Goodable

Chris Farley, a comedic legend, shone in roles like Matt Foley on "Saturday Night Live" and Tommy Callahan, Jr. in "Tommy Boy." His untimely death at 33 in 1997 marked the end of a bright career. In 1995, as Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich rose to prominence within the Republican Party, Farley famously impersonated him during a House Republican Conference Meeting, celebrating the GOP's first 100 days in control of Congress, creating an unforgettable moment of comedy.

<p>Chris Farley, a comedic legend, shone in roles like Matt Foley on "Saturday Night Live" and Tommy Callahan, Jr. in "Tommy Boy." His untimely death at 33 in 1997 marked the end of a bright career. In 1995, as Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich rose to prominence within the Republican Party, Farley famously impersonated him during a House Republican Conference Meeting, celebrating the GOP's first 100 days in control of Congress, creating an unforgettable moment of comedy.<br></p>

Watch: SNL's Chris Farley's Hilarious Newt Gingrich Impersonation

USA Today

If your pet needs to get on a plane and you cannot go too, there is a service built for that. Pet flight nannies travel with cats and small dogs on commercial flights, helping owners move animals safely when they cannot make the trip together.

A pet nanny is a professional caretaker who travels with a pet on an owner’s behalf, usually by plane, though sometimes by another form of transport. The service is generally used for small animals that can ride in a carrier under an airplane seat.

“In the case that you do want to take your four-legged friend with you, but aren’t able to bring them with you directly, there’s an easy solution: a pet nanny,” USA TODAY reported in its “Pawssport to move” series.

Kevin Kinyon, co-founder of PetWorks, an online pet care booking platform, said one common example is a family move.

“A typical example would be: a parent is moving from New York to LA and they are like, ‘we don’t want to drive our little doggy across the country,’” Kinyon told USA TODAY.

In that case, the family could hire a pet flight nanny to fly the dog across the country instead of taking it on a long road trip.

According to Kinyon, around 780,000 pets are transported by plane every year, and flight nannies are becoming a more popular option.

“We launched it two or three years ago now,” he said. “We’ve since enlisted about 100 flight nannies now who do this type of service.”

The basic job is to act as a chaperone for the pet during travel. Kinyon said owners pay that person to take the pet on the plane, following the airline’s rules and guidelines, with the animal riding in the cabin instead of the cargo hold.

“(Pet owners) basically pay that person to take the pet on the plane,” Kinyon said. “They need to follow the guidelines and rules of the airline, but they fly it in the seat, it’s not in the cargo hold.”

There is also a concierge element to the job. Pet nannies are typically responsible for finding and booking the flights they will take with the pet, though the owner usually pays for the ticket.

“A lot of what the pet nanny individual themselves is doing, is they are finding an airline and a route that will allow the pet to be connected to their ticket,” Giulia Gebhardt, senior vice president of client relations at WorldCare Pet Transport, told USA TODAY.

The service is mainly for animals small enough to fly in the cabin, meaning the carrier must fit under the seat in front. Larger animals usually have to fly as cargo, which is a separate process. Pet nannies are not eligible to travel in the cargo hold, though USA TODAY noted that some horse shipping containers have space for a caretaker.

For pets that qualify, a nanny can handle the trip from start to finish. That can include picking the animal up from the owner’s home, taking it to the airport, handling check-in and meeting the owner or another contact at the other end. USA TODAY reported that nannies generally fly with cats or dogs, though some airlines also accept other animals, such as rabbits.

If the owner and pet are not arriving at the same time, the nanny may also be hired to care for the animal until they can reconnect.

“That pet nanny will be collecting them from your home, bringing your pet to the airport, going through all of the check-in processes, keeping you updated,” Gebhardt said. “You have a professional pet handler by someone who has been vetted by us. That person is with your pet at all times.”

Kinyon said communication is a big part of the service.

“One of the big things these days is communication and tracking,” he said. “Any good flight nanny or transporter would have no excuse not to give you as many updates as possible.”

The price can vary based on the pet’s needs and the route, but USA TODAY reported that it is typically the cost of an airline ticket plus a service fee. Kinyon said many owners pay $175 to $225 to get health documents in order for a trip, then another $900 to $1,250 for costs including airfare and the nanny’s daily fee.

USA TODAY compared that with Bark Air, a boutique airline that lets owners fly with pets on what it described as essentially private jets. The same New York-to-Los Angeles trip on July 22 would cost $6,725 per person, including the pet.

“With a pet nanny specifically, what you are arranging is having a dedicated individual fly on a commercial airline that is pet-friendly with your pet,” Gebhardt said.

Special needs can push the price up. Kinyon said medication or other specific services during the trip can affect the total cost.

