The animal kingdom is filled with ferocious, highly territorial animals that are better off left alone. But nature also counts with some even-tempered animals that more easily adapt to human presence. A group of scientists have attempted to study the temperament of animals to determine which ones are friendlier toward humans by assigning various scores. The study published in the journal of Frontiers in Veterinary Science excludes dogs, cats, and farm animals since they have been completely domesticated. Those that rank above 0 are said to be best suited as human companions.
5. Asian palm civet
Score: 1.4
Native to South and Southeast Asia, this mammal prefers to lead a solitary lifestyle.
4. Llama
Score: 2.3
This domesticated South American animal has been widely used as a meat and pack animal by Andean cultures since the Pre-Columbian era.
3. Tammar wallaby
Score: 4.2
This small wallaby likes to socialize, feed, and mate in groups.
2. Agile wallaby
Score: 4.7
This wallaby prefers a solitary lifestyle but often adapts to life in groups.
1. Sika deer
Score: 5.1
Also known as spotted deer or Japanese deer, these cute lil’ faces top the list of best human companions.
(So, um, not sure how this plays out in Omaha, but I think not including cats and dogs really taints this article. The fact that I was also hoping for a pony doubles down on my disappointment.) (OK, so rope yourself a wallaby instead)
If you’ve ever completed an interior redecorating project, perhaps you’ve considered feng shui—the ancient Chinese practice of creating flow and balance in the home. This traditional practice encourages decluttering and organizing items in a way that brings positive energy to the space you’re designing. It also welcomes the addition of figurines that bring good fortune, like dragons, Mandarin ducks, or elephants.
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Why have an elephant near the door?
In many cultures, an elephant symbolizes good luck, power, wisdom, and fertility. And because feng shui is intentional about the placement of items in of the home, decorating goes beyond surface-level style.
Elephant figurines placed inside the front door, near the home’s entrance, have two meanings:
An elephant statue in the foyer facing away from the door brings luck into the home.
An elephant facing toward the door protects the house. It guards your home against all sorts of negative energy.
Though placed with intention, elephant statues make great decor as well. You can find them in a variety of materials, though brass is the most popular.
Where else are elephants meaningful?
Keep in mind, the entryway of your home isn’t the only spot for an elephant statue. According to Housing.com, elephant figurines can be placed in other areas of the house for similar good fortune.
In the office. Here, the elephant statue meaning translates to wisdom and power and is meant to energize the workspace. Place a statue near your office door or keep a picture on the wall.
In the family room. Elephants in a family room or play space for children strengthen bonds between family members.
In a bedroom. Elephant decor in a bedroom emphasizes love and faithfulness. In a child’s room, the placement of an elephant represents knowledge and will bring academic success.
Accidental discoveries are not uncommon in the world of scientific investigation. Many useful substances, including Teflon and Scotchgard, were invented by chemists who were attempting to create something for an altogether unrelated application. (The chemist who invented Scotchgard was a woman).
Biochemist and science fiction author Isaac Asimov once said that “the most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not ‘Eureka!’ but ‘That’s funny.'” “That’s funny” is exactly what microbiologist Alexander Fleming said when he found that Penicillium mold had contaminated a petri dish and destroyed the bacteria he was experimenting with. His lab accident led to the discovery of penicillin – the world’s first broadly effective antibiotic.
24/7 Tempo has compiled 31 accidental discoveries that changed the world by reviewing sources including History, Reader’s Digest, and Business Insider. In some cases, an initial accidental discovery by one person led to a later invention by another. Only the initial discovery is recounted.
While a few are folk accounts of early discoveries, the majority are inventions and discoveries made by scientists, engineers, doctors, and hobby inventors who were following one path when they stumbled upon another.
Many serendipitous discoveries have revolutionized the pharmaceutical and medical fields, while others have influenced the worlds of fashion, cosmetics, home appliances, and children’s toys
Before Jesuit priests introduced the malaria treatment quinine to Europe in the 17th century, they learned of its properties from indigenous Andean peoples. According to Andean legend, a man delirious with malaria was lost in the rainforest and drank bitter-tasting water from a puddle under some quina-quina (cinchona) trees. The tree had been previously considered to be poisonous, but the man’s fever soon abated, and his people began using the tree bark to treat fevers. Andean people likely taught it to Jesuit priests.
According to folk accounts, brandy was invented when a Dutch ship captain, who wanted to ship higher quantities of wine, decided to concentrate wine by removing the water before transport. Although his intention was to water it down again at his destination port, he liked the concentrated wine so much that he kept it that way, calling it brandewijn, meaning “burnt wine.”
