A passing hawk dropped a snake on Peggy Jones while she mowed grass, leading to a three-way struggle.

SYDNEY Australian Treasurer Jim Chalmers said on Sunday that he expected the nation's jobless rate to lift from

BERLIN, Germany--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct 30, 2023--

Universal Pictures prides itself as the home of the classic monsters, like 1931's classic "Frankenstein," directed by James Whale, or "Dracula," starring Bela Lugosi. More recent attempts to capture the dark magic of those iconic creatures has proven disastrous for the studio -- one need only recall the 2017 Tom Cruise-starring misfire "The Mummy" -- and this week's "Last Voyage of the Demeter," although at times intriguing, fails to elicit any lasting chills either.

Attorneys for a Wisconsin Native American tribe argued Thursday that a federal judge should order an energy company to shut down an oil pipeline because rapid erosion could expose it and cause a massive oil spill on reservation land

Police in Maine said Saturday that the man who gunned down 18 people at a bar and a bowling alley and later committed suicide, suffered serious mental health issues, but was able to buy weapons legally because...

The Swifties are a formidable bunch – just ask Matty Healy – and a recent fan interview has proven the point yet again, it seems. The Taylor Swift fan skived off work on the night of the pop star’s gig in Cincinnati this weekend, hoping nobody would recognise her when she was meant to be home “sick”. Inspired by Swift’s song “Anti-Hero”, the fan kept her identity secret by dressing up as one of the music video’s ghosts. Standing in a queue of thousands ahead of the grand opening of the Taylor Swift merchandise truck, which was selling $75 hoodies and $40 tank tops, the brave Swiftie even got in front of a camera, giving an interview to local news channel WKRC-TV Local 12. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter “There are two Swifties here who shall remain anonymous, who called in sick to work,” said the interviewer. “They travelled here from Louisville, so they’ve gotten quite a drive here. They’ve been here since about 2.45 in the morning.” Turning to the two people with blankets over their heads, and one wearing sunglasses over the top, the reporter asked: “Can you tell me what Taylor Swift means to you – she must mean a lot to you, because you’re here and you’ve called in sick.” One of the fans replied: “That is very true. I almost called my daughter’s middle name Taylor, so…” The fan said she wanted to buy a hoodie from the merch truck, and that she had tickets to see the pop star this weekend. She added that she was taking an 11-year-old little girl to the gig with her. “It’s her first time. I went to the show in Nashville, so it’s more for her.” Fortunately for the fans, the reporter was supportive of their disguise. “Your secret’s safe with me! I think it’s safe with everyone else here too.” The ghosts in “Anti-Hero” are a visual representation of the first verse of the song. “I have this thing where I get older but just never wiser,” she sings. “Midnights become my afternoons. When my depression works the graveyard shift, all of the people I’ve ghosted stand there in the room.” See their cameo in the music video here. The two real-life “Anti-Hero” ghosts quickly went viral after the exchange, with social media users finding the exchange hilarious. One person said: “Keep it weird, Louisville.” Another said: “I just know she gon f**k around and wear that same gray quarter zip to work one day and tell on herself.” Let’s just hope they never get found out. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

The increased focus on mental health in the last few years has seen more and more people turning to things like mindfulness, meditation and talking therapies to cope with stress. While these techniques can be very effective, it’s important to remember that stress isn’t ‘all in your head’ – it can have a serious physical impact as well. “Stress is how you feel and respond when life puts you under a lot of pressure,” says Dr Luke Powles, associate clinical director at Bupa Health Clinics. “A certain amount of stress can be positive, as it can help you prepare for challenges and respond to them,” Powles adds. “But too much stress, especially over a long period of time, can cause both mental and physical problems.” That’s why it’s vital to look at the sources of stress in your life and be aware of both the short and long-term symptoms. Here’s how stress can affect different parts of the body… Heart and lungs A sudden surge of stress can make you feel like you’ve just run up several flights of stairs. “Immediately, you’re going to get an increase in your heart rate, with that almost panic attack or anxiety-like feeling,” says Dr Alka Patel, aka the Health Hacktivation Doctor. “Your breathing rate is going to speed up as well, because you’re trying to oxygenate your blood.” That’s also why you might get sweaty palms or pits: “You get vasodilatation of your blood vessels – you’re basically trying to increase blood flow to your body, so sweating is a very immediate phenomenon for most people.” Stressful situations can raise your blood pressure temporarily too, Powell says: “If you’re stressed over a long time, you could possibly develop long-term high blood pressure.” The link between stress and heart disease is mitigated by other factors. “Stress may not directly cause coronary heart disease, such as a heart attack or stroke and cholesterol,” says Powell. “But if you smoke, drink, or eat more to cope with stress, you increase your risk of these. Stress may also increase the risk of type 2 diabetes.” Doctors also warn about heart rate variability (HRV), meaning the variation in the pauses between heartbeats. “You want a high HRV because you want to be adaptable,” Patel explains. “When you’re under chronic stress your HRV starts to drop, and that tells you that you’re not resilient in the face of stress.” Stomach and gut Feeling too anxious to eat? Or craving carbs when you’re under pressure? “You’re releasing this surge of cortisol, the stress hormone, very quickly, which is then trying to get as much sugar and fuel on board,” Patel explains. “A lot of people will then either notice the hunger response: ‘I’ve got to eat lunch to manage my stress’. Or you notice the dip, which is: ‘I don’t want to eat, I can’t eat anything else’.” You might experience digestive issues as well, she continues: “With an immediate stress reaction, everything else in your body has to stop. This means you can start to get those symptoms of diarrhoea, upset stomach, that kind of thing, because all of those digestive processes have to have to halt in order to manage your stress.” There are also some links between chronic stress and certain illnesses, including digestive complaints. “If you have a pre-existing health condition, stress could make it worse, or flare up,” says Powell. “Examples of conditions that can be aggravated by stress include irritable bowel syndrome, eczema, asthma and psoriasis.” Muscles A surge of stress can cause muscle spasms called fasciculation and tension in the cervical muscles of the neck, which might lead to a headache. “People don’t necessarily associate headaches with muscles, but you can get spasms in your upper neck muscles and shoulders,” Patel says. “You feel the tension in the muscles going over your scalp – and that’s why we call these tension headaches.” Teeth and mouth Stress can also harm your oral health, which should be dealt with by a dentist. “Teeth grinding (bruxism) is often linked to stress, but lots of people aren’t aware they have the condition because it happens in their sleep,” says Powell. “Symptoms include headaches, earache, stiffness and pain in the jaw or mouth; teeth which are breaking or look worn down; and facial swelling.” Inflammageing A hot topic among longevity specialists in recent years, ‘inflammageing’ means chronic inflammation that has a damaging effect and is caused by a variety of diet and lifestyle factors. “Stress accelerates ageing, and then there’s a whole cascade of stuff that goes on as a result of that,” says Patel. “[It affects] your immune response, the communication between your cells, muscle function and your bones.”

