TID-BITS
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Nov. 5 (UPI) -- A hotel in the Philippines that stands 114 feet, 7 inches tall was awarded a Guinness World record for the largest building in the shape of a chicken.
Campuestohan Highland Resort, located in Negros Occidental, unveiled its new rooster-shaped building, which features 15 air-conditioned hotel rooms.
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Historians in Maryland are seeking the public's help to identify a mysterious machine donated to a museum in the 1990s.
The Dorchester County Historical Society posted photos to social media showing a machine composed of a flat ceramic counter top and two spinning objects that resemble rolling pins.
Aug. 16 (UPI) -- Several Virginia residents captured video when a mysterious black ring was seen floating in the sky over the Williamsburg area.
Multiple witnesses in the Hampton Roads region reported seeing the black ring in the sky shortly after 11 a.m. Tuesday, and multiple people captured photos and videos of the unusual phenomenon.
The ring vanished within a few minutes.
Seemingly similar blacks rings have been spotted in other locations in the past, with fires and explosions being cited as the likely cause.
The James City County Fire Department said it was unaware of any reports of incidents that could have caused the ring at the time of the sightings.
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Aug. 16 (UPI) -- A British daredevil broke a Guinness World Record by skiing off a 18,753-foot cliff and parachuting to the ground.
Joshua Bregmen, 34, earned the title of the world's highest altitude ski-BASE jump when he completed the stunt on Mera Peak in the Himalayas.
Bregmen said he and his team spent two weeks preparing for the record by scouting the jump spot and clearing debris to ensure a smooth ski.
"The dream was to do several nice S-turns and ski eloquently off the cliff, but in reality, all we had was just a humble rock-filled runway at an exit height of nearly 6,000 meters," he told Guinness World Records. "I did some nice, heavy breathing before the jump through exhaustion and lack of oxygen, but this just added to the exhilaration, especially with Everest in the backdrop."
Bregman's record attempt was aimed at raising money for charity and increasing awareness of human trafficking in Nepal.
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Aug. 15 (UPI) -- A Texas woman was awarded a Guinness World Records title for the surprising contents of her mouth -- a 3.11-inch-wide tongue.
Brittany Lacayo told the record-keeping organization she decided to apply for the title after learning about the former record-holder, Emily Schlenker, whose tongue measured 2.89 inches wide.
Lacayo's tongue is exactly as wide as the average length of an adult woman's tongue: 3.11 inches.
Her tongue is actually one in wider than it is long when measured from the epiglottis, the flap of cartilage located behind the tongue.
"It is neat and kind of funny," Lacayo told Guinness World Records.
The male version of the record belongs to American Brian Thompson, whose tongue measures 3.49 inches wide.
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Aug. 14 (UPI) -- A cat who went missing from her Ontario family turned up one year later and more than 600 miles from home.
The Oromocto and Area SPCA said on social media that a stray cat was brought in recently by a group of young people who had been feeding the loose feline for months in Fredericton, New Brunswick.
"We immediately scanned her to see if she had a microchip and to our joy, the scanner beeped," the post said. "A phone call to the person the chip was registered to told an amazing story!"
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Aug. 14 (UPI) -- A dedicated gamer from Saudi Arabia earned a Guinness World Record by hooking up 444 video game consoles to a single TV.
Ibrahim Al-Nasser of Riyadh told Guinness World Records he uses an Excel spreadsheet to keep track of which switch boxes and converters he needs to turn on to play each console.
He said the set-up has 444 consoles, more than 30 RCA switchers, more than 12 HDMI switchers and various other modes of connection.
"After a while, I noticed that I had a big stack of gaming consoles that I couldn't play," Al-Nasser said. "The TV ports are limited, and if I wanted to play, I could either unplug the existing console or I could keep everything and add more switchers and more converters."
"By adding more switchers, the idea came to my mind to connect all of the gaming consoles I have to the TV then contact Guinness World Records because this project is unique."
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Aug. 7 (UPI) -- An Oklahoma canine is in the doghouse after being caught on camera starting a fire by chewing on a lithium ion battery.
The Tulsa Fire Department posted a video to YouTube showing the scene that unfolded inside the home earlier this year.
The security camera footage shows the dog chewing on a lithium ion battery on a pet bed while another dog and a cat watch from nearby.
The battery suddenly catches fire, causing the animals to flee as it explodes and ignites the pet bed, filling the room with smoke.
