sloped terrain above the properties were stable.

The lawsuit also provides a timeline of alleged “illegal” construction of the roads and reservoir, and the province’s knowledge of the construction and risks.

The lawsuit notes that since at least 2014 the province has known or ought to have known that due to the “illegal” works on provincial land, the slope below the works and above the three properties was unstable with a high likelihood of failure, risks of a debris flow had significantly increased and residents’ homes were directly in the path of the projected potential debris flow.


The suit also notes the province notified the residents in October 2014 of the instability of the slope adjacent to the “illegal reservoir” and the high risk of a debris flow on Battani Creek and said it was taking immediate action to address concerns, including ordering Vestergaard to mitigate the risks.

The lawsuit adds the province and Vestergaard each failed to adequately complete actions and ensure the known risks associated with the “illegal” works were resolved or mitigated.

The Enns’s children and the neighbours are also seeking that the bridge and road that provide access to their properties is declared a provincial highway. They are also seeking a declaration that the village or province or both are liable for costs of repair, maintenance and inspections of the bridge and access road to their properties. The bridge was damaged in the debris flow.

The Village of Lions Bay declined Tuesday to comment on the lawsuit.

After the debris flow, at the end of February, the village installed a locked gate on the south end of the bridge and controlled the residents’ and others’ access, notes the lawsuit.

ghoekstra@postmedia.com

x.com/gordon_hoekstra

State of Emergency to Remain in Place

RCMP remain tight-lipped over landslide probeThe State of Local Emergency (SOLE) continues to remain in force more than three months after the devastating landslide that swept down Battani Creek, taking the lives of David and Barbara Enns. Chief Administrative Officer Ross Blackwell, who is also...

lionsbaywatershed.ca

B.C. government sued by family, neighbours of Lions Bay landslide victims

Plaintiffs are also suing Village of Lions Bay and Steven Vestergaard, who built roads, small reservoir above the properties

torontosun.com

 

[spaminator]

Ontario reports 95 new measles cases, sending total above 1,000 since outbreak began
Author of the article:Canadian Press
Canadian Press
Nicole Ireland
Published Apr 24, 2025 • Last updated 13 hours ago • 4 minute read

Public Health Ontario is reporting 95 new measles cases since last week, bringing the total number of people infected past 1,000.


In its report released Thursday, the agency said as of Wednesday, a total of 1,020 people have had measles since the province’s outbreak began last October

The report said the ongoing rise in cases is “due to continued exposures and transmission among individuals who have not been immunized.”

Many of the new cases continue to be reported in southwestern Ontario and three-quarters of the total measles cases in the province have been infants, children and teens, the report said.

Dr. Sarah Wilson, a medical epidemiologist at Public Health Ontario, said in an interview there doesn’t appear to be a trend of infection rates going up or down, since the number of new cases is “broadly consistent with what we’ve seen in the last several weeks.”


“We’re in this sort of roughly 100 cases per week terrain, and of course that’s 100 cases too many,” Wilson said.

Seventy-six people — including 57 children — have been hospitalized during the province’s measles outbreak. Seven patients required ICU care, the report said, noting that all but four people who were hospitalized were unimmunized.

“That’s a really important reminder that measles can have significant morbidity, significant complications. It’s not a trivial illness, and importantly, that all of this can be prevented through vaccination,” Wilson said.

The most common complications of measles are pneumonia and other bacterial illnesses, she said. There is also a one in 1,000 risk of encephalitis, which can lead to permanent neurological damage.


In a news conference Thursday afternoon, Dr. Adil Shamji, the Liberal critic for public health, called the number of measles cases in Ontario “staggering” and slammed Premier Doug Ford’s Conservative government for not providing enough public updates, noting that Dr. Kieran Moore, the province’s chief medical officer of health, last issued a press release about measles in mid-March.

“I shouldn’t be the one standing at the podium here. Members of the government and ministry of health should be,” Shamji said.

He also blamed the provincial government for the shortage of primary care providers “so that 2.5 million people and counting don’t have a family doctor and therefore struggle to find somewhere to vaccinate their children.”


Shamji said another factor hindering the public health response to the measles outbreak is the amalgamation of nine public health units into four last January, saying that made it more difficult for public health officials to “navigate a public health crisis.”

Those amalgamated public health units include Grand Erie Public Health which PHO data shows has had 137 total cases, South East Health Unit with 79, Northeastern Public Health with 11 and Haliburton-Kawartha-Northumberland-Peterborough Health Unit, which has not reported any cases.

Shamji called on the Ford government to allocate more funding to public health units, update the public regularly, provide public education about the safety of the measles vaccine and where to get it and to debate the provincial measles response in the legislature.


In an emailed response to The Canadian Press, a spokesperson for Minister of Health Sylvia Jones said the government “has made record investments to build healthier communities and support public health units (PHUs) across the province.”

“Not only have we increased funding for PHUs by nearly 20 per cent, but our government also restored the 75 per cent provincial, 25 per cent municipal cost share ratio and we are providing PHUs with an annual increase to base funding each year for three years,” said Ema Popovic in the statement.

“Our government and Dr. Moore have been clear in our message to people across the province — vaccination is the most effective way to limit the spread of measles and protect yourself and your loved ones,” Popovic said.


Public Health Ontario releases a weekly report on the number of cases in the province, but it does not specify how many cases are active, or communicable.

Measles is one of the most contagious viruses in the world, which is why vaccination is critical, medical experts say.

The illness usually begins with a fever, cough, runny nose and red watery eyes, followed by a red blotchy rash that starts on the face and spreads to the body.

People with measles are contagious for about four days before their rash first appears, the day the rash appears, and four days afterward, Wilson said.

The Public Health Agency of Canada says measles cases have been reported in six provinces — Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec and Saskatchewan

As of Wednesday, Alberta has reported 122 cases of measles since its outbreak began in March.

Quebec declared its measles outbreak over earlier this week after no new cases were reported in 32 days.

Ontario reports 95 new measles cases, sending total above 1,000 since outbreak began

Public Health Ontario is reporting 95 new measles cases since last week, bringing the total number of people infected past 1,000

torontosun.com

 

[spaminator]

Canada doesn't have to wait until 2040 for doomsday report to come true. It's here
Everywhere you look there is mayhem, robberies, shootings, hunger and death more than 15 years before prediction of collapse of Canada


Author of the article:Joe Warmington
Published Apr 25, 2025 • Last updated 8 hours ago • 5 minute read

It’s already the dystopian year 2040 at 130 Queen St. W. in Toronto where hundreds of starving Canadians wait in a food line to get a free meal!


Or on Britannia Rd. in Mississauga, at Pearson International Airport, at Sheppard Ave. W. and Bathurst St., in Grimsby or pretty much anywhere else you look!

This country is not the Canada of the glory days. It just isn’t.

Like the federal government’s Policy Horizons Canada internal report that predicted a collapse of Canada in 15 years that could see people hunting in the wild for meat, it already looks apocalyptic and dystopian: Crime, homelessness, hunger, violence and death are everywhere.


As the Toronto Sun’s Bryan Passifiume reported this week, the Future Lives: Social mobility in question report “paints a picture” of a society where “wealth inequality is rising” and “in 2040, upward social mobility is almost unheard of in Canada. Hardly anyone believes that they can build a better life for themselves, or their children, through their own efforts.”


Many didn’t want to talk about it. Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre did.

“It’s something from the post-apocalyptic TV show like Fallout or The Last of Us,” Poilievre said Tuesday. “But this is the forecast from Prime Minister Carney’s own government department, the Privy Council Office. Now Mr. Carney plans to continue the very policies that got us into this mess in the first place.”



