Month: March 2025

But that isn’t totally the case.

Water in its purest form is perfectly healthy to drink.

But when you consume a one-litre plastic bottle of water, for example, it happens to contain 240,000 plastic particles.

And it might come as an even bigger shock that there’s only 5.5 plastic particles per one litre of tap water, on average.

Why drinking water from a plastic bottle can be bad for you

Nanoplastics have strong links to cancer, birth defects and fertility problems.

These particles are much smaller than microplastics, which have been previously detected in water bottles, according to research published by the University of Columbia.

With the use of lasers, experts took a close look at particles from three popular brands of water in the US.

The danger with these nanoplastics is that they are so small that they can enter directly into blood cells and the brain.

Plastics used to make water bottles usually contain phthalates, which reportedly contributes to 100,000 premature deaths in the US each year.

And according to the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, phthalates are ‘linked with developmental, reproductive, brain, immune, and other problems’.

The team’s use of the new laser technology was named Stimulated Raman Scattering (SRS) microscopy.

Study co-author Beizhan Yan, an environmental chemist at Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory said: “Ironically, this probably comes from plastic filters used to supposedly purify the water before it is bottled.

“Previously this was just a dark area, uncharted. Toxicity studies were just guessing what’s in there.

“This opens a window where we can look into a world that was not exposed to us before.”

“People developed methods to see nano particles, but they didn’t know what they were looking at,” added the study’s lead author, Naixin Qian, a Columbia graduate student in chemistry.

How to safely drink water

According to Simplex Health, ‘the only guaranteed way to get pure water is through steam distillation by using a water distiller’.

“Distilled water is 99.8 percent pure, which means it is purer that any bottled or tap water and purer than using any other type of filtration or purification method. Water is gently boiled to kill off viruses and bacteria,” they explain.

“The steam produced is captured in a stainless steel coil where it cools to form pure water.

“This passes through an activated charcoal filter to remove any trace impurities. It is recommended, to add minerals back to the water, as during the distillation process the water is purified to a point that it could be lacking these essential minerals.

“This intensive process can have an effect on the taste of water, which may not be to everyone’s liking.”

Hands down the top two players in the multi-billion dollar industry, a ban of sorts has been introduced across the two cruise lines that regularly set sail from the Port of Miami in Florida.

The cruise ship capital of the world, it entertains ships from both companies on an almost weekly basis. And if they aren’t in port, they’re already out sailing around the likes of the Caribbean, Europe, or even the wider world if you’re on the nine-month cruise of a lifetime.

For those ever thinking about a cruise, better make sure you check the rules now that they’ve been significantly changed for people heading out on to the open seas with either Royal Caribbean or Carnival.

What is the new age ban and rule change?

Both Carnival and Royal Caribbean are cracking down on young people cruising with them.

It’s bad news if you’re under the age of 21 and leaving port in the USA.

But don’t kick off too much. You’re still okay if you’re travelling with someone else under the age of 21. But things get tricky if one of you isn’t of age.

What if one traveller is under the age of 21? And exceptions?

If someone under the age of 21 wants to travel with Carnival or Royal Caribbean, they must be accompanied by someone who is older than 25.

They have to be a relative or ‘guardian’ but they do not have to be the legal guardian of that person.

You’re in luck if you’re married and both under the age of 21, with those people exempt from needing a companion aged 26 or older. You’ll just have to present your marriage certificate as evidence.

What have the cruise lines said?

Carnival says: “Guests are required to be 21 years of age [on embarkation day] to travel on their own. Guest ages will be verified at embarkation. Guests not conforming to this policy will result in denied boarding, and no compensation will be provided at embarkation.

“Guests 20 years of age and younger must travel with a relative or guardian 25 years of age or older.”

Royal Caribbean’s website says: “Royal Caribbean’s minimum age to sail unaccompanied on sailings originating in North America is twenty-one.”

For Royal Caribbean cruises departing from anywhere but the UK, the age is 18, so it is very much just an American rule.

If you’ve already booked and fall foul of the new rules, we would suggest contacting your travel agent or the cruise line directly for advice.

Both have been benefitting from getting into the adult industry, with daughter Sami Sheen, 20, reportedly becoming a millionaire from her spicy content.

Despite venturing away from the acting path that both her father, Charlie Sheen, and mother took, Sami has been very open about her career choice, previously revealing that her and Richards don’t look at each other’s accounts as it’s ‘weird’.

While Richards, 54, has defended her daughter against backlash from the media, it turns out that her daughter has one criticism of her joining the platform.

Sami was just 18 when she opened her OnlyFans account, selling NSFW pictures online after admitting on her mum’s new reality show Denise Richards & Her Wild Things that her job at a candy shop wasn’t making her enough money.

Richards opened her own account within a week, and Sami wasn’t exactly pleased and admitted she wished her mum hadn’t started her account so soon after.

Admitting in an episode of the show that she was ‘p*ssed’ at first, telling the former Wild Things actress that it was ‘annoying’, she added that it was a difficult thing to explain to friends.