“Every pet is different, so you have to be really clear about your pet’s specific needs or idiosyncrasies,” Kinyon said.

He also said booking early can help because the cost is often tied, at least in part, to airfare. At a minimum, he said, owners should plan to book a pet nanny two to three weeks before departure.

Preparing the animal for travel matters too. USA TODAY said owners should make sure pets have the documents they may need on arrival, check with a vet that vaccines are up to date and be ready to confirm with the airline that the animal is registered to fly.

Gebhardt said owners should pack a care package for the pet.

“Pet owners should also make sure they have a care package to go along with their pets. Having a collapsible water dish with them, making sure they buy a water bottle while they’re behind security so they can bring that with them, and making sure there’s always water available for their pets,” she said.

She also said pets should be comfortable with their carrier well before the trip, before they meet the nanny or get to the airport.

Meal planning matters as well. According to a spokesperson for dog food brand Years, pets should get a simple, familiar meal before a flight.

“Flying is unfamiliar for dogs, changes in pressure, temperature and routine can all affect digestion. The goal is to keep the gut calm, stable and predictable before travel,” Years said in an email statement.

Pet Flight Nannies Help Owners Transport Cats And Small Dogs Safely

The Guardian

For more than 170 years, the Cirque d’Hiver in Paris has built its name on what happens in the ring. This time, the big surprise was above it.

The circus, described as the world’s oldest, has revealed a set of painted canvas panels that had been hidden for more than 70 years. After the find, the Cirque d’Hiver, or Winter Circus, is set for a full restoration aimed at returning the building to its original 19th-century appearance.

Louis-Sampion Bouglione, whose family has owned the circus since 1934, said the moment carried real weight for the family.

“It’s marvellous to see them and an important part of our history. We knew they once existed because my father remembers seeing them, and we always hoped to be able to rediscover them one day. But we were afraid what condition they would be in or even if they were still there.”

Bouglione, the circus’s co-director and historian, has spent decades in the archives and said he has often lain awake wondering what the building looked like when Napoléon III officially opened it on 11 December 1852.

“We’ve only seen two [panels] so far, but we’re going to open everything up to find out what’s there,” he said. “What’s really exciting and important is it’s one of the few legacies of the circus from that era in painting.”

The Cirque d’Hiver has a long history of headline acts and unusual moments. In 1859, gymnast Jules Léotard performed what was described as the first public leap from one swinging trapeze to another without a safety net. Later, the artist Rosa Van Been married the animal trainer Joseph Bouglione inside the circus’s lion cage. In 1955, the film Trapeze, starring Gina Lollobrigida, Tony Curtis and Burt Lancaster, was shot inside the 20-sided building in Paris’s 11th arrondissement.

The restoration project grew out of a smaller plan. After the heritage-listed building underwent a €2.2 million exterior facelift in 2007, the first idea was to replace the tiers of red seats around the ring. Architect Stéphane Millet proposed a much larger renovation.

“One of my tasks is to raise awareness of the importance of heritage and to seek government assistance for projects, so I convinced the family to go a little further than their initial ambitions,” Millet said.

“What started with seats has become a global project that includes everything; a renovation from bottom to top. When you have heritage like this you have to showcase it.”

Millet has brought in the culture ministry and other authorities to fund much of the work. He said the project will cost “several million euros”.

The building was first called the Cirque Napoléon. It was built in eight months under architect Jacques Hittorff, who was also responsible for the Gare du Nord. The original polygonal structure had a diameter of 42 metres, 40 stained-glass windows and a wooden roof covered in decorated canvas designed to look like a tent, with fake poles and handmade gold-painted mouldings resembling ropes and ties.

The newly found paintings were part of that original design. There were 20 in total, each 6 metres wide and almost 2 metres high, fixed to wooden frames. They show warriors on horseback and scenes linked to the equestrian arts. Nicolas Gosse and Félix-Joseph Barrias painted them, and the works mirror the bas-relief panels on the outside of the building that were renovated in 2007.

The circus’s first performers were former cavalry officers, but the program soon broadened. Léotard later gave his name to the one-piece outfit and inspired the English song The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze, written three years before he died in 1870 at the age of 32. Alexandre Dumas, author of The Three Musketeers, was said to have been so struck by the interior that he wrote the shows were so popular crowds had to be turned away.

Today, the building remains a Paris landmark. Wild animals no longer appear in performances after that practice stopped in 2017, but the shows are still hugely popular with Parisians.

Work is expected to take four years and will begin in July, when the paintings are removed for restoration. They were covered with blue-painted wooden boards in the 1950s after smoke from the original oil lamps dulled them. The panels are also thought to have been damaged by leaking windows and several layers of later decoration.