Canadians who live in the Golden Horseshoe already know they don’t have to wait to see a dystopian future. It’s already here. While in this federal election campaign many just ignore what they see, many Canadians’ eyes are open and they don’t like what what they see.

An example was the massive line Wednesday night outside Osgoode Hall, next to Nathan Phillips Square and Toronto’s city hall. People were queued up, half a kilometre around the corner, in what somebody could have mistakenly thought were fans trying to get into a concert or hockey game.

It was instead for a hot meal and groceries.

“At this place, you get both,” said David, who was one of the faithful waiting outside the weekly Lawyers Feed the Hungry event.


It draws a crowd.

So do the foodbanks — including the Fort York Food bank on College St. near Kensington Market — which also often have long lineups for a basket of the basics. The parks are starting to fill up again with tents and you see more and more of that under the elevated portion of the Gardiner Expressway. There are also homeless sleeping at Pearson airport now.

The streets are crazy violent too — many are carrying guns which means police are faced with such danger when they approach a car. We saw that on the leaked body cam this week in which an officer had a gun pulled on him by a 16-year-old which they really had no choice but to shoot.

It’s so unpredictable now.



For example, it was a scene from hell with police drawing their guns on masked suspects allegedly in the middle of one of the region’s 50 daily carjackings under way.

“Don’t you F’n move,” the officer tells the suspect as he gets onto the hood of a car and points his gun down toward him. “Show me your hands.” This wasn’t happening south of the border like Chicago or Baltimore. It’s Mississauga on a Thursday afternoon at the corner of residential Britannia Rd. W. and Hogan Dr.

Coppers from Peel Regional Police’s 11 Division did a masterful job of taking into custody three youths and one adult and charging them with possession of property obtained by crime and possession of break in instruments. They will all be out on the streets on bail soon if not already.


Advantage bad guys. But good work by Peel cops.

It has been a busy week for Peel Police Chief Nishan Duraiappah who, like all GTA police chiefs, is run off his feet. On the same day as this, two of his officers were forced to use lethal measures on a 30-year-old man with a long violent crime rap sheet when he pulled a gun and pointed it toward a cop.

Same thing happened this week in North York where two Toronto Police officers had to shoot a 16-year-old youth who, when asked to leave the back of a car, pulled a gun and shot at an officer. The teen was shot and killed too.

It’s crazy in Canada now. It’s wild out there. Chaos.

Just last week we had a 21-year-old woman, an international student from India, murdered by a stray bullet while waiting for a bus in Hamilton. Even in Grimsby, out in the Niagara Region, there was a wild scene in which thugs robbed a jewelry store and then fled the scene that will be challenged by residents who have had enough.


“What happened to our country?” asks MP Dean Allison. “A justice system with a revolving door where criminals are not afraid of breaking the law because they know there are no consequences.”



It’s out of control now. Everywhere. All the time!

But the cops are trying. They are brave, they are at risk and they don’t quit on the rest of us. A video of the Mississauga arrest shows that.

“The arrest of these individuals marks a significant victory in our ongoing efforts to curb violent crime and ensure the safety of our citizens,” said Duraiappah. “Our community can take comfort in knowing that justice will be served, and we remain steadfast in our commitment to maintaining peace and security.”

The community appreciates it. And so does the chief.

“Thank you to the men and women of Peel Regional Police for their quick thinking and for the safe apprehension of these individuals,” said the chief. “Together, we will continue to work diligently to prevent such incidents and protect our neighbourhoods.”

Of course they need some help from government on that.

Will it be fixed before 2040? Or is it already too late in 2025?

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1915745763285442690

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https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1914410598139634090

https://twitter.com/cbcwatcher/stat...040-for-doomsday-report-to-come-true-its-here

WARMINGTON: Canada doesn't have to wait until 2040 for doomsday report to come true. It's here

Like the government's Policy Horizons Canada internal report that predicted a collapse of Canada in 15 years, it already looks apocalyptic.

torontosun.com

 

[spaminator]

Ontario’s new mining bill a 'vendetta' against species at risk: Environmentalists
Last week, the province tabled an omnibus bill it says is aimed at speeding up new mining projects

Author of the article:Canadian Press
Canadian Press
Jordan Omstead and Liam Casey
Published Apr 25, 2025 • 6 minute read

Ontario is moving to gut protections for endangered plants and animals as part of a mining bill, environmental groups say, with some calling it the most comprehensive attack on the province’s at-risk species legislation in nearly two decades.


The province disputes that characterization. Yet, policy advocates who reviewed the proposed legislation say the sweeping changes would erode already loosely enforced protections for more than 200 at-risk species, while giving the government greater power over scientists to decide what gets protected.

“This is really the most comprehensive undermining of the (Endangered Species Act) we’ve seen,” said Laura Bowman, a staff lawyer with environmental law charity Ecojustice.

Last week, the province tabled an omnibus bill it says is aimed at speeding up new mining projects. As part of that bill, the government eyes immediate changes to the Endangered Species Act, which it ultimately plans to repeal and replace with a new law.


The process to get a permit under the current law is “slow and complex,” the government’s proposal said, and the changes would offer a “reasonable, balanced approach to protecting species in Ontario.”

Environmentalists say there’s nothing balanced about the approach.

The government wants to dramatically narrow what “habitat” means and do away with requirements to create a strategy for how to recover at-risk species. It also appears to give itself greater power over an independent science-based committee to add and remove species from a protected list.

“I don’t think this is a major benefit to any industry. I think… it’s just an irrational vendetta against species that some industrial players are blaming for their delays,” said Bowman.


The definition of habitat would change from the entire area needed for a species to survive, to just its nest or den and the area immediately surrounding it. The changes would also strip the government of a responsibility to develop recovery strategies and management plans for at-risk species.

They would also allow companies to start developing a project that could destroy habitat or kill at-risk species without first getting a permit. Instead, the government is proposing to move to a not-yet-defined “registration-first approach” for all projects, which it says is already in place for most.

Critics fear registrations will only require broad, standardized measures to mitigate impacts to at-risk species, rather than project-specific permits that require a company to show how they plan to help.


“It’s very simplistic, it’s not rooted in the latest science,” said Anna Baggio, conservation director of Wildlands League. “They’re not even trying to pretend anymore, nature and biodiversity is just something in the way of development.”

A spokesperson for Environment, Conservation and Parks Minister Todd McCarthy said the proposed Species Conservation Act, which will replace the Endangered Species Act, will establish “robust environmental protections by creating clear, enforceable rules for businesses to follow and strengthening the ability to enforce species conservation laws.”

“This includes creating a mandatory requirement to register their project and tough fines for non-compliance — there will be no tolerance for bad actors,” said Alex Catherwood.


The Committee on the Status of Species at Risk in Ontario, also known as COSSARO, would continue to provide science-based advice on the listing of species, Catherwood said.

Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner said the new bill has caused him to rethink his plan to support the government’s moves to help workers in the face of the U.S. trade war.

“That goodwill gets undermined when you then use it to completely dismantle vital environmental protection and Indigenous consultation and consent,” Schreiner said.

“If you’re an animal or plant in Ontario, this is a pretty bad day for you, but it’s a bad day for people too because healthy ecosystems are vital to human survival and to undermine that I think is just reckless, dangerous, and short sighted.”


Many First Nations have come out against the proposed changes designed to speed up mining in their traditional territories, though some are in support. The mining industry supports the changes.

