Hero Cat Saves Baby From Freezing to Death

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Masha, a long-haired tabby cat, saved the life of a baby abandoned in the streets of Russia — after she climbed into the box he was discarded in and kept him warm, health officials said.

“The baby had only been outside for a few hours and thanks to Masha … he was not damaged by the experience,” a hospital spokesman told Central European News.

The whiskered hero even meowed to get the attention of a passerby.

“She is very placid and friendly, so when I heard her meowing, I thought that perhaps she had injured herself,” said Obninsk city resident Irina Lavrova. “Normally she would have come and said hello to me. You can imagine my shock when I saw her lying in a box next to a baby.”

Masha is a communal cat who is looked after by local residents. When she found the baby — who appeared to be in great shape — she immediately took to him as if he were her own, according to CEN. (Read more from “Cat Saves Baby from Freezing to Death” HERE)

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Fascinating New DNA Technique Putting a Face on Four Year Old Double Homicide Case

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Carl Alston of Columbia, South Carolina, has been waiting for this day for four years. On 9 January 2011, his daughter, Candra Alston, 25 and her 3-year-old daughter, Malaysia Boykin, were brutally murdered in their Brook Pines Apartments home.

That day marked the beginning of a long journey to bring the murderer of his only child and granddaughter “LayLay” to justice.

Investigators have interviewed over 200 people, traveled to several states and collected DNA samples from 150 people. Leads have come from everywhere, but without a DNA match or an eyewitness, the trail to the killer has remained cold. Mr. Alston has not been able to rest knowing the murderer is still on the loose. For the past four years, he has kept the memory of his daughter and granddaughter alive with consistent outreaches to the public through the media, asking for any information that might help the investigation.

On the four year anniversary of the double homicide, Columbia police revealed new information that may soon make it possible to offer a grieving father closure, thanks to a breakthrough technology in forensic DNA phenotyping, called Snapshot.

Parabon NanoLabs, a DNA technology company located in Reston, Virginia has been developing Snapshot for nearly four-years with funding from the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD). Snapshot gives crime solvers a new way to use DNA. (Read more about the new DNA technique solving the case HERE)

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What is Snapshot?

By Parabon NanoLabs. DNA carries the genetic instruction set for an individual’s physical characteristics, producing the wide range of appearances among people1. By determining how genetic information translates into physical appearance, it is possible to “reverse-engineer” DNA into a physical profile. Snapshot reads tens of thousands of genetic variants (“genotypes”) from a DNA sample and uses this information to predict what an unknown person looks like.

Over the past four years, using deep data mining and advanced machine learning algorithms in a specialized bioinformatics pipeline, Parabon — with funding support from the US Department of Defense (DoD) — developed the Snapshot Forensic DNA Phenotyping System, which accurately predicts genetic ancestry, eye color, hair color, skin color, freckling, and face shape in individuals from any ethnic background, even individuals with mixed ancestry.

Because some traits are partially determined by environmental factors and not DNA alone, Snapshot trait predictions are presented with a corresponding measure of confidence, which reflects the degree to which such factors influence each particular trait. Traits, such as eye color, that are highly heritable (i.e., are not greatly affected by environmental factors) are predicted with higher accuracy and confidence than those that have lower heritability; these differences are shown in the confidence metrics that accompany each Snapshot trait prediction. (Read more from the company that applies this new DNA technique HERE)

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Nearly 70 Poisoned by Crocodile Fluids in Africa

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Nearly 70 people died from drinking beer tainted with crocodile bile at a funeral in Mozambique, health officials said.

The toxic brew — dubbed “Pombe” — has claimed the lives of 69 people and left another 196 suffering from the poison.

“We are waiting for the results of the tests of the samples being done at Maputo Central Hospital so that we can identify the type of the product put into the drink,” provincial health director Carle Mosse told NBC News.

The Mozambique government called for a three-day mourning period to start Monday following the deaths.

As officials worked around the clock to determine the cause of death, doctors began seeing rapid rates of incoming patients who had similar symptoms. (Read more from “Dozens Poisoned by Crocodile” HERE)

Men Who Post Selfies Show Psychopathic Tendencies (Really)

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Photo Credit: Medical News Today If you are a guy and follow in the selfie-fanatic footsteps of Justin Bieber, posting regular snaps of yourself on social media sites such as Facebook and Instagram, the picture is not pretty – you could be on the line to antisocial trait central.

A new study conducted by Jesse Fox, assistant professor of Communication at The Ohio State University, with Margaret Rooney a graduate student at Ohio State, shows that men in the study who posted more photos of themselves online than the rest of the group, scored higher on measures of narcissism and psychopathy.

Additionally, men, who tended to edit their selfies before posting, scored higher up the scale in narcissism and self-objectification, which measures the extent to which they prioritize their appearance.

“It’s not surprising that men who post a lot of selfies and spend more time editing them are more narcissistic, but this is the first time it has actually been confirmed in a study,” says Jesse Fox, lead author of the study.

Narcissism is demonstrated by a belief that you are more intelligent, more attractive and generally better than others, although with some level of underlying insecurity. Psychopathy involves a lack of empathy and regard for others and a tendency toward impulsive behavior. (Read more about the psychopathic tendencies of men who post selfies HERE)

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Mysterious Booms have Oklahoma Rattled

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A spate of mysterious booms that has been shaking central Oklahoma returned for a second day Friday, again rattling houses and frightening livestock.

Oklahoma Geological Survey research seismologist Austin Holland said a series of booms, much like a sonic boom, rattled the Norman area starting at 11:19 a.m. Friday. Numerous others had been reported Thursday in the same area at about the same time.