“It’s like wallpaper in old houses. Until we remove everything we won’t know exactly what is there and how much damage there is,” Millet said. “The canvas is very fragile but from what we have seen, it is wonderful work. That the panels have survived at all is testament to the quality of the painting.”

For the Bougliones, the circus remains a family business in the most literal sense. When Rosa Bouglione died in 2018 at the age of 107, she left 55 descendants, including children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, and the family has grown since then. Of the 20 family members still involved in the Cirque d’Hiver, Louis-Sampion’s father, Émilien, is the oldest at 91 and the two youngest are three.

“It’s family and everyone is involved in one way or another, even if just with small things. It’s work and we have found a way to make sure both succeed,” Bouglione said.

In recent years, outside the winter circus spectacular, which features a nine-musician orchestra, the building has also hosted private events and political rallies.

The restoration will be carried out during the two-month summer holidays so the winter circus season can continue. Bouglione said the circus cannot close during the work.

“We will do the work during what we call the dead season,” he said. “It will take longer but we can’t close down. It’s a business and so it has to work. Besides, people are passionate about the circus. They come when they’re children, then come with their own children and grandchildren. It’s a tradition.”

📸 "Concert « pour la Patrie, les Sciences et la Gloire » au Cirque d’hiver – 13 juin 2014" by Ecole polytechnique / Paris / France is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.

Paris Restores The World’s Oldest Circus To Its Original Glory

Science Daily

Mars lost most of what once made it look very different. Scientists say the planet had flowing water, a thicker atmosphere and a much warmer climate billions of years ago. Today it is frigid, dry and wrapped in a thin layer of air.

NASA is now studying how that shift happened with its ESCAPADE mission, short for Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers. The mission launched on Nov. 13, 2025, and its scientific instruments were activated and fully operational as of Feb. 25.

Researchers think the main driver behind Mars’ long change was the solar wind, a steady stream of charged particles flowing outward from the Sun. Over billions of years, scientists believe that flow gradually eroded the Martian atmosphere. As the atmosphere thinned, the planet cooled and much of its surface water disappeared.

ESCAPADE will study how Mars lost so much of its atmosphere and how the Sun still shapes the planet. While traveling near Earth and on the way to Mars, the spacecraft will also gather new information about space weather.

NASA says the data collected at Mars could also help it better protect astronauts who may one day explore the planet.

“The pioneering ESCAPADE duo will not only investigate the Sun’s role in transforming Mars into an uninhabitable planet, but also will help inform the development of space weather protocols for solar events directed at Mars during future human missions to the Red Planet,” said Joe Westlake, heliophysics division director at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “By joining the heliophysics fleet of missions across the solar system, ESCAPADE will be another weather station making humans and technology in space safer and more successful.”

The mission uses two spacecraft working together in orbit around Mars. NASA says that approach will let scientists observe the planet’s magnetic environment from two places at the same time.

The pair will track rapid changes in Mars’ magnetosphere, the region around the planet influenced by magnetic forces. Researchers hope that will help them identify the processes that let the Martian atmosphere slowly leak into space.

“Having two spacecraft is going to help us understand cause and effect, how the solar wind, when it comes to Mars, interacts with the magnetic field,” said Michele Cash, ESCAPADE program scientist at NASA Headquarters.

Previous missions studied Mars’ atmosphere with a single spacecraft. ESCAPADE adds a simultaneous view from two positions.

“It gives us what you might call a stereo perspective, two different vantage points simultaneously,” said Rob Lillis, the mission’s principal investigator at the University of California, Berkeley.

When the spacecraft reach Mars, they will first fly along the same orbital path and pass over the same regions at slightly different times. NASA says that setup will help scientists pinpoint when and where changes happen in the planet’s magnetic environment.

“When we have two spacecraft crossing those regions in quick succession, we can monitor how those regions vary on timescales as short as two minutes,” Lillis said. “This will allow us to make measurements we could never make before.”

After about six months, the two spacecraft will shift into separate orbits. One will stay closer to Mars, while the other moves farther away. During that five month phase, researchers plan to watch the solar wind as it approaches Mars while also measuring the planet’s response inside its magnetosphere.

“Prior spacecraft could either be in the upstream solar wind, or they could be close to the planet measuring its magnetosphere,” Lillis said, “but ESCAPADE allows us to be in two places at once and to simultaneously measure the cause and the effect.”

The mission also has a direct link to future human exploration. Astronauts heading to Mars will face much greater exposure to solar radiation than people on Earth.

Earth has a strong global magnetic field that shields it from the Sun’s high energy particles. Scientists say Mars once had a stronger magnetic field too, but it weakened over time. Today the planet has scattered regions of magnetism in its crust and a constantly shifting magnetic field created when solar wind interacts with charged particles in the upper atmosphere.

