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Mariah Bell Just Broke A 95 Year Old Figure Skating Record
Bell is looking to become the oldest US Olympic women's singles skater in 94 years. The 2018 Olympian Karen Chen finished second, while 14-year-old Isabeau Levito finished third. The three-woman US team will be named Saturday.Alysa Liu, a two-time national champion, was forced to pull out of the competition Friday.
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Women Break Rhythmic Barriers at Rio Carnival, With First-Ever Female Leader of Major Drum Section
At this year’s Rio Carnival, the thunderous beat of progress will be led by a woman. For the first time in the history of Brazil’s most iconic celebration, a samba school’s main drum section — long considered the male stronghold of Carnival — will be led by a woman. Laísa Lima, a lifelong samba devotee, will take centre stage as the head of percussion for the Arranco do Engenho de Dentro samba school during Saturday’s parade at the famed Sambadrome. "I don't know who started this business of saying that percussion instruments were not for women," Laísa said. "Many drum sections banned women from participating. Fortunately, that taboo was broken." Laísa's roots in samba run deep. Her father was a renowned carnival designer and director, and by age 16, she was already leading the tambourine section of the celebrated Beija-Flor samba school. She later honed her percussion skills at Arranco — the very school she now leads. The Rio Carnival runs from February 13 to 21, with 15 samba schools competing for a coveted spot in the “Special Group,” the top-tier league of the annual competition. Each school fields up to 4,000 performers, and each must move in harmony — in choreography and rhythm — with the heart of the parade: the drum section. "There are 250 in the drum section this year," said Laísa. "Two hundred and fifty hearts beating in the same cadence, with the same purpose and conquering the same aim." That rhythm is no longer reserved for men. At Arranco, around 30 percent of the drummers are women — a figure still rare among samba schools, but growing steadily. "Many people have that old belief that women are the weaker sex,” Laísa said. “However, the drum section is not about masculinity or strength. It's about feelings and about people management.” The rise of women in samba percussion has been decades in the making. Thalita Santos, a drummer and conductor, has spent years working to promote women in the craft — through community projects, local performances, and small neighbourhood groups known as blocos, where many female percussionists first hone their skills. “Many women who dance learn to play. Many women who play learn to dance,” said Thalita. “Nowadays in carnival, women can occupy any space, be it dancing or playing.” She added, “It's no longer a division where women dance and men play. That’s fortunately over. Now we are in the process of increasing the number of women playing." Saturday’s parade will be another step forward — a reminder that Carnival is evolving, and that tradition and transformation can share the same beat.
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Teen Origami Prodigy Designs Ultra-Strong Fold for Emergency Shelters
Sitting in his family’s New York City living room, 14-year-old Miles Wu wasn’t expecting a piece of paper to change how he viewed the world. But after folding and testing variations of a centuries-old origami technique known as the Miura-ori, Wu found that a simple sheet—when folded correctly—could support more than 10,000 times its own weight. That surprising discovery launched Wu from a curious teen with a passion for paper folding into the national spotlight, earning him the $25,000 top prize at the 2025 Thermo Fisher Scientific Junior Innovators Challenge, the most prestigious STEM competition for U.S. middle school students. “I was really shocked by how much [weight] these simple pieces of paper could hold,” Wu said. Wu, a ninth grader at Hunter College High School, had already spent six years folding origami for fun. But in 2024, he started exploring how it might intersect with science and engineering. What began as a hobby turned into a full-on research project after he learned how origami structures were being used in stents, catheters, and even spacecraft. One pattern in particular caught his attention: the Miura-ori, a fold famous for its ability to collapse and expand in one motion. Invented by Japanese astrophysicist Koryo Miura, the fold has been used in space missions to deploy solar panels. Its strength and compactness made Wu wonder—could it also be used here on Earth, especially in disaster zones? Inspired by wildfires and hurricanes in the U.S., Wu began asking how to create emergency shelters that were strong, fast to deploy, and affordable—something existing designs rarely achieve all at once. He wondered if origami could fill the gap. To test the strength of various Miura-ori designs, Wu created 54 pattern variants and ran 108 trials using different types of paper. He used a scoring machine to ensure precision and converted his family’s apartment into a lab, eventually buying 50-pound exercise weights after household items like books and pans weren’t heavy enough. “I assumed the strongest design would hold around 50 pounds,” Wu said. “But they held up to 200. I needed heavier weights just to make them break.” The most impressive design held more than 10,000 times its own weight. To visualize that, Wu said, “it’s like a New York City taxicab supporting the weight of over 4,000 elephants.” Wu’s winning project stood out not just for its research depth, but for its relevance. “He transformed a lifelong passion for origami into a rigorous structural engineering project,” said Maya Ajmera, president of Society for Science, which runs the challenge. “He really distinguished himself through creativity, leadership, and scientific inquiry.” Engineers were impressed too. Glaucio Paulino of Princeton University, a leading expert in origami-inspired structures, called Wu’s project “an excellent parametric exploration” of how fold geometry affects strength. That said, Paulino noted that scaling up to full-size emergency shelters comes with challenges. “Strength doesn’t scale linearly,” he said. Larger structures would need to handle complex forces and include joints, arches, and design features to handle real-world loads and stresses. Wu knows the road ahead is long. He’s already thinking about new tests—measuring how his folds perform under multidirectional forces—and developing shelter prototypes using curved or modular Miura-ori sheets. His ultimate goal? To turn folded paper into life-saving architecture. “I definitely want to keep exploring how origami intersects with STEM,” he said. “This is just the beginning.”