The dogs watch the flames for a few seconds before leaving the room.
The department said the dogs and cat were able to escape the house through a dog door. No humans or animals were injured.
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NEW YORK, Aug. 5 (UPI) -- Mental exertion leads to irritation, frustration or other negative feelings in many situations, supporting the concept that it hurts to think, according to new research published by the American Psychological Association.
The study, conducted by Radboud University in the Netherlands, appeared Monday in the association's monthly journal, Psychological Bulletin.
Managers and educators frequently encourage individuals to exert mental effort, prompting them to often choose mentally challenging activities.
While this may indicate that people tend to enjoy thinking hard, the new study suggests the opposite, senior author Erik Bijleveld, a psychologist and associate professor at Radboud University, told UPI via email.
"So, it is useful to realize that, when it is really necessary to ask people to exert substantial mental effort, it is best to support or reward them," Bijleveld said.
He pointed out that "there is a longstanding controversy in psychology about mental effort. Many psychologists assume that people avoid mental effort whenever they can."
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Aug. 6 (UPI) -- A drone show themed around the film Deadpool & Wolverine broke the Guinness World Record for the largest aerial display of a fictional character formed by drones -- twice.
The drone show by Sky Elements, which was co-sponsored by Marvel, set the record at San Diego Comic-Con by using 1,599 drones to form an image of Deadpool, the hero played by Ryan Reynolds in the film.
The show broke the same record moments later with an image of Hugh Jackman's character, Wolverine, featuring 1,607 drones.
Sky Elements previously set the same record during Christmas 2023 with an aerial image of the Nutcracker.
"The company's main goal with this record was to showcase our abilities like never before," Tyler Kubicz, production manager at Sky Elements, told Guinness World Records of the latest show. "The drone show medium is ripe to have the greatest stories ever told through it. Any time Sky Elements has a chance to showcase this medium on a global scale, we'll do it."
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Aug. 2 (UPI) -- An extremely rare prototype 1979 Star Wars Boba Fett action figure described as the "Holy Grail" of collecting is up for auction.
Auction house Goldin said the Kenner 1979 J-Slot (Version 2) Rocket-Firing (Mailer) Prototype Boba Fett, one of only 30 ever produced, is the the highest-graded example of the three known to still exist and is the first to be up for auction.
The toy was made as a prototype in 1979 but never made it to market due to the risk of injury to children from its firing rocket.
A similar Boba Fett figure became the most expensive vintage toy in the world when it was auctioned for $525,000 in June. That figure was one of 70 prototypes made with an "L-slot" firing mechanism.
The Boba Fett being offered from Goldin is the first "J-slot" to ever make it to auction, the auction house said.
"This item is looked at as one of the most important in the hobby," said Ken Goldin, founder and CEO of Goldin. "This is the first time a Mailer J-Slot V2/ Missile example has come up for auction, making this a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to own this iconic piece of the Star Wars franchise."
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Aug. 5 (UPI) -- A Missouri museum teamed up with the business located on its second floor to break a world record with a shoelace measuring 2,729 feet long -- more than half a mile.
The City Museum, which broke the record for the largest gathering of people with underwear on their heads earlier in the year, said the shoelace record attempt came just days after officials learned they had lost the underwear record to America's Got Talent.
The museum, which is housed in the former Annex of the International Shoe Company building, teamed up with The Shoelace Factory, a business located on the second floor that uses antique machinery to craft artisanal shoelaces.
The 2,729-foot shoelace took about 24 hours to weave using the factory's antique machines. It was then fitted with custom-made aglets -- the plastic ends of shoelaces.
The shoelace was laid out across the historic Eads Bridge to be officially measured by a survey team.
The museum's team had to prove the shoelace was created from woven threads and also had to prove it was functional by using it to tie a shoe.
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July 29 (UPI) -- The owner of what might be Europe's largest collection of bedpans is trying to find them a new home after they failed to sell at auction.
Mary Jacobs, 77, of Newmarket, England, said she started her unusual collection while helping out with rummage sales at the Newmarket Salvation Army hall in 1984.
"I saw a slipper bed pan come in and I bought it for 50p [64 cents] and that was the start, I just wanted to collect something different," Jacobs told Suffolk News. "It snowballed from there and I found myself going round so many places to add to my collection."
Jacobs now owns 163 different bedpans and has run out of room to store them.
