One of the world's most poisonous plants has entered the UK and has been put in a glass cage to protect the public. The Gymie-Gympie plant (also known as Dendrocnide moroides) originates from Australia, with one recently going on display in Alnwick Garden, Northumberland. The plant was first discovered in 1866 when a road surveyor’s horse was stung and died within hours. It's reportedly got a sting so powerful that it feels like you're being electrocuted and set on fire "at the same time." "Sitting proudly in a glass cage, under strict lock and key, we are taking all precautions necessary to keep our gardeners safe," the website explains. "Situated next to Cannabis, Ricin, Henbane and hundreds of narcotic and poisonous plants all with the aim of educating and entertaining." Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter John Knox, lead tour guide at the Poison Garden, said: "The plant usually flowers and produces its fruits when it is less than three metres tall, and it could reach up to 10m in height. The stem, branches, petioles, leaves, and fruits are all covered in the stinging hairs and not to be touched." He added: "The tiny brittle hairs, known as trichomes, are loaded with toxins over the entire plant and if touched, stay in the skin for up to a year. And release the toxin cocktail into the body during triggering events such as touching the affected area, contact with water, or temperature changes." Last year, one Brit decided to grow the plant himself to create awareness. He said at the time: "I don't want to come over as a loon. I'm doing it very safely. Some botanic gardens have these plants as interesting specimens." Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

A farmer has been ordered to pay up a staggering $92,000 (£71,600) after sending a thumbs-up emoji in a text. Chris Achter was speaking with Kent Mickleborough, a grain buyer who worked for South West Terminal Ltd (SWT). A contract for 86 tonnes of flax for $25 a bushel was drafted between the pair, and the order was expected to arrive in November. Mickleborough signed the document and sent Achter a photo, writing: "Please confirm flax contract". Achter responded with a thumbs-up emoji – but the order did not arrive by the intended date. The Court of King’s Bench in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan has said the Canadian farmer must pay a fee of $92,000. They believe the emoji confirmed the contract, which was later breached. In the legal documents, Achter claimed his use of the emoji was to confirm he had received the document and "understood the complete contract would follow by fax or email." He went on to deny that he accepted the emoji as a digital signature of the "incomplete contract," adding: "I did not have time to review the Flax Contract and merely wanted to indicate that I did receive his text message." Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter His legal team argued that "allowing a simple [thumbs up] emoji to signify identity and acceptance would open up the flood gates to allow all sorts of cases coming forward asking for interpretations as to what various different emojis mean … Counsel argues the courts will be inundated with all kinds of cases if this court finds that the [thumbs up] emoji can take the place of a signature." Meanwhile, the buyers adamantly believed the emoji signified Achter accepted the contract. According to AU News, Justice Timothy Keene summarised the case by saying the case "led parties to a far-flung search for the equivalent of the Rosetta stone in cases from Israel, New York State and some tribunals in Canada, etc. to unearth what a [thumbs-up] emoji means." "This court readily acknowledges that a [thumbs-up] emoji is a non-traditional means to ‘sign’ a document, but nevertheless, under these circumstances, this was a valid way to convey the two purposes of a 'signature.'" He continued: "This Court cannot (nor should it) attempt to stem the tide of technology and common usage – this appears to be the new reality in Canadian society, and courts will have to be ready to meet the new challenges that may arise from the use of emojis and the like." Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

Conspiracy theorist and right-wing comedian Owen Benjamin is now claiming that nuclear bombs do not exist because there is evidence of cameras filming nuclear blasts. “It’s weird that the nuclear blasts vaporised brick houses but not the old times camera recording it. It’s because nukes are fake.” Benjamin claims. “Hiroshima and Nagasaki never had any fall out radiation. The whole narrative and all the evidence is absurd.” Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Twitter was quick to add context through community notes saying: “the cameras were in bunkers 5 miles away from ground zero with telescopic lenses allowing for the camera’s to record the nuclear explosion.” In regards to Benjamin’s claim regarding Hiroshima and Nagasaki, they write that they “have no fallout radiation today as the atomic bombs were detonated at an altitude of about 600m.” His tweet has over 10,000 likes. Benjamin follows up his false claims by saying “there are no nuclear bombs with fallout radiation.” And that the whole world is “in on it”. He adds that people have been “tricked” saying “stop being afraid. It’s fake.” Most disagreed and pushed back against Benjamin’s claim. One user asked for his explanation for what happened in Nagasaki and Hiroshima. He replied by saying they were “bombed with conventional firebombs” and told another user that it was “just large amounts of TNT.” Others tried to explain why Benjamin was wrong: But there were some who defended and agreed with Benjamin: Benjamin also claims that the video in his tweet is of a toy model, and that those explaining how the camera was filmed from far away and protected are lying. He replied to a comment from a user saying they “learned something from the community notes”, sarcastically saying, “yeah you can record inside a house from 5 miles away in 1945.” When asked flat out by a user “are nuclear weapons real?” Benjamin replies: “No. Zero evidence they exist outside of Hollywood movies. Remember hiding under your desk? Looking back does that make sense?” This isn’t the first time Benjamin has spread conspiracy theories on Twitter, he has previously engaged in anti-Semitic conspiracy theories and Holocaust denial as well as spreading misinformation about Covid. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

