# data[].attributes.body
Bella Edwards

# data[].attributes.body
Three scientists from Berlin were awarded the Noble Prize for discovering gravitational waves.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
BERLIN-As expected by many, the 2017 Nobel Prize for physics went to three scientists who helped detect gravitational waves, ripples in space-time predicted by Einstein.

"This year's prize is about a discovery that shook the world," said physicist Thors Hans Hansson, announcing the winners from Stockholm.

Half of the 9 million Swedish krona ($1.1 million) award will go to Rainer Weiss of MIT. The other half will go jointly to Barry Barish and Kip Thorne of Caltech. All three were founders of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory, or LIGO, which detected gravitational waves for the first time in 2015.

Albert Einstein had theorized that space-time can be stretched and compressed by collisions of massive objects in the universe. However, experimental proof for such events eluded scientists for 100 years. [ The 18 Biggest Unsolved Mysteries in Physics]

On Sept. 14, 2015, LIGO's two extremely sensitive instruments in Washington state and Louisiana simultaneously observed a faint gravitational-wave signal. The ripples in space-time came from a pair of two massive black holes that spiraled into each other 1.3 billion years ago.

It took scientists such a long time to arrive at the discovery because gravitational waves - even though they come from violent, powerful collisions - are extremely small once they reach Earth.

During the event detected in September 2015, scientists think that about three times the mass of the sun was transformed into gravitational waves in less than a second. [ How Gravitational Waves Work (Infographic)]

The L-shaped LIGO detectors have two arms, each 2.48 miles (4 kilometers) long, with identical laser beams inside. If a gravitational wave passes through Earth, the laser in one arm of the detector will be compressed and the other will expand. But the changes are tiny - as tiny as one-thousandth of a diameter of a nucleon, said Walter Winkler, a physicist with the Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics in Hannover, Germany.

"You have first to keep all the distortions out and then to increase the sensitivity of the measurement system," Winkler, who has worked on gravitational wave detection since the 1970s, told Live Science. "It took thousands of people to come to this. It's really a new sort of astronomy."

The Nobel Committee acknowledged that the discovery was a huge collaborative effort. The paper announcing the September 2015 detection had more than 1,000 authors. But, according to the Nobel rules, the prize can be shared by no more than three scientists.

"Without them the discovery would not have happened," Nils Mårtensson, the chairman of the Nobel Committee for Physics, said of the three winners during a news conference in Stockholm.

Scientists here at the German Physical Society (DPG) cheered the results.

"I had really hoped for it because it's a fantastic discovery," DPG President Rolf-Dieter Heuer told Live Science. He added that the detection of gravitational waves opens "a window into an unseen world that will bring us more information in the future about the universe."

The findings might seem esoteric, but Heuer said that it's difficult to predict when and in which field this research could have practical applications. He noted that it took more than 40 years for the discovery of antimatter to be used in positron emission tomography, or PET, scans common in hospitals today.

Some had expected the LIGO team to win the prize last year. But Gunnar Ingelman, Secretary of the Nobel Committee and a professor of subatomic physics at Uppsala University in Sweden, said the detection of gravitational waves was not eligible last year. According to the rules of the committee, the discovery has to be published the year before the awards are announced. (The LIGO detection was published in February 2016.)

The LIGO team has made several additional discoveries. Just last week, LIGO scientists announced they had detected gravitational waves for the fourth time, on Aug. 14, 2017. The ripples were also detected by another instrument called VIRGO, near Pisa, Italy.

"In the early days, it was not clear if these gravitational waves were real or could be observed," Ingelman told reporters here by video. "It was an enormous effort to reach the sensitivity to build a detector which could actually observe such tiny, tiny distortions."

Originally published on Live Science.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Nobel Prize awarded for sensational gravitational waves discovery

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
BERLIN-As expected by many, the 2017 Nobel Prize for physics went to three scientists who helped detect gravitational waves, ripples in space-time predicted by Einstein. "This year's prize is about a discovery that shook the world," said physicist Thors Hans Hansson, announcing the winners from Stockholm.

# data[].attributes.body
Plague outbreak in Madagascar

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The latest figures are from October 12. An estimated 329 of these cases, and 25 deaths, were in the capital, Antananarivo.

The cases, reported by both the World Health Organization ( WHO) and the National Bureau for Risk and Disaster Management ( BNGRC) in Madagascar, include probable and suspected cases as well those that have been confirmed by laboratory tests.

While the country experiences regular outbreaks, with an estimated 400 cases of plague each year, this time things are very different, experts warn.

This year, health officials report the infections started much earlier than usual, and they're occurring in new areas, including urban settings. They've also seen an unexpected number of cases of pneumonic plague, which transmits more easily from person to person.

Of the 684 cases reported as of October 12, 474 were pneumonic plague, 156 bubonic and 1 septicemic plague. A further 54 were unspecified, according to WHO.

Of Madagascar's 114 districts, 35 have reported cases of plague, including at least 10 cities.

Plague is caused by infection with the bacterium Yersinia pestis and is typically spread through the bite of infected fleas, frequently carried by rats, causing bubonic plague. Symptoms include painful, swollen lymph nodes, called bubos, as well as fever, chills and coughing.

Pneumonic plague is more virulent or damaging and is an advanced form characterized by a severe lung infection. The infection can be transmitted from person to person via airborne droplets -- coughing or sneezing. The incubation period is short, and an infected person may die within 12 to 24 hours.

Both forms can be treated with antibiotics, making early detection a priority.

Occasionally there can be cases of septicemic plague, where the infection has spread to a person's bloodstream and can cause bleeding and necrosis of tissue, turning it black.

The government has mobilized resources to spray schools and other public places to fight fleas and rodents and curb the spread of infection. People have also been lining up at pharmacies in the capital -- some wearing face masks -- to get medications or protection.

To further reduce the spread of the disease, public schools are closed and the government has forbidden public gatherings, according to the International Federation of the Red Cross (IFRC).

International control effort

"The international community is taking this very seriously," said Daniel Bausch, director of the UK Public Health Rapid Support Team. Launched in 2016, this team consists of clinicians, scientists and academics deployed to tackle outbreaks of disease around the world within 48 hours.

