There is a gut doctor, and he begs Americans: “Throw out this vegetable now.” This news is accompanied by a different image nearly every time. This morning, the plea appeared at the bottom of an article on Vox next to a photo of a hand chopping up what appears to be a pile of green apples. At other times, it has been paired with a picture of a petri dish with a worm in it. Other times, gut bacteria giving off electricity. The inside of a lotus root. An illustrated rendering of roundworms.
The gut doctor’s desperation pops up over and over, on websites like CNN and the Atlantic (and as I said, this one), in what are known colloquially as “chumboxes.” These are the boxes at the bottom of the page that have several pieces of clickbaity “sponsored content” or “suggested reading.” They’re generated by a variety of companies, but the largest two are Taboola ($160 million in funding) and Outbrain ($194 million in funding), both founded in Israel in the mid-aughts.
The Kentucky Horse Racing Commission on Monday denied an appeal from the owner of Maximum Security, the horse that made history by being disqualified from Saturday’s Kentucky Derby for a rules infraction.
Maximum Security, who led the Derby from wire to wire and crossed the finish line 1 3/4 lengths ahead of Country House, was disqualified for interference while turning for home. Officials decided that Maximum Security impacted the progress of War of Will, which in turn interfered with Long Range Toddy and Bodexpress. Country House was declared the winner. The stewards who made the ruling did not take questions, electing to read a prepared statement with the explanation.
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Lexington, Kentucky, attorney D. Barry Stilz on Monday filed the appeal with the commission on behalf of owner Gary West.
One 18-year-old student was killed and eight others were injured after two shooters opened fire on a science and technology school in the Denver area on Tuesday.
The gunmen entered two classrooms in different locations “deep” inside STEM School Highlands Ranch and began shooting at students, Douglas County Sheriff Tony Spurlock said at a press conference.
Deputies responded to the scene two minutes after receiving reports of shots fired within the school shortly before 2 p.m.
Since the 2016 presidential campaign, journalists at The New York Times and elsewhere have been trying to piece together Donald J. Trump’s complex and concealed finances. Now The Times has obtained 10 years of previously unrevealed figures from the president’s federal income tax returns. The tax numbers, for the years 1985 through 1994, paint a far bleaker picture of Mr. Trump’s deal-making abilities and financial condition than the one he has long put forth.
Mr. Trump became an unprecedented president — a businessman and reality television star with no government experience — and he broke with decades-old presidential tradition by refusing to release his income tax returns. Questions about what secrets they may hold — about his recent business dealings and the sources of his financing — only intensified with the Russia inquiry and the Trump administration is now locked in a battle with House Democrats demanding the last six years of the president’s returns. On Monday, the Treasury secretary, Steven Mnuchin, said he would not give a House committee access to the returns.
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Newly obtained details from the president’s tax returns reveal a decade in the red, with $1.17 billion in business losses.CreditCreditMark Makela for The New York Times
Despite a long history of segregation and racism, America’s top pageants have broken racial barriers in recent decades. Vanessa Williams became the first black woman to win the Miss America title in 1984. Carole Gist won Miss USA in 1990. Janel Bishop won Miss Teen USA in 1991.
Each competition has had multiple black winners since.
Last week, for the first time, black women wore the crowns of all three major pageants simultaneously. tangie
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Nia Franklin, Miss America 2019; Cheslie Kryst, 2019 Miss USA; and Kaliegh Garris, 2019 Miss Teen USA. CreditCreditNoah K. Murray/Associated Press; Jason Bean, via The Reno Gazette-Journal; Miss Teen USA
All year long as Earth revolves around the sun, it passes through streams of cosmic debris. The resulting meteor showers can light up night skies from dusk to dawn, and if you’re lucky you might be able to catch a glimpse.
The next shower you might be able to see is known as the Eta Aquariids. Active between April 19 and May 28, the show peaks around Sunday night into Monday morning, or May 5-6. The moon will be close to new, which could make for good viewing in places with clear skies.
The Eta Aquariids are one of two meteor showers from Halley’s comet. Its sister shower, the Orionids, will peak in October. Specks from the Eta Aquariids streak through the sky at about 148,000 miles per hour, making it one of the fastest meteor showers. Its display is better seen from the Southern Hemisphere where people normally enjoy between 20 and 30 meteors per hour during its peak. The Northern Hemisphere tends to see about half as many.
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A photo of Halley’s comet during its closest approach to the inner solar system in 1986.CreditCreditNASA
Up to 1 million plant and animal species are on the verge of extinction, with alarming implications for human survival, according to a United Nations report released Monday.
The report’s findings underscore the conclusions of previous scientific studies that say human activity is wreaking havoc on the wild kingdom, threatening the existence of living things ranging from giant whales to small flowers and insects that are almost impossible to see with the naked eye.
But the global report by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services goes a step further than previous studies by linking the loss of species to humans and analyzing its effect on food and water security, farming and economies.
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Moe Flannery of the California Academy of Sciences inspected a dead gray whale in Tiburon, Calif., last month, one of seven whales that have washed up on the shores of the San Francisco Bay and along the coast in recent weeks. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
Meghan Markle is making her mark on the British royal family in many ways. She’s not only the first actress and the first American to be warmly welcomed into the family (rather than nearly causing a constitutional crisis à la Wallis Simpson!), many people believe her to be the first biracial person and person of African decent to marry into the family, too.
But as it turns out, Meghan, whose mother is black and father is white, may not be the very first biracial royal. That title likely belongs to Queen Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, who lived during the 18th century.
Charlotte was married to King George III and was queen for nearly 60 years, until she died in 1818. She’s the grandmother of Queen Victoria, the great-great-great-great-grandmother of the current Queen Elizabeth and the namesake for the American city of Charlotte, North Carolina. She also shares a name with the latest addition to the royal family, Princess Charlotte. tangie
Film and Writing Festival for Comedy. Showcasing best of comedy short films at the FEEDBACK Film Festival. Plus, showcasing best of comedy novels, short stories, poems, screenplays (TV, short, feature) at the festival performed by professional actors.
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Shooting At Denver-Area School
Indianapolis Museum of Art /Getty Images
James' World 2 