Scientists call that combination a “hybrid” magnetosphere. The source text says it gives limited protection from the solar wind, allowing energetic particles from the Sun to reach the surface more easily. Mars’ thin atmosphere adds to that vulnerability.

“Before we send humans to Mars, we need to understand what type of environment these astronauts are going to encounter,” Cash said.

ESCAPADE will also improve scientists’ understanding of Mars’ ionosphere, a region of the upper atmosphere. Future astronauts are expected to rely on it to transmit radio and navigation signals around the planet.

“If we ever want GPS at Mars or long-distance communications, we need to understand the ionosphere,” Lillis said.

The mission is also testing a different route to Mars. Most Mars missions launch during a narrow window when Earth and Mars align in their orbits, which happens about every 26 months.

Instead of going straight to Mars, the spacecraft are looping around a point in space about 1.6 million kilometres from Earth called Lagrange point 2. When Earth and Mars align again in November 2026, the spacecraft will swing back past Earth and use the planet’s gravity to send them toward Mars. The mission is expected to arrive in September 2027.

During this stage, the spacecraft will follow a large loiter orbit stretching roughly 3.2 million kilometres from Earth. That path will take them through an unexplored part of Earth’s distant magnetotail, the part of Earth’s magnetic environment that extends away from the Sun.

“We’re going to be doing some discovery science,” Lillis said. “No one has ever measured Earth’s tail this far away.”

Later, during the 10 month trip to Mars, the spacecraft will keep studying the solar wind and magnetic conditions in interplanetary space, the same environments astronauts will one day travel through on the way to Mars.

ESCAPADE is funded by NASA’s Heliophysics Division and is part of NASA’s Small Innovative Missions for Planetary Exploration program. UC Berkeley’s Space Sciences Laboratory leads the mission with Rocket Lab, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Advanced Space and Blue Origin.

NASA Sent Twin Spacecrafts To Probe How Mars Lost Its Atmosphere

It started with two braids at the park, and one surprised comment.

After weeks of practice, Strider Patton finally managed double French braids in his toddler’s brown hair. He got her dressed and took her to the park, where a woman soon approached his daughter and said, “Your hair looks just wonderful. Did your mommy do those braids?”

Patton said his daughter answered right away.

“And my daughter, without skipping a beat, just points at me and says, ‘Dad braids.’ And that woman’s jaw hit the ground,” Patton told USA Today. “Then that lady said something that changed everything. She said, ‘You could teach my husband a thing or two.’”

That interaction led Patton, 41, to start posting videos of his morning hair-braiding routine with his daughter on social media in 2024. He said the videos “took off immediately.”

Divorced dads, stay-at-home dads, widowed dads and other fathers who wanted to do more at home began thanking him, he said.

“I really tapped into something.”

Patton said dads from all over have reached out for advice, and some are now meeting in person for hair tutorials. In one recent video from an event called “Pints & Ponytails,” more than 30 fathers sat with beer cans and mannequin heads and learned how to braid hair. The TikTok was posted on March 8 and got more than 6.6 million views in three days.

The reaction online was enthusiastic.

“I love this generation of dads,” one user commented.

“This is SO important! Thank you dads!” another user wrote. “Your daughters will be so so grateful and will LOVE this.”

The response lines up with broader changes in fatherhood. A 2023 survey from Pew Research Center found 85 percent of fathers said being a parent is the most or one of the most important aspects of who they are. Another Pew survey found fathers spend triple the amount of time on child care than dads did in 1965.

Patton said dads learning to do their daughters’ hair shows how fatherhood has changed from previous generations and reflects what homes and families look like now.

“It’s like, if only one of us was able to change diapers, that wouldn’t make any sense at all,” he said. “We’ve got to be able to help out in every way.”

He said many people see doing a child’s hair as part of the morning routine, but he wants dads, parents and caregivers to think about it differently. For him, it can be a chance to connect.

“This is all about presence over perfection. It doesn’t matter what the hair looks like,” he said. “All they care about is that you’re together. And if you’re making it fun and playful, then she’s going to have fun.”

Patton said the time he spends doing his daughter’s hair has also changed him. In the mornings, they listen to stories together, talk about what she is doing at school, or sit quietly while she eats breakfast.

He said those moments have taught him about listening and being more open emotionally.

“It’s really taught me a lot about what it means to be a dad. An engaged dad,” he said. “And how to really, kind of, deepen my own emotional intelligence because I want to grow that for her and for my family, because that’s something us guys aren’t really taught.”