An international response is being mustered to support the Madagascar Ministry of Public Health, with contributions from the UK Public Health Rapid Support Team, WHO, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors without Borders), the Institute Pasteur and many others, said Bausch.

WHO delivered more than 1.2 million doses of antibiotics and released $1.5 million in emergency funds earlier this month.

The Red Cross has released more than $1 million to deploy a treatment center and has mobilized more than 1,000 volunteers and is upgrading their skills on community surveillance, finding and monitoring people who have been in contact with infected patients and insightful messaging to stop the spread of this disease.

The treatment center will "take the pressure off the hospitals and clinics so they can handle other issues," an IFRC spokesperson told CNN. "Pneumonic plague can be controlled, so it's really about scaling up treatment and community awareness." The size and location of the center is yet to be confirmed.

The IFRC further stressed the importance of getting local communities in Madagascar to understand the differences in this year's outbreak, as they are used to outbreaks of bubonic plague, spread by rats and fleas, rather than humans.

Why things escalated this year

Though the country is endemic for the plague, the surprising occurrence of cases in cities as well as them presenting earlier than usual meant health authorities weren't ready -- fueling a rapid spread of the disease, according to Dr. Charlotte Ndiaye, WHO representative in Madagascar.

Typically, outbreaks occur during the rainy season, between November and March. "The rains drive the rodents out," said Bausch, which also explains why cases are usually the bubonic form.

But this year, cases began three months early, in August.

The outbreak began after the death of a man in the central highlands of the country -- a plague-endemic area -- after which the Ministry of Public Health began investigating and tracing his contacts, according to the WHO.

In late September, a man from the Seychelles -- who was in Madagascar to take part in the Indian Ocean Club Championship basketball tournament -- died in a hospital from pneumonic plague. Health officials are urgently tracing individuals who had contact with the man and have started an investigation into the case.

Going up before coming down

"There is still considerable risk of national spread within Madagascar," said Bausch.

Ndiaye agreed more cases are likely to be reported. "We expect there to be a further increase, in part because surveillance has improved and therefore health authorities will receive reports of more cases from more areas," she said.

"We don't have estimations on what is expected," Ndiaye told CNN, adding that everything is now in place to treat people, provide drugs and trace contacts.

"The problem in Madagascar is we have 25 million people and it's a very big island," she said.

'Low risk of international spread'

While experts predict the number of cases will rise in the coming weeks within Madagascar, there is only a moderate risk of spread within the region -- likely to be isolated cases -- and a low risk internationally, said Bausch.

Ndiaye agreed that "the risk of international spread is low, because generally, people with plague are too sick to travel."

She explained that WHO is working closely with Madagascar's airport authorities to ensure sanitary measures -- such as temperature checks and medical teams -- are in place at airports and ports to prevent the spread of infection outside the country. The group is also working closely with neighboring countries.

Travel and trade restrictions have not been advised.

It's "important to recognize that, unlike Ebola, plague is easily treated with antibiotics," said Bausch. "With very good outcomes, as long as detected and treated early."

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Plague outbreak leaves 57 dead in Madagascar

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The latest figures are from October 12. An estimated 329 of these cases, and 25 deaths, were in the capital, Antananarivo. The cases, reported by both the World Health Organization ( WHO) and the National Bureau for Risk and Disaster Management ( BNGRC) in Madagascar, include probable and suspected cases as well those that have been confirmed by laboratory tests.

# data[].attributes.body
Worlds of Fun is shutting down the Haunt until further notice because of saturday's tornado

# data[].attributes.body
Passengers aboard an AirAsia flight have criticized the flight crew for allegedly screaming as the plane plummeted, following an apparent pressurization issue in the cabin.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Inside AirAsia flight as it dropped 20,000 feet - CNN Video

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Passengers aboard an AirAsia flight have criticized the flight crew for allegedly screaming as the plane plummeted, following an apparent pressurization issue in the cabin.

# data[].attributes.body
Bodies of two missing California hikers found locked in embrace, police say

# data[].attributes.body
A cosmic collision creates $10 octillion in gold. The crash happened 130 million years ago but signal didn't reach earth until Aug. 17

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
It was a faint signal, but it told of one of the most violent acts in the universe, and it would soon reveal secrets of the cosmos, including how gold was created.

Forbes estimated that the collision created an estimated $10 octillion in gold, which is $10 billion, billion, billion.

What they witnessed in mid-August and revealed Monday was the long-ago collision of two neutron stars - a phenomenon California Institute of Technology's David H. Reitze called "the most spectacular fireworks in the universe."

The crash happened 130 million years ago, while dinosaurs still roamed on Earth, but the signal didn't arrive on Earth until Aug. 17 after traveling 130 million light-years. A light-year is 5.88 trillion miles.

"We already knew that iron came from a stellar explosion, the calcium in your bones came from stars and now we know the gold in your wedding ring came from merging neutron stars," said University of California Santa Cruz's Ryan Foley.

Measurements of the light and other energy emanating from the crash have helped scientists explain how planet-killing gamma ray bursts are born, how fast the universe is expanding, and where heavy elements like platinum and gold come from.

"This is getting everything you wish for," said Syracuse University physics professor Duncan Brown, one of more than 4,000 scientists involved in the blitz of science that the crash kicked off. "This is our fantasy observation."

It started in a galaxy called NGC 4993, seen from Earth in the Hydra constellation. Two neutron stars, collapsed cores of stars so dense that a teaspoon of their matter would weigh 1 billion tons, danced ever faster and closer together until they collided, said Carnegie Institution astronomer Maria Drout.

The crash, called a kilonova, generated a fierce burst of gamma rays and a gravitational wave, a faint ripple in the fabric of space and time, first theorized by Albert Einstein.

"This is like a cosmic atom smasher at a scale far beyond humans would be capable of building," said Andy Howell, a staff scientist at the Las Cumbres Observatory. "We finally now know what happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object and it's a kilonova."

Signals were picked up within 1.7 seconds of each other, by NASA's Fermi telescope, which detects gamma rays, and gravity wave detectors in Louisiana and Washington state that are a part of the LIGO Laboratory , whose founders won a Nobel Prize earlier this month. A worldwide alert went out to focus telescopes on what became the most well-observed astronomical event in history.