"I had a cupboard built to store them in my front bedroom but I'm getting older and need to clear some space. I hope they go to a good home. They're clean, washed and in fantastic condition," she said.
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July 29 (UPI) -- The infamous gold bikini sported by Princess Leia in 1983's Return of the Jedi sold for $175,000 at an auction that also featured a screen-used Y-wing model selling for $1.55 million.
Heritage Auctions said the July 24-25 Hollywood/Entertainment Signature Auction featured a number of Star Wars artifacts, including the "Slave Leia" bikini famously worn by Carrie Fisher when she was a prisoner in Jabba's palace.
The costume, inspired by Frank Frazetta, was designed by Nilo Rodis-Jamero and sculpted by Richard Miller.
"When [director George Lucas] showed me the outfit, I thought he was kidding and it made me very nervous," Fisher told NPR in 2016. "I had to sit very straight because I couldn't have lines on my sides, like little creases. No creases were allowed, so I had to sit very, very rigid straight."
The auction also included a Y-wing model used on screen during the final battle of 1977's Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. The model, made by Colin Cantwell, was dubbed the "TIE Killer" because it had a TIE fighter painted on its nose.
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July 30 (UPI) -- A stage magician from Malaysia broke a Guinness World Record by performing 17 illusions in three minutes.
Avery Chin broke the record for the most stage illusion tricks performed in three minutes, beating the previous record of 11 set by India's Magician Alwin in 2023.
"I have always wanted to use magic to create a world record, and I can prove that I love magic and raise it to the highest level with a world record," Chin told Guinness World Records.
The tricks Chin performed in his record-breaking session included making objects disappear and reappear, using giant playing cards and making polka-dots appear on a formerly blank handkerchief.
"Achieving a world record is completely different from a show performance, therefore doing the challenge is tougher in the process, not only to show the magic, but also to show it fast, correctly and clearly," he said. "The most important thing is to follow the Guinness World Records guidelines without any mistakes."
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July 27 (UPI) -- Iron Man icon Robert Downey Jr. has signed on to play Victor Von Doom aka Doctor Doom in two new Marvel Avengers movies.
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Added sugar can cause your cells to prematurely age, a new study warns.
Each gram of added sugar is associated with an increase in a person's cellular age, even when they eat healthy otherwise, researchers found.
On the other hand, a diet rich in vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and anti-inflammatory nutrients can help a person have a younger biological age on a cellular level, results show.
Overall, the better a person eats, the younger their cells look, the study concluded.
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July 29 (UPI) -- A 31-year-old California woman born without legs broke a Guinness World Record by skateboarding in the handstand position for 19.65 seconds.
Kanya Sesser, a former Paralympic track athlete and lifelong skateboarder, took on the challenge in Los Angeles and successfully broke the record for the longest handstand on a skateboard in the LA3 category, which refers to an absence of both legs from above the knees.
Sesser, who was born in Thailand and came to the United States when she was adopted at the age of 5, told Guinness World Records that breaking the record is "one of the life-changing career moments that have happened to me."
"It's so incredible to me to make history for others to see. I have made an impact on others for the next generations to come," she said.
Sesser also has successful careers as a model and actor, appearing in TV shows including The Walking Dead and Hawaii 5-0, as well as the 2022 film Babylon.
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July 26 (UPI) -- Boar's Head Provisions is recalling all liverwurst products due to possible listeria contamination, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced Friday.
The recall affects Boar's Head Strassburg Brand Liverwurst products made between June 11 and July 17, as well as deli meat products that were produced alongside the the liverwurst.
Other affected products include Boar's Head Italian Cappy Style Ham, Extra Hot Italian Cappy Style Ham, Bologna, Beef Salami, Steakhouse Roasted Bacon Heat & Eat, Garlic Bologna and Beef Bologna.
The USDA's Food Safety Inspection Service said it was notified by the Maryland Department of Health of a sample that tested positive for Listeria monocytogenes, the bacteria that causes listeriosis.
As of Thursday, 34 cases of infection have been identified in 13 states, including 33 hospitalizations and two deaths.
Samples were collected from infected people from May 29 to July 12. The investigation is ongoing.
The FSIS urged customers who have these products to throw them away or return them to the place of purchase.
Customers also should throughly clean their refrigerators to prevent cross contamination.
Listeriosis is a serious infection that primarily affects people who are pregnant, age 65 or older or who have weakened immune systems.