📸 credit: Stryder Patton

Dads Learn To Braid As They Take On Daughters’ Hair Care

Good News Network

A scan that makes prostate cancer cells light up could spare many men an invasive biopsy, and doctors in Australia are already using it.

Australian researchers say the PSMA PET/CT scan could safely cut in half the number of men who need a biopsy after an MRI scan gives suspicious or inconclusive results for suspected prostate cancer.

The imaging test uses a molecule that binds to prostate cancer cells, causing them to “light up in a remarkable way” on the scan as bright spots. Researchers said the scan identifies more aggressive prostate cancer cells that may need treatment, while also helping sort out cancers that are low-risk and may never cause harm.

“It’s rare to see such strong imaging that could be so powerful in the clinic,” said Dr. James Buteau, a nuclear medicine physician at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Melbourne who led the trial in coordination with St Vincent’s Hospital in Sydney.

Prostate cancer is a common cause of cancer deaths in men. About 1 in 8 males receive a prostate cancer diagnosis, and they usually have an MRI scan to check for abnormal growths.

If MRI results are suspicious or inconclusive, patients usually go on to a biopsy, where small pieces of prostate tissue are taken and checked for cancer cells. The procedure is invasive, can be uncomfortable and worrying for patients, and is associated with side effects.

Researchers said the new approach could help tackle over-diagnosis of prostate cancer, which can lead to unnecessary treatment, or treatment that causes harm for cancers that would never have caused any harm.

“Incorporating this testing into clinical care could help to address the major challenge of prostate cancer over-diagnosis, which leads to at best unnecessary and at worst harmful treatment for cancers that would never cause any harm.”

The findings come from the Primary2 trial, which recruited men considered at higher risk of prostate cancer, including men with a strong family history. They were randomly assigned to receive either a standard biopsy or a PSMA PET/CT scan.

The trial found that PSMA PET/CT scanning could identify people who did not have cancer, or whose cancer was so low-risk or slow-growing it would likely never cause harm. Those patients did not need a biopsy. Patients who had a positive result for cancer on the PSMA PET/CT scan then had a biopsy.

Researchers said that approach halved the number of patients who needed a biopsy, without missing any harmful cancers.

For the patients who still needed a biopsy, the scan results meant the procedure could be targeted to the suspicious areas identified on the test. Researchers said that could minimize complications and improve accuracy.

The newly released findings are the first from the Primary2 trial, which will follow 660 patients for two years.

“PSMA PET/CT scanning makes prostate cancer cells light up in a remarkable way, particularly in more aggressive cancers,” Dr. Buteau said.

“Getting told you have a risk of prostate cancer is a huge cause of anxiety and concern,” said study co-leader Professor Louise Emmett.

“Our findings show that PSMA PET/CT after MRI offers a ‘belt-and-braces’ approach that can determine which people have a clinically significant cancer, and which people are at low risk and don’t need a biopsy or further testing.”

Primary2 is the largest in a series of studies by the team looking at how PSMA PET/CT scanning could improve prostate cancer diagnosis and reduce unnecessary biopsies.

The scan is already widely available in Australia. It is also becoming increasingly accessible in the UK and Europe, mainly for diagnosing high-risk or recurrent prostate cancer. Researchers said cost and availability still limit wider use.

Dr. Buteau was due to present the trial findings at the European Association of Urology Congress in London on Friday.

“This well-conducted trial shows that incorporating PSMA PET/CT in men with low or intermediate risk lesions significantly reduced the number of unnecessary biopsies and the diagnosis of clinically insignificant prostate cancer,” said Dr. Derya Tilki, an Association member and senior urologist at Martini-Klinik Prostate Cancer Centre in Germany.

“Importantly, this didn’t compromise the detection of clinically significant disease,” she said, congratulating the researchers on their study.

New Scan That Makes Prostate Cancer Cells Glow Could Cut Unnecessary Biopsies In Half

Mongabay

Freshwater fish scientists had a busy year. A new report says taxonomists described 309 new species of freshwater fish in 2025, almost one new description for each day of the year.

The tally comes from SHOAL, the IUCN Freshwater Fish Specialist Group and the California Academy of Sciences. It is the highest annual total since 2017, and the third-highest since 1758, when scientists began keeping records.

The new species were recorded across five continents and from habitats including limestone caves, peat swamps, wetlands and rivers. Most are endemic, and some are already at risk of extinction.

Asia led the count with 165 newly described freshwater fish species. South America followed with 91, then Africa with 30, North America with 20, and Europe with three.

“If there’s one thing this report shows, it’s that our planet’s rivers and wetlands are still full of surprises,” Michael Edmondstone from SHOAL told Mongabay in an email. “We hope this report sparks curiosity about freshwater life.”