Although the psychoactive properties of nitrous oxide were discovered in the 1770s, the gas was almost exclusively used as a party drug amongst the British elite until the next century. In 1844, a dentist named Horace Wells attended a demonstration on the effects of the gas and noticed something interesting: a man who had bruised his legs while jumping around under the influence of nitrous had no idea that he’d hurt himself, and had felt no pain. Wells began using the drug in his dental practice, only after experimenting on himself by inhaling nitrous and having his own tooth pulled.
Coping with rosacea can be difficult, especially if your symptoms are severe. Symptoms of rosacea may include redness, inflammation, itching, irritation, tenderness, acne-like bumps, and dry, irritated eyes. Not only can rosacea cause physical discomfort, but it can also cause people to become very self-conscious about their appearance, leading to social difficulties. There’s no cure for the condition, but there are ways of managing rosacea so that it doesn’t have a significant negative impact on your life.
Here are some of the factors that can aggravate rosacea and your skin.
Looking at the list, you will discover that there are triggers you may not have realized. Below is another list of triggers. Beware of the sun!
Source: National Rosacea Society
Can you create a list of “safe” foods and products to use? I hope you will use these lists to manage your rosacea symptoms.
Did you know that the French astrologer Nostradamus predicted a European war with many refugees, attacks on a city, and the fall of the European Union? People who studied and interpreted his writings believe that these predictions apply to 2022.
Nostradamus lived from 1503 to 1566 and wrote approximately 6,338 prophecies. He even claimed to know how and when the world would come to an end! Of course, his writings were rarely specific, which makes them open to a lot of different interpretations. Critics even say that people can read into his words whatever they want to read.
The following interpretations of his prophecies for 2022 were circulated at the beginning of the year – before anything was known about the Russian attack on Ukraine. Read on to see what Nostradamus predicted according to his interpreters.
Refugees
Some of his interpreters claim that Nostradamus predicted the arrival of many more refugees by 2022. They say he calculated that, this year, seven times as many migrants would reach Europe’s borders as in the previous year.
Death of a dictator
According to some prophecy interpreters, Nostradamus predicted the death of a dictator. They think he was referring to North Korea’s Kim-Jong Un.
Earthquake in Japan
Another prediction is that a major earthquake will hit Japan in 2022.
Terrifying predictions
He allegedly foresaw the Great Fire of London, Adolf Hitler’s rise to power, the horrors of World War II, the French Revolution and even the creation of the atomic bomb.
But can these predictions really be trusted?
Of course, we are unable to ask Nostradamus whether his ambiguous texts were actually pointing towards these concrete events. The prophecies will always remain a point of interpretation and discussion.
Source: Nostradamus predicted war in Europe, refugees and a dictator’s demise in 2022 (msn.com)
The Australian cricket legend has tragically passed away in Koh Samui, Thailand, following a suspected heart attack.
A statement released from Warne’s family said: “Shane was found unresponsive in his villa and despite the best efforts of medical staff, he could not be revived.
“The family request privacy at this time and will provide further details in due course.”
Warne represented Australia between 1992 and 2007 and is widely regarded as one of the sport’s greatest bowlers having taken 708 test wickets – the most by an Australian player and only behind Sri Lankan Muttiah Muralitharan on the all-time list.
The sports star helped his country win the Cricket World Cup in 1999 and was also part of five Ashes-winning sides.
As well as his international career, Warne played domestic cricket for his home state of Victoria and also represented Hampshire in the county game for England.
Following his retirement from cricket in 2007, Warne moved into TV punditry and featured on Australia’s Nine Network and on Sky Sports in the UK.
His career was blighted by scandals away from the field including marital infidelities and a ban from cricket for testing positive for a banned substance.
Shane leaves behind three children – daughters Brooke, 24, and Summer, 20, and son Jackson 22, who he shares with his ex-wife Simone Callahan.
The cricket legend was also engaged to English actress Liz Hurley between 2010 and 2013.
(I posted this as a Mea Copa to my Australian viewers for a lack of Aussy content. I visited Sydney some 50 years ago as my R & R vacation from the conflict in Vietnam. Great city, wonderful people).
St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated on March 17 each year. The holiday honors Saint Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland. Patrick, who lived in the 5th century, is credited with bringing Christianity to the country of Ireland.
Giuseppe Milo / Flickr / CC BY 2.0
Saint Patrick was born Maewyn Succat around 385 A.D. Succat was born in Britain to parents who were citizens of Rome. The boy was kidnapped by pirates as a teenager and spent several years as an enslaved person in Ireland.