An industry association representing Ontario homebuilders also welcomed the changes and blamed permit delays in part on what it called a process that is “expensive, slow, and unnecessarily complicated.”

The new legislation would clear up the definition of endangered species and help “increase protections while allowing approvals for vital projects to go forward in a timely manner,” said Andres Ibarguen, a spokesman for the Ontario Home Builders Association.

Between 2015 and 2021 it took on average 851 days to complete a development-related permit process, but as of August 2020 that number had come down to 256 days, the province’s auditor general reported in 2021. Companies that complained to higher levels within the Environment Ministry were found to have received permits 43 per cent faster.


Permits were also delayed for some conservation work and fast-tracked for some developers, the audit found. Ministry staff suggested delays to a permit to help conserve the Massasauga rattlesnake likely contributed to the species becoming locally extinct, the report said.

Premier Doug Ford’s government has feverishly overhauled Ontario’s nature protection and oversight rules in recent years in what it suggests is a bid to speed up the construction of homes, mines, highways and other infrastructure in Ontario.

Ford teed off last year when asked about curbing environmental protections to get Highway 413 built, which included shrinking protected habitat for the red side dace, a fish in the project’s path.


“Let’s build the damn highway,” he said. “There’s hundreds of thousands of people stuck in their cars, backed up from here to Timbuktu, and you’re worried about a grasshopper jumping across the highway. We need to start building and we’re going to start building, simple as that.”

Ontario’s endangered species law, once considered a gold standard for its automatic protection for critical habitat and science-based assessments, has been repeatedly weakened by regulations, environmental groups say.

Forestry companies have been exempted from the law since it was passed, a carveout made permanent during the pandemic despite the possible risks to endangered caribou. Since 2021, developers have been allowed to pay into a conservation fund instead of taking on-site measures to protect species.


That fund will now be wound down since the registration approach won’t include the option to pay a fee, the government’s proposal said. To date, none of the money had been spent on species protections.

The government says the funds will still go toward activities “in alignment” with species protection and conservation goals. It’s also quadrupling a species conservation program to $20 million annually to support “efforts to conserve and protect listed species,” said Catherwood, the minster’s spokesperson.

What protections do exist in law for at-risk species have been found to be laxly applied and enforced.

The Environment Ministry has never turned down an application to harm a species or its habitat, the auditor general reported in 2021. Most approvals were granted automatically without review and no inspections were carried out to make sure companies followed their conditions once work started.


The ministry also didn’t consider the cumulative impact of permitting activities that could repeatedly harm the same species, the audit found.

Blanding turtles, which have seen their numbers decline by 60 per cent over three generations largely due to habitat loss, had been impacted by more than 1,400 approvals from 2007 to 2021, the report found. Bobolink, a grassland songbird whose numbers have collapsed by 77 per cent since the 1970s, had been impacted by more than 2,000 approvals.

A 2023 followup report found the government had fully implemented four of the auditor’s 52 recommendations. Seventeen had seen little or no progress and 22 would not be implemented.

Ontario’s new mining bill a 'vendetta' against species at risk: Environmentalists

Premier Doug Ford's government has feverishly overhauled Ontario's nature protection and oversight rules in recent years

torontosun.com

 

[spaminator]

‘Smart insoles’ could help diagnose dementia, other health problems
Author of the article:Washington Post
Washington Post
Erin Blakemore, The Washington Post
Published Apr 27, 2025 • 1 minute read

Photograph of the smart insole system.
Photograph of the smart insole system. Photo by Science Advances
A new “smart insole” system that transmits data based on a person’s gait could one day provide earlier warnings of dementia, orthopedic issues and lumbar disc problems, a recent study says.


Writing in Science Advances, researchers called the system “a practical solution for improving clinical assessments, personalized treatments, and biomechanics research.”

The pressure-sensing insoles are self-powered by solar cells. Inside them are 22 sensors that convert the pressure of a person’s gait into electrical signals. The signals are then transmitted to a smartphone, which uses an app to visualize the wearer’s pressure distribution and gait. The app also can recognize eight states of motion with the help of machine learning, showing whether the wearer is sitting, standing, running or moving in another way.

This could help future athletes and patients correct their posture, rehabilitate after injuries or monitor their progress in health programs, the researchers say.


“Our bodies carry lots of useful information that we’re not even aware of,” Jinghua Li, one of the study co-authors and an assistant professor of materials science and engineering at Ohio State University, said in a news release. “These statuses also change over time, so it’s our goal to use electronics to extract and decode those signals to encourage better self health care checks.”

Previous research has shown the promise of gait analysis to diagnose conditions such as Parkinson’s disease, which often causes a shuffling or leaning gait. Better sensors could help the field reach its potential, the researchers write.

‘Smart insoles’ could help diagnose dementia, other health problems

A new "smart insole" system that transmits data based on a person's gait could one day provide earlier warnings of health problems.

torontosun.com

 

[Tecumsehsbones]

Can they diagnose goofy walks?

 

[spaminator]

Coyotes with little fear of humans a dangerous menace to dog walkers
Author of the article:Jack Boland
Published Apr 29, 2025 • Last updated 1 day ago • 2 minute read

“They tried to go out to the back of their building and there was a coyote waiting for them in the bushes,” said a dog walker.

Another coyote attack?


Dog walker Kristin Freeland and Derek — out with his dog, Henry — were at Stanley Park in the King-Wellington Sts. area talking about “the latest attack” by a coyote; this one apparently Tuesday morning near a condo building in the Tecumseth-Wellington Sts. area.

Freeland showed grainy images on her mobile phone of a mangy looking coyote at the back doors of The Summit, at 735 King St. W., which quickly approached one of her clients and his 55-pound dog.

“They tried to go out to the back of their building and there was a coyote waiting for them in the bushes,” said Freeland. “And it charged at them the second they went outside.”

“Luckily they got back inside quickly. This is something coming at a 55-pound dog, this isn’t little dogs anymore.”

“And now it’s so close to human population, it’s pretty scary.”


The city has put up new signs in the area after reports of several dogs being killed since late last last fall.


The black and yellow signs, similar to road traffic signs, depict a caricature of coyote and the words: “COYOTE HOTSPOT.”

There is additional City of Toronto signage showing stick-figure characters telling onlookers the dos and don’ts of dealing with coyotes.

“We’ve kind of known the coyotes have been in the area for a long time,” said Freeland. “But they are at the point where they are so habituated to humans.”

“It clear they are not trying to get away from us. They are, in fact, seeking us out,” said Freeland.“The signs really aren’t enough, sadly.”


James Anok, also a resident at the location of Tuesday’s coyote encounter, was out for an afternoon walk with his golden sheep doodle, Chester, along Wellington St. when he showed an alert on his cellphone which was issued to all owners and tenants by the condo building’s staff.

“Dear Residents, This morning at approximately 5:20 a.m.,” said the message, “a resident was entering/exiting the back door of 725 King and a coyote was hanging out around the back door and lunged at the dog/resident.”

It explained the incident was reported to the city and added, “If possible, please refrain from taking your pet out while it is still dark outside (this is not to say that coyotes are not around during daylight hours).”

Gabriel, a construction worker on a site beside Fort York where crews are building the Ontario Line subway, said he had heard of coyotes but never saw one until recently. He initially thought it was a husky.