It feels like every time black holes are discussed and studied by the scientific community, there are new findings that blow our tiny minds. It’s been revealed that black holes actually regurgitate or “burp up” the stars that they eat years after the event. Experts made the discovery by studying tidal disruption events (TDEs). These events take place when stars are close enough to supermassive black holes, to be destroyed by the process of spaghettification. Studying these moments over a number of years after the black holes seemingly swallowing stars with no trace, the experts found that up to 50 per cent of them "burp up" the remains. Yvette Cendes is a research associate at the Havard and Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and head author on the study. Speaking to Live Science, she said: "If you look years later, a very, very large fraction of these black holes that don’t have radio emission at these early times will actually suddenly 'turn on' in radio waves. "I call it a 'burp' because we’re having some sort of delay where this material is not coming out of the accretion disk until much later than people were anticipating." The material was re-emitted between two and six years from 10 out of 24 black holes which were studied by Cendes and the team. It has the potential to change the way the scientific community thinks about black holes. "There was a second peak, the two black holes re-brightened, and that's completely new and unexpected," Cendes said. "People were thinking that you'd have one outflow, and then it's kind of done. So this observation means these black holes can 'turn on' and then 'turn on' again." Meanwhile, a low intergalactic grumbling is emanating from deep space, according to scientists – and again, it’s black holes that are providing us with new discoveries. Astronomers say they detected the first-of-their-kind low frequency ripples, described as a “cosmic bass note” of gravitational waves, which is thought to be caused by supermassive black holes merging across the universe. Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings

Artificial intelligence employed by the Pentagon has piloted pint-sized surveillance drones, helped Ukraine fight Russia, predicts when Air Force jets need maintenance and tracks rivals’ satellites in space

Lewis Hamilton has claimed there were multiple drivers who should have been disqualified from last weekend’s United States Grand Prix for running an illegal car. Hamilton was stripped of his second place after the floor on his upgraded Mercedes failed a post-race scrutineering check. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who finished sixth, was also kicked out of the classification for an identical breach. But Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, who claimed his 15th win of the season, and the McLaren of Lando Norris, elevated to second following Hamilton’s penalty, were both cleared of any wrongdoing. However, speaking ahead of this weekend’s race in Mexico City, Hamilton said: “I heard from several sources that there were a lot of other cars that were illegal and they were not tested so they got away with it. “I have been racing here for 16 years and there have been many other scenarios like this where some people have got away with it, and some have been unlucky and have been tested.” Hamilton said the sprint format in Austin – which allowed for just one hour of practice before parc ferme rules heavily constrict changes to the cars – coupled with the bumpy nature of the Circuit of the Americas were behind his disqualification. Limited FIA resources means the governing body checks only a handful of cars after a race, and the selections are based on oscillation data. But Hamilton continued: “There needs to be a better structure to make sure it is fair and even across the board. “We have never had that problem in Austin before, and is because we had a sprint race. An easy fix is that we should be able to change the floors. “The car should not be set from Friday morning especially at the bumpiest track on the calendar. “That is the only reason there were failures. And that reason wasn’t why we were as fast as we were. We hope we have another strong weekend here.” Hamilton finished just 2.2 seconds behind Verstappen in his most competitive race of the season – one he believed he could have won if Mercedes did not fluff their strategy lines. “I had just come out the press conference and I was about to get into the ice tub when (team principal) Toto (Wolff) came running down and told me,” added Hamilton. “It was devastating because it was such a great day and a great race. I was deflated, but there are lots of positives to take from it.” Read More Max Verstappen beefs up security in preparation for hostile reception in Mexico On this day in 2015: Lewis Hamilton crowned F1 world champion for third time Mercedes ‘need to take Lewis Hamilton’s disqualification on the chin’ Max Verstappen defies Lewis Hamilton to edge United States Grand Prix victory I can do something wiser with my time – George Russell stops using social media Charles Leclerc snatches pole position after Max Verstappen’s lap was deleted

As one of the world’s most repressive countries marks 30 years of independence, festivals held by Eritrea’s diaspora in Europe and North America have been attacked by exiles that the regime dismisses as “asylum scum.”