Woman steps into shower, steps out with newborn
A Des Moines woman stepped into the shower last week to help ease the discomfort of stomach pains, and emerged holding a newborn. Brittany Young, 24, told The Des Moines Register that she knew she was pregnant and had recurring stomach pains on March 11.
Turns out, Young may have misunderstood a hospital worker in December. Instead of being 12 weeks pregnant then as Young believed, she had 12 weeks left. “I got in the shower, not even five minutes after that, I was like, my stomach is still hurting. Not even five seconds (later), I had to push,” Young said. Soon after, her daughter, Miracle, arrived, weighing 6 pounds, 8 ounces. “This baby’s eyes were open; she was just sitting there staring at me,” Young said. “She didn’t cry or anything. I was in shock.”
Dr Michael Cardwell at Mercy Medical Center in Des Moines said women with a medical condition called precipitous labour can have contractions that start just a couple hours before delivery. Cardwell didn’t treat Young, who has had three other children, but said that women who are already mothers can go into labor quickly.
(AP)
Catfish named after Star Wars character
Researchers named a South American catfish species based on its resemblance to an alien bounty hunter from the original Star Wars film.
The Peckoltia greedoi is a puckermouth armored catfish discovered in Brazil’s Gurupi River in 1998. last fall, researchers from Auburn University were examining the fish when they noted that it looked like Greedo, a green, bug-eyed alien bounty hunter who tries to collect on Han Solo in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope.
“As a 7-year-old kid, I watched Star Wars in the theater and it was a life-changing experience for me,” Jonathan Armbruster, a biological sciences professor at the Auburn University Museum of Natural History, said in a statement. “I became a lifelong fan, and I now share that with my son. Greedo has always been a personal favourite of mine.”
Armbruster originally obtained specimens of the Peckoltia greedoi in 2005. Ten years later, he and other researchers were evaluating the fish’s characteristics when one of them made the Star Wars connection. “After a little prodding, I realised he was talking about Greedo,” Armbruster said. “We then knew what the name had to be. The Peckoltia greedoi does bear a striking resemblance to Greedo.”
Armbruster, who has named more than 40 fish species, said he and his colleagues often name species after each other. “I have named a few species after colleagues like Peckoltia lujani for my former student, Nathan lujan, and Hypostomus pagei for my advisor, lawrence Page.
(UPI)
Four years on, Japan tsunami Debris washes up in oregon
Four years after a deadly earthquake and tsunami struck Japan, debris is still washing ashore in Oregon and southwest Washington. Scientists predict it will continue to arrive for at least the next three years. An estimated 1 million tonnes of tsunami debris is still floating in the Pacific Ocean.
KGW-TV of Portland, Oregon, reported beach cleanup volunteers found baskets and lots of kitchen items this past year. They’ve hauled away truckloads of trash and artifacts.
The first pieces of debris to float across the Pacific Ocean included light items like chunks of foam that could easily be carried by the wind. Heavier items sitting lower in the water, like wood and tires, soon followed.
Since June 2012, Oregon’s Tsunami Debris Hotline has received 1,742 phone calls. Researchers from Tattori University for Environmental Studies in Japan have been working with Oregon State University to track the movement of tsunami debris.
(AP)
Magician’s rooftop pool ruptures, floods house
Now you see it, now you don’t. The water in magician David Copperfield’s rooftop pool vanished — and flooded his penthouse apartment as well as multiple floors of his New York City apartment building on East 57th Street.
Copperfield’s attorney Ted Blumberg told the New York Post that a malfunctioning pump was to blame for the incident. He said the entire pool drained through Copperfield’s four-story apartment and others underneath it, soaking walls and floors.
Copperfield was performing in las Vegas at the time.
Blumberg said the water spared Copperfield’s collection of vintage machines from Coney Island. He said the pool would be refilled after steps are taken to make sure a similar mishap doesn’t happen again.
(Yahoo)
Secret Nazi hideout found in Argentine jungle
Researchers in Argentina have discovered what they believe to be a hideout meant for Nazis in case of a defeat during World War II. The researchers, from the University of Buenos Aires, found Nazi coins and swastikas carved into walls at the location. The hideout is deep in the jungle near the town of San Ignacio, and it was overgrown with plant life.
Though it is known some prominent Nazi leaders did flee to Argentina when the Nazis were defeated in World War II, it is believed none of them used the predetermined hideouts. Instead, the researchers say there was no reason to use the hideouts as they could freely live in towns without persecution.
(UPI)