Coyotes with little fear of humans a dangerous menace to dog walkers

“They tried to go out to the back of their building and there was a coyote waiting for them in the bushes,” said a dog walker.

torontosun.com

 

[spaminator]

Snakes have bitten this man hundreds of times. His blood could help make a better treatment
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Adithi Ramakrishnan
Published May 02, 2025 • 3 minute read

This undated photo provided by Centivax in 2025 shows Tim Friede, who is hyper-immune to the venom of various snakes, with a water cobra wrapped around his arm.
This undated photo provided by Centivax in 2025 shows Tim Friede, who is hyper-immune to the venom of various snakes, with a water cobra wrapped around his arm. Photo by Centivax via AP /AP
NEW YORK — Tim Friede has been bitten by snakes hundreds of times — often on purpose. Now scientists are studying his blood in hopes of creating a better treatment for snake bites.


Friede has long had a fascination with reptiles and other venomous creatures. He used to milk scorpions’ and spiders’ venom as a hobby and kept dozens of snakes at his Wisconsin home.

Hoping to protect himself from snake bites — and out of what he calls “simple curiosity” — he began injecting himself with small doses of snake venom and then slowly increased the amount to try to build up tolerance. He would then let snakes bite him.

“At first, it was very scary,” Friede said. “But the more you do it, the better you get at it, the more calm you become with it.”

In this photo provided by Centivax, Tim Friede, centre, stands in a lab in South San Francisco, Calif., in 2023, that is using his blood to prepare an antivenom to the bites of various snakes.
In this photo provided by Centivax, Tim Friede, centre, stands in a lab in South San Francisco, Calif., in 2023, that is using his blood to prepare an antivenom to the bites of various snakes. Photo by Centivax via AP /AP
While no doctor or emergency medical technician — or anyone, really — would ever suggest this is a remotely good idea, experts say his method tracks how the body works. When the immune system is exposed to the toxins in snake venom, it develops antibodies that can neutralize the poison. If it’s a small amount of venom the body can react before it’s overwhelmed. And if it’s venom the body has seen before, it can react more quickly and handle larger exposures.


Friede has withstood snakebites and injections for nearly two decades and still has a refrigerator full of venom. In videos posted to his YouTube channel, he shows off swollen fang marks on his arms from black mamba, taipan and water cobra bites.

“I wanted to push the limits as close to death as possible to where I’m just basically teetering right there and then back off of it,” he said.

But Friede also wanted to help. He emailed every scientist he could find, asking them to study the tolerance he’d built up.

And there is a need: Around 110,000 people die from snakebite every year, according to the World Health Organization. And making antivenom is expensive and difficult. It is often created by injecting large mammals like horses with venom and collecting the antibodies they produce. These antivenoms are usually only effective against specific snake species, and can sometimes produce bad reactions due to their nonhuman origins.


When Columbia University’s Peter Kwong heard of Friede, he said, “Oh, wow, this is very unusual. We had a very special individual with amazing antibodies that he created over 18 years.”

In a study published Friday in the journal Cell, Kwong and collaborators shared what they were able to do with Friede’s unique blood: They identified two antibodies that neutralize venom from many different snake species with the aim of someday producing a treatment that could offer broad protection.

It’s very early research — the antivenom was only tested in mice, and researchers are still years away from human trials. And while their experimental treatment shows promise against the group of snakes that include mambas and cobras, it’s not effective against vipers, which include snakes like rattlers.

“Despite the promise, there is much work to do,” said Nicholas Casewell, a snakebite researcher at Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine in an email. Casewell was not involved with the new study.

Friede’s journey has not been without its missteps. Among them: He said after one bad snake bite he had to cut off part of his finger. And some particularly nasty cobra bites sent him to the hospital.

Friede is now employed by Centivax, a company trying to develop the treatment and that helped pay for the study. He’s excited that his 18-year odyssey could one day save lives from snakebite, but his message to those inspired to follow in his footsteps is simple: “Don’t do it,” he said.

Snakes have bitten this man hundreds of times. His blood could help make a better treatment

Scientists are studying Tim Friede's blood in hopes of creating a better treatment for snake bites.

torontosun.com

 

[spaminator]

Brown rice has more arsenic than white. Is it still the better choice?
Health experts say that concerns about arsenic in brown rice are mostly overstated

Author of the article:Washington Post
Washington Post
Anahad O’Connor, Teddy Amenabar
Published May 03, 2025 • Last updated 19 hours ago • 6 minute read

Raw brown and white long rice.
Raw brown and white long rice.
Which is healthiest: Brown or white rice?


Nutrition experts have long urged people to choose brown rice whenever possible. One cup of brown rice has nearly six times the amount of fiber as white rice, as well as higher levels of magnesium, potassium, iron and B vitamins. Many studies have found that eating fiber-rich foods like brown rice and other whole grains is associated with a lower risk of developing heart disease, Type 2 diabetes, obesity and some cancers.

But in recent years, brown rice’s stellar reputation has been questioned. Some health and social media influencers have even discouraged people from eating it, saying brown rice should be avoided because it contains arsenic, a heavy metal linked to cancer, neurological problems and other health issues.

Health experts, however, say that concerns about arsenic in brown rice are mostly overstated. Studies suggest that for most U.S. adults, the average levels of arsenic in both brown rice and white rice are low enough that you would have to eat excessive amounts to be at risk of developing health problems. Experts contend that the nutritional benefits of brown rice outweigh any concerns about arsenic when rice is part of a wide-ranging diet.


A caveat is that some groups, such as infants and toddlers, may be more vulnerable to the harmful effects of arsenic. If you want to be cautious and limit your or your child’s exposure, there are things you can do, such as eating a variety of grains or cooking rice in a way that removes arsenic.

– – –

Why is there arsenic in rice?
White rice and brown rice have a lot in common. In fact, white rice starts out as brown rice. The main difference between the two is how they are processed.

Brown rice is a whole grain that contains three key components. It has a fiber-rich outer layer called the bran, as well as a core layer called the germ, which contains healthy fats, antioxidants and vitamins. There is also a starchy middle layer called the endosperm, which contains simple carbohydrates as well as some protein and nutrients.

White rice is made by stripping brown rice of its bran and germ, leaving behind the starchy endosperm. This is why brown rice is more nutritious: It’s a whole grain that maintains all its fiber and nutrient-rich components.


But this can also be a downside. Rice is typically grown in flooded fields called rice paddies. When the soil is submerged underwater, arsenic in the ground becomes soluble and the plant’s roots can mistake the arsenic for nutrients and absorb it, said Andrew Meharg, the chair of plant and soil science at Queen’s University Belfast in Northern Ireland.

Because brown rice is converted to white rice by removing some of its components, white rice generally ends up containing about half as much arsenic as brown rice, said Meharg, who has studied arsenic contamination in rice for 25 years.

But the amount of arsenic in rice can vary depending on the soil, the type of rice and how it’s cultivated. Some research suggests that climate change could also be causing higher levels of arsenic in rice.

– – –

How much arsenic is in rice?
One recent study by researchers at Michigan State University looked at the average levels of inorganic arsenic in white and brown rice sold in the United States. It found that brown rice on average contained arsenic at levels around 138 parts per billion. The average levels in white rice were around 93 parts per billion.


Both averages are below the safety standards set by the World Health Organization. The agency says that “to protect consumers from excessive exposure,” arsenic levels in brown rice should not exceed a “maximum” of 350 parts per billion.

The Food and Drug Administration hasn’t issued any guidance on arsenic in rice and safe levels of consumption. But the agency regulates bottled water at 10 parts per billion and rice cereal for infants at 100 parts per billion.