Among the new species are two cave-dwelling fish in China, Yang’s plateau loach, Triplophysa yangi, and the Sichuan mountain cave loach, Claea scet. Both are adapted to permanent darkness.

Museum specimens stored in Germany also led scientists to identify two new species from East Africa.

In the Democratic Republic of Congo, scientists described four new killifish species from the Nothobranchius group. These fish live in wetlands and complete their life cycle in rain puddles within a few weeks. They hatch, grow and reproduce before the water dries up.

Once the puddles disappear, drought-resistant embryos remain buried in mud until the next rains arrive and the cycle starts again. Their short lives in ephemeral pools leave them exposed to disruptions in rain patterns.

Of the 100 Nothobranchius species listed on the IUCN Red List, nearly three-quarters are already threatened with extinction.

One of the other newly described species is the sicklefin redhorse, Moxostoma ugidatli, from the Appalachian Mountains in the United States. At 60 centimetres, it is possibly the largest fish described in the last century from North America.

Its name comes from a Cherokee expression for “wearing a feather,” a reference to its feather-like, sickle-shaped dorsal fin.

The report says freshwater fish are one of the most threatened groups of vertebrates. Their habitats are disappearing because of pollution, overextraction of water, invasive species, changing weather patterns due to climate change, and overharvesting.

One of the newly described species from Kenya, Nothobranchius sylvaticus, is already critically endangered.

“There is a risk that many freshwater fish species will disappear without us knowing about them,” Richard van der Laan from CAS told Mongabay by email.

The report says a formal scientific description is needed before species can be assessed for extinction risk, regulated under wildlife trade agreements such as CITES, and included in management plans.

“Until species are formally identified and named, they remain largely invisible from a conservation perspective,” Edmondstone said. “Recognising them scientifically is the essential first step toward protecting them.”

The report also notes the rainbow killi, Nothobranchius iridescens, was identified in 2013 but only described in 2025 from the Democratic Republic of Congo because there was no road access to collect specimens until recently.

📸 credit: Cisamarc, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Scientists Describe More Than 300 Freshwater Fish Species In 2025

People

Sometimes a small change at the checkout turns into a six-figure win.

A Maryland man from Hyattsville won $100,000 after trying a new $25 scratch-off game, taking advice from another customer instead of sticking with the tickets he usually buys.

The player typically goes for bingo-style scratch-offs, according to Maryland Lottery officials. But during a visit to a 7-Eleven last month, he heard another customer suggest he try the new $1,000,000 Crossword scratch-off.

He bought a ticket, then kept moving through his day without checking it.

The man, who works in construction, went to work as usual and did not scratch the ticket right away. It was only later, during a break, that he finally checked it and saw he had won $100,000.

The prize was not the game’s top award of $1 million, but lottery officials said he was still excited and in shock.

He scanned the ticket on the Maryland Lottery app to confirm the result, then called his wife right away. “He couldn’t believe it,” said his wife, who accompanied him to claim the prize on Tuesday, March 10.

After that phone call, he went back to the rest of his day as planned. That included coaching his rec league soccer team.

The couple said they plan to use the money to pay off their vehicles and put the rest into savings.

Lottery officials said the Hyattsville man’s $100,000 prize is the second big win tied to the newly launched $1,000,000 Crossword scratch-off.

The first top-prize winner was a Severn resident named Ryan, who claimed one of the game’s four $1 million prizes on Feb. 25.

Ryan’s win also started with an interaction with another customer, according to lottery officials. He had let a woman go ahead of him in a Walmart checkout line, and she later gave him two $10 scratch-offs.

One of those tickets won $50. Ryan then used the $50 to buy two Crossword scratch-offs, and one of them turned out to be a $1 million top-prize winner.

Lottery officials said three top prizes of $1 million are still available in the game.

They also said nine second-tier prizes worth $100,000 remain in circulation.

The Hyattsville player’s decision to try something different came after he usually bought bingo-style scratch-offs, Maryland Lottery officials said. This time, a suggestion from a stranger led him to the Crossword game instead.

He did not stop his day after buying the ticket. He went to work, scratched it later during a break, confirmed it through the lottery app, called his wife, and finished the day, including soccer coaching.

His wife joined him when he claimed the prize on March 10.

The couple told lottery officials they plan to pay off their cars and save what is left.

The $100,000 prize is the second notable win mentioned by lottery officials for the new game, after Ryan’s $1 million claim in February.

According to Maryland Lottery officials, three $1 million prizes and nine $100,000 prizes remain in circulation.

A Maryland Man Won $100,000 After a Stranger Urged Him To Try a Different Ticket

For Spencer Laird, a routine follow-up ended with the kind of news that turns a life upside down.

