And Finally...

Scientists have discovered that the serrated edges of Komodo dragons’ teeth are tipped with iron.

Led by researchers from King’s College London, the study gives new insight into how Komodo dragons keep their teeth razor-sharp and may provide clues to how dinosaurs like Tyrannosaurus rex killed and ate their prey.

Native to Indonesia, Komodo dragons are the largest living species of monitor lizard, averaging around 80kg. Deadly predators, Komodos have sharp, curved teeth similar to many carnivorous dinosaurs. They eat almost any kind of meat, from smaller reptiles and birds to deer, horses, or water buffalo, pulling and tearing at their prey to rip flesh apart.

The researchers discovered that many reptiles have some iron in their teeth, but Komodo dragons have concentrated the iron along the cutting edges and tips of their teeth, staining them orange. Crocodiles and other monitor lizards, by comparison, have so little that the iron is often invisible.

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Through advanced imaging and chemical analysis, the team was able to observe that the iron in Komodo dragons’ enamel is concentrated into a thin coating on top of their tooth serrations and tips. This protective layer keeps the serrated edges of their teeth sharp and ready to be used at a moment’s notice.

The research, published on July 24 in Nature Ecology & Evolution, leads to new questions and avenues for research into how extinct species such as dinosaurs lived and ate.

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“Unfortunately, using the technology we have at the moment, we can’t see whether fossilized dinosaur teeth had high levels of iron or not. We think that the chemical changes that take place during the fossilization process obscure how much iron was present to start with.

“What we did find, though, was that larger meat-eating dinosaurs, like tyrannosaurs, did change the structure of the enamel itself on the cutting edges of their teeth. So, while Komodo dragons have altered the chemistry of their teeth, some dinosaurs altered the structure of their dental enamel to maintain a sharp cutting edge.

“With further analysis of the Komodo teeth, we may be able to find other markers in the iron coating that aren’t changed during fossilization. With markers like that, we would know with certainty whether dinosaurs also had iron-coated teeth and have a greater understanding of these ferocious predators.”

Doctors in India recently carried out an unusual surgery to remove a 40cm bottle gourd from a farmer’s rectum.

According to India TV, the patient arrived at Chhatarpur District Hospital in Madhya Pradesh from Khajuraho on Saturday (20 July).

The 60-year-old was in critical condition, suffering from intense stomach pain.

An X-ray revealed the entire bottle gourd lodged inside the farmer’s rectum, causing significant internal damage

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One of the surgeons involved in the operation revealed that the patient declined to disclose how the gourd came to be lodged in his rectum.

Doctors suspect that a mental health issue might be behind this bizarre incident, though they haven’t ruled out the possibility of an accident.

It was about a year ago when someone first covered Ann Arbor’s Graffiti Alley with “Farts,” repeatedly spray-painting the word hundreds of times over.

While it amused some alley visitors who couldn’t help but chuckle at the silliness of it, others saw it as defacing a beloved exhibit of street art and hurting the alley.

The phenomenon, unlike anything Graffiti Alley has seen in decades, continues to generate mixed reactions and online chatter, including one Reddit thread dubbing it “Farts Wars.”

Some say “Farts” is art, while others say it stinks.

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While the debate rages, the identity of the artist behind “Farts” remains somewhat of a mystery, but those who’ve met him say he’s a local, middle-aged dad named Ryan.

“I met him and I shook his hand because I was like, oh my gosh, you’re the famous farts guy,” Colin Spry, who considers himself Graffiti Alley’s unofficial tour guide, said of his first encounter with the “Farts” artist.

“He’s probably in his late 40s, he’s got salt-and-pepper hair and a shaved face, like a 5 o’clock shadow,” said Spry, who regularly hangs out in Graffiti Alley and tells visitors about the artwork.

A shoplifting bird dubbed "Steven Seagull" has been banned from a convenience store for flying off with packets of crisps over a six-year stealing spree.

Staff at the Lyndale Central store in Wyke Regis, Dorset, have put up posters urging customers to "close the door" behind them in a bid to stop Steven.

The manager of the store, Stuart Harmer, said the crafty seagull had made off with about 30 packets of crisps in the past two months alone.

He said: "Trying to explain to the powers that be that I've got stock loss because of a seagull - they think its a joke."

Mr Harmer said Steven "comes in the shop when the doors open, puts his head around the corner of the door, nicks a packet of crisps and flies off with it".