– – –

How much brown rice can I eat?
Christian Scott, the lead author of the Michigan State study and a postdoctoral research associate at the university, said the average American adult would need to eat more than three servings of brown rice – one-and-a-half cups – “every day for years” to be at an increased risk of developing health problems from the arsenic in rice.

“It’s not necessarily a reason to select white rice over brown rice at Chipotle when you’re an adult,” Scott said.


Beth Czerwony, a registered dietitian with the Cleveland Clinic’s Center for Human Nutrition, said that for adults, brown rice is so nutritious that you shouldn’t be discouraged from eating it.

“For the general public, there’s really no reason to be worried, even for people who eat brown rice every day,” she added.

– – –

Should parents worry about arsenic in rice?
More caution is warranted, however, for infants, toddlers and pregnant people. That’s because developing brains and nervous systems are more susceptible to harm from arsenic, lead and other environmental toxins. Rice is a major ingredient in many infant foods – such as infant cereals – and it’s typically a first food for many children.

“They’re vulnerable. They’re developing, their cells are growing, organs forming,” said Margaret Karagas, a professor and chair of the department of epidemiology at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth College. “That is a sensitive period to environmental toxicants.”


If you’re pregnant, or you have an infant or toddler, consider a more diverse diet.

The American Academy of Pediatrics says that rice cereal does not need to be your infant’s first food. You can give them things like mashed or pureed avocado, bananas, butternut squash, sweet potatoes, beans or lentils.

If your child likes rice, you could give them a variety of other whole grains, such as oats, barley, quinoa and farro, which all have less arsenic than rice. The academy says you should try to avoid using rice milk and that you should be wary of processed toddler foods that use rice syrup as a sweetener.

One expert, Marie Muehe, an assistant professor at the Helmholtz Center for Environmental Research, has two children who are 3 and 5 years old. She said that when her children were younger, she cooked with rice “once a week, not more,” and then used other grains such as wheat and barley.


“It’s easy to implement, actually,” she said. “There just needs to be awareness.”

– – –

Can you reduce the amount of arsenic in rice?
You could also reduce the amount of arsenic in your rice by using the following cooking method:

– Soak the rice for 30 minutes then rinse thoroughly. Strain it.

– Cook the rice in a fresh pot of boiling water, in the same way you’d cook pasta, using at least a four-to-one ratio of water to rice.

– Once the rice is cooked, strain it and discard the water.

“A lot of the arsenic will be in the excess water,” said Meharg, from Queen’s University Belfast. “Not all of it. But a lot of it.”

If you’re pressed for time, you could parboil the rice, instead of soaking it. In a study published in 2021, researchers parboiled rice for five minutes and then finished cooking the grain in a fresh pot of water. This cooking technique reduced the arsenic by half for brown rice and by more than two-thirds for white rice, said Manoj Menon, the lead author of the study and a lecturer at the University of Sheffield in England.

Brown rice has more arsenic than white. Is it still the better choice?

Health experts say that concerns about arsenic in brown rice are mostly overstated.

torontosun.com

 

[spaminator]

Pee in shower at own peril, experts warn
Author of the articleostmedia News
Published May 11, 2025 • Last updated 9 hours ago • 2 minute read

Peeing in the shower could mean “urine” for some health risks.
Peeing in the shower could mean “urine” for some health risks.
Peeing in the shower could mean “urine” for some health risks.


While some medical experts claim it is entirely safe to do a No. 1 in the shower, not everyone is on the same page.

Dr. Teresa Irwin, an American urogynecologist, recently took to social media to warn about urinating in the shower, saying it could render you incontinent and in some cases cause kidney damage.

Irwin took to TikTok in a bid to get people to stop engaging in the habit committed by an estimated 60% to 80% of those who shower, according to polls.

The clip was shared with her 90,000 followers. In it, she claimed that urinating while showering trains the brain to associate the sound of running water with needing to urinate.

“It’s kind of like Pavlov’s dog training where every time they heard a little bell ring they will start to salivate,” she said, per the U.K. Daily Mail.

“So every time you’re washing your hands, taking a shower, washing the dishes, if there is running water, your bladder is going to start ‘salivating’ because it wants to go and pee.”


This can interfere with the body’s internal bladder control, she said, leading to frequent rushes to the toilet.

That’s not the lone potential health hazard linked to peeing in the shower, however.

Some experts have warned that women who do so run the risk of urinary tract infections and even kidney failure.

The male bladder is supported by the prostate when urinating while standing, but women don’t have that luxury.


Women who pee while standing are putting their pelvic floor muscles under additional strain, which could lead to the bladder failing to empty.

The leftover urine, which is called urinary retention, can lead to various health problems.

Boston-based pelvic floor therapist Dr. Alicia Jeffrey-Thomas previously warned that women are “not designed to pee standing up.”

“Your pelvic floor isn’t going to relax properly, which means we’re really not going to be emptying our bladder super well,” she said.


One additional danger from peeing in the shower — for both men and women – is the potential of skin infection.

Open wounds on the lower body can easily become infected with bacteria that might be lurking in urine.

Experts say the risk is relatively minor, however, since in theory, the water from the shower should wash the urine away from the wound.

Doctor reveals the shocking reason you should NEVER pee in the shower

Are you guilty of urinating in the shower? Medics have warned that the divisive habit can carry a host of potential health hazards.

dailymail.co.uk

Pee in shower at own peril, experts warn

Peeing in the shower could mean “urine” for some health risks.

torontosun.com

 

[spaminator]

Some plants cause more suffering than others for gardeners with pollen allergies
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Jessica Damiano
Published May 13, 2025 • 2 minute read

For many, the return of the spring garden brings with it a sneezy, itchy, foggy-headed feeling that hits the moment a warm breeze stirs up invisible trouble.


I’m fortunate not to suffer much, but my blue car turned a chartreuse shade of yellow last week, and a $32 car wash provided results that lasted only two hours. Sigh.

These seasonal allergies often go by the old-fashioned name hay fever, but it’s not the hay that causes misery for so many, it’s the pollen.

And not just any pollen, but the nearly weightless kind that floats up our noses and engages our immune systems. Trees, weeds, grasses and even some of our favorite flowers are culprits.

But pollen isn’t all bad. It’s essential to the reproduction of plants, the survival of insects and the entire food web. We humans could not survive without it, so we absolutely shouldn’t avoid high-pollen plants as a general rule. However, if you’re an allergy sufferer who has had to forgo planting a garden due to health reasons, plants that release the least pollen may enable you to smell the flowers.


Plants that might bring sneezes

Allergy-inducing plants are those that rely on wind rather than bees or butterflies to spread their pollen. Ragweed, which strikes in late summer and early fall, gets the most notoriety, but its springtime counterparts can be at least as irritating.

Trees most likely to cause symptoms include birch (Betula), catawba (Catalba), cypress (Cupressus), elm (Ulmus), hickory/pecan (Carya), oak (Quercus), sycamore (Platanus) and walnut (Juglans), according to the Ogren Plant Allergy Scale (OPALS), created by horticulturist Thomas Ogren and published in his 2020 book, “The Allergy-Fighting Garden.”

Palm trees, too — but only the males. In fact, female trees don’t produce pollen at all, so seek them out when possible.


Grasses can irritate eyes and sinuses, too. The scale ranks Bermuda (except sterile male varieties), Johnson, Kentucky, orchard, sweet vernal and timothy grasses among the highest for allergens.

Weeds like ragweed, curly dock, lamb’s quarters, pigweed, plantain, sheep sorrel and sagebrush are also big pollen producers, Ogren found.