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Which Nuts Are Best for Your Health? Here’s What the Science Says
Which Nuts Are Best for Your Health? Here’s What the Science Says Nuts have long been praised for their heart-healthy fats and plant-based protein — but not all nuts deliver the same benefits, and some pack more of a nutritional punch than others. Packed with unsaturated fats, fibre, micronutrients, and antioxidants, regular nut consumption has been linked to a lower risk of heart disease, better cholesterol levels, and even longer life expectancy. And despite being energy-dense, nuts don’t cause weight gain when eaten in moderation — in fact, they help control appetite and support healthy weight management. Here’s a breakdown of some of the healthiest nuts and how they support different aspects of your health: Pecans Pecans may be best known for their role in desserts, but they’ve also been shown to improve blood lipid levels. Research from the Illinois Institute of Technology found that adding pecans to a balanced diet can help reduce lipid oxidation — a process linked to heart disease. They're especially rich in polyphenols, which act as antioxidants to protect cells and reduce inflammation. Walnuts Walnuts stand out as the only nut with a U.S. FDA-approved health claim for reducing heart disease risk. That’s thanks to their high content of alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), a plant-based omega-3 fatty acid linked to heart, brain, and metabolic health. Regular walnut consumption — more than 30 grams daily — has been shown to lower LDL (“bad”) cholesterol and even improve memory and cognitive speed. Almonds With high fibre content and a strong nutrient profile, almonds support heart health, digestion, and blood sugar control. They’re also rich in vitamin E, a powerful antioxidant that helps protect cells from oxidative stress. A daily intake of 42–50 grams appears to offer the most consistent health benefits, particularly for maintaining a healthy weight and supporting the gut microbiome. Pistachios Pistachios are a great source of plant protein, antioxidants, and B vitamins, including folate. They contain high levels of valine, an essential amino acid important for muscle repair and recovery. Their balanced calorie-to-protein ratio makes them a good option for active individuals looking to support muscle growth and immune function. Brazil Nuts A single Brazil nut delivers more than the recommended daily intake of selenium — a trace mineral essential for immune health and antioxidant protection. But because selenium can be toxic at high levels, it’s best to limit Brazil nut intake to just one or two per day. Bottom Line: Incorporating a variety of nuts into your daily diet can support heart health, brain function, muscle recovery, and immune strength — as long as you keep portion sizes in check. Walnuts and almonds shine for heart benefits, pecans for antioxidants, pistachios for muscle recovery, and Brazil nuts for a selenium boost. As always, moderation is key.
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UK Dad Challenges 12-Year-Old Son to Rebuild a Classic Mini — And They're Sharing Every Step Online
When 10-year-old Ben first heard his dad’s plan to rebuild a car together, he thought it was a joke. It wasn’t. Two years later, Ben, now 12, is spending every Tuesday night in a garage in Biddulph, Staffordshire, learning how to weld, grind, and strip engines — all part of a six-year challenge from his dad, Gary, to completely rebuild a classic Mini before Ben turns 16. The goal? To have the car ready in time to drive him to his school prom. “I started the car, rolled it out the garage — it was cool, it's the first time I had the engine revving,” Ben said. For Gary, an electrician who’s worked on cars as a hobby since he was 17, the idea was born out of a desire to get his son away from screens and into something hands-on. “All the kids these days are computer-based,” he said. “There's very few kids with practical skill these days.” But the project has taken on a digital life of its own. The father-son duo now share their progress on TikTok and YouTube, where they’ve built a growing community of subscribers eager to follow along. Ben says he’s learned a lot already — including welding and how to replace car panels — and that working on the car has helped him build confidence and practical skills. “If I broke down in this car then I know every nook and cranny,” he said. Gary admits he’s learning too, especially about patience. “It’s hard to teach a 10-year-old to try and use power tools,” he said, “but he's done an amazing job and it really brought us together.” They still have a few years to go before the Mini is ready to hit the road. But every Tuesday, one turn of the wrench at a time, they’re getting closer — not just to a finished car, but to each other.