According to Mr Harmer, Steven is particularly fond of BBQ beef flavoured crisps.

“The story, which did not go out on the wire to our customers, didn’t go through our standard editing process. We are looking into how that happened,” AP spokesperson Nicole Meir told The Verge in an email.

News reports (and fact-checks specifically) are often worded in a way that carefully threads a needle — there’s a difference between saying something definitively didn’t happen versus saying there’s no evidence of it. My guess is that the AP headline was the problem here because it claims to debunk something that is unknowable.

The Indian government killed him on paper and that's how a criminal was born. As dramatic as it may sound, it turned out to be the reality in the north Indian state of Rajasthan. As per reports, a death certificate was issued for Baburam Bhil from Mithora village in Balotra district though he was still alive. He reportedly left no stone unturned to get the error corrected, but to no avail.

He was desperate to get the government's attention, and that's how the idea of becoming a criminal crept into his mind.

On July 19, he took a knife and a petrol bottle and decided to terrorise a local school.

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Upon being interrogated, Bhil made a shocking revelation.

He said his death certificate had been issued, and so he feared that his property would soon be confiscated by the government.

Bhil wanted to give proof of his being alive and thus committed the crime so that he gets booked and the entry of his arrest in police records proves that he is alive.

The police are still conducting an investigation into his claims.

Notably, such reports are not uncommon in India.

In November last year, a 70-year-old man was seen roaming in Agra with a placard reading 'I'm alive' after his death certificate was issued.

After spotting a green laser beaming into the sky, a lot of people were left scratching their heads - but some think they’ve worked out exactly what has been happening.

Posting on Reddit, user Apenerd shared a picture of the great beam into the night sky on July 23. He didn’t explain at what time or what location he took the picture, however.

He captioned the post: “Every night this light/laser comes from out of nowhere and appears to be thousands of miles long.” The post so far has over 34,000 upvotes and has really got people talking.

He even claimed that he drove closer to the beams source and concluded it was none other than Leonardo DiCaprio to blame.

Many Torontonians are appalled after learning that some residents at a St. James Town apartment building were throwing feces at electrical contractors working to restore power to some units.

A letter about the incident was sent to residents at 77 Howard St. last week and was shared on Reddit. According to the building’s management company, Wellesley-Parliament Square (WPSQ), electrical contractors were there to restore power to some units following last Tuesday’s historic rain storm.

“Dear residents, it has come to our attention that a small group of residents are repeatedly interfering, threatening, and/or harassing members of the electrical contracting team,” the letter reads.

“Reports of unacceptable behaviour include throwing human waste from upper-level balconies at workers below, aggressive language, and/or hostile interactions. These actions are disrupting efforts to repair the building and will only serve to prolong the restoration effort,” it continued.

WPSQ adds that the professionals have been working around the clock since Tuesday to restore the power.

“It makes no sense why anyone would want to interfere with this work, cause additional delays contribute to an already challenging situation. We firmly believe that…most residents will be shocked to learn this behaviour is occurring. Nevertheless…we want it to stop,” the letter said.

A tortoise miraculously managed to escape its home and climb on to train tracks, sparking delays for commuters.

After a global IT outage caused havoc for many trying to travel on Britain's trains on Friday morning, more delays were reported between Ascot and Bagshot later that evening.

South Western Railway told Sky News a train driver spotted the culprit - a tortoise named Solomon - on the track near Ascot station just after 6pm.

The reptile was moving "at pace" towards Bagshot, they jokingly added.

Engineers carried Solomon off the tracks - and staff "moved the tortoise to a position of safety on the platform at Ascot, which included a short ride on the train itself".

In case you’ve had your fill of major historical events over the past couple of weeks, here’s a reminder that some things never change.

This time it’s people’s eagerness to remind the world that warning signs can never quite be big enough.

The notice in question is a plaque outside the Household Cavalry Museum in London which reads: ‘Beware, horses may kick or bite.’

Unsurprisingly, it’s next to a massive military horse ridden by an officer of the King’s Guard.

Even less surprisingly, tourists frequently fail to be wary of said horse, and often get gently nipped as a reminder to stay back.

On Sunday, though, one woman was filmed plumbing new depths of obliviousness.

Despite witnessing another member of her group getting nipped after approaching the horse, she immediately sidles up to the animal and tries to pose for a photo.

The horse then turns its head and chomps on her arm over the sleeve of a Pink Floyd t-shirt.