Not all plants are irritating to allergy sufferers

On the other hand, plants with “double” flowers or heavier pollen that doesn’t travel far are less likely to release much pollen.

Among trees, apricot (Prunus armeniaca), fig (Ficus), fir (Abies), fruiting pear (Pyrus), fruiting plum (Prunus domestica, Prunus insititia), redbud (Cerus), serviceberry (Amelanchier laevis), female ash (Fraxinus), female box elder (Acer negundo), female cottonwood/poplar (Populus), female maple (Acer), female palm (Arecaceae) and female willow (Salix) are easier on the respiratory system.


St. Augustine and sterile male Bermuda are safer bets in the grass department.

As for flowers, you’ve got options: Begonia, female clematis, columbine, crocus, daffodil, delphinium, hibiscus, impatiens, iris, bird of paradise, pansy, petunia, phlox, poppy, snapdragon, tulip, verbena and zinnia are friends. Roses, too — especially tightly packed, dense-petaled varieties, which exude even less pollen than those with single or semi-double flowers (rose allergies are more often fragrance-related than due to pollen, according to Ogren).

And if you suffer from seasonal allergies, keeping windows closed and getting someone else to mow the lawn will also help to nip your symptoms in the bud.

Some plants cause more suffering than others for gardeners with pollen allergies

The return of the garden brings with it a sneezy, itchy, foggy-headed feeling that hits the moment a warm breeze stirs up invisible trouble

torontosun.com

 

[spaminator]

Early human ancestors used their hands to both climb trees and make tools, new study shows
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Christina Larson
Published May 14, 2025 • 1 minute read

This artist rendering shows hands of early human ancestors, called Australopithecus sediba and Homo naledi, found in South Africa. The left images show photos of the bones, and the right images show how the fingers absorbed stress during daily activities. Red areas absorbed more stress than blue ones, which scientists can tell based on bone thickness.
This artist rendering shows hands of early human ancestors, called Australopithecus sediba and Homo naledi, found in South Africa. The left images show photos of the bones, and the right images show how the fingers absorbed stress during daily activities. Red areas absorbed more stress than blue ones, which scientists can tell based on bone thickness. Photo by Tracy Kivell via AP /AP
WASHINGTON — Our hands can reveal a lot about how a person has lived — and that’s true for early human ancestors, too.


Different activities such as climbing, grasping or hammering place stress on different parts of our fingers. In response to repeated stress, our bones tend to thicken in those areas.

To study how ancient humans used their hands, scientists used 3D scanning to measure and analyze the bone thickness of fingers.

They focused on the fossil hands of two early human ancestor species recovered from excavations in southern Africa, called Australopithecus sediba and Homo naledi. The individuals lived around 2 million years ago and around 300,000 years ago, respectively.

Both ancient human species showed signs of simultaneously using their hands to move around — such as by climbing trees — as well as to grasp and manipulate objects, a requirement to being able to make tools.


“They were likely walking on two feet and using their hands to manipulate objects or tools, but also spent time climbing and hanging,” perhaps on trees or cliffs, said study co-author and paleoanthropologist Samar Syeda of the American Museum of Natural History.

The research was published Wednesday in Science Advances.

The findings show there wasn’t a simple “evolution in hand function where you start off with more ‘ape-like’ and end up more ‘human-like,”‘ said Smithsonian paleoanthropologist Rick Potts, who was not involved in the study.

Complete fossil hands are relatively rare, but the specimens used in the study gave an opportunity to understand the relative forces on each finger, said Chatham University paleontologist Erin Marie Williams-Hatala, who was not involved in the study.

“Hands are one of the primary ways we engage with world around us,” she said.

Early human ancestors used their hands to both climb trees and make tools, new study shows

Our hands can reveal a lot about how a person has lived -- and that's true for early human ancestors, too.

torontosun.com

 

[spaminator]

Passenger captures nasty video of cockroaches crawling up plane wall, seat
Author of the articleenette Wilford
Published May 15, 2025 • Last updated 1 day ago • 2 minute read

Screenshot of cockroach on recent Spirit Airlines flight.
Screenshot of cockroach on recent Spirit Airlines flight. Photo by Simone Beez /X
A Spirit Airlines passenger shared videos from a recent flight where cockroaches can be seen crawling up the wall beside her seat.


Simone Beez posted two videos on X on May 11 from inside the plane’s cabin.

In the clips, multiple cockroaches can be seen crawling up the walls and on a seat.

One video shows a roach making its way up the back of a seat from the pocket as other passengers watching it could be heard muttering in the background.

In the second video, another creepy-crawler makes its way up the side of the plane’s wall by an emergency exit near another seat.

“Never again will I fly @SpiritAirlines,” the first class passenger wrote alongside the videos. “I’ve flown over 500,000 miles on Delta and have never in my life seen roaches on a plane this is crazy.”



While many people were shocked by the infested plane, calling the situation “ridiculous” and telling Beez that she should demand a refund, others responded to her videos by saying roaches are “common on planes.”

Beez, however, fired back, writing, “I’ve never seen an ant on Delta let alone two big ass roaches in first class.”

Other commenters debated on where the roaches came from.

“Now let’s think critically, how would they have gotten on board?” one person asked. “There’s no place for them to live on the plane meaning a passenger brought them.”


However, another argued, “There’s a million places; food is stored on planes. People also eat on planes and drop crumbs. There’s water too.”

The passenger shared Spirit Airlines’ response on X the following day, which had the title, “We’re Sorry!”


“We sincerely apologize for what happened on your recent trip,” the airline wrote Beez.

“We care about your satisfaction and want to make this right. Please accept our apologies along with this voucher for future travel to any of our destinations.”



However, Beez scoffed at the $60 credit and said she “won’t be flying Spirit again,” adding it was a “one and done for me lol.”

In a statement to the Toronto Sun, Spirit Airlines said they are “aware of the video” and their “maintenance team thoroughly inspected the aircraft involved and addressed the issue.”

The spokesperson added: “We maintain high standards of cleanliness across our fleet and want all of our guests to feel comfortable when traveling with us.”

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1921526062887936034

‘THIS IS CRAZY’: Passenger captures nasty video of cockroaches crawling up plane wall, seat

A Spirit Airlines passenger shared videos from a flight where cockroaches could be seen crawling up the wall beside her seat.

torontosun.com

 

[spaminator]

FDA OKs first blood test that can help diagnose Alzheimer’s disease
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Matthew Perrone
Published May 16, 2025 • 2 minute read

A doctor points to PET scan results that are part of a study on Alzheimer's disease at Georgetown University Hospital, on Tuesday, May 19, 2015, in Washington.
A doctor points to PET scan results that are part of a study on Alzheimer's disease at Georgetown University Hospital, on Tuesday, May 19, 2015, in Washington. Photo by Evan Vucci, File /AP Photo
WASHINGTON — U.S. health officials on Friday endorsed the first blood test that can help diagnose Alzheimer’s and identify patients who may benefit from drugs that can modestly slow the memory-destroying disease.


The test can aid doctors in determining whether a patient’s memory problems are due to Alzheimer’s or a number of other medical conditions that can cause cognitive difficulties. The Food and Drug Administration cleared it for patients 55 and older who are showing early signs of the disease.

More than 6 million people in the United States and millions more around the world have Alzheimer’s, the most common form of dementia.

The new test, from Fujirebio Diagnostics, Inc., identifies a sticky brain plaque, known as beta-amyloid, that is a key marker for Alzheimer’s. Previously, the only FDA-approved methods for detecting amyloid were invasive tests of spinal fluid or expensive PET scans.