Friday’s booms weren’t “quite as frequent” as Thursday’s, Holland said. “It’s quite interesting.”

The windows of Anthony Young’s home in the town that’s the outskirts of Oklahoma City rattled. “We thought some nut was out here, you know, with explosives,” Young told KOCO-TV. “It sounded like thunder, you could feel the ground shake, but it was nothing like an earthquake”

Both Holland and National Weather Service meteorologist Matthew Day didn’t have an explanation for the booms. (Read more about the mysterious booms HERE)

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Sunday's Great White Shark Attack Witness: "It Was Really Radical" (+video)

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sharkAndrew Walsh, who was surfing with [the 50-year old victim, Kevin] Swanson at the time of the attack, said [an 8 to 10 foot juvenile] shark swam from beneath Swanson’s board and dragged him under with no warning [on Sunday morning].

“It was really radical,” he said. “I was about 10 feet from him, and it was absolutely quiet. … (The shark) came straight up out of the depths and got him and took him under the water. That was the amazing part: this big giant side of the shark just curving up out of the water.”

Walsh said Swanson was below the water for several seconds before he surfaced on his board, yelled “shark attack” and began paddling for shore.

Once he reached shore, Swanson used the leash cord from his surfboard to fashion a tourniquet for his leg where the shark bit him, Walsh said. Two doctors who had been walking on the beach helped Swanson, as well, and determined that no major arteries had been hit, Walsh said.

“We’re really blessed that he was still able to get himself to shore,” Walsh said. “I was a few feet behind him, and we grabbed him and got him out of the water, obviously, up on the sand, and very quickly these doctors where there, helping out and calling 911.” (Read more about the shark attack witness HERE)

Town Orders Homeowner to Remove Zombie Nativity Display

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zombie nativityTalk about a nightmare before Christmas.

An Ohio homeowner was ordered by town officials to remove a Nativity scene in front of his house that featured zombies instead of wise men and a baby Jesus.

“I wanted a Nativity and I worked with what I had,” Jasen Dixon, who manages a nearby haunted house, told Fox 19. “The neighbors don’t like it. My father hates it and anything bad that happens he blames it on that.”

The Nativity scene features life-size figures and a zombie baby Jesus, with pale skin and pure white eyes. At night, the figures are illuminated by red and green lights.

“I didn’t really pay it any attention until the different color lights came on, then finally the baby was put in the manger,” Dan Fluker, a neighbor, told the station.

Read more from this zombie nativity HERE.

WATCH – Hilarious: C-Span Caller Turns Out to Be Mother Telling Pundit Sons to Stop Fighting

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Credit - C-Span

Credit – C-Span

Talk about embarrassing; during a C-SPAN segment featuring brothers Brad and Dallas Woodhouse, one of the callers turned out to be Mama Woodhouse, berating her sons for arguing.

Host Steve Scully announced that the next caller was “Joy” from Raleigh, N.C. “Hey! Somebody from down South!” said Dallas, the conservative brother.

“You’re right I’m from down South.” She replied. “And I am your mother.”

“Oh, God, it’s Mom,” he responded while putting his face in his hands.

Read more from this story HERE.

WATCH: Thanks to 'Secret Santa,' Here's a Traffic Stop You'll Want to Get

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Credit - CBS News

Credit – CBS News

Earlier this month, in Kansas City, Missouri, the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department was out looking for people. And when they spotted a subject, they went after them, in a sting operation the likes of which this country has never seen.

What made this operation especially unusual was the man behind it: a fellow in a red hat — known to these men only as “Secret Santa.”

Every year this anonymous, wealthy businessman gives out about a hundred thousand dollars worth of hundred dollar bills to random strangers. But this year, instead of doing it all himself, he deputized these deputies to give away much of it.

“Let’s start with a thousand,” Secret Santa said as he gave the deputies the money.

And so, armed to the teeth with Benjamins, the officers went out to do Santa’s bidding. They specifically went after people they thought would appreciate it most. Cars driving while dented — or out on Bondo — were likely targets.

Read more from this story HERE.

Time Capsule from 1700s Discovered in Mass State House

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Credit - ABC News

Credit – ABC News

By Fox News

BOSTON – Crews removed a time capsule dating back to 1795 on Thursday from the granite cornerstone of the Massachusetts Statehouse, where historians believe it was originally placed by Revolutionary War luminaries Samuel Adams and Paul Revere among others.

The time capsule is believed to contain items such as old coins and newspapers, but the condition of the contents is not known and Secretary of State William Galvin speculated that some could have deteriorated over time.

Officials won’t open the capsule until after it is X-rayed at Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts to determine its contents. The X-ray is scheduled for Sunday.

Read more from this story HERE.

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Oldest Time Capsule in US Unearthed at Massachusetts State House

By Michele McPhee

Conservators from the Boston Museum of Fine Arts labored in the chill and snow for hours today to unearth what is believed to be the oldest unopened time capsule in the country, buried under the Golden Dome of the Massachusetts State House in 1795 by then-Governor Samuel Adams and Paul Revere, according to state records.

The 219-year-old capsule is made of cowhide and was initially discovered during State House renovations in 1855. When the repairs were complete, the state’s 23rd governor, Henry Gardner, re-buried it in the granite cornerstone of the historic building, adding new items, including coins…

Massachusetts Secretary of State William Galvin oversaw the painstaking efforts to preserve the capsule’s contents for much of today. He told ABC News that after the capsule was found by workers overhauling a water irrigation system in the building, state records were uncovered about the capsule that indicate it contained coins that date between 1652 and 1855, an engraved silver Paul Revere plate, newspapers, a Commonwealth seal and a title page from the Massachusetts Colony Records.

Read more from this story HERE.