Before August, the only other gravity waves detected by LIGO were generated by colliding black holes. But black holes let no light escape, so astronomers could see nothing.

This time there was plenty to see, measure and analyze: matter, light, and other radiation. The Hubble Space Telescope even got a snapshot of the afterglow.

Finding where the crash happened wasn't easy. Eventually scientists narrowed the location down to 100 galaxies, began a closer search of those, and found it in the ninth galaxy they looked at.

It is like "the classic challenge of finding a needle in the haystack with the added challenge that the needle is fading away and the haystack is moving," said Marcelle Soares-Santos, an astrophysicist at Brandeis University.

"The completeness of this picture from the beginning to the end is unprecedented," said Columbia University physics professor Szabolcs Marka. "There are many, many extraordinary discoveries within the discovery."

The colliding stars spewed bright blue, super-hot debris that was dense and unstable. Some of it coalesced into heavy elements, like gold, platinum and uranium. Scientists had suspected neutron star collisions had enough power to create heavier elements, but weren't certain until they witnessed it.

"We see the gold being formed," said Syracuse's Brown.

Calculations from a telescope measuring ultraviolet light showed that the combined mass of the heavy elements from this explosion is 1,300 times the mass of Earth. And all that stuff - including lighter elements - was thrown out in all different directions and is now speeding across the universe.

Perhaps one day the material will clump together into planets the way ours was formed, Reitze said - maybe ones with rich veins of precious metals.

The crash also helped explain the origins of one of the most dangerous forces of the cosmos - short gamma ray bursts, focused beams of radiation that could erase life on any planet that happened to get in the way. These bursts shoot out in two different directions perpendicular to where the two neutron stars first crash, Reitze said.

Luckily for us, the beams of gamma rays were not focused on Earth and were generated too far away to be a threat, he said.

Scientists knew that the universe has been expanding since the Big Bang. By using LIGO to measure gravitational waves while watching this event unfold, researchers came up with a new estimate for how fast that is happening, the so-called Hubble Constant. Before this, scientists came up with two slightly different answers using different techniques. The rough figure that came out of this event is between the original two, Reitze said.

The first optical images showed a bright blue dot that was very hot, which was likely the start of the heavy element creation process amid the neutron star debris, Drout said. After a day or two that blue faded, becoming much fainter and redder. And after three weeks it was completely gone, she said.

This almost didn't happen. Eight days after the signal came through, the LIGO gravitational waves were shut down for a year's worth of planned upgrades. A month later the whole area where the crash happened would have been blocked from astronomers' prying eyes by the sun.

Scientists involved with the search for gravitational waves said this was the event they had prepared for over more than 20 years.

The findings are "of spectacular importance," said Penn State physicist Abhay Ashtekar, who wasn't part of the research. "This is really brand new."

Almost all of the discoveries confirmed existing theories, but had not been proven - an encouraging result for theorists who have been trying to explain what is happening in the cosmos, said France Cordova, an astrophysicist who directs the National Science Foundation.

"We so far have been unable to prove Einstein wrong," said Georgia Tech physics professor Laura Cadonati. "But we're going to keep trying."
The Associated Press contributed to this report

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Astronomers strike gold, witness massive cosmic collision

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
It was a faint signal, but it told of one of the most violent acts in the universe, and it would soon reveal secrets of the cosmos, including how gold was created. Forbes estimated that the collision created an estimated $10 octillion in gold, which is $10 billion, billion, billion.

# data[].attributes.body
10 Secrets Traffic Cops Aren’t Telling You About Avoiding a Speeding Ticket

1. as a general matter you can probably drive a few miles per hour above the speed limit without attracting the attention of police officers
2.SLOW DOWN NEAR SCHOOLS

etc.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
10 Secrets Traffic Cops Aren't Telling You About Avoiding a Speeding Ticket

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
We're not saying you should speed. But we do know a few tricks to keep you under the 'radar,' so to speak.

# data[].attributes.body
North Korea's deputy U.N. ambassador warned Monday that the situation on the Korean peninsula "has reached the touch-and-go point and a nuclear war may break out any moment."

# data[].attributes.body
ISIS main operation in Raqqa has been ended, ISIS has used this place to plan various terrorist attacks. The fight against them in Raqqa has been declared over and have captured the leaders in Raqqa. There are still some resistance left.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The Mandalay Bay security guard who disappeared last week moments before he was scheduled to break his silence in television interviews has not been seen since he went to a walk-in health clinic, his union president said.

David Hickey of the Security, Police, and Fire Professionals of America (SPFPA) told reporters Friday that he got a text the night before saying Jesus Campos was taken to a UMC Quick Care facility, though he did not specify where or whom the text came from.

A spokesperson at the UMC Quick Care, which has eight locations throughout the Las Vegas area, told Fox News on Monday that they had "heard nothing" about Campos visiting them.

Multiple requests from Fox News for SPFPA to comment on the matter were not returned Monday.

Hickey said he was meeting with MGM officials Thursday afternoon in the hours before Campos' scheduled television appearances, including one with Fox News.
LAS VEGAS SECURITY GUARD JESUS CAMPOS DISAPPEARS MOMENTS BEFORE TV INTERVIEWS
But when the meeting ended, Campos had fled.

"For the past four days he's been preparing ... we had a meeting with MGM officials, and after that meeting was over, we talked about the interviews, we went to a private area, and when we came out, Mr. Campos was gone," Hickey told reporters, according to Fox 5 Las Vegas.

Hickey said Campos had requested to go public and wanted to tell his story and move on from the Oct. 1 shooting investigation. Police say he was shot just before the crazed gunman killed 58 at music festival on the Las Vegas Strip - though the sequence of events is still in dispute.

Campos was last photographed in public on Oct. 10, accepting an "SPFPA Hero Award" for bravery in the line of duty, while dining with Hickey and others at a high-end Vegas steakhouse. But soon afterward, investigators said that the security guard was shot before the massacre, raising questions about whether the hotel did enough to prevent the bloodshed.

Hickey has said that before he vanished, Campus was looking forward to telling his side of the story.