The lower costs and convenience of a blood test could also help expand use of two new drugs, Leqembi and Kisunla, which have been shown to slightly slow the progression of Alzheimer’s by clearing amyloid from the brain. Doctors are required to test patients for the plaque before prescribing the drugs, which require regular IV infusions.


“Today’s clearance is an important step for Alzheimer’s disease diagnosis, making it easier and potentially more accessible for U.S. patients earlier in the disease,” said Dr. Michelle Tarver, of FDA’s centre for devices.

A number of specialty hospitals and laboratories have already developed their own in-house tests for amyloid in recent years. But those tests aren’t reviewed by the FDA and generally aren’t covered by insurance. Doctors have also had little data to judge which tests are reliable and accurate, leading to an unregulated marketplace that some have called a “wild west.”

Several larger diagnostic and drug companies are also developing their own tests for FDA approval, including Roche, Eli Lilly and C2N Diagnostics.

The tests can only be ordered by a doctor and aren’t intended for people who don’t yet have any symptoms.

— AP Medical Writer Lauran Neergaard contributed to this story

FDA OKs first blood test that can help diagnose Alzheimer’s disease

U.S. health officials on Friday endorsed the first blood test that can help diagnose Alzheimer's.

torontosun.com

 

[spaminator]

Archeologists find prehistoric artifacts at future skating rink site near Montreal
Author of the article:Canadian Press
Canadian Press
Morgan Lowrie
Published May 19, 2025 • Last updated 12 hours ago • 2 minute read

Que-Archaeology-Sorel 20250519
An archeological dig is seen in Simard Park in Sorel-Tracy, Que., Saturday, May 17, 2025. Photo by Christinne Muschi /THE CANADIAN PRESS
MONTREAL — Last fall, as archeologist Yves Chretien was supervising a team digging at the site of a future hockey rink northeast of Montreal, a mini excavator unearthed pieces of cut stone.


Formed under an ancient sea, the stones bore marks made by Indigenous people somewhere between 6,150 and 8,200 years ago. The discovery, found below the site of a former Shell distribution centre and 18th and 19th century farms, could help shed light on the region’s little-known prehistoric period.

In a recent interview, Chretien said the stones discovered at the future rink in Sorel-Tracy, Que., were excavated from an ancient marine sediment — the stratified layers of which allowed him to calculate the approximate period they came from.

“Right away, I understood that something was happening that wasn’t very usual,” he said. “It was something special.”

Other prehistoric sites have been discovered in the area, but most don’t date back further than 4,500 years. “What I discovered is older than that, and these are sites that are very rare and very little known, which makes it important to properly document,” he said.


From just a few pieces of cut stone, Chretien says it’s possible to reconstruct a story.

The site, he said, was once covered by a vast body of salt water called the Champlain Sea. As its waters receded a little over 8,000 years ago, people were able to walk the shoreline. The impact marks in the stones, Chretien said, likely indicate where people tested the rock for possible use as tools.

“We probably had people walking, circulating at the edge of the river and, once they discovered a block of stone, tested it to see if it lent itself well to the making of tools,” he said.

The archeologist said he didn’t find any completed tools _ possibly because the stone wasn’t good enough quality — or indication of a camp or settlement. Nevertheless, he said, discoveries from that era can help researchers learn more about how people lived in that period, and about the materials they used and the source of those materials.


“Each new piece of information we collect adds to the knowledge of that era, which is very little known, so every new element is a plus,” he said.

In a statement, the City of Sorel-Tracy said more digging is underway and that the skating rink construction will begin once that finishes in the coming weeks. The city noted that other important artifacts have been found on its territory in the past, including other prehistoric objects, an ancient military camp and objects linked to the 1787 visit of William Henry, a future English king.

Chretien said the dig has also turned up other artifacts, including pieces of ceramic, clay pipes and bottle pieces dating from 18th century farms.

As exciting as all the findings are, he still dreams of excavating a “diagnostic object” that can be tied conclusively to a specific date or a narrow historical period. While his hopes had initially been raised that he had found a spot that could be used for carbon dating, that now appears less promising.

He’ll keep looking “up to the last minute,” he said.

Chretien said all the objects that are found will be cleaned, analyzed, and eventually turned over to Sorel-Tracy, which could choose to exhibit them.

Archeologists find prehistoric artifacts at future skating rink site near Montreal

From just a few pieces of cut stone, Chretien says it's possible to reconstruct a story.

torontosun.com

 

[spaminator]

Researchers provide new hope for at-risk humble bumbles
Author of the article:Laura Shantora Nelles
Published May 19, 2025 • Last updated 1 day ago • 4 minute read

Have you heard the buzz? May 20 is World Bee Day, celebrating pollinators around globe.
A bumble bee searches for nectar on some flowers in the Bert Weeks Memorial Garden along the Windsor riverfront, on Monday, July 4, 2022.
Have you heard the buzz? May 20 is World Bee Day, celebrating pollinators around globe.


While many tend to think first of honey bees, Canada is home to hundreds of native bee species, including the humble bumble.

These fuzzy insects, easy to recognize by their round bodies and black and yellow stripes are found in every province and territory of Canada except Nunavut, making them a common sight as spring rolls around. These prolific pollinators are often the first bees out in spring and last to nest in fall.

They are an important part of our ecosystem.

Unfortunately, bumble bee populations in Canada are at risk, with some species, such as the rusty-patched bumble bee, not seen in Canada since 2009.

Enter the bee-ologists at Wildlife Preservation Canada (WPC), which is working to help declining bumble bee populations through the Bumble Bee Recovery Project.


Taylor Kerekes, lead biologist with the Native Pollinator Initiative at WPC and her team are working on a multi-step program to help Canadian bumbles, including the species of special concern — the yellow-banded bumble bee.

“Our team goes out in the spring and we monitor bumble bee populations in Ontario,” Kerekes explained. “This is mostly focused around the Guelph-GTA area, and then we also have a team up in Sudbury for more northern surveys.”

The researchers are working to determine “how populations of the yellow banded are doing but also just taking general inventory of all the bumble bees in the area and at our sites.”

In addition to observing bee populations, Kerekes said there will be “a really small number of the yellow banded bumble bees, so we can bring them back to our conservation breeding lab.”


Back at WPC’s southern Ontario lab, the bees are further studied.

“We take these bees back to our lab. We care for them. We do different things like we mate the bees, we overwinter the bees, and we’re hoping that we can build a large enough population in the lab that we can then do releases to those wild sites,” Kerekes said.

While the lab-grown bees aren’t quite ready for release just yet, the plan to re-establish pollinator populations is vital to preserving ecosystems and food security. According to the United Nations, more than 75% of the world’s food crops depend entirely, or in part, on animal populations.

While honey bees are typically what people think of when it comes to bees, bumble bees can also help with agricultural pollination. Kerekes noted bumbles particularly love fruit trees, such as apple, which are in blossom right now.


Leaving leaf litter on the lawn or garden, or in a pile, over the winter is integral to protecting bumble bees, as queens will nest underground during the cold months. The queens emerge in the spring and will find a place to call home, setting up shop there for the summer.

“I know everyone likes to have immaculate lawns and backyards, but sometimes even just leaving a small portion of your backyard that’s a little bit messy, like leaving leaves and debris a little bit is really helpful for them,” she said.

Habitat loss

Kerekes said the bees are having more difficulty finding places to nest as Canadian cities become larger and areas that were once green spaces become used for other purposes, such as housing and agriculture. “Urbanization is fragmenting their resources, so they need flowers to obtain pollen and nectar.