Speaking to Decider prior to the reality show’s premiere, Sami confessed: “It’s not that I was angry because I’m always so supportive of everything she does.

“I was just frustrated that she started it really soon after I started mine.”

Despite wishing that she was told earlier, she admitted it’s now been ‘so long’, with the pair having their ‘own fanbases’.

The 21-year-old added: “We don’t look at each other’s pages or anything. I don’t know what she’s even posting on there, but yeah, I’m not upset about it.”

Richards explained that she wants to protect her children at all costs, following her comments about the adult site in a previous interview: “You just have to ignore the hate and just live your life and be you. And it’s not an easy thing to do.”

Richards said that exposing her three daughters to the media with another reality show was also a ‘concern’.

“I wish I had the confidence and the courage that these girls have when I was their age because I was always such a people pleaser and worried what people would think,” she admitted, adding that she is happy her girls can ‘use their voice’ to be who they want to be.

This was the panic-inducing reality for one SpiceJet passenger at the beginning of last year, who was crossing Indian cities from Mumbai to Bengaluru at the time of his pongy ordeal.

According to The Indian Express, an unnamed gentleman became trapped during this 105-minute flight after relieving himself post-takeoff.

This was apparently down to a faulty locking mechanism.

Indian airline SpiceJet released a statement in the aftermath, which confirmed: “A passenger unfortunately got stuck inside the lavatory for about an hour.”

Efforts from his fellow passengers and staff members to break in were of no use in the end, but the cabin crew did take it upon themselves to scribble down a note of support and slide it under the stubborn door.

“Sir we tried our best to open the door, however, we could not open,” it read.

“Do not panic. We are landing in a few minutes, so please close the commode lid and sit on it and secure yourself. As soon as the main door is open, an engineer will come.”

How very thoughtful of them.

In a clip from the event posted on Press Trust of India’s X channel, the loo-dweller appears fully calm while filming himself in the mirror and attempting to get out.

SpiceJet’s statement concluded: “SpiceJet regrets and apologises for the inconvenience caused to the passenger. The passenger is being provided a full refund.”

The flyer in question was reportedly saved from the toilet immediately after the plane landed in Bengaluru, with a pair of engineers working their magic on the door.

He later recounted his experience during an interview with The Times of India.

“During landing, I was thrown around and suffered injuries. It took 20 minutes for someone to start breaking open the door. When I came out, I had bruises and my vision was blurred for a while,” the man shared.

“But I received no medical help even after coming out of the loo. I got a bottle of water and barrage of apologies from SpiceJet.”

Conversely, the company informed the publication that the crew ‘provided assistance and guidance to the passenger. Upon arrival, an engineer opened the lavatory door and the passenger received immediate medical support’.

That’s certainly one to tell the grandkids!

The former Little Mix singer, 34, and her partner Zion Foster, announced they were expecting twins earlier this year.

But last week, Jesy shared a heartbreaking update with fans, explaining she has been suffering some complications in her pregnancy.

“The type of twins we are having are called Mono/Di twins, and with that, so normally, most twins will have two placentas that they feed off of.

“But when you have Mono/Di twins, that means your twins live off one placenta, which can lead to lots of complications.

“One of them being one baby might take all the nutrients, the other might, which is really awful to say, but could lead to both babies dying and at the moment, I am currently pre stage TTTS, which is twin to twin transfusion, and I’m being monitored very closely.”

Over the weekend, Jesy updated her followers, explaining that she will need an emergency procedure after suffering from some of the symptoms she was told to watch out for.

“I’ve been feeling a bit poorly the last few days, been having a few of the symptoms I need to watch out for which is like my belly tightening, struggling breathing, so today we came into the hospital to just have a check up basically,” she said.

“Unfortunately, the symptoms have got worse so they now have to perform the procedure, which is obviously not what we wanted to happen but it’s necessary because it’s going to give our babies the best chance of surviving.

“So we’re just waiting to go in and we’re just hoping and praying for the best really.

“I feel absolutely gutted because I was really hoping we wouldn’t be in this position.”

What is Twin-to-Twin Transfusion Syndrome?

TTTS, or Twin-to-Twin Transfusion Syndrome, is a rare pregnancy condition that can affect identical twins or multiples, according to Hopkins Medicine.

This occurs when twins share one placenta and a network of blood vessels that provide oxygen and nutrients that help with development in the womb.

Occasionally, the vessel connections within the placenta are not evenly dispensed, causing an imbalance in blood exchange between the twins.

One of the twins becomes the donor twin, giving away more blood than it receives, and can be at risk of malnourishment and organ failure, whereas the recipient twin receives too much blood and can overwork their heart.

The star announced she was pregnant back in January, taking to Instagram to share the happy news alongside a polaroid picture showing off her growing baby bump.

“She’s eating for 3 now,” Jesy wrote.

After dating over the last couple of years, Foster and Nelson were first linked together back in 2022, before reportedly splitting for the first time in November 2023.