Symptoms include fever, muscle aches, headache, stiff neck, confusion, loss of balance, convulsions and diarrhea or other gastrointestinal issues.
The infection can cause pregnancy complications, including miscarriages, stillbirths and premature delivery.
People in high-risk categories with symptoms should seek immediate medical care.
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July 26 (UPI) -- Australian ultramarathoner Natalie Dau has set a new record for the fastest crossing of Peninsular Malaysia on foot.
Dau covered over 700 kilometers from Kelantan in the north to Johor Bahru in the south in eight days and 46 minutes. This accomplishment adds to her growing list of ultramarathon achievements, which began with her debut race in 2019.
Dau was well-prepared for this challenge, with ten championship titles and races ranging from 50 km to 200 km. Her crossing was part of Project 1,000, a 1,000 km journey from Thailand to Singapore.
To tackle the course, she ran between 85 to 95 km daily, starting as early as 12:35 a.m. to avoid the heat, while managing an infection throughout the attempt.
"The last 20 km of each day were the hardest I've ever experienced," Dau said.
Dau went on this journey to raise money for a global charity that supports girls and women through sports called GRLS.
"There is a huge gender gap when it comes to exercising as females are 40% less likely to be active, and this number is even higher in underprivileged communities," she said. "It can be a lack of access to facilities, gender stereotypes, religious or cultural reasons that make it hard for females. GRLS work to breakdown these barriers."
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July 22 (UPI) -- A professional soccer game was suspended in Norway when fans threw fish cakes and other objects onto the field to protest the use of a Video Assistant Referee, or VAR.
The Norwegian Eliteserien game between Rosenborg BK and Lillestrom was initially stopped mere minutes after kickoff due to the fish cakes raining down on the field.
Players returned to the field from the locker room, but the game was stopped a second time when fans from both sides continued to throw fish cakes, and started adding tennis balls and smoke bombs into the mix.
The game was officially suspended after just over a half hour of play with the score 0-0.
The protest surrounded the use of VAR, which fans and even several supporter unions complain leads to referees taking too much time to make decisions, bringing games to long halts in the meantime. The league adopted VAR in 2023.
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July 22 (UPI) -- A Florida sheriff's office is reminding residents not to approach bears after onlookers were seen trying to snap selfies with a "depressed" bear at the side of a highway.
The Walton County Sheriff's Office said on social media the bear was spotted late last week on the north side of Highway 98 near County Road 83 in Santa Rosa Beach.
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July 20 (UPI) -- A listeria outbreak tied to sliced deli meats in a dozen states have killed two and hospitalized 28 more, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Friday.
One death was reported in New Jersey and another in Illinois while at least 28 others were hospitalized from about May 20 to July 5 in a dozen states.
The CDC has not issued a recall of any particular deli meats and suggested contaminated deli equipment likely caused the outbreak in at least a dozen states.
"Many people in this outbreak are reporting eating meats that they had sliced at deli counters," the CDC said Friday. "Investigators are collecting information to determine the specific products that may be contaminated."
Seven cases were reported in New York and six in Maryland. Georgia, Massachusetts, Missouri, New Jersey and Virginia each have reported two cases.
Illinois, Minnesota, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin each have reported one case.
The CDC says there likely are more unreported cases.
Most who became sick with listeriosis told CDC investigators they ate turkey or liverwurst. Some also said they ate ham.
Listeriosis is the nation's third-leading cause of death due to food-borne illnesses.
Listeria can contaminate commonly used deli equipment, especially slicers, and spreads easily among food, surfaces and hands, according to the CDC.
Pregnant women, senior citizens and people with compromised immune systems are especially vulnerable to listeria but rarely take ill, the CDC says.
Common symptoms include fever, aching muscles and tiredness among pregnant women.
Other common symptoms include headaches, a stiff neck, loss of balance, confusion, seizures.
Symptoms commonly occur within two weeks of eating listeria-contaminated food but might occur within a day or be delayed as long as 10 weeks, according to the CDC.
Refrigeration won't kill listeria, but reheating meats to suitably high temperatures will kill any germs that those meats might contain.
The CDC recommends heating deli meats that are sliced at any deli counter to an internal temperature of 165 degrees or until the meat is steaming hot.
Consumers also can protect against listeria by cleaning their refrigerators and any containers or surfaces that might have contacted sliced deli meats.
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July 19 (UPI) -- Lady Gaga is recording new music, and she is teasing the process on social media.