The woman then lets out a yelp and runs over to the rest of her group, who try to calm her and tend to her bite.

She is then seen keeling over onto one knee and is heard muttering to her companions while one of them dabs her arm with something which we can only hope is soaked in lesson-learning serum.

2023 was a big year for sharks on coke. First came Cocaine Shark, a B movie about mutant, murderous sharks (which, apparently, never did the drug). A few months later, documentary filmmakers released the more sober Cocaine Sharks, which tried to find out whether sharks in the Gulf of Mexico devour the many packages of coke lost or dumped by drug smugglers.

“It’s a catchy headline to shed light on a real problem,” Tracy Fanara, an environmental engineer in Florida, told The Guardian last year. Fanara participated in the doc and highlighted the issue of wildlife being exposed to drugs and other pollution. In the end, however, the evidence for coke-addled sharks was inconclusive.

Now, scientists in Brazil report the first proof that the animals are indeed exposed to cocaine. Thirteen sharpnose sharks taken from coastal waters near Rio de Janeiro had traces of the drug in their muscles and livers, researchers report this week in Science of the Total Environment.

Organisers of the World Gravy Wrestling Championships have said they need more people to take part in this year's event.

The event at the Rose 'N' Bowl Pub in Stacksteads, Rossendale, Lancashire, which is being held on 26 August raises money for East Lancashire Hospice.

Participants wrestle wearing fancy dress in a pool full of gravy in two-minute bouts in front of hundreds of spectators.

One of the organisers, Andy Holt, said judges award points for entertainment value, adding: "It is not about serious wrestling; it is just about having fun."

Mr Holt told BBC Radio Lancashire: "We are struggling a bit [for competitors] this year for some strange reason."

You do not need wrestling experience to take part, he said.

"The judges are marking on entertainment value more than anything.

"It is a great community day," he added.

Previously: Report on last year's event

The newest addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s star-studded lineup, Peggy, the charming Pugese, finally made her grand entrance on the red carpet as the “Merc with a Bark” at the London premiere of Deadpool & Wolverine.

While she may have been accompanied by co-stars Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman, some of the biggest names in Hollywood, it was Peggy’s night, and she stole the show and the headlines all across social media.

Reynolds even gave her a special introduction before the film began.

“Guys, this is Peggy, a.k.a. Mary Puppins, a.k.a. Dogpool. Get a good look,” Reynolds said in a video posted on his Instagram. “Her nipples are the size of children’s fingers. She won the ugliest dog in Britain, but we’re not telling her that because she’s a 10 in our hearts, isn’t she?”

As hard as it is to believe that the people would dare crown her the ugliest, it is true! Peggy, a Pugese (a mix of pug and Chinese crested), was crowned the UK’s ugliest dog in January 2023. But the saying “Every cloud has a silver lining” probably did stand true for Peggy, as soon enough, in November of that year, Reynolds announced her casting as Dogpool in Deadpool 3, a parallel reality version of the titular character who has been turned into a canine.

The case of a mysterious human finger found in a Tacoma driveway earlier this month has been solved and the digit has been returned to its rightful owner.

During the afternoon of July 5, Tacoma Police Department (TPD) officers responded to a report of a finger found in a driveway in the 800 block of South Pine Street, according to a statement TPD Public Information Officer Detective William Muse sent to MyNorthwest.

Muse provided an update in a statement to MyNorthwest Thursday that a person “saw the story” and called the Pierce County Medical Examiner’s Office, which had taken custody of the digit, to claim the finger.

The man identified himself by his surname and admitted to losing multiple digits “messing around with some fireworks.” Muse didn’t provide the identity of the man who claimed the finger in his statement. He did explain the latent prints on the recovered finger correspond with the information about the person available in the FBI database.

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In his July 5 update, Muse told MyNorthwest there was no blood around the finger and it appeared to have been, possibly, left on the property by an animal, perhaps a bird.

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Calls were made to local hospitals, Muse added. But they didn’t report anyone being treated over the Fourth of July holiday for any sort of dismembering injury.

Hello Kitty creators reveal the beloved character is not a cat.

On 18 July, Sanrio, the Japanese entertainment company that created Hello Kitty, made an astounding revelation for the iconic character’s 50th anniversary. In an appearance on the Today Show, Sanrio director of retail business development Jill Koch said: “Hello Kitty is not a cat.”

“She’s actually a little girl born and raised in the suburbs in London,” Koch added. “She has a mom and dad and a twin sister Minnie, who is also her best friend. She enjoys baking cookies and making new friends.”

