Do some good this Christmas – Exterminate Beavers

As goodwill Christmas messages go, “Exterminate Beavers” has got to be one of the most bizarre.

It is hardly up there with the more traditional “Season’s Greetings” “Goodwill to all men” and “Merry Christmas” and seems a really bizarre request to make of anyone – especially to a Christmas audience.

However it is the message which appears on millions of leaflets which have been printed for a Russian charity group.

It appears as a huge headline on a picture-postcard scene of a pine forest during a snow storm.

In the front of the poster an excited little child, wearing a red Santa hat, looks delightedly into a snow globe.

The ‘Mercy Capital’ charitable foundation had the leaflets printed as part of their “Do good” charity campaign to encourage people to give donations.

But what has any of that to do with asking people to exterminate beavers?

The answer is – absolutely nothing and it was all a terrible mistake. A mix up at the printers ended up with the leaflets calling for the mass killing of beavers when they should simply have said “Do good.”

‘Exterminate beavers! Text the word ‘vremya’ and the amount of your donation to the SMS number 7715,’ the caption read.

Charity worker Ivan Makarov told the Moscow Times that they had to scrap the whole consignment of leaflets.

He said: “I fear that people might really start exterminating beavers, if the foundation starts handing out leaflets like these, the way they are now.”

Now the charity and the printing company are in dispute over who is to blame for the error.

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Farewell Rosetta – space mission to discover origin of universe ends on distant comet

Philippine Boxing Legend Pacquiao; No Apology For Drug Use

Philippine boxing superstar and Senator Manny Pacquiao admitted to the use of illegal drugs in the past. However, he maintained he owed nobody, including his fans and countrymen, an apology.

Proclaimed a national hero, the sportsman is a prestigious supporter of his president’s violent war on drugs. The casualty count from President Rodrigo Duterte’s war presently stands at more the 3,000 fatalities.

In an interview this week, he confessed to using narcotics in his teenaged years.

“I’m not hiding the fact that I sampled those, but I was young, maybe 15 or 16 years old,” he said to reporters. At the moment, Pacquiao undergoes training for his WBO fight against top welterweight Jessie Vargas in Las Vegas on November 5.

He said, “I used marijuana, I used shabu,” even mentioning the types of drugs he used.

Locals dubbed crystal meth stimulant “Shabu”, which also happens to be the primary narcotic choice of roughly 3.7 million Filipino addicts.

The boxer/senator firmly encourages Duterte’s anti-drug campaign. A crusade condemned internationally for assumed extrajudicial killings.

He also endorses the President’s plan to reinstate the death penalty for convicted drug dealers in the predominantly Catholic country.

Not an addict

On his refusal to apologize, he stated, “Why should I say sorry to them? I did nothing wrong.”

“Also, I was not addicted. I just experienced it,” he added when a reporter asked if he turned out as a drug dependent.

Pacquiao said that he came out with his admission and related his experience to inspire drug users. If they surrender to the authorities, they can expect leniency and avoid execution in the crackdown.

It all boils down to pure willpower according to him. He focused on sports to force himself from drug abuse.

“Everyone knows that I drank, I gambled and had many women, but realized these were all sins so I stopped. I’m sure what I did for myself was an inspiration to all.”

“It’s up to the person if he really wants to have a fresh start.”

“God gave all of us a brain to discipline ourselves,” he added further.

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Kenyan Maasai Tribal Warriors Turn From Lion Hunters to Lion Guardians

KENYA – In the heart of southern Kenya, the Maasai warriors, once known as the lion hunters of the Maasai heartland has now turned a new leaf. They are now the lion guardians under a conservation project that is also helping the tribal community.

Leiyio Lengete, a member of the Maasai tribe and is one of the “Moran” or the warrior of the community.  He wears a scarlet blanket on his shoulder and a blue scarf around his hips. A number of multicolored beads interlaced to form a bracelet, anklet and necklace. He also has a large half-moon shaped earing with an intricately braided hair. However, the warrior that used to carry a spear is now holding a GPS Receiver on his hand.

The “Lion Guardians” is the organization that Lengete works with in protecting the big cats. The group has set up a forward base camp in the Selenkay Reserve near Mount Kilimanjaro.

The Maasai guardians are headed off to the bush on foot. The guardians are searching for three lionesses they saw the previous evening. They were able to find the cats after a couple of tracking into the savannah brush.

The group would have killed the lionesses before, to honor “olamayio” or the Maasai rite that gives the hunter prestige and praise from the tribe and is considered the highest act of courage upon slaying the big cat.