"Right now I'm just concerned where my member is, and what his condition is. It's highly unusual," Hickey said Friday. "I'm hoping everything is OK with him and I'm sure MGM or the union will let (media) know when we hear something," he said.
Fox News' Greg Norman contributed to this report.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Las Vegas guard Jesus Campos vanished after visiting urgent-care clinic, union leader says

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The Mandalay Bay security guard who disappeared last week moments before he was scheduled to break his silence in television interviews has not been seen since he went to a walk-in health clinic, his union president said.

# data[].attributes.body
Astronomers strike gold, witness massive cosmic collision

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
It was a faint signal, but it told of one of the most violent acts in the universe, and it would soon reveal secrets of the cosmos, including how gold was created.

Forbes estimated that the collision created an estimated $10 octillion in gold, which is $10 billion, billion, billion.

What they witnessed in mid-August and revealed Monday was the long-ago collision of two neutron stars - a phenomenon California Institute of Technology's David H. Reitze called "the most spectacular fireworks in the universe."

The crash happened 130 million years ago, while dinosaurs still roamed on Earth, but the signal didn't arrive on Earth until Aug. 17 after traveling 130 million light-years. A light-year is 5.88 trillion miles.

"We already knew that iron came from a stellar explosion, the calcium in your bones came from stars and now we know the gold in your wedding ring came from merging neutron stars," said University of California Santa Cruz's Ryan Foley.

Measurements of the light and other energy emanating from the crash have helped scientists explain how planet-killing gamma ray bursts are born, how fast the universe is expanding, and where heavy elements like platinum and gold come from.

"This is getting everything you wish for," said Syracuse University physics professor Duncan Brown, one of more than 4,000 scientists involved in the blitz of science that the crash kicked off. "This is our fantasy observation."

It started in a galaxy called NGC 4993, seen from Earth in the Hydra constellation. Two neutron stars, collapsed cores of stars so dense that a teaspoon of their matter would weigh 1 billion tons, danced ever faster and closer together until they collided, said Carnegie Institution astronomer Maria Drout.

The crash, called a kilonova, generated a fierce burst of gamma rays and a gravitational wave, a faint ripple in the fabric of space and time, first theorized by Albert Einstein.

"This is like a cosmic atom smasher at a scale far beyond humans would be capable of building," said Andy Howell, a staff scientist at the Las Cumbres Observatory. "We finally now know what happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object and it's a kilonova."

Signals were picked up within 1.7 seconds of each other, by NASA's Fermi telescope, which detects gamma rays, and gravity wave detectors in Louisiana and Washington state that are a part of the LIGO Laboratory , whose founders won a Nobel Prize earlier this month. A worldwide alert went out to focus telescopes on what became the most well-observed astronomical event in history.

Before August, the only other gravity waves detected by LIGO were generated by colliding black holes. But black holes let no light escape, so astronomers could see nothing.

This time there was plenty to see, measure and analyze: matter, light, and other radiation. The Hubble Space Telescope even got a snapshot of the afterglow.

Finding where the crash happened wasn't easy. Eventually scientists narrowed the location down to 100 galaxies, began a closer search of those, and found it in the ninth galaxy they looked at.

It is like "the classic challenge of finding a needle in the haystack with the added challenge that the needle is fading away and the haystack is moving," said Marcelle Soares-Santos, an astrophysicist at Brandeis University.

"The completeness of this picture from the beginning to the end is unprecedented," said Columbia University physics professor Szabolcs Marka. "There are many, many extraordinary discoveries within the discovery."

The colliding stars spewed bright blue, super-hot debris that was dense and unstable. Some of it coalesced into heavy elements, like gold, platinum and uranium. Scientists had suspected neutron star collisions had enough power to create heavier elements, but weren't certain until they witnessed it.

"We see the gold being formed," said Syracuse's Brown.

Calculations from a telescope measuring ultraviolet light showed that the combined mass of the heavy elements from this explosion is 1,300 times the mass of Earth. And all that stuff - including lighter elements - was thrown out in all different directions and is now speeding across the universe.

Perhaps one day the material will clump together into planets the way ours was formed, Reitze said - maybe ones with rich veins of precious metals.

The crash also helped explain the origins of one of the most dangerous forces of the cosmos - short gamma ray bursts, focused beams of radiation that could erase life on any planet that happened to get in the way. These bursts shoot out in two different directions perpendicular to where the two neutron stars first crash, Reitze said.

Luckily for us, the beams of gamma rays were not focused on Earth and were generated too far away to be a threat, he said.

Scientists knew that the universe has been expanding since the Big Bang. By using LIGO to measure gravitational waves while watching this event unfold, researchers came up with a new estimate for how fast that is happening, the so-called Hubble Constant. Before this, scientists came up with two slightly different answers using different techniques. The rough figure that came out of this event is between the original two, Reitze said.

The first optical images showed a bright blue dot that was very hot, which was likely the start of the heavy element creation process amid the neutron star debris, Drout said. After a day or two that blue faded, becoming much fainter and redder. And after three weeks it was completely gone, she said.

This almost didn't happen. Eight days after the signal came through, the LIGO gravitational waves were shut down for a year's worth of planned upgrades. A month later the whole area where the crash happened would have been blocked from astronomers' prying eyes by the sun.

Scientists involved with the search for gravitational waves said this was the event they had prepared for over more than 20 years.

The findings are "of spectacular importance," said Penn State physicist Abhay Ashtekar, who wasn't part of the research. "This is really brand new."

Almost all of the discoveries confirmed existing theories, but had not been proven - an encouraging result for theorists who have been trying to explain what is happening in the cosmos, said France Cordova, an astrophysicist who directs the National Science Foundation.

"We so far have been unable to prove Einstein wrong," said Georgia Tech physics professor Laura Cadonati. "But we're going to keep trying."
The Associated Press contributed to this report

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Astronomers strike gold, witness massive cosmic collision

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
It was a faint signal, but it told of one of the most violent acts in the universe, and it would soon reveal secrets of the cosmos, including how gold was created. Forbes estimated that the collision created an estimated $10 octillion in gold, which is $10 billion, billion, billion.

# data[].attributes.body
A cosmic collision created almost $10 octillion in gold.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
It was a faint signal, but it told of one of the most violent acts in the universe, and it would soon reveal secrets of the cosmos, including how gold was created.