The 38-year-old singer and actress offered her fans a behind-the-scenes glimpse of her work in the studio, sharing a black-and-white photo carousel to her Instagram page.
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July 17 (UPI) -- A Stegosaurus that lived up to 161 million years ago and has been named "Apex" broke records Wednesday after its fossilized skeleton sold for nearly $45 million at a Sotheby's auction in New York.
"'Apex' lived up to its name today, inspiring bidders globally to become the most valuable fossil ever sold at auction," Cassandra Hatton, Sotheby's global head of science and popular culture said in a statement.
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Pudgy with a purpose: Fat cats could help humans better understand the way gut bacteria influences conditions like obesity and Type 2 diabetes, a new study claims.
Food-related changes in obese cats' gut microbiome have striking similarities to the way diet affects the gut of humans, researchers reported recently in the journal Scientific Reports.
As a result, pet cats might be the best source of information about the human microbiome, and whether altering gut bacteria could help battle obesity, researchers say.
"Being able to see changes in cats that come up in the context of obesity and Type 2 diabetes in people makes them a really good model to start looking at more microbiome-directed therapeutics for obesity in humans if we're seeing a similar shift," said lead researcher Dr. Jenessa Weston, an assistant professor of veterinary clinical sciences at Ohio State University.
"Animals share our beds. They share our ice cream. There are all these things that people do with their pets that highlight they are a naturally occurring disease model with similar environmental exposures as humans," Weston added in a university news release.
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It's long been known that popping the antibiotic doxycycline within 72 hours of a risky sexual encounter can greatly reduce a person's risk for a sexually transmitted infection (STI).
In fact, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention formally recommended this type of "morning after" strategy last month.
But what if folks at especially high risk for STIs simply took "doxy" daily -- similar to how some people now take HIV meds as pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to prevent that infection?
Two small new studies suggest that this so-called "DoxyPrEP" strategy may indeed keep STIs at bay.
Both reports are scheduled to be presented next week at the 25th International AIDS Conference in Munich.
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July 18 (UPI) -- A Nigerian man played mobile game Dream League Soccer 2023 for 75 consecutive hours, breaking a Guinness World Record.
The record-keeping organization said Oside "Khoded" Oluwole broke the record for the longest video game marathon playing a soccer game, besting the 50-hour record set by Englishman David Whitefoot in 2022.
Guinness said Oluwole is the first holder of the record to have used Dream League Soccer to seek the title, as previous holders have opted for FIFA or Pro Evolution Soccer.
Oluwole connected his iPhone to a TV screen for his gaming marathon, during which he was allowed a 5-minute break every hour, and he was allowed to bank his breaks for longer rest times.
"It wasn't an easy task, but I must say it was all fun," Oluwole told Guinness World Records. "It was such a great moment; the event was very interesting and I'm grateful to god that it was successful."
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July 18 (UPI) -- A Texas man legally changed his name to Literally Anybody Else to apply for a particularly difficult-to-get job: President of the United States.
The 35-year-old military veteran and middle school math teacher, formerly known as Dustin Ebey, said he is running for president to protest the current major-party candidates -- President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump -- and show his distaste for a system that his website states "often prioritizes partisan battles over real solutions."
Else is running a write-in campaign in Texas, where did he did not get the required 113,000 signatures to make it onto the ballot, and is expected to appear by name on the Tennessee ballot, where he said he did get the required amount of signatures.
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July 16 (UPI) -- A California auction house announced a pair of long-lost props from the original Star Trek series have been found after more than 50 years and are headed to auction.
Julien's Auctions, in partnership with Turner Classic Movies, announced the phaser and communicator will be auctioned as part of the co-branded event "Comic-Con Museum Presents: Julien's Auctions & TCM 2024 Spotlight Series."
The props were used by William Shatner on screen in his role as Capt. James T. Kirk.
Don Hillenbrand, a Star Trek prop expert, authenticated the items as the "hero" versions used on screen in multiple episodes of the series.
The props, made in 1966, were thought lost for more than 50 years before turning up in the collection of a recently-deceased man who worked in the Hollywood prop industry for many years. The items are now owned by the man's family and will be auctioned Nov. 9.
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July 17 (UPI) -- A pair of goats decided to give a stress test to a hiker's parked SUV on a Colorado mountain -- and the moment was caught on camera.