“[Hello Kitty] weighs three apples and is five apples tall,” she continued, revealing that Hello Kitty also has a pet cat named Charmmy Kitty at home.

The revelation sparked a myriad of emotions in fans, ranging from denial to shock, and later, confusion.

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“I have never seen a human being with real life whiskers and cat ears,” another commenter posted. “THAT IS A CAT AND I WONT BE GASLIGHTED LIKE THIS!!!

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According to the Los Angeles Times, the truth was unearthed by Hello Kitty scholar Christine R. Yano, who devoted her studies to the cultural phenomenon. While curating a Hello Kitty retrospective at the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles, she sent her notes to Sanrio for approval, and although the company was pleased with the Hello Kitty anthropologist’s work, they corrected one striking detail: that Hello Kitty was in fact a girl.

“I was corrected – very firmly,” Yano said at the time. “That’s one correction Sanrio made for my script for the show. Hello Kitty is not a cat. She’s a cartoon character. She is a little girl. She is a friend. But she is not a cat. She’s never depicted on all fours. She walks and sits like a two-legged creature.”

She was also privy to other little-known facts including the fact that her full name is Kitty White and she also so happens to be a Scorpio with a penchant for apple pie.

“She’s a perpetual third-grader,” Yano added. “She lives outside of London. I could go on. A lot of people don’t know the story and a lot don’t care. But it’s interesting because Hello Kitty emerged in the 1970s, when the Japanese and Japanese women were into Britain.”

Seaside donkey proprietor John Nuttall has sparked debate by insisting children undergo a weight check before being allowed to ride his donkeys in Skegness. The 61-year-old has faced criticism for allegedly fat-shaming youngsters, yet many are applauding his decision.

With over four decades of experience providing donkey rides in Skegness and Cleethorpes, Nuttall has introduced a weight restriction to safeguard his donkeys in the face of increasing concerns about childhood obesity. He's set up weighing scales adjacent to his mobile paddock, complete with a sign detailing the requirements: under ten years old, shorter than 4ft 6ins, and lighter than six stone (38kg) for a £4 jaunt along the promenade.

cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/14948434

Police are investigating a strange case involving two suspects who allegedly shapeshifted and became cats in order to escape from the Meyerton Police Station holding cells on Tuesday morning.

The suspects, brothers Omari and Ali Mustafa, were among 11 suspects who were arrested for possession of hijacked good.

Omari has since been rearrested, while his brother remains on the run.

In the summary of events given to Gauteng provincial commissioner Tommy Mthombeni, police say the two men allegedly disappeared while being processed in the holding cells.

The statement reads:

The cell commander, Warrant Officer Phakathi, and Constable Mahloko were also in cells locked themselves in while the suspects were charged (sic). When it was a turn to charge this other [two] suspects, known as Mustafa Ali and Omari Mustafa, their names were called but they couldn't be found. Among those suspects, there is a suspect known as Erick Tumbulu - who informed the police that he saw when these two suspects made a strange like owl bird noise, turned into cats and they escaped while the gate was still locked, he was prepared to even give a statement.

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A senior police officer, on condition of anonymity, said it was very suspicious that the suspects waited to arrive at the police holdings cells before they could turn into cats.

Queues have been forming at an ATM dispensing free sausage rolls in Newcastle.

Greggs launched the pop-up machine on Thursday 18 July much to the delight of passersby on Grainger Street, in the city centre.

The bakery chain teamed up with British bank Monzo for the stunt following an apparent back and forth on X, formerly Twitter.

In a post on X on Monday, alongside a picture of cash machines, Greggs said: "Imagine if these dispensed Sausage Rolls instead of cash..."

The leader of a neo-Nazi extremist group based in eastern Europe has been charged with plotting to have an associate dress up as Santa Claus and hand out poisoned candy to Jewish children in New York City to sow terror, prosecutors said Tuesday.

Michail Chkhikvishvili, a 21-year-old man from the Republic of Georgia, was indicted on four charges, including soliciting hate crimes and acts of mass violence, according to a statement from the U.S. Department of Justice.

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Chkhikvishvili, who has various nicknames including Commander Butcher, allegedly leads the Maniac Murder Cult, which prosecutors said is an international extremist group that adheres to a “neo-Nazi accelerationist ideology and promotes violence and violent acts against racial minorities, the Jewish community and other groups it deems ‘undesirables.’ "

The Maniac Murder Cult's goal is to upset social order and governments via terrorism and violent acts that promote fear and chaos, according to the announcement from Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department’s National Security Division, U.S. Attorney Breon Peace for the Eastern District of New York and Executive Assistant Director Robert R. Wells of the FBI’s National Security Branch.