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Scientists Say They've Found Hundreds of Hidden Underwater Canyons Beneath Antarctica
Scientists have discovered more than 300 underwater canyon systems buried beneath the Antarctic ice sheet, revealing a seafloor far more complex than previously understood — and forcing a rethink on how the continent is melting. A team from the University of Barcelona and University College Cork mapped 332 canyon networks below the ocean surface, five times more than were previously known. The findings were published in the journal Marine Geology. “This is the first time we’ve had a unified picture of these systems across the entire Antarctic margin,” said Dr. David Amblà, co-author and researcher at the University of Barcelona. “They’re not just widespread — they’re intimately tied to both ancient and modern ice movement.” For years, many climate models treated Antarctica’s submerged landscape as relatively flat. This new research challenges that assumption and suggests that ocean-ice interactions are being shaped by rugged, canyon-rich terrain. The canyons play a key role in regulating global ocean circulation. They help move dense, salty water down into the deep sea and bring warmer currents up from the depths — a dynamic that can accelerate ice melt along the continent’s fringes. As Antarctic ice melts, it adds around 135 billion tons of water to the oceans each year, contributing to sea level rise around the world. That puts coastal cities and low-lying regions at increasing risk of flooding and erosion. The new map of Antarctic submarine canyons may help scientists build better models to track ocean circulation and ice loss — and, in turn, provide more accurate forecasts for sea level rise. While researchers focus on improving predictive models, the broader challenge remains unchanged: curbing the pace of climate change by reducing reliance on fossil fuels and transitioning to cleaner energy systems.
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Firefighters Just Rescued a Horse From a Frozen Pool in Ohio Using Ice Suits and Tow Straps
An 8-year-old horse named Dixie is safe and warm again after falling into a frozen swimming pool in Monroe Township, Ohio, on Monday, February 9. The black mare had wandered out of her pasture and ended up plunging into the deep end of an in-ground pool, where she became trapped in 8 feet of icy water. Her owner discovered her with only her head above the surface. Monroe Township Fire & EMS responded to the call with help from Central Joint Fire - EMS District, using specialized ice rescue gear to pull Dixie out. “Through coordinated teamwork and careful operations, the horse was safely removed and returned to its owner,” the fire department said in a social media post. “Incidents like this highlight the diverse nature of the service we provide to our community.” Chief Greg Lang of Monroe Township Fire told WCPO that crews initially attempted to use two tow straps to lift Dixie, but quickly realized they’d need extra help. “We ended up calling in a mutual aid engine company for the wet suits, for ice rescue suits,” Lang said. “Once the crews arrived, we put two personnel in the water. Took a second tow strap, they went in behind it, tied it to the first tow strap, to actually create a harness for the horse.” Photos from the rescue show firefighters in yellow ice suits surrounding the horse, working to free her from the freezing water. Once out, she was immediately wrapped in blankets to warm up. A veterinarian on site checked her over, and the mare was later seen resting comfortably in her barn wearing a winter coat. Lang said he’s responded to animals falling through ice before, but this was his first time rescuing a horse. Dixie is now back home and in good health.