Forbes estimated that the collision created an estimated $10 octillion in gold, which is $10 billion, billion, billion.

What they witnessed in mid-August and revealed Monday was the long-ago collision of two neutron stars - a phenomenon California Institute of Technology's David H. Reitze called "the most spectacular fireworks in the universe."

The crash happened 130 million years ago, while dinosaurs still roamed on Earth, but the signal didn't arrive on Earth until Aug. 17 after traveling 130 million light-years. A light-year is 5.88 trillion miles.

"We already knew that iron came from a stellar explosion, the calcium in your bones came from stars and now we know the gold in your wedding ring came from merging neutron stars," said University of California Santa Cruz's Ryan Foley.

Measurements of the light and other energy emanating from the crash have helped scientists explain how planet-killing gamma ray bursts are born, how fast the universe is expanding, and where heavy elements like platinum and gold come from.

"This is getting everything you wish for," said Syracuse University physics professor Duncan Brown, one of more than 4,000 scientists involved in the blitz of science that the crash kicked off. "This is our fantasy observation."

It started in a galaxy called NGC 4993, seen from Earth in the Hydra constellation. Two neutron stars, collapsed cores of stars so dense that a teaspoon of their matter would weigh 1 billion tons, danced ever faster and closer together until they collided, said Carnegie Institution astronomer Maria Drout.

The crash, called a kilonova, generated a fierce burst of gamma rays and a gravitational wave, a faint ripple in the fabric of space and time, first theorized by Albert Einstein.

"This is like a cosmic atom smasher at a scale far beyond humans would be capable of building," said Andy Howell, a staff scientist at the Las Cumbres Observatory. "We finally now know what happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object and it's a kilonova."

Signals were picked up within 1.7 seconds of each other, by NASA's Fermi telescope, which detects gamma rays, and gravity wave detectors in Louisiana and Washington state that are a part of the LIGO Laboratory , whose founders won a Nobel Prize earlier this month. A worldwide alert went out to focus telescopes on what became the most well-observed astronomical event in history.

Before August, the only other gravity waves detected by LIGO were generated by colliding black holes. But black holes let no light escape, so astronomers could see nothing.

This time there was plenty to see, measure and analyze: matter, light, and other radiation. The Hubble Space Telescope even got a snapshot of the afterglow.

Finding where the crash happened wasn't easy. Eventually scientists narrowed the location down to 100 galaxies, began a closer search of those, and found it in the ninth galaxy they looked at.

It is like "the classic challenge of finding a needle in the haystack with the added challenge that the needle is fading away and the haystack is moving," said Marcelle Soares-Santos, an astrophysicist at Brandeis University.

"The completeness of this picture from the beginning to the end is unprecedented," said Columbia University physics professor Szabolcs Marka. "There are many, many extraordinary discoveries within the discovery."

The colliding stars spewed bright blue, super-hot debris that was dense and unstable. Some of it coalesced into heavy elements, like gold, platinum and uranium. Scientists had suspected neutron star collisions had enough power to create heavier elements, but weren't certain until they witnessed it.

"We see the gold being formed," said Syracuse's Brown.

Calculations from a telescope measuring ultraviolet light showed that the combined mass of the heavy elements from this explosion is 1,300 times the mass of Earth. And all that stuff - including lighter elements - was thrown out in all different directions and is now speeding across the universe.

Perhaps one day the material will clump together into planets the way ours was formed, Reitze said - maybe ones with rich veins of precious metals.

The crash also helped explain the origins of one of the most dangerous forces of the cosmos - short gamma ray bursts, focused beams of radiation that could erase life on any planet that happened to get in the way. These bursts shoot out in two different directions perpendicular to where the two neutron stars first crash, Reitze said.

Luckily for us, the beams of gamma rays were not focused on Earth and were generated too far away to be a threat, he said.

Scientists knew that the universe has been expanding since the Big Bang. By using LIGO to measure gravitational waves while watching this event unfold, researchers came up with a new estimate for how fast that is happening, the so-called Hubble Constant. Before this, scientists came up with two slightly different answers using different techniques. The rough figure that came out of this event is between the original two, Reitze said.

The first optical images showed a bright blue dot that was very hot, which was likely the start of the heavy element creation process amid the neutron star debris, Drout said. After a day or two that blue faded, becoming much fainter and redder. And after three weeks it was completely gone, she said.

This almost didn't happen. Eight days after the signal came through, the LIGO gravitational waves were shut down for a year's worth of planned upgrades. A month later the whole area where the crash happened would have been blocked from astronomers' prying eyes by the sun.

Scientists involved with the search for gravitational waves said this was the event they had prepared for over more than 20 years.

The findings are "of spectacular importance," said Penn State physicist Abhay Ashtekar, who wasn't part of the research. "This is really brand new."

Almost all of the discoveries confirmed existing theories, but had not been proven - an encouraging result for theorists who have been trying to explain what is happening in the cosmos, said France Cordova, an astrophysicist who directs the National Science Foundation.

"We so far have been unable to prove Einstein wrong," said Georgia Tech physics professor Laura Cadonati. "But we're going to keep trying."
The Associated Press contributed to this report

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Astronomers strike gold, witness massive cosmic collision

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
It was a faint signal, but it told of one of the most violent acts in the universe, and it would soon reveal secrets of the cosmos, including how gold was created. Forbes estimated that the collision created an estimated $10 octillion in gold, which is $10 billion, billion, billion.

# data[].attributes.body
How to break carb cravings, once and for all

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The truth is, despite the popularity of low-carb diets, which often send the message that we should drastically cut back on this food group, carbohydrates are some of the most important things we consume. They are key to regulating blood sugar and providing energy throughout our bodies. Without them, our bodies will rely on protein, breaking it down for energy instead of using it in its preferred role of growing and maintaining tissues.

What's more, eating the "right" kinds of carbs can keep us healthier.

"The people who live the longest, healthiest lives -- who have the lowest rates of diabetes, heart disease and cancer -- their diets are all rich in healthy carbs, including beans, legumes, whole grains and fruit," said Tamara Duker Freuman, a New York City-based registered dietitian.