Laird first noticed blood in his stool when he was 25. His doctor thought it was hemorrhoids caused by his work as a mechanic. Eighteen months later, a colonoscopy found colorectal cancer, and surgeons removed 16 inches of his colon.

Two years later, Laird began to think the worst was over. He had gone back to work and was spending time with his young daughter. Then, at a follow-up appointment in December 2024, his wife CarleyAnn Laird spoke up.

"They had already checked out everything and said 'Everything looks good to go.' And she said, 'No, he's been sleeping a lot lately, he's been tired a lot.' She told him that she wanted him to do a full body scan on me," said Laird, who lives in South Carolina.

He said he was surprised by the suggestion because he felt fine. But the scan showed his cancer had returned and spread. There were 13 tumors in his lungs. One was the size of a golf ball. His doctor told him he would likely have only about two years to live, even with treatment.

"So much went through my head," Laird said. "I just thought: I'm 30 years old. I've got a wife. I've got a 5-year-old little girl. There was the shock of it."

Laird was diagnosed with microsatellite stable colorectal cancer. Dr. Michael James Overman, an oncologist and researcher at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center who was not involved in Laird's care, said this type of cancer is typically treated with chemotherapy and radiation. He said chemotherapy can control disease for at least six months for about 80 to 90 percent of microsatellite stable colorectal cancer patients.

Laird said he never wanted to undergo chemotherapy. He worried about side effects and his quality of life, especially because his disease was considered terminal. CarleyAnn, a pharmacy technician, started looking for other options.

"I stayed up days and just stared at his scans," CarleyAnn said. "This was strictly me not wanting to lose my husband and having to tell my 5-year-old."

She applied to several clinical trials for her husband, including one at Duke University. There, gastrointestinal oncologist Dr. Nicholas DeVito was studying the effects of immunotherapy on microsatellite stable colorectal cancer.

DeVito said immunotherapy has typically been used for this kind of cancer after multiple forms of chemotherapy have failed. He said a previous clinical trial found that when it was used as a "fourth or fifth line of defense," there were "nice responses in about a quarter of patients." That study also showed the immunotherapy controlled the disease, meaning tumors either shrank or stayed the same size, in 70 percent of patients.

DeVito's trial tests what happens when immunotherapy is used first, without chemotherapy. He said delaying chemotherapy can be risky, so patients whose disease may interfere with organ function are not eligible.

Laird said the possible upside was worth it.

"I don't like to say you have nothing to lose, but that's kind of the only way to put it," Laird said. "When you get a diagnosis like that, why not try something that you don't know anything about?"

Laird became one of 15 patients enrolled in the trial in February last year. DeVito said patients receive an immunotherapy infusion every two weeks and get scans every six to eight weeks to track their disease. If scans show signs of disease progression, they start chemotherapy.

For Laird, the early scans brought a dramatic change. DeVito said the tumors were "melting away." Laird went from 13 tumors to three. The largest is now 0.6 millimeters, much smaller than the golf ball-sized tumor first found by his doctor.

"It's a miracle. It's really a miracle from God," said Laird. "Looking at where it started and where it is now, it's just unbelievable."

Laird had side effects early in treatment, including rashes, headaches, nausea and dizziness. Those eased in late spring 2025. Overman said immunotherapy, like chemotherapy, can have some toxicity. Since then, CarleyAnn said, it has been "smooth sailing," with her husband only occasionally having some stomach troubles.

DeVito said Laird had one of the strongest responses early in the trial. The full results will be published in April.

"In a nutshell, this was a diagnosis that would probably have shortened his life to five years or less, at best," DeVito said. "And now we're thinking 'Well, is he cured? How long does this remission last? Is it permanent? How does this cancer stay away?' We're really drifting into uncharted territory."

DeVito said Laird may be a "first in history," but he hopes to find more patients who respond the same way. He said that could help researchers identify which patient groups should get immunotherapy as a first-line treatment. He also said future research may look at combining immunotherapy with other treatments.

📸 credit: Spencer Laird

Overman said the trial is novel, but added there is still a long way to go before early immunotherapy could be considered a standard of care treatment for microsatellite stable colorectal cancer. He said future research should examine if patients with certain biomarkers respond better to immunotherapy than others. He also said experts may keep refining patient selection in future trials.

Overman said primary tumors tend to be more immune responsive and may react better to immunotherapy than cancer that has metastasized. Even so, he said the treatment may offer an option for patients who do not want chemotherapy.

"This here is proof of concept. You can do it front line, and there's definitely some activity," Overman said. "We don't have a lot of non-chemo approaches. That's the real novel aspect here."

Laird is not cancer-free, but his disease is no longer terminal. He still goes to Duke every two weeks for an infusion. CarleyAnn said family and their church parish have offered support.