Mindy Williford, aka Superglamp on social media, returned to her Subaru SUV after hiking on Mount Blue Sky, about 45 miles west of Denver, and discovered the tell-tale signifiers of hoofed hijinks.
"Those are hoof prints! There was a goat on my car," Williford says in a video she posted to her accounts. "That is hilarious, and it went all the way on the top here too."
The post captured the attention of the official Subaru account.
"People have said we're the GOAT but didn't think this was what it meant," the company wrote in a comment on TikTok.
Williford says in her video, "I wish I could have seen that," and her wish came true thanks to wildlife photographer Michael Ryno.
Ryno's video, posted to Instagram, shows one goat walking across the vehicle's hood while a second stomps on the rooftop cargo box.
"OMG that's my car!" Williford wrote in a comment. "Thank you so much for capturing this."
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July 16 (UPI) -- The Washington State Patrol said a driver polled over for speeding in the high-occupancy vehicle lanes had a surprise in her back seat -- her passenger was a mannequin bust.
The WSP said on social media that a trooper stopped the car on southbound Interstate 5, near South 272nd Street, for going 80 mph in a 60 mph zone.
Officials said the woman was traveling in the HOV lane, but her only passenger turned out to be a mannequin bust propped up on a cooler and disguised with a jacket.
"The driver said this is her training aid and the reason it was positioned this way was to properly dry the hair," the WSP wrote.
The driver was released with a speeding ticket.
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July 17 (UPI) -- Colorado's Denver International Airport revealed the most unusual items to pass through its lost and found include elk meat and a circular saw.
The airport, which averages more than 2000,000 travelers each day, receives about 150 to 200 lost and found items daily, officials said.
Many items that arrive at the lost and found window come as no surprise, lost and found supervisor Noelle Aguirre said.
"The top five are bags, IDs, glasses and electronics and jewelry," Aguirre told KMGH-TV.
Other items are a bit more unusual. The lost and found is currently holding onto a circular saw and a forklift battery.
She said some of the department's past finds include elk meat, urns and dogs forgotten in the parking garage.
Lost and found items are held by the airport for 30 days.
"We're always trying our best to return these items back to the owner," Aguirre said.
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July 15 (UPI) -- A Rhode Island university president who bought a ticket for a Mega Millions drawing in February didn't discover until months later that it was worth $1 million.
Ioannis Miaoulis, who heads Roger Williams University, said he doesn't buy lottery tickets very often, but he decided to take his shot at the $333 million jackpot in the Feb. 2 Mega Millions drawing.
Miaoulis bought his ticket, bearing the numbers 11-22-42-64-69 and Mega Ball 19, from the Stop & Shop on Metacom Avenue in Bristol.
Miaoulis said he put the ticket in a drawer, and forgot about it for five months -- until he learned that a $1 million ticket from the drawing remained unclaimed.
He was surprised to discover he had matched the first five numbers from the Groundhog Day drawing, earning him a $1 million prize.
Miaoulis said his prize money will be saved for retirement.
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July 15 (UPI) -- An Irish man earned his second Guinness World Records title by riding his unicycle the length of Ireland -- 308 miles -- in 5 days, 5 hours and 23 minutes.
Eamonn Keaveney told Guinness World Records the title for the fastest crossing of Ireland by unicycle appealed to him because it "seemed like a perfect mix of daunting and ridiculous."
Keaveney, who previously earned the record for the world's longest barefoot journey in 2016 and followed it up by climbing 10 mountains barefoot in 10 days, said he had never ridden a unicycle until he started training for the title.
He said he traveled about 12 hours each day of his attempt.
"It was sometimes hard toward the end of the day to force myself up on to the unicycle for those last few miles," he said.
He said a swollen ankle toward the end of his trip made each turn of the pedals feel "like torture."
"As long as you are moving, you are pedaling. Hence my ankle swelling up from overuse," he said.
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July 16 (UPI) -- Authorities in Florida are trying to solve the mystery of a plane found abandoned at the side of a Bay County road.
The Springfield Police Department said on social media that "a portion of a plane" -- the cockpit, nose and front propeller -- was found abandoned at the side of Transmitter Road.
The plane bears markings from ZooWorld in Panama City Beach, including giraffe logos on its seats, but the business said it got rid of the plane about a week ago.
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July 14 (UPI) -- Comedy Central has announced that "The Daily Show" will go dark Monday. and the rest of the week's shows will be taped in New York instead of Wisconsin ,where the Republican National Convention will he held.