And so there's nothing wrong with a pasta meal (though whole grain is preferred) or even a sandwich on whole-wheat bread for lunch every day. Simply, the problem is not that we consume carbs; it's that we often consume the wrong kinds of carbs -- and very large portions of them.

Processed carbs are problem carbs

Highly processed carbs -- white bread, sugary cereal, white rice, regular pasta and bagels, for example -- produce rapid rises and drops in blood sugar, which can lead to weight gain. They also can lead to something called metabolic syndrome, which is associated with an increased risk for heart disease, stroke and diabetes.

Metabolic syndrome is "the combination of high triglycerides and low HDL cholesterol, insulin resistance and obesity," explained Dr. David Ludwig, professor of nutrition at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. "And processed carbs are the main dietary drivers." Studies show that "processed carbs top the list for weight gain and diabetes risk," he said.

The tricky part is that the more processed, refined carbs we eat, the more we crave. And so it seems almost impossible to get off the carb-craving hamster wheel.

According to Ludwig, who wrote the book "Always Hungry? Conquer Cravings, Retrain Your Fat Cells, and Lose Weight Permanently," cravings have to do with our consumption of these highly processed, "fast-acting" carbs, which he says are not fundamentally different from sugar, in the biological sense. White bread or any other processed carbohydrate will melt into glucose very quickly -- and so like sugar, it raises blood sugar at a faster rate than slower-digesting carbs that are less processed and higher in fiber. The problem is, that rapid spike in blood sugar is eventually followed by a crash.

Insulin: Miracle-Gro for fat cells

According to Ludwig, what drives most carb cravings is not the taste of the foods per se but rather a biological urge to eat something to restore your blood sugar. And it has to do with the hormone insulin. "Processed carbs cause more insulin secretion, calorie for calorie, than any food," he said.

When you eat processed carbs, blood sugar rises rapidly, and insulin quickly follows, directing incoming calories into liver, muscle and fat cells. But of these, only fat cells have virtually limitless ability to store calories, and too many get trapped there, according to Ludwig. A short while later, the calories in the bloodstream are low, and the body runs out of available fuel, making you hungry too soon after the meal.

In essence, when fat cells get too much energy, there's not enough to fuel the brain, which is constantly monitoring the calories in your blood. "When (the brain) sees calories are dropping, it triggers hunger and cravings," Ludwig said.

And it all relates back to that initial insulin response. "Insulin is the Miracle-Gro for fat cells," he said. "When fat cells grow, we get hungry." And so the cycle repeats, eventually causing weight gain.

How to break carb cravings

Nutrition experts say that breaking carb cravings is not about getting rid of carbs entirely but rather cutting back on highly processed fast-acting carbs and eating more high-quality ones that are high in fiber and low in added sugars, such as beans, whole grains, fruit and vegetables. If you don't know how to get started, this plan can help:

1. Cut out all starchy carbs for one week. This includes all pasta, bread, rice, bagels and potatoes, as well as pizza, crackers, pretzels, chips, cookies and cake.

By cutting starchy carbs and replacing them with foods that have a more modest impact on blood sugar, you can achieve more steady blood sugar control and better manage your cravings, according to Freuman.

A day might include egg whites and cheese with berries for breakfast, yogurt for a snack, a grilled chicken salad with beans for lunch, an apple for a snack and a piece of fish and veggies for dinner.

2. Slash the sugary carbs too, including candy and sugar-sweetened beverages. These sugary carbs rapidly flood the bloodstream, providing lots of sugar without any added nutrition.

3. Add some fat. "Many high-fat foods are luscious and do not cause an insulin release, so they keep your blood sugar much more stable," Ludwig said. Examples include nuts, nut butters, avocado, olive oil, dark chocolate and full-fat dairy. "When you are eating them, you don't miss the processed carbs at all!"

4. After the first week, you can gradually add back high-quality starchy carbs, starting with breakfast.

"Research in a variety of populations has shown that eating carbs at breakfast seems to dampen the blood sugar effect of eating carbs at lunch," Freuman said. What this means is that on a day that you skip breakfast, you may be more likely to have a blood sugar spike after eating a carb-rich lunch, compared with a day when you eat breakfast but have the same lunch. In other words, "don't skip breakfast, and don't skip carbs at breakfast," Freuman said.

High-quality carbs -- including minimally processed grains, along with non-starchy vegetables, whole fruits and beans -- are the ones to choose. They are delicious and slower-digesting, thanks to the way they are naturally packaged, Ludwig said. "If you eat wheat berries, your body has to digest the intact grain kernel, and that's a slow process. But if you mill it and turn it into flour, now that whole package has been broken. Too much of these 'naked carbs' (stripped of their bran and germ, which contain nutrients) will cause metabolic problems for most people."

Breakfast examples with high-quality carbs include steel-cut oats with nuts, seeds and cinnamon; rye crisp bread with scrambled eggs and berries; or Greek yogurt topped with fruit. Freuman recommends beans at breakfast too, "as in a Mexican breakfast with eggs, beans, avocado and salsa."

5. After the second week, you can add back high-quality starchy carbs (i.e. minimally processed grains) to lunch. Good lunch examples include a chickpea or quinoa salad, bean or lentil soups, mushroom barley soup or a sandwich with whole-grain bread. Whole-wheat pasta or chickpea pasta is a good choice too, according to Freuman, though it should take up only about a quarter of the plate, to allow room for veggies and protein.

For the longer term

6. Continue to skip starchy carbs at dinner. "At dinner, when we eat carbs, we are much more likely to have a blood sugar spike and to store that food energy as fat versus having it available for useable energy," Freuman said.

"The metabolic response to a carbier meal at night is less favorable than when we eat carbs earlier in the day, so if there is ever one meal that you want eat low-carb, it's dinner ... and if you want to include them, choose wisely and keep the portions low," she added.

7. Continue to limit refined carbs, such as white bread and white rice. It might be difficult to forgo white basmati rice, pizza or sushi entirely, but limit these foods to a few times per week.

8. Continue to avoid foods high in added sugars. If you have a sweet tooth, limit treats to 100 to 150 calories per day, depending on your goals.