"It really just taught me to try to live life," Laird said. "There's no sense sitting around being lazy. If the good Lord wakes you up every day and you got breath in your lungs, just go do something."

This Young Dad Says a Clinical Trial Shrunk His Colon Cancer, Even After It Spread To His Lungs

Sunny Skyz

It was a routine school run until Marlene Davis saw something she could not ignore.

A school bus driver in Morgan County, Georgia, is being praised after she helped alert a sleeping household to a fire at their home early last Friday morning.

Davis was driving her usual morning route when she noticed smoke, then flames, coming from inside a home she was passing.

“I saw the big flame coming from inside the house,” Davis said. “I just had to stop the bus and go to the door.”

With one student already on board, Davis pulled the bus over and ran to the front door. She rang the doorbell again and again, trying to get someone inside to respond.

“I rang the doorbell several times,” she said. “And finally, the man answered.”

The resident had been asleep and did not know the house was surrounded by flames. After Davis alerted him, everyone inside was able to get out safely.

The fire was later contained. Damage appeared to be limited mostly to the area around the home’s air conditioning unit.

Davis said she did not immediately know how serious the situation had been. She later learned the people inside had been sleeping when the fire broke out.

“I just got a text from my boss lady saying it was a house fire, and they were asleep,” she said. “And, you know, we could have saved their lives.”

The homeowner later made a point of thanking Davis in person. Later that day, he got her attention by flashing his lights so he could hand her a card and thank her for what she had done.

For Davis, stopping the bus and going to the door was a simple decision.

“It was the only thing that I could have done, and it was the right thing to do,” she said. “And I couldn’t just leave them.”

Loved ones of the couple have also thanked Davis for acting quickly that morning.

Her response may have made all the difference for the people inside the house.

“It was the only thing that I could have done, and it was the right thing to do,” she said. “And I couldn’t just leave them.”

📸 credit: FOX 5 Atlanta

A Georgia School Bus Driver Alerted a Sleeping Family To  Their House on Fire, And it Helped Them Escape

At a New Jersey crosswalk, Paulette Dorflaufer is hard to miss. The 82-year-old crossing guard has spent 20 years helping children and other community members across the street, often in extravagant fur outerwear that has become part of her daily routine.

“[I have about] 13, 15 fur coats, and I change [my coat] every three days,” Dorflaufer told CBS News Chicago.

Dorflaufer was born in France and is a Holocaust survivor. Her parents and five siblings died at Auschwitz, but she survived after she was taken to the hospital for surgery. In an Instagram video, Dorflaufer explained that a nurse helped her escape, and she eventually made her way to the United States as a child.

Before taking up the crossing guard role, Dorflaufer worked as a dental assistant, a model and in cosmetology.

Her family said the style people see at the crosswalk is exactly who she is.

Rachel Frieman, Dorflaufer’s granddaughter, told the Daily Voice, “She dresses like that no matter where we’re going.”

“She has fur in the winter, but in the summer it’s a heel and a dress, and this fascinator chapeau situation in her hair,” Rachel added.

“People always think she’s celebrating something, but this is her,” she said.

Dorflaufer also shares parts of her wardrobe choices on Instagram, where she explains how and why she picks some of her looks. In one recent clip, she said she chose an all-blue outfit and a matching sparkly headpiece for a specific reason.

“When I woke up, I felt I was in a blue mood,” Dorflaufer said.

Other videos show her putting her crossing guard vest over her fur coats.

Dorflaufer’s work is also closely watched by people around her. Her daughter, Heather Frieman, told the Daily Voice her mother is a staple in their local community.

“If she’s not at her post, I get a text. Everywhere we go, people stop her,” Heather said.

In her personal life, Dorflaufer has raised three children, looked after her grandchildren and is soon to become a great-grandmother.

Rachel said her grandmother’s personality matches the attention she gets.

“She’s so bubbly, loves to talk to anybody,” Rachel told the Daily Voice. “She’s always happy, always positive and always has a smile on her face.”

Dorflaufer’s story stretches well beyond the crosswalk. She survived the Holocaust, came to the United States as a child, worked in several fields and built a family, while keeping up a distinctive personal style that her relatives say carries through every part of her life.

That includes the days she reports for crossing guard duty in New Jersey, where her coats have become part of a role she has now held for two decades.

On social media, she has given people a closer look at that routine, explaining the thinking behind some outfits and showing how she pairs them with the bright safety vest she wears on the job.

For her family, the reaction from the public is familiar. Heather told the Daily Voice that people regularly notice her mother around town, and Rachel said the same flair people talk about in winter fur also shows up in summer outfits, with heels, dresses and headpieces.

📸 credit: Rachel Frieman

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