The original plan was to tape the Jon Stewart-fronted show in Milwaukee from Monday to Wednesday, and then broadcast a live episode Thursday.
The plan changed, however, after an assassination attempt sent Republican nominee Donald Trump to the hospital with a bullet wound to the ear Saturday.
One spectator was also killed, while two others were critically injured.
Secret Service agents shot and killed the sniper.
"Our apologies for the inconvenience, but due to logistical issues and the evolving situation in Milwaukee, we need to reschedule our events on the ground in Wisconsin and will look to make those up in the coming weeks," the show's X feed said Sunday.
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July 12 (UPI) -- SeaWorld San Antonio continued its summer "baby boom" when a Pacific white-sided dolphin and a beluga whale were born just two days apart.
The Texas attraction said Piquet, a 36-year-old white-sided dolphin, gave birth June 26 to a 20-inch-long female calf weighing approximately 20 pounds.
Luna, a 24-year-old beluga whale, gave birth just two days later to a 4-foot-long male calf weighing about 130 pounds.
"Both calves and mothers are healthy and under the watchful eyes of animal care specialists and the park's veterinary staff as these new additions continue to nurse, bond with mom and work toward hitting normal growth milestones," SeaWorld said in the birth announcement.
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July 10 (UPI) -- NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams said during a Wednesday press conference that they're confident the troubled Boeing Starliner spacecraft can carry them safely back home to Earth.
"We're absolutely confident," Wilmore said. He said a sheltering procedure test inside Starliner went well. It was conducted to determine if astronauts could quickly disconnect from the space station and shelter in the Starliner if needed.
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July 12 (UPI) -- Space crews on NASA's upcoming mission to orbit the moon in 2025 and land at its south pole in 2026 may have a solution to the age-old problem of urinating while suited up thanks to a novel U.S.-developed system that collects and recycles wastewater into potable water inside their spacesuit.
Inspired by the full-body "stillsuits" worn in the Dune sci-fi movies, scientists at Cornell University have designed a prototype urine collection and filtration system they say replaces the uncomfortable and unhygienic adult diaper-type maximum absorbency garment worn by generations of long-suffering astronauts since the late 1970s, according to a news release from the Frontiers research platform.
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Seventeen women in nine states have fallen ill after getting fake Botox shots, with 13 of them landing in the hospital and one requiring a ventilator, a new report warns.
In the report, published Thursday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, researchers provided alarming details of patients getting injections outside of a medical setting and then falling ill a few days later.
In one instance, four women attended a gathering at a relative's home in Tennessee to get Botox injected into their faces to smooth fine lines and wrinkles about three days before their symptoms began. An investigation later showed the injected product was counterfeit and was administered by a person who was not licensed to do so.
"In some cases, providers were concerned about patients' breathing to the point where they were admitting them to intensive care units to be able to monitor them more closely," report author Dr. Christine Thomas, a medical director at the Tennessee Department of Health, told NBC News.
If you do decide to get Botox, have it done in a medical setting by a licensed provider. Thomas recommended making sure providers are licensed appropriately ahead of time.
Don't be fooled by appearances: "People go in and see a person wearing a white coat. They see what purports to be professionals administering Botox. They're unwitting victims," Karavetsos said.
Pricing can be a big clue: One of the women treated in Tennessee "reported paying less for their injections than we know botulinum toxin costs," Thomas said.
The average price for Botox is about $15 a unit, so a reasonable charge would be $12 to $25 per unit, Dr. Kate Dee, a Seattle physician and spa founder, told NBC News.
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Restrictive gun laws can decrease suicide rates among children and teenagers, but they don't seem to lower their risk of being murdered, a new study says.
States with laws requiring safe storage of firearms and mandatory waiting periods had lower suicide death rates among kids younger than 18, researchers report.
However, no gun laws appeared to lower children's risk of being murdered by a firearm, even those that prohibit access for people at risk of harming themselves and others, result show.
"It was surprising to me that no laws appear to be impacting the rates of homicide in children, not even safe access," said lead researcher Dr. Krista Haines, an assistant professor of surgery and population health sciences at Duke University School of Medicine in Durham, N.C. "It's sad and shocking."
For the study, researchers analyzed data on more than 17,000 child firearm deaths that occurred between 2009 and 2020, including more than 6,700 suicides and more than 10,200 murders.
They compared 36 different state-level firearm laws to see if any appeared to reduce or increase the risk of suicide or homicide for children.