And note that anyone with a medical issue should always consult their doctor before starting a new diet plan.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
How to break carb cravings, once and for all

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The truth is, despite the popularity of low-carb diets, which often send the message that we should drastically cut back on this food group, carbohydrates are some of the most important things we consume. They are key to regulating blood sugar and providing energy throughout our bodies.

# data[].attributes.body
Nick Meyer built a At-At walker almost as tall as his home for Halloween. He built it out of mainly wood and it took about 6 weeks to build.

# data[].attributes.body
Donald Trump claiming former presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush failed to call the families of soldiers who had died.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
San Antonio Spurs Scott Polacek Eric Gay/Associated Press Twitter Logo Featured Columnist
San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich called the sitting president a "soulless coward" Monday.

Dave Zirin of The Nation reported the news, noting Popovich's comments were in regard to Donald Trump claiming former presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush failed to call the families of soldiers who had died.
This article will be updated to provide more information on this story as it becomes available.
According to Kevin Liptak of CNN, Trump said Monday he wrote letters to and planned on calling the families of four American soldiers who died in Niger in early October.

"Other presidents did not call, they would write letters, and some presidents didn't do anything," Trump said, per Liptak.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Gregg Popovich: Donald Trump a 'Soulless Coward' for Comment on Fallen Soldiers

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
San Antonio Spurs Scott Polacek Eric Gay/Associated Press Twitter Logo Featured Columnist San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich called the sitting president a "soulless coward" Monday. Dave Zirin of The Nation reported the news, noting Popovich's comments were in regard to Donald Trump claiming former presidents Barack Obama and George W.

# data[].attributes.body
A storm called Ophelia has hit Ireland and killed at least 3 people already.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Storm Ophelia was beginning to pummel Ireland early Monday and is expected to hit Scotland and Northern Ireland today, bringing "violent and destructive" wind gusting up to 90 mph as well as flooding due to heavy rain and storm surges.

Forecasters said Ophelia is likely to be the most powerful storm to hit Ireland since Hurricane Debbie in 1961. Ireland closed schools and hospitals ahead of the Ophelia, placed troops on standby and warned people to stay inside.

Ophelia was the first Category 3 major hurricane recorded so far east and north in the Atlantic before it weakened to a post-tropical system.

In the U.K., officials warned of the risk of strong winds blowing tiles from roofs and large waves throwing debris onto coastal roads, leading to "a potential for injuries and danger to life," in Northern Ireland, the U.K.'s meteorological service said.

The Met Office issued an amber weather warning for Northern Ireland from 12:00 p.m. -- 11:00 p.m. GMT Monday, saying power cuts are likely and that cancellations and longer journey times are to be expected as some bridges might close while road, rail, air and ferry services might be affected.

Ophelia is technically no longer a hurricane, but will still pack hurricane-level wind gusts while passing over Ireland before likely crossing over to Northern Ireland.

Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said residents should avoid "unnecessary travel or other outdoor activities." The U.S.-based disaster modeler Enki Research said Ophelia's could cause up to $1.5 billion in damages in Ireland and up to $2.5 billion overall in the British Isles.

Public safety is our key concern today. Advice is to stay at home, no unnecessary travel or other outdoor activities. Further updates later.
- Leo Varadkar (@campaignforleo) October 16, 2017

"By the time Ophelia reaches our latitudes, she will be weakening and will be an ex-hurricane," said Steve Ramsdale, chief forecaster at the Met Office in the U.K,, in a statement. "However, Ex-Ophelia will be bringing some significant impacts to Northern Ireland and western and northern Britain on Monday and Tuesday."

The powerful winds will probably extend to parts of northern England and some southern and central parts of Scotland in the evening as winds turn more to the southwest, said the Met Office. Heavy rain is also possible in Northern Ireland and western Scotland. The rest of the U.K. will see breezy weather, but the wind is not expected to bring widespread disruption there, the Met Office said.

Matt Crofts, a lifesaving manager with the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, a British charity that aims to rescue those at risk of drowning, warned people from going out to watch the big waves.

"Stormy conditions may be tempting to watch but big waves can easily knock you off your feet," he said in a statement. "The sea is far more powerful than you think and your chances of survival are slim if you are dragged into the swell. Our volunteer lifeboat crews will always launch to rescue those in danger at sea, but to launch into conditions like these could also put their lives at risk."

In the U.K., media have compared Ophelia to the Great Storm of 1987, which hit the country exactly 30 years ago and killed 22 people.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Ireland, UK brace for Ophelia; officials warn of 'danger to life'

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Storm Ophelia was beginning to pummel Ireland early Monday and is expected to hit Scotland and Northern Ireland today, bringing "violent and destructive" wind gusting up to 90 mph as well as flooding due to heavy rain and storm surges. Forecasters said Ophelia is likely to be the most powerful...

# data[].attributes.body
62 year old man hides in the wood for a whole decade to escape his 'nagging wife'

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Man hid in woods for 10 years to avoid 'nagging' wife

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
62-year-old Malcolm Applegate left his home in the U.K. to camp in the forest.

# data[].attributes.body
Atlanta mom charged with murder, after allegedly putting two of her sons in the oven.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
A warrant says an Atlanta woman put her two young sons in an oven and turned it on.

Local media reported Monday that the warrant charging Lamora Williams with murder in the deaths of 1-year-old son Ja'Karter Penn and 2-year-old Ke-Yaunte Penn says she put them in the oven sometime between midnight Thursday and 11 p.m. Friday.

A third boy, 3-year-old Jameel Penn Jr., was found unharmed.

Williams waived a court appearance Monday and was denied bail.

The father of all three children, Jameel Penn, says Williams called him by video chat Friday night to tell him his children were dead. Penn says he called police after seeing his sons on the floor.

Williams' sister, Tabitha Hollingsworth, says Williams should be put on suicide watch in the Fulton County jail.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Atlanta mom charged with murder after allegedly putting 2 young sons in oven

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
A warrant says an Atlanta woman put her two young sons in an oven and turned it on. Local media reported Monday that the warrant charging Lamora Williams with murder in the deaths of 1-year-old son Ja'Karter Penn and 2-year-old Ke-Yaunte Penn says she put them in the oven sometime between midnight Thursday and 11 p.m.