“They also need areas to create their nest. As I mentioned, they nest underground. So we need to be able to make sure that they have those areas for nesting resources.”

While farmland may seem like the ideal habitat for a bee, with plenty of fruits and veggies flowering, “bumble bees need multiple sources of different pollens and the different nutrition that comes with those throughout their life cycle. So, just having one plant that’s on farmland might not be enough for them. Just having some wildflowers around farms, even in urban areas, has been shown to help with that habitat loss.”

No Mow May?

Some environmental advocates promote the idea of not mowing the lawn in May, leaving flowers such as dandelions to bloom.


But Kerekes insisted this isn’t necessary if there are other food sources, such as fruit trees or flowering shrubs available.



“If you’re in an area and there is literally nothing else blooming, then I would say it is going to be more helpful to leave the dandelions for the bees rather than that they have nothing.

“If you have a really lovely pollinator garden in your backyard or other things like blooming trees – a lot of our early rising bumble bees forage a lot on trees like apples and shrubs like lilacs. So if you have these other resources, I would say don’t worry about mowing dandelions.”

While not a native species, lilac shrubs are typically easy to grow and the bumble bees “are super super keen on the lilacs. That’s something that we monitor,” Kerekes explained.


As generalist pollinators, bumble bees can be found on different types of flowers, and will often gravitate towards New England Asters and goldenrod, as well as flowering trees, such as pussywillow.

The lab at WPC is currently studying nutrients in pollen, which could help with providing more of those species in areas where bees are having trouble finding food. “In partnership with some of our research partners, we are testing asters and goldenrod in our lab. So, hopefully we find that the pollens nice and nutritious for them.”

As research continues at the lab, Kerekes and her team hope to release some of the lab-grown bees within the next five years.

For those looking to help bees, WPC runs a Bumble Bee Community Science program, collecting data on bumble bee populations, as well as the Bees on Board program, helping to transport bees to the lab.

More information is available here.

lnelles@postmedia.com Twitter: @shantoranelles

Researchers provide new hope for at-risk humble bumbles

Have you heard the buzz? May 20 is World Bee Day, celebrating pollinators around globe.

torontosun.com

 

[spaminator]

Doctor shows McDonald’s burger that sat out 62 days
Author of the articleenette Wilford
Published May 20, 2025 • Last updated 12 hours ago • 2 minute read

Dr. Robert DeBease holding up a McDonalds hamburger that had been sitting out for 62 days.
Dr. Robert DeBease holding up a McDonalds hamburger that had been sitting out for 62 days. Photo by Dr. Robert DeBease /Instagram
A doctor horrified fast food lovers after showing what happened to a McDonald’s meal and a Papa John’s pizza he left sitting out for more than two months.


Dr. Robert DeBease kept a McDonald’s hamburger and fries, and a Papa John’s pepperoni pizza on his kitchen table for weeks and shared what they looked like — 62 days later.

“This ‘food’ refuses to rot… and that should terrify you,” he wrote in an Instagram post.

But if you expected the result to be something green and furry, think again.

The greasy takeout bag looks more worse for wear than the contents inside because aside from the food items looking rock hard, they appeared to all be intact, resembling what they would have looked like when they were first ordered.

“There’s zero changes. There’s no mold. There’s no decay,” he said in the video post.

“Personally, I don’t get it. If this was a piece of bread, it would be the colour of Kermit the Frog right now.”

“Why isn’t this food rotting?” he asked, before answering himself: “Well, probably because it’s not real food.”



The Georgia-based naturopath and chiropractor likened the fries to a “chemistry experiment” filled with chemicals designed to keep it looking fresh on the outside while slowing rotting you and I on the inside.

He then clarified not him because he doesn’t eat this “garbage.”


In his caption, DeBease noted how fast food is “full of preservatives like calcium propionate, BHA, and TBHQ — chemicals that extend shelf life but destroy your health.”

He explained that while the additives used to preserve the food prevent mold from forming, they also disrupt hormones, increase body fat, worsen inflammation, cause autoimmune disease flare-ups, and damage gut microbiomes, adding that they are also “filled with ultra-processed carbs and seed oils.”



“If this food doesn’t rot, maybe your body doesn’t know how to break it down either,” he continued in his PSA.

DeBease added that if anything, people should opt to “heal with real food” and to “ditch fake food.”

Dr. Robert G DeBease, ND, DC on Instagram: "62 DAY OLD MCDONALD'S & PAPA JOHN'S Enjoy the video and please feel free to use 🍎🍎MY FREE DIRECT MESSAGE SERVICE🍎🍎 If you have any questions related to health or weight loss, I'm more than happy to prov

36K likes, 922 comments - docrob.holistic on May 15, 2025: "62 DAY OLD MCDONALD'S & PAPA JOHN'S Enjoy the video and please feel free to use 🍎🍎MY FREE DIRECT MESSAGE SERVICE🍎🍎 If you have any questions related to health or weight loss, I'm more than happy to provide guidance where I can. ML...

instagram.com

‘NOT REAL FOOD:' Doctor shows McDonald’s burger that sat out 62 days

A doctor horrified fast-food lovers after showing a McDonald’s meal and a Papa John’s pizza that sat out for two months.

torontosun.com

 

[spaminator]

Ancient DNA reveals a new group of people who lived near land bridge between the Americas
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Adithi Ramakrishnan
Published May 28, 2025 • 1 minute read

This image provided by William Usaquen and Andrea Casas-Vargas shows the high plains in Bogota, Colombia where a new group of humans lived 6,000 years ago. (William Usaquen, Andrea Casas-Vargas via AP)
This image provided by William Usaquen and Andrea Casas-Vargas shows the high plains in Bogota, Colombia where a new group of humans lived 6,000 years ago. (William Usaquen, Andrea Casas-Vargas via AP) AP
NEW YORK (AP) — Scientists have identified a new pod of ancient hunter-gatherers who lived near the land bridge between North America and South America about 6,000 years ago.


Researchers are still charting how human populations spread across the Americas thousands of years ago, arriving first in North America before veering south. Groups that split off developed their own collection of genes that scientists can use to piece together the human family tree.

Discovered through ancient DNA, the group lived in the high plateaus of present-day Bogota, Colombia — close to where the Americas meet. Scientists aren’t sure exactly where they fall in the family tree because they’re not closely related to ancient Native Americans in North America and also not linked to ancient or present-day South Americans.

The new study was published Wednesday in the journal Science Advances.

“Up to this point, we didn’t believe there was any other lineage that would appear in South America,” said archaeologist Andre Luiz Campelo dos Santos with Florida Atlantic University who was not involved with the new research. “This is unexpected.”


Just 4,000 years later, these ancient humans were gone and a genetically-different human clan inhabited the area. Scientists aren’t sure exactly what happened to make them fade away — whether they mixed into a new, bigger group or were pushed out entirely.

Analyzing more genes in South America will help confirm if this new group truly did disappear or if there could be evidence of their descendants elsewhere, said Campelo dos Santos.

Studying these ancient Colombian genes are important to piecing together the history of the Americas since ancient people had to cross this land bridge to settle in and spread across South America.

The area is “the gateway to the South American continent,” said study author Andrea Casas-Vargas with the National University of Colombia.

Ancient DNA reveals a new group of people who lived near land bridge between the Americas

Researchers are still charting how human populations spread across the Americas thousands of years ago.

torontosun.com

 

[Tecumsehsbones]

Illegal immigrants.