However, the new breed of “Morans” are not there to kill the lionesses, but to secure and protect these majestic creatures. Upon finding the cats, Lengete sent their GPS location to their base camp. Moments later, Stephanie Dolrenry arrived on the scene to perform her scientific research on the lionesses. She is the science head and co-founder of the Lion Guardian program.

“The whole program is not just based on lions. Everything we do is about the community,” Dolrenry said. “The guardians spend a lot of their time finding and protecting livestock, finding lost herders, even little children who got lost in the bush. The guardians are there, they are able to go tracking, they know the bush.”

The Morans found and returned almost a million dollars’ worth of livestock to their owners last year. The guardians also dissuade cattle-farmers from conducting punitive hunting when one of their cattle is killed by the cats. The guardians pointed out that in their work to recover lost cattle, their life is also at risk and are always in danger.

Guardians of the Pride

The “Lion Guardian” program is also currently being implemented in Tanzania, Rwanda and Zimbabwe. These programs are working on private funding, most coming from the U.S.

The Selenkay project started off with five “guardians” protecting the Lion pride. 40 guardians are now employed each being paid the minimum monthly Kenyan wage of $120.

The most recent member of the guardians is Mitiaki Kitasho. He was previously imprisoned for killing an elephant and a lion. According to him, “There’s not a single species I haven’t killed to protect the community and to gain popularity and respect.”

Kitasho pointed out that courage, prestige and praise from a kill, does not feed him or his family. He went to the Selenkay project to look for a job as a Lion Guardian. Like the Maasai warriors before him, he now swore to protect the lions as he continues to do what he is good at, and that is to track these majestic animals.

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Bacon Flavored Seaweed Found by Scientists

Scientists from the Oregon State University (OSU) declare discovering a new kind of seaweed. They claim it could match the health benefits provided by kale. Furthermore, this seaweed bears the exact flavor of bacon.

The mineral and protein packed red marine algae “dulse”, very closely resembles the average red lettuce, a TIME report shows.

Harvesters can gather the seaweed in the wild down the length of the Pacific and Atlantic seaboard. When dried, the patented algae sells as a cooking or nutritional ingredient.

Chuck Toombs, team member and OSU faculty said, “Dulse is a superfood, with twice the nutritional value of kale.” He added, “And OSU had developed this variety that can be farmed, with the potential for a new industry for Oregon.”

Originally, the team planned to grow the new strain of Dulse as a feed for Abalone. They immediately altered their focus when they discovered the potential of the seaweed as addition to the human food market.

Best when fried

Chris Langdon, Chief Researcher for the team remarked, “There hasn’t been a lot of interest in using it in a fresh form. But this stuff is pretty amazing,”

“When you fry it, which I have done, it tastes like bacon, not seaweed. And it’s a pretty strong bacon flavor,” he said further.

Langdon’s team already received a large grant from the Oregon Department of Agriculture (ODA). The ODA made a commitment to support the initiative of developing Dulse as a special crop. The team presently works in tandem with the Portland Food Innovation Center along with a number of chefs. They aim to learn more methods on how to integrate Dulse in everyday cooking.

At this time, the U.S. lacks an authorized commercial venture concerning human consumption of Dulse. However, the team is confident in the sales potential of their product in foreseeable future.

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One Killed and Over 100 Injured as New Jersey Train Crashes Into Station

A rush hour commuter train killed one person and injured more than 100. It crashed into a station in New Jersey on Thursday morning.

Emergency workers tore through debris of dangling wires and twisted metal to reach the injured. Passengers kicked out windows and crawled to safety as people pulled pieces of concrete off trapped and wounded victims.

The train charged through the end of the track at Hoboken terminal at around 8:45 a.m. It also knocked out pillars, therefore bringing down a section of the roof.

Debris from the crash hit and killed one person on the platform and hurt 108 people, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie said.

Officials at two hospitals said that some of the injured were in critical condition. More than a few passengers were initially trapped but were later freed.

The train’s engineer was assisting fully with investigators while being treated for serious injuries in a hospital, Christie added.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo told a news conference that there are no indications that the incident was anything other than a “tragic accident”. Nevertheless, they will allow  authorities pursue the facts.

Cuomo said that it was uncertain why the train had come into the station too fast. It could be technical failure or human error that caused the accident. Further, he added that it was still premature to determine whether an anti-collision system known as positive train control could have averted the crash.

Positive train control relies on GPS and radio signals to monitor trains’ position and speed. Presently, none of NJ Transit’s trains come fully equipped with the safety system.