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This Doctor Adopted a Boy She Cared for After Heart Surgery Alone in Hospital
True was just four years old when he faced major heart surgery with no family by his side. Born with hypoplastic right heart syndrome, the Omaha, Nebraska boy was alone in his hospital bed at Children’s Nebraska when Dr. Amy Beethe, a pediatric anesthesiologist, first saw him. That image stuck with her. “I just couldn’t stop thinking about him,” Dr. Beethe said. She went home and told her husband, Ryan. Soon after, the couple visited True in the hospital. The bond was instant. By February 2021, just a month after his surgery, True moved in with the Beethes. Not long after, they adopted him. “It didn’t take long to fall in love with him,” Ryan told WLBT. “We knew we needed him in our family.” Now 9 years old, True is thriving in the Beethe household. He calls Amy and Ryan “mom” and “dad,” and has siblings who support and love him. The Beethes also adopted his sister. Other siblings were adopted by family friends, allowing the children to stay close and connected. True was born with a serious congenital defect that left the right side of his heart underdeveloped. He’s already been through multiple surgeries and will eventually need a heart transplant. “We don’t love True’s heart disease. We know it had a bigger purpose, so it was meant to be,” Amy said. “He’s truly become my son. I would battle for him like anybody else when it comes to his health. Yeah, you’re a mama bear, and you fight hard.” True seems to have inherited that same spirit. Asked what keeps him going, he simply said, “Keep going and don’t stop.” For now, that’s exactly what the Beethes are doing — surrounding him with care, protecting his health, and giving him what he didn’t have in that hospital bed four years ago: a family.
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A Simple Brain Training Game May Help Delay Dementia for Decades, Study Finds
A new study has found that a short brain training program aimed at improving how quickly older adults process visual information may reduce the risk of dementia—even 20 years later. The training, called speed of processing training, teaches participants to spot visual details on a screen faster and manage increasingly complex tasks. Those who completed five to six weeks of sessions, followed by booster sessions one to three years later, were significantly less likely to develop dementia than those who received no training. “This suggests that a fairly modest nonpharmacological intervention can have long-term effects,” said Dr. Marilyn Albert, the study’s lead author and director of the Alzheimer's Disease Research Center at Johns Hopkins Medicine. The findings, published in Alzheimer's & Dementia: Translational Research and Clinical Interventions, come from the ACTIVE study (Advanced Cognitive Training for Independent and Vital Elderly), the first randomized clinical trial to measure dementia outcomes over two decades. Beginning in 1998–99, researchers enrolled 2,802 adults and randomly assigned them to one of three cognitive training programs—focusing on memory, reasoning, or speed of processing—or to a control group that received no training. Participants were in their early 70s on average at the start. Over five to six weeks, those in the training groups completed up to 10 sessions lasting 60 to 75 minutes. Half of the participants were randomly selected to receive up to four booster sessions in the years following their initial training. The long-term results were telling: among the 264 participants who completed speed training and boosters, 40 percent (105 people) developed dementia over the next 20 years. In the control group, the rate was higher: 49 percent (239 of 491 participants). That’s a 25 percent lower incidence in the speed training group. Notably, only the speed training group showed a statistically significant difference from the control group. Memory and reasoning training did not produce long-term dementia protection. Researchers assessed dementia diagnoses by analyzing Medicare records from 2,021 participants—roughly 72 percent of the original group—spanning from 1999 to 2019. The sample closely mirrored the original study in gender, race, and health profile. Most participants were women (about 75 percent), 70 percent were white, and the average age at enrollment was 74. Over the two decades, about three quarters of participants passed away, typically around age 84. The research carries weight at a time when dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease, affects an estimated 42 percent of adults over 55 and costs the U.S. more than $600 billion annually. Alzheimer’s accounts for up to 80 percent of cases. Speed training appears to stand out because of how it targets the brain. Unlike memory or reasoning exercises, which teach everyone the same strategies, speed training adapts to each user’s performance in real time. It focuses on building skills rather than memorizing facts, engaging a brain system known for “implicit learning.” “Speed training may have been especially effective because it was adaptive,” the researchers wrote. “Participants who performed well progressed to more challenging tasks, while those who needed more time worked at a slower pace.” Previous results from the ACTIVE study showed that this training improved thinking skills for up to five years. After 10 years, participants in the speed training group had a 29 percent lower risk of dementia than the control group. Dr. George Rebok, a co-author and expert in healthy aging at Johns Hopkins, said the findings highlight the value of developing cognitive training programs focused on visual processing and divided attention. “It is possible that adding this cognitive training to lifestyle change interventions may delay dementia onset, but that remains to be studied,” he said. Researchers believe that combining such programs with other proven strategies—like heart-healthy habits, regular exercise, and managing blood pressure, blood sugar, and weight—could further support brain health. The study was funded by the National Institute on Aging, part of the U.S. National Institutes of Health. Co-authors include researchers from Johns Hopkins, the University of Pennsylvania, Brown University, the University of Florida, the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and others.
