1. Message in Bottle Arrives After 101 Years
One century ago, Richard Platz scrawled a message on a postcard, shoved it in a bottle and dropped it into the ocean. Last month, fisherman in the Baltic Sea found it completely intact, and read the note, which asked that the bottle be returned to Platz’s address in Berlin. Researchers at the International Maritime Museum tracked down Platz’s granddaughter, Angela Erdmann, and gave her the package. The postcard, which is perhaps the oldest message in a bottle ever found, was dated May 17th, 1913.
2. Retired Nurse Braves Mob to Save Man
A retired nurse is being called a hero for possibly saving the life of a Detroit driver viciously beaten by a mob. Deborah Hughes says she didn’t hesitate when she saw Steven Utash getting pummeled next to his pickup truck. Utash had stopped to check on a 10-year-old boy he accidentally hit with his truck. That’s when an angry mob attacked him. After witnessing Utash getting punched and kicked, Hughes ran to his aid, cleared the way and tended to his wounds until an ambulance showed up. Utash remains in the hospital. The boy he hit was treated for a leg injury. A fund has been set up to cover Utash’s medical bills.
3. Electrical Stimulator Gives Paralyzed Men Movement
Four men paralyzed from spinal cord injuries can move their legs again, thanks to a new treatment. It’s called an electrical stimulator: a pacemaker-sized device implanted under the skin of the abdomen that delivers low pulses of electricity. These four men still cannot walk, but researchers at the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering believe the stimulator retrains the nerves to work with the brain again. For patients with chronic pain, the electricity interrupts pain signals before they reach the brain.
4.Women Paid Less in the White House?
Obama often speaks on behalf of women and gender pay equality, calling attention to the 77 cents women earn for every dollar earned by a man. But lately, his own payroll has been raising eyebrows. According to one conservative think tank, female White House staffers make, on average, only 88 cents for every dollar a male staffer earns. However, when it comes to really understanding whether there is a gender pay gap, the devil is in the details. None of these numbers compare what women and men earn in the exact same job. The numbers are based on all jobs. And for now, women are more highly represented in careers that pay less.
5. Man Pays $36 Million for Cup Because He “Likes It”
A Shanghai man paid $36 million for a cup -- and he doesn’t think that’s unreasonable. Chinese billionaire Liu Yiqian was the winning bidder for a rare Ming Dynasty cup touted as the “Holy Grail” of China’s art world, setting a new record for Chinese porcelain. People were stunned at the high price of the 500-year-old relic – known as the chicken cup, for the chickens painted on its sides – but Yiqian didn’t blink an eye, telling the Wall Street Journal, “Why do you all care so much about the price? I bought it only because I like it.”
6. Baby Accused of Attempted Murder Goes Into Hiding
A 9-month-old Pakistani boy cried as he was fingerprinted and booked in Lahore on an attempted murder charge, and his family has now taken him into hiding. The baby, Mohammad “Musa” Khan, was accused of plotting a murder along with his father and grandfather after a mob protesting gas cuts and price increases turned violent, throwing stones at police and gas employees. “He does not even know how to pick up his milk bottle properly, how can he stone the police?” his grandfather asked at the child’s court appearance. The case has once again highlighted the dysfunction within Pakistan’s criminal justice system.