Installation delayed by regulators

Regulators repeatedly delayed the target date for the installation of the anti-collision system. They now scheduled for the end of 2018, at railroads’ request. The industry is under government orders to install it, and the NTSB has been pushing for some version of the technology for at least 40 years.

A similar incident happened in May 2011, when a Port Authority of New York and New Jersey train crashed at Hoboken station. That event produced more than 30 injuries when the train hit a bumping post at the end of the track. An NTSB investigation found that excessive speed was the main cause of the accident.

The agency would study the similarities between that one and Thursday’s crash, an NTSB official said.

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Ugly Friend Effect Confirmed: Stay Close to Less than Good Looking People to Increase Your “Attractiveness”

 

Known as the “ugly friend effect,” an impression by which someone would look more attractive if he/she is in the company of people who are less good looking. Many people have considered the ugly friend effect as a myth. However, with new research coming out, it seems that the spectacle is indeed a scientific fact.

Physical Science journal made a report on a research they made with this phenomena. The findings show that a person’s attractiveness increases when accompanied by people less blessed with good looks than compared to when the person stands alone when judged.

Scientists at the Royal Holloway University gathered participants to rate the attractiveness of different people. The moderators distributed photographs of individual faces as their subject.

The volunteers had to re-assess the same subjects they rated.  This time however, the moderators gave out pictures of their subject with the company of unattractive people.

After the introduction of the unattractive faces with the subject, the rate of attractiveness of the original faces increased. The score was compared to the initial rate that was given when the subject is only shown by its lonesome.

Dr. Nicholas Furl from the Royal Holloway University stated. “Until now, it’s been understood that a person’s level of attractiveness is generally steady. If you saw a picture of George Clooney today, you would rate him as good-looking as you would tomorrow. However, this work demonstrates that the company we keep has an effect on how attractive we appear to others.”

The study also revealed that looking at unattractive faces sharpened the volunteer’s critical thinking. The volunteers have become more sensitive in comparing between two or more attractive people.

“The presence of a less attractive face does not just increase the attractiveness of a single person, but in crowds, could actually make us even more choosy,” stated Dr Furl. “We found that the presence of a distractor face makes differences between attractive people more obvious and that observers start to pull apart these differences, making them even more particular in their judgment.”

Hugh Hefner Effect

This new Research is in conjunction with the previous investigation on the supposed attractiveness when appearing with the opposite sex. People appear more attractive when in the company of attractive members of the opposite sex. The phenomenon known as the “Hugh Hefner Effect.”

Hugh Hefner is the owner of the Playboy magazine. Pictures of him often show Hefner accompanied by several of his girlfriends.

Researchers believe that evolution can explain this phenomenon. In the animal kingdom, the alpha male with numerous mates have been considered as genetically superior.

Experiments made with a grouse in the 90’s found that the attractiveness of a male would increase by simply adding female birds around him.

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Meet ‘Trumpapillar’: The Donald Trump of the Peruvian Amazon

New pictures show a strange, big-haired creature skulking within the Peruvian Amazon. Although what researchers quickly noticed about the peculiar beast was its remarkable resemblance to a particular US presidential candidate. Or to be precise, the Republican’s legendary hair style.

Dubbed as the Flannel Moth Caterpillar (Megalopyge opercularis), this creature boasts feathery, orange tufts closely resembling Donald Trump’s hair. Due to the similarity, the scientists who came across the creature gave it a nickname – “Trumpapillar,” after the candidate.

While roaming the Peruvian Amazon, wildlife photographer Jeff Cremer stumbled upon the dazzling orange and luxuriant fluff ball.

He said, “I was putting on my boots, and someone said, ‘Hey, check out this caterpillar hanging out.’ “Sure enough, it was Donald Trump’s hair hanging on a branch.” He began snapping pictures of the brightly colored larva.

The local’s name for this caterpillar is “ovehillo” which is Spanish for “little sheep.” The Trumpapillar grows to a length of about 2.5 inches.

Trumpapillar living up to its namesake?

Nevertheless, Cremer warns against being fooled by its cute and cuddly appearance. Touching the Trumpapillar can cause great discomfort and a lot of pain. Creme said this is because of the “urticating” hairs that cover it, akin to those Tarantulals sport.

Again like the Tarantula, the Trumpapillar uses its hair as a defense mechanism against would-be predators.

According to Cremer, the fuzzy Flannel Moth caterpillars come in different colors such as white, yellow, red and pink.

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