# data[].attributes.body
Woman test hotel animal policy by bringing a horse with her

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
One horse lover wanted to test a hotel's pet policy after discovering one receptionist said it didn't discriminate.

Lindsey Partridge, who in 2015 created Harmony Horsemanship, an organization that helps riders better understand their horses, told ABC News she was driving down from Pontypool, Ontario, to Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, Kentucky, when she decided to check into her hotel.

The riding coach was there to compete in Retired Racehorse Project's Thoroughbred Makeover, in which hundreds of retired racehorses compete in categories such as field hunter, polo, ranch work and trail, among others.

"We left at like 3 in the morning and when we got down there, the hotel is before you get to the horse park," Patridge, 31, recalled. "We figured, we may as well stop and unload our luggage."

That's when she spotted a dog in the lobby of the Supreme 8 in Georgetown, Kentucky. She said she remarked to the receptionist that she didn't realize the hotel had a pet policy and joked she had a few horses outside.

"The receptionist said, 'Oh, I don't care. Sure, bring them in!'"

Astonished, Partridge figured she would, taking a few funny photos that have since earned attention on Facebook with more than 2,000 reactions. She unloaded her 5-year-old thoroughbred named Blizz, noting that "she was the easiest to get off the trailer."

Some hotel guests "were pretty surprised, but they all knew it was fun," the horse owner recalled. "I hope that this shows people that horses really can be quiet, calm and nice."

The owners of Supreme 8 confirmed the incident to ABC News.

Still, they clarified their pet policy in a statement, "We did not know she was going to bring the horse into the facility. We are pet-friendly and it is [for pets] 25 pounds and under. We had no knowledge of it being in the room."

Still, the funny incident seemed to be good luck for Blizz, who earned third place in the trail competition and sixth in the field hunter competition.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Woman tests the limits of hotel's pet policy by bringing in her horse

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
One horse lover wanted to test a hotel's pet policy after discovering one receptionist said it didn't discriminate. Lindsey Partridge, who in 2015 created Harmony Horsemanship, an organization that helps riders better understand their horses, told ABC News she was driving down from Pontypool, Ontario, to Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, Kentucky, when she decided to check into her hotel.

# data[].attributes.body
"In a Heartbeat" animation to win Oscar

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
'in a heartbeat' is eligible for an oscar - cnn video

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
'In a Heartbeat' is eligible for an Oscar - CNN Video

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The creators of the short animated film "In a Heartbeat" talk about the viral video being eligible to win an Oscar and the positive feedback, especially from the LGBT community.

# data[].attributes.body
A drone flew in to a plane in Canada

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
A drone crashed into a commercial airplane in Canada, the first time such an incident has occurred in the country, the government said Sunday.

A plane operated by charter airline Skyjet was approaching Quebec City's Jean Lesage International Airport on Thursday when a drone struck one of its wings, according to local media reports. There were six passengers and two crew members aboard the plane.

"I am extremely relieved that the aircraft only sustained minor damage and was able to land safely," Canadian Transport Minister Marc Garneau said in a statement Sunday.

Based in Quebec, Skyjetoperates a fleet of small twin-engine aircraft, according to its website. The company didn't immediately respond to a request for comment outside regular business hours.

Related: Drone's operator detained for flying near Chinese airplane

The rapidly growing use of drones by consumers around the world has led to an upswing in the number of encounters between the remote-controlled devices and planes. Transportation authorities have been trying to come up with rules to avoid a disaster.

Earlier this year, Canada announced safety measures making it illegal to fly recreational drones within 5.5 kilometers (3.5 miles) of an airport, and restricting the height of a drone's flight to 90 meters (about 300 feet). Punishment for breaking the regulations can include a fine of as much as 25,000 Canadian dollars ($20,000) and a prison sentence.

The drone that struck the passenger plane last week was following the 3.5-mile restriction, but was flying much higher than legally allowed, hovering some 450 meters (1,500 feet) above the ground.

"If a drone were to hit the window of a cockpit and incapacitate the pilot, or were to damage in anyway an engine, this could have catastrophic results," Garneau said at a news conference.

Related: Dubai deploys a 'drone hunter' to keep its airport open

A commercial drone flew dangerously close to a passenger plane in China earlier this year, prompting authorities to detain the drone's pilot. In the U.K., the pilot of a British Airways flight said a drone struck the front of the aircraft during its approach to Heathrow airport last year.

Dubai's airport last year said it was carrying out trials of a "drone hunter" -- a remote-controlled aircraft to detect drones that are in danger of straying into the airport's space -- after unauthorized drone activity forced the airport, the third busiest in the world, to shut down several times.

In Canada, officials say that of the roughly 1,600 drone incidents reported to authorities so far this year, 131 posed a threat to aviation safety.

CNNMoney (Hong Kong) First published October 16, 2017: 2:02 AM ET

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
A plane operated by charter airline Skyjet was approaching Quebec City's Jean Lesage International Airport on Thursday when a drone struck one of its wings, according to local media reports. There were six passengers and two crew members aboard the plane.

# data[].attributes.body
An ice cream store in Auburn, Alabama is now dealing with a sad situation. A young 3 year old girl named Sadie Grace Andrews was playing with her siblings when she slipped and fell into Brewster's Real Ice Cream pit that is used to trap cooking grease.  She fell 6 feet and sadly died.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Authorities say a 3-year-old girl is dead after she fell into a grease pit at an Alabama ice cream shop and drowned.

The Opelika-Auburn News reports the girl's body was pulled Saturday from an in-ground container used to trap cooking grease at Brewster's Real Ice Cream in Auburn.

Lee County Coroner Bill Harris said in a news release the death appears to be an accidental drowning. He said video evidence from the scene showed the girl playing with siblings when she apparently fell through a lid covering a grease pit on the ice cream parlor's property.

Harris said the girl was found several minutes later inside the grease container, which was 6 feet (1.8 meters) deep. He said no foul play is suspected. The girl's name was not immediately released.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Girl, 3, drowns in grease pit at Alabama ice cream shop

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Authorities say a 3-year-old girl is dead after she fell into a grease pit at an Alabama ice cream shop and drowned. The Opelika-Auburn News reports the girl's body was pulled Saturday from an in-ground container used to trap cooking grease at Brewster's Real Ice Cream in Auburn. ...