Tech execs tend to announce new apps, features and devices in slick promotional videos, and Instagram boss Adam Mosseri was no different when he shared a Reel announcing the launch of Meta’s Twitter rival, Threads, earlier this week – one which has since been parodied by one content creator. Just days after Elon Musk’s Twitter suffered a significant outage at the start of July - and had to implement controversial, but temporary reading limits on tweets - Mark Zuckerberg’s company started teasing its “civil”, text-based alternative ahead of it eventually being released in the UK at midnight on Thursday (7pm ET). After the launch, Mosseri released a video explainer on his own Instagram profile in which he said: “We’re hoping to bring some of what we’ve built for photos and videos on Instagram to Threads with text. “Now the idea is there’s an amazing community on Instagram, and wonderful creators, and we want to create a space where we can engage in public conversations that is friendly, and that is open.” And it’s certainly proved popular, with Zuckerberg reporting more than 10 million sign-ups to the app after seven hours of it being available to the public. But one Instagram content creator decided to create his own take on Mosseri’s Reel, with a greater focus on Threads’ similarities with Twitter. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Posing as the Instagram boss, Dan Toomey opens his parody by describing Threads as “some new s*** to waste your time on from Instagram”. “Threads is for public arguments, cyber-bullying and the occasional post from a fast-food chain that goes too far – in other words, Twitter. “Now the idea is there’s an amazing opportunity to end Twitter while it’s down, like we saw a wounded deer on the side of the road and we just jammed our thumb into the side of its neck very slowly, so we can feel the last drop of life exit its body,” he continued, before a voice can be heard off-camera saying “too far, Adam”. As Toomey’s version of Mosseri carries on talking about the supposed benefits of Threads, the necklace sported by his character starts undergoing some changes with every cut, at one point turning into a pair of scissors dangling from a chain. Toomey continued: “So we’re going to bring a lot of the good creators from Twitter over to Instagram with Threads – people like BTS stans, the kid who doxes billionaires’ planes [Jack Sweeney’s ElonJet] and millions and millions of furry porn accounts. “And we’re also looking to integrate Mastodon, which is a decentralised, social media bulls*** thing.” Toomey’s take on the latest social media platform to take up some storage space on your phone has been branded “genius” by commenters on Instagram. One wrote: “The constantly changing necklace pendants really tie this thing together.” “No one’s picked up on the El*n [sic] photo in the background yet,” noted another. A third commented: “The fact that you made like seven necklaces for this is just perfect. Never change, Adam.” And yes, Mosseri himself – the real Adam - has actually seen it, sharing it to his Instagram story and on his Threads profile, where he added: “The changing necklace pendants really got me you b******.” Wholesome. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

By Emma Farge GENEVA Robots presented at an AI forum said on Friday they expected to increase in

An innocent man has been blamed for a distressed passenger's demands to get off a flight after accusing someone of not being real. The incident took place on an American Airlines flight when a woman was recorded pacing up the plane aisle, saying she needed to get off the flight. "I’m telling you, I’m getting the f*** off, and there’s a reason why I’m getting the f*** off," she yelled as confused onlookers watched on. "And everyone can either believe it, or they can not believe it. I don’t give two f***s." "But I am telling you right now, that motherf***er back there is not real." Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter The passenger continued: "And you can sit on this plane, and you can f***ing die with them or not. I’m not going to." The footage soon spiralled on social media, with many users speculating what actually happened. Some accused the woman of alcohol consumption, while others used the clip as fuel for shapeshifting conspiracy theories. But now, in a bizarre turn of events, a random man is getting the blame for the passenger's meltdown – and he wasn't even on the flight. In yet another example for don't believe everything you see on the internet, one innocent man's face has been shared online with accusations that he was the person she was alluding to. "This is a still taken from a video in 2022," one TikToker highlighted. "This picture's going around and everybody's like 'his eyes aren't right' and 'he looks shady'". She continued: "Poor dude, he's probably like 'what did I do?'" Indy100 reached out to American Airlines for comment. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