Chkhikvishvili was arrested after he tried to recruit an undercover law enforcement officer to join his group and commit violent crimes such as bombings and arsons, according to court documents.

In November 2023, Chkhikvishvili began planning a “mass casualty event” for New York City on New Year's Eve, prosecutors said.

“The scheme involved an individual dressing up as Santa Claus and handing out candy laced with poison to racial minorities and children at Jewish schools in Brooklyn,” the Department of Justice statement said.

He “drafted step-by-step instructions to carry out the scheme” and shared with the undercover officer “detailed manuals on creating and mixing lethal poisons and gases,” the statement said.

A breed of goat was given a rare royal title during the King and Queen’s visit to Guernsey on Tuesday.

Charles and Camilla granted the Golden Guernsey breed the special title of Royal Golden Guernsey Goat, conferring the award on eight-year-old Summerville Tamsin at an event in the gardens at Les Cotils.

It is the first time in recent history that the protected title has been granted to a livestock breed, and will apply to all Golden Guernseys on the island and elsewhere in the world.

Royal titles are granted sparingly, on the advice of the Cabinet Office and with strict standards applied.

Self-described “gay furry hackers” on July 2 breached archival data from a site that was operated by the Heritage Foundation until recently, and on Tuesday released two gigabytes of internal data originally collected by the conservative think tank. Now an executive director at the influential organization is so hopping mad that he might as well invest in a kangaroo costume.

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This material, as the Daily Dot reported and as the Heritage Foundation now confirms, came from the Daily Signal, Heritage’s media and commentary site, which lists one Mike Howell as an investigative columnist. The former Trump administration official in the Department of Homeland Security is also the executive director of Heritage’s Oversight Project, an initiative focused on border security, elections, and countering the “influence” of the Communist Party of China. It was Howell who contacted SiegedSec in the wake of the breach to get answers about their motivations — and as he continued to message “vio,” his texts grew more unhinged and threatening.

After declining to talk with Howell by phone, vio described what it was that they and their hacker furry comrades sought to accomplish: “[W]e want to make a message and shine light on who exactly supports the [H]eritage foundation,” they wrote. “[W]e [don’t] want anything more than that, not money and not fame. [W]e’re strongly against Project 2025 and everything the [H]eritage foundation stands for.” Howell seemed stunned by the explanation. “That’s why you hacked us?” he replied. “Just for that?” (Once the full chat log was released by SiegedSec, Howell confirmed to the Daily Dot that it was genuine, and that the conversation had taken place on Wednesday.)

From there, Howell’s tone shifted. “We are in the process of identifying and outing [sic] members of your group,” he wrote. “Reputations and lives will be destroyed. Closeted Furries will be presented to the world for the degenerate perverts they are.” As vio expressed skepticism that anyone in SiegedSec would be identified and continued to criticize the Heritage agenda as harmful to human rights, Howell invoked Biblical authority and seethed that the hackers had “turned against nature.”

“God created nature, and nature’s laws are vicious. It is why you have to put on a perverted animal costume to satisfy your sexual deviances,” Howell wrote. “Are you aware that you won’t be able to wear a furry tiger costume when you’re getting pounded in the ass in the federal prison I put you in next year?” When vio taunted the executive for this outburst and hinted that they would be posting the conversation online, Howell replied, “Please share widely. I hope the word spreads as fast as the STDs do in your degenerate furry community.”

He went on to liken furry culture to bestiality, which he called a “sin,” prompting vio to ask him, “whats ur opinion on vore.” (Vorarephilia, or vore, is a fetish typically expressed in erotic art of people or creatures eating one another.) A Twitter user shared a screenshot of this exchange Wednesday afternoon, leading Howell to quote-tweet the post with lyrics from rapper Eminem‘s 2000 single “The Way I Am.”

Hours later, Howell learned through the Daily Dot‘s reporting that vio had decided to try to quit their life of cybercrime, and that the rest of the collective agreed it was “time to let SiegedSec rest for good,” in part to avoid FBI attention. “COMPLETE AND TOTAL VICTORY,” Howell tweeted. “I have forced the Gay Furry Hackers to DISBAND.”