After about six years in captivity, Maewyn escaped and returned to Britain, where he later became a priest. He took the name Patrick when he was ordained.
Patrick returned to Ireland to share his faith with the people there. The shamrock, or three-leaf clover, is associated with St. Patrick’s Day because it is said that the priest used the shamrock to explain the idea of the Holy Trinity.
Leprechauns and the color green are also associated with the holiday. Unlike the shamrock, they have nothing to do with Saint Patrick but are recognized as symbols of Ireland.
St. Patrick’s Day is a religious holiday for the Catholic Church and a national holiday in Ireland. However, it is also celebrated by people of Irish descent around the world. In fact, many people who aren’t Irish enjoy joining in on St. Patrick’s Day celebrations.
Common ways to celebrate St. Patrick’s day include the “wearing o’ the green” to avoid being pinched and eating foods associated with Ireland, such as soda bread, corned beef and cabbage, and potatoes. People may also dye their hair, foods, and drinks green for St. Patrick’s Day. Even the Chicago River is dyed green each St. Patrick’s Day!
Trying to file taxes can get confusing quickly due to a complex tax system filled with a seemingly endless number of requirements, exclusions, and exceptions that often change year to year. Taxpayers find the process so complicated that nearly 29 percent shell out hundreds to thousands of dollars every tax season to pay an accountant to file their returns, and around 35 percent use tax preparation software like TurboTax. But no matter how you file, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) could still come knocking at your door to make sure everything you included on your return was correct. And with the potential for fines and criminal charges, the thought of getting audited by the IRS is enough to scare anyone.
Rest assured the tax agency doesn’t have time to conduct such a thorough examination of the millions of returns it receives every year, so it really all comes down to certain red flags. According to tax experts, there is one thing in particular that makes you more likely to be audited by the IRS. Read on to find out what mistake you’ll want to avoid when filing taxes this year.
You could get audited by the IRS for claiming too many deductions.
Deductions are enticing to taxpayers because they can reduce the amount of your income before you calculate the tax you owe, which in turn might significantly lower how much you have to pay in taxes or increase your refund. But that doesn’t mean you should go wild writing things off on your tax returns, as experts say claiming too many deductions is the most common reason people end up getting audited by the IRS.
“People sometimes over-claim tax deductions,” Samantha Hawrylack, a personal finance expert and co-founder of How to Fire, explains. “If you are not eligible for certain tax benefits, it is important that you don’t claim them because they will just lead to an audit.”
Don’t try writing off deductions that are no longer accepted by the IRS either. The tax code has changed over the years, and there are some things the tax agency no longer recognizes. “You should remember that some of the tax write-offs were terminated by the IRS, including deductions on alimony, moving expenses, and any expenses related to investing, hobbies, and tax preparation,” says Dmytro Serheeiv, a professional tax specialist and co-owner of PDFLiner.
It’s important to pay extra attention to specific deductions.
There are a number of deductions taxpayers can claim on their returns, from work-related and education deductions to itemized and health care deductions. But certain deductions are more likely to sound the alarm than others—even if you don’t feel like you’ve claimed too many. Sarah York, an enrolled agent with the IRS and an in-house tax expert, says that the home office deduction is a “write-off that people tend to abuse,” so your return is more likely to get flagged by the IRS if claims in this area seem excessive.
“For example, if you claim your office is 80 percent of your house, that’s probably too much,” she explains. “Claiming large gifts to charity on your itemized deductions is also likely to result in more scrutiny from the IRS.” Crystal Stranger, the international tax director for GBS and author of The Small Business Tax Guide, says that auto-based deductions are another big area of concern for the IRS. “Claiming large amounts of auto expenses is a big red flag for getting audited especially if there is hardly any income involved,” Stranger explains. “Auto expenses are only deductible for amounts used for business, not for commuting or other activities. Claiming 100 percent business deduction for autos is extremely rare.”
But you should take all the deductions you’re allowed to claim.
The fear of being audited might make you scared of deductions, but not taking any would be a mistake. The most frequently missed include charitable contributions, medical expenses, job-related expenses, student loan interest, and home office deductions, she says.
Taxpayers must keep track of their deductible expenses throughout the year to ensure they have the records they need once it comes time to file a return. If you are not sure what deductions are allowed, consult a professional.
While certain issues like claiming too many deductions can make you more likely to get audited by the IRS, “selection for an audit does not always suggest there’s a problem,” the tax agency notes. Some people are just randomly selected. If you are being audited by the IRS, the agency says they will notify you by mail. “We won’t initiate an audit by telephone,” the IRS says.