In anticipation for the release of the Barbie movie later this month US ice-cream chain Cold Stone Creamery has launched its Barbie Shake. The cotton candy flavoured milkshake has found itself at the centre of a new TikTok trend similar to the recent Grimace craze over TikTok. On TikTok, users - especially men - are filming themselves taking a sip of the milkshake, twirling, and being transformed into an outfit that would make Barbie proud. Often with Aqua’s iconic 'Barbie World' playing in the background. Whilst some users opted for Nicki Mina and Ice Spice’s version which is part of the movie’s soundtrack. It’s essentially the opposite of the Grimace shake trend, where people pretend that McDonald’s mascot shake is making them extremely ill. Instead, the Barbie shake makes you feel fabulous. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter It’s unclear how the recent trend started. According to KnowYourMeme, users began joking that they had been “yassified” after drinking the shake, and eventually, it leaked over onto TikTok, roughly around early July. The hashtag #barbieshake has over 6 million views. One user uploaded a video of himself being transformed by the shake, which now has almost 2 million views and over 300k likes. Another user who goes by the name Catinator, has over 600k likes and shows him spinning around and finding himself in a pink dress and blonde wig in true Barbie fashion. @whistlin_gasoline The Barbie Shake Slaayyyyyss?? #carsoftiktok #barbieshake #barbie ?: @Click-a-tron @catinatorgg Tried the new Barbie Shake ??♀️?? #barbie #barbieshake Of course, some are putting their own twist on the trend, with user @ceekayyefilmed filming herself drinking the shake and instead of transforming into Barbie they transformed in J. Robert Oppenheimer, the atomic bomb scientist. Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer is releasing the same day as “Barbie”. @ceekayye Make sure they give you the right flavor if youre going to try the Barbie Shake ✋ #barbieshake #barbie #oppenheimer #grimaceshake Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

The vivacious doll has held an expansive real estate portfolio since 1962, when her first (foldable) Dreamhouse was unveiled.

By Emma Farge GENEVA Nadine, a social robot powered by Artificial Intelligence (AI) with human-like gestures and expressions,

A woman was left feeling mortified after finding what she believed to be a 'bag of blood' in her hotel room. The Florida woman went viral online after sharing her alleged discovery at a hotel late last month. She claimed the room hadn't been cleaned, with claims of a bag of rubbish and an unmade bed on arrival. Her fury amplified when she opened up the wardrobe and reportedly found a clear bag filled with a red substance. She went on to contact hotel staff, who believed it to be a foetus. "We’re contracted with Planned Parenthood," the housekeeper said, according to the guest. "This looks like an aborted foetus. We’re just going to take it." The clip showed the member of staff carrying the bag down the hallway. Police were also contacted to investigate. Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter The guest went on to demand a full refund, saying: That wasn’t just something you just put on somebody like that and expect them to just go on about their day. This was the worst day ever. So I was like, I want my money back." Luckily, the mysterious substance turned out to be a lot less sinister – but still rather gruesome. In a statement to the Florida Standard, the hotel explained how the red substance was wine and vomit. "In response to the serious allegation, our staff immediately contacted law enforcement and a thorough investigation was conducted. A forensic analysis concluded that the allegation was false," a spokesperson told the outlet. "We take all guest concerns very seriously, and we strive to maintain the highest standards of cleanliness and safety for all our guests." Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

The Grimace Shake has taken over TikTok, and now it’s taking over the world of video games too. In case you missed it, the bizarre trend revolves around a limited-edition purple milkshake which was released to celebrate the 52nd birthday of the McDonald’s character. It quickly became the strangest meme on TikTok, which sees users drink it, then pretend to be dead after consuming it. It’s all very weird, and McDonald's workers are seemingly over it completely – but it’s made an impression across pop culture. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Now, the gaming world is waking up to it too and it’s even reached the Skyrim community. The action role-playing video game has been popular for more than a decade, and now it’s received a new mod which adds the Grimace shake into its fantasy setting. Drinking Grimace Shake In Skyrim! www.youtube.com The Grimace Mead mod was uploaded by user MissleMann and can be bought in-game from Belethor’s General Goods in Whiterun. Its description reads: “Go and purchase the one-of-a-kind mead Belethor made to celebrate his good friend’s birthday. He only has one, just for you! So make sure to enjoy it! Happy Birthday Grimace!” While there’s not much in terms of description, there’s a playthrough available to watch on YouTube which offers a flavour of what to expect. There’s definitely a lot more purple for players to take in after consuming the Grimace Meal, while the drink also causes a number of side-effects after being consumed. Who knows where the Grimace Shake will turn up next. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

Cocaine has been detected inside the White House, and it’s already become the internet’s new favourite meme. A brief evacuation of the White House took place over the weekend after a white, powdery substance was found. The Independent learned that it was confirmed as cocaine after being tested and a spokesperson for the US Secret Service gave a statement on Wednesday. According to the statement, it was discovered late Sunday by officers with the Secret Service Uniformed Division in a public waiting area in the West Wing. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Neither President Joe Biden nor any other members of his family were present at the White House during the incident, as the Biden family spent the holiday weekend at Camp David, the US Navy-operated presidential retreat in Thurmont, Maryland. However, that didn’t stop Donald Trump posting on his Truth Social platform and accusing his successor and son, Hunter Biden, of being the rightful owners of the substance. He wrote: “Does anybody really believe that the COCAINE found in the West Wing of the White House, very close to the Oval Office, is for the use of anyone other than Hunter & Joe Biden?” The news has quickly become one of the most talked about things on social media. Here are some of the biggest reactions. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.