Femke Bol closed out world championships by turning in a blazing burst of speed with the finish line in sight to lead the Netherlands to a gold medal in the women’s 4x400 relay

By John Irish PARIS (Reuters) -British-born actress and singer Jane Birkin, a 1960s wildchild who became a beloved figure in

Former President Donald Trump is set to visit South Carolina on Saturday, wrapping up a week that has been defined by his historic third indictment.

Divided G20 leaders will descend on New Delhi from Friday, with host Prime Minister Narendra Modi seizing a chance to occupy the geopolitical centre stage and...

Andrew Tate recently accused YouTube of shadow-banning him and suppressing the truth, claiming that the 'Matrix' wants people to 'hate' him

Tom Holland recalled a scene from 2005's 'Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire', where he fell head over heels for Emma Watson

NASHVILLE, Tenn. & ORANGE, Calif. & ATLANTA & BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct 10, 2023--

The feats achieved by the Ancient Egyptians have long flummoxed even the most renowned experts. For example, how on earth did they build the Great Pyramid of Giza? It’s taken centuries for scientists and archaeologists to come up with an answer, and even that’s not set in stone. But now, researchers believe they’ve finally worked out how the Great Sphinx was made more than 4,500 years ago. Sure, there’s a pretty broad consensus about how the face of the giant limestone statue was created – it was most likely hand-carved by stone masons. But the imposing, multi-layered body had continued to evade explanation. However, researchers at New York University, have finally concluded that the body came about. And it wasn’t all thanks to the masonry skills of local workers. They believe that the shape was sculpted by Mother Nature herself, in the form wind. “Our findings offer a possible ‘origin story’ for how Sphinx-like formations can come about from erosion,” Leif Ristroph, senior author of the study, said in a statement. “Our laboratory experiments showed that surprisingly Sphinx-like shapes can, in fact, come from materials being eroded by fast flows.” For their study, the team took harder rock encased in mounds of soft clay to mimic the terrain along the Nile River in northeastern Egypt. They then washed over these formations with a fast-flowing stream of water to replicate the wind and, in the end, the clay assumed a Sphinx-like shape. The resulting form consisted of a lion’s “head,” “neck,” “paws” laid out in front and an arched “back". “There are, in fact, yardangs (rock features formed by air erosion) in existence today that look like seated or lying animals, lending support to our conclusions,” Ristroph pointed out. Still, we’re sure Ristroph would be the first to admit that he and his colleagues weren’t the first to come up with the aeolian erosion theory. In 1981, geologist Farouk El-Baz suggested that the iconic Sphinx was originally a flat-topped shape that was worn down by wind over time. Furthermore, El-Baz believed that the builders of Ancient Egypt would have known of these natural processes, and so carefully selected the shapes of their most iconic structures to withstand them. "Today, the pyramids of Giza exist in perfect harmony with their windy environment," the scientist said back in 2001. "Had the ancients built their monuments in the shape of a cube, a rectangle, or even a stadium, they would have been erased by the ravages of wind erosion long ago." Nevertheless, the New York University team were the first to show exactly how this phenomenon could have occurred, and their findings have broader implications. "The work may also be useful to geologists as it reveals factors that affect rock formations—namely, that they are not homogeneous or uniform in composition,” Ristroph said. "The unexpected shapes come from how the flows are diverted around the harder or less-erodible parts." Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter 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 struggling Carolina Panthers have placed three more players on injured reserve, including defensive back Jeremy Chinn (quadriceps), outside linebacker Yetur Gross-Matos (hamstring) and tight end Gio Ricci (shoulder)

There’s something magical, even romantic, about the idea of finding a message in a bottle. It evokes dreams of far-off shipwrecks and intimate capsules from the past. But, in fact, the reality of finding such a missive can be a lot more prosaic – and even downright disturbing – as one couple discovered last week. The pair, named Rick and Crystal, were enjoying a seaside stroll on a beach in North Queensland, Australia, when they spotted a mysterious bottle in the waves. Filming their find for TikTok, Rick grabbed the clear, glass container, which contained a piece of paper along with what looked like sand, and handed it to his partner to open up. Realising the neck was too narrow for her fingers, they tipped it upside down, sending the dusty-looking contents pouring out. Crystal was still unable to pull out the note, but she managed to read it through the murky glass. “Here lies the ashes of Geoffrey,” she said, before blurting out “argh” with horror. Continuing, she read: “If found, please throw the bottle in the outgoing tide so I can continue my journey.” Realising that they had just chucked away the cremated remains of a man and ruined his final wish, Rick replied awkwardly: Oops.” @auslapourway This was not a set up, it was a total accident. #FNQGeoffrey#ashes#ooops#soz#gatheredGeoffbackbinbottle#thrownbackout Their video racked up more than 1.8 million views and 234,000 likes in just five days, as thousands of fellow TikTokers shared their morbid glee at the alleged mishap. “Looks like his journey has ended twice” wrote one commentator. “Well anyways welcome to Australia Geoff,” joked another. “Omg that’s my dad,” wrote a third, along with a grimacing emoji. “Okay but why would you put a message in a bottle and not think someone would open it?” mused a fourth. A fifth suggested that the couple may not have been the first to may the mistake. “Wonder how full the bottle was originally,” they wrote, to which Rick replied: “Haha yer we thought that.” A sixth recommended that the pair “just put some sand back in there and chuck it back in”. “No one will ever know,” they added. “That’s exactly what I did,” Rick admitted in response. “Tried to get all of him back in there. Felt bad bro.” Well, even if Geoff’s physical journey ended there, at least he’s now travelled the world through social media. Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter 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

Twitch streamer Kai Cenat announced his participation in NBA 2K24 and shared a clip of himself getting scanned for the game with fans

Carolina Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour says forward Teuvo Teravainen is set to return from injury for Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Final against Florida