Offbeat

Turkey’s Treasury and Finance Ministry is using artificial intelligence to track down money earned by psychics and fortune tellers as part of a broader drive to combat the informal economy and boost tax revenue.

The ministry has turned its attention to the rapid growth of online services such as astrology, spiritualism, star charting, magic, meditation, and numerology — many of which operate without clear regulation.

According to state-run Anadolu Agency, AI technologies have been engaged to track digital footprints across multiple platforms, including social media, online payment systems, and messaging services such as WhatsApp and Telegram.

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Eleven rare bottles of Prohibition-era whiskey found buried on a beach near Margate Pier (www.inquirer.com)

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How a Runaway Dog Became a Hero for New Orleans (www.nytimes.com)

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For months, Scrim ran wild around the city, eluding capture and developing a giant fan base. His saga has inspired tattoos, murals and Mardi Gras floats.

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Sam Jones wombat: US influencer draws backlash for taking baby wombat from mum (www.bbc.com)

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Florida woman arrested for aggravated battery with a Pringles can (www.wesh.com)

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Archive/mirror: https://archive.ph/GWcNj

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Air India confirms Chicago plane returned due to clogged toilets (www.bbc.com)

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Octopuses are now punching fish in the face. This video shows exactly why | Discover Wildlife (www.discoverwildlife.com)

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Watch: Demolition takes down record-breaking rollercoaster (www.bbc.com)

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German Soccer Player's Child Bites Referee's Testicle Forcing Game to Be Canceled (www.latintimes.com)

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Archive/mirror: https://archive.ph/FYVdV

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Fake captain steals $8 million fishing vessel (www.nationalfisherman.com)

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Archive/mirror: https://archive.ph/7ccUp

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Guizhou: Chinese foodies pose as mourners to try funeral home's noodles (www.bbc.com)

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Underweight baby seal is rescued from Connecticut streets and recovering at an aquarium (www.independent.co.uk)

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If you want more marine mammal content but from the PNW side of things, [email protected]

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Couples Exchange Bacteria During Intercourse. It Might Help Track Down Sexual Assault Perpetrators. (www.smithsonianmag.com)

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‘Cake Bandit’ opossum hospitalized after indulging in an entire Costco cake (www.aol.com)

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Archive/mirror: https://archive.ph/2xk8V

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Ancient Egyptian mummies smell "spicy" and "sweet", study finds (www.bbc.com)

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The authors of the academic study, published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society on Thursday, had to get the smell from inside the sarcophagus without interfering with the mummy inside.

The researchers, from UCL and the University of Ljubljana in Slovenia, did so by inserting a tiny tube so they were able measure the scent without taking any physical samples.

If you want to smell the smell too

They say recreating the composition of the smells chemically will allow others to experience a mummy's whiff - and help to tell when the bodies inside may be starting to rot.

"We want to share the experience we had smelling the mummified bodies, so we're reconstructing the smell to be presented in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo," Cecilia Bembibre, one of the researchers, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

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A humpback whale briefly swallows kayaker in Chilean Patagonia — and it's all captured on camera (apnews.com)

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Over $1 million in olive oil stolen from Montreal trucking company (www.ctvnews.ca)

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Archive/mirror: https://archive.ph/XKvEk

First it was egg thieves, now olive oil. What's next, bacon bandits?