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A Rescue Team, a Vet and a Farmer Just Saved a Mud-Trapped Cow in England
A cow that found itself stuck in deep mud near Threlkeld, England, was safely rescued thanks to the combined efforts of three fire crews, a vet, a farmer, and a specialized large-animal rescue team. The muddy ordeal unfolded on the afternoon of Friday, February 6, when Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service received a call about the stranded animal. Crews from Keswick, Penrith, and Workington stations were dispatched to the scene, located in the rural Lake District region of northwest England. “Being a firefighter isn't always glamorous!” the department posted on Instagram, sharing photos of the cow submerged up to its torso in thick mud. It's unclear how long the animal had been stuck before help arrived. Firefighters, alongside the veterinarian and the local farmer, spent several hours working to free the medium-sized cow. They used a hoisting mechanism and heavy-duty straps to lift and guide the animal out of the bog. The photos show the careful extraction process and the cow eventually standing safely on firm ground. The department credited “coordinated teamwork and patience” for getting the cow “moo-ving” again. Large-animal rescues like this are often physically demanding and require specialized training. In this case, that training paid off, with no injuries reported for either the cow or the crew. The rescue came just days after a similar operation in Thaxted, where an 18-year-old pony named Geisha was pulled from a septic tank hole by Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service. In a statement to the BBC, Assistant Chief Fire Officer Darren Cook said the team was “highly trained” and ready to respond to a range of animal emergencies. While these stories may not involve smoke or flames, they underscore the wide scope of work fire crews are prepared for—and their commitment to protecting lives, whether human or hoofed.
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Meet Splash, the Otter Trained to Find Human Remains Underwater
Police dogs have long been the gold standard for sniffing out missing people, illegal substances, and even bodies. But when the trail leads underwater, canines are at a clear disadvantage. Enter Splash—a highly trained Asian small-clawed otter who may be the first animal of his kind helping law enforcement recover human remains submerged in lakes, rivers, and oceans. Splash isn’t just a novelty. Since making his search and rescue debut in Alabama—where he helped recover a weapon tied to a 25-year-old murder case—he’s been on 27 missions across the United States. So far, he’s notched six confirmed finds, including four human bodies. “He’s had more success than many would’ve expected,” said Michael Hadsel, Splash’s owner and trainer, in an interview with Outside magazine. Hadsel has spent nearly five decades working with law enforcement through his company, Peace River K9 Search and Rescue. Until recently, that work focused on dogs. Then, around 2018, Hadsel started to wonder: Could other animals do the job? It was an article about otters in Bangladesh and India that got him thinking. Local fishermen had trained river otters to herd fish into nets. That, plus the biological quirk that otters can actually smell underwater, sparked a bold experiment. Unlike dogs, which lose scent in water, otters can exhale small air bubbles and then sniff them back in. It’s a kind of underwater olfaction that no other mammal appears to possess. By 2024, Hadsel had adopted Splash and started training him. He used human scent markers in a pool and paired them with a tennis ball on the end of a stick. When Hadsel gave the verbal cue “Hoffa” (a wink at missing Teamsters boss Jimmy Hoffa), Splash would sniff the scent, dive in, and begin his search. If he found a match underwater, he’d return to the surface and signal Hadsel—in exchange for a bite of farm-raised salmon. Splash refuses to eat wild. One of the biggest challenges wasn’t training Splash to smell, but getting him to communicate while submerged. Otters have membranes that cover their ears underwater, so Hadsel developed a tactile system using a tether: one tug means turn right, two tugs means turn left, three means return to the boat. The results have surprised even seasoned recovery teams. Splash’s nose has helped solve cold cases, locate drowning victims, and retrieve critical evidence that might have otherwise stayed hidden. He’s also become something of an internet star. The Peace River K9 Search and Rescue Facebook page saw a surge in followers after Splash’s story started spreading. He’s been featured by multiple media outlets and invited to law enforcement conferences, where his work has sparked serious conversation about expanding the use of animals in forensic recovery. Still, there are limits. Otters are small, and deploying them in open waters comes with risks. Predators like alligators or large fish could pose a threat. It’s also unclear whether Splash’s success can be easily replicated. Training an otter takes patience, deep expertise in animal behavior, and a fair bit of creativity. But Hadsel sees potential. “We’re just scratching the surface,” he told Outside. Splash might be the only one of his kind for now, but he’s proven that innovation in search and rescue doesn’t always come from newer tech. Sometimes, it comes in the form of a sleek, whiskered swimmer with a nose for the job.