The analysis "suggests that we do actually have some laws that work," Haines said in a news release.
"But there are very few of these laws, and they only appear to work for suicide, not for homicide," she continued. "Our study clearly points to a need for more laws and controlled access to these guns, especially given the high rates of death among children in the United States."
Interestingly, "stand your ground" laws that protect people who use guns in self-defense appeared to increase children and teens' risk of suicide, researchers found.
Laws setting minimum ages for possession or purchase of firearms did not significantly reduce suicide death rates, results show.
The U.S. accounts for more than 90% of child firearm deaths worldwide, researchers said in background notes. More studies are needed to understand the risk to kids, they argue.
"This is a very early study, and we need to continue to use this kind of research to advance better policies," senior researcher Dr. Suresh Agarwal, chief of trauma, acute and critical care surgery at Duke University, said in a news release. "What we have in place now has limited impact, particularly with regard to homicides."
The new study was published Thursday in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons.
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Secondhand smoke from cigarettes is much worse than that from vaping, in terms of exposing children to nicotine, a new study finds.
Children exposed to vaping indoors absorb less than one-seventh the amount of nicotine as kids exposed to indoor smoking, blood tests reveal.
Secondhand exposure to harmful substances in e-cigarettes likely would be even lower, researchers said, given that vaping contains similar levels of nicotine but only a fraction of the toxins and carcinogens found in tobacco smoke.
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July 12 (UPI) -- A California town is attempting to gather 10,000 people to break a Guinness World Record for the largest water balloon fight.
Splash Fest, organized by nonprofit Balloons over Bullets in Stockton, kicks off at 2 p.m. Saturday, and organizers are hoping to amass at least 10,000 people at the event to throw 209,000 water balloons.
Organizers are encouraging prospective participants to pre-register online.
"This record-breaking endeavor not only promises thrilling water-filled battles but also carries a powerful message of promoting unity, non-violence, and the importance of education and community engagement," the Splash Fest website states.
The festival will include other water-themed attractions including giant slip 'n' slides, a dunk tank and water games. There will also be food trucks and live music.
The current Guinness World Record for the largest water balloon fight was set by 8,957 people at the University of Kentucky in 2011.
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As much of the nation deals with sweltering conditions, officials are warning of the dangers of leaving children and pets in hot vehicles.
The temperature inside a car parked in a sunny spot rockets to dangerous levels in minutes. The rate at which temperatures rise the fastest occurs within the first 10 minutes, according to Kids and Car Safety, an organization dedicated to preventing these tragedies.
In the latest heartbreaking incident, a 5-year-old boy died after being left inside an SUV in Omaha, Neb. His death was at least the 10th child to die in a hot car nationwide this year and the 1st in Nebraska, according to Kids and Car Safety, which says three additional child fatalities -- as highlighted in the map below -- are likely hot car deaths pending autopsy results.
An Arizona girl died Tuesday after she was found unresponsive in a hot car amid record-breaking temperatures in the state. The 2-year-old girl's father reportedly told police that he left her in the car with the air conditioner on. When he returned, the vehicle was off, and she was unresponsive, leading him to call 911, local affiliate Fox 19 reported. This marks the first hot car death in Arizona this year.
In another incident Sunday, a 2-year-old boy lost his life after being left inside a vehicle in Little Rock, Ark. According to CBS News, the boy and three siblings were left in the car while their parents took another child into a hospital for "urgent medical treatment." The couple has been charged with capital murder following the death of their son and has pleaded not guilty.
Heatstroke can start when the body reaches a core temperature of 104 degrees. Death can occur at 107 degrees. Because a child's body temperature rises three to five times faster than an adult's, a hot car can quickly become dangerous.
Dogs left in cars face the same risk their only way to cool down is through sweat glands on their paws or by panting.
Hot car deaths continue to be a pressing concern across the country. Since 1990, at least 1,093 children have lost their lives after being left in vehicles, according to KidsAndCarSafety.org. An additional 7,500 children have survived with varying degrees of injuries. Nearly 90 of these victims are 3 years old or younger.
Kids and Car Safety is also monitoring three additional child fatalities pending autopsy results. The organization has tracked hot vehicle deaths for years and is pushing automakers to add more technology to prevent them.
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July 10 (UPI) -- Transit officials in California said a stretch of highway was closed for several hours when a truck overturned and spilled its load of tomatoes into the roadway.
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