However, after reuniting, they appeared to part ways in September last year. At the time, the musician commented on a social media post: “Beautiful woman inside and out, wish her nothing but the best.”

Under current sick pay rules, Brits who earn below £123 a week aren’t entitled to statutory sick pay, which for full time workers is currently worth £116.75 per week.

As it stands, if you’re too ill to work then you can get statutory sick pay for up to 28 weeks for the days you were off work, apart from the first three days that you’re unwell.

However, in new changes to the rules, people earning below £123 a week will become eligible to claim sick pay.

Next month the rate of statutory sick pay is rising by a couple of quid to £118.75 a week, while the change allowing low earners who previously didn’t qualify for it to claim whichever amount is lower out of that or 80 percent of their average weekly pay is expected to come next year.

Basically, the people who used not to earn enough to qualify for sick pay will now be able to get something.

There are about 1.3 million people in the UK who are paid less than £123 a week who will now have access to some form of sick pay, with the government claiming that some people will now be up to £100 better off a week because of this.

Rules around when someone off work ill can claim sick pay are also changing, as the three day qualification period is being dropped and people will be able to receive sick pay from the first day of their illness.

Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall said: “For too long, sick workers have had to decide between staying at home and losing a day’s pay, or soldiering on at their own risk just to make ends meet.

“No-one should ever have to choose between their health and earning a living, which is why we are making this landmark change.

“The new rate is good for workers and fair on businesses as part of our plan to boost rights and make work pay, while delivering our plan for change.”

The UK still has one of the lowest rates of sick pay among developed nations, and secretary-general of the Trades Union Congress Paul Nowak said it ‘shouldn’t be the end of the story’ as he said that in future he’d like to see ‘a wider review of the statutory sick pay rate’.

The British Chambers of Commerce said the new changes were a ‘fair compromise’.

Why can’t people born from 1997 to 2012 just mind their own business?

Sorry for the outburst there, I’m turning 30 next month – which means I am indeed a Millennial, born from 1981 to 1996.

Taking to TikTok, it seems Gen Zers are stirring up controversy again after revealing ‘how to spot’ Millennials in the club.

In a video from 2023, which is no longer able to view in the UK, TikToker @htetismommy attempted to ‘expose’ our alleged behaviours on a night out.

“How to spot Millennials vs Gen Z at a party,” the text overlay from the short clip read, showing CCTV images of youngsters out on the town. And this is what the TikToker had to say about our generational differences at the club.

What Millennials ‘do at a party’

• On their phone 24/7

• Have heavy makeup on

• Opt for high heels instead of trainers

What Gen Z ‘do at a party’

• Always ‘dance for no reason’

• Put on less makeup

• Wear trainers

Despite racking up loads of likes, not everyone agreed with the TikToker, as one person complained: “I definitely think it’s the exact OPPOSITE.”

“Lololol Gen z wears SO MUCH MAKEUP,” another added.

“It’s literally the other way around,” a third viewer said.

“Y’all on TikTok in the clubs and we were grinding and all on each other vibing with the music lol #1989.”

“Interesting. The Gen Z in my town are the opposite. They don’t even like to go to clubs, I was afraid it was a dying pastime,” penned a fourth.

This comes after fellow Millennial Gus Rosas (@goodforthegooch) pointed out how to tell how old someone is on the dance floor.

Over on TikTok, he explained how he likes to dance with his hands up, and that his mates would keep pulling his arms down on a night out.

“I’m too old to be in this club,” Gus said, after admitting that he also likes to shout ‘woo’ while he’s dancing.

Some things we think, but don’t say.

Although one viewer did point out: “We were literally instructed to put our hands in the air like we just don’t care. It’s our legacy.”

“Being a Gen Z sounds exhausting,” a second person said.

A third added: “What I noticed in the generation [is] they don’t seem to be having fun when they dance… we had fun not caring what people saw.”

“I never heard a song say put your hands down,” someone else wrote.

We’ve all made bad decisions after a few beers, but American man Nick Naydev took things to the next level when he launched himself from around 100ft into shark-infested waters. Anything to avoid texting that ex, I suppose.

A cold water plunge can certainly work to sober you up and shake off any hangover, but it might ever-so-slightly be safer to do so in your local pool rather than from the top decks of a cruise ship off the coast of the Bahamas.

But Nick, seemingly egged on by his close friends and the idea of going viral, decided that while Royal Caribbean’s largest ship, Symphony of the Seas, was docked in Nassau, he would jump into the water below.

We’ve all seen movie stars jumping from helicopters or rockets into the ocean and coming up safely but the reality is that hitting water from a great height can be similar to hitting concrete, due to the immense force of impact caused by the sudden deceleration when you hit the water at high speed.

And Nick was very lucky to avoid death, let alone serious injury, after his drunken dive. He opened up about his decision, and regrets, in an interview with Inside Edition back in 2019.

He said: “I remember hitting the water, impact was pretty big ’cause it was pretty high up. It impacted my tailbone and my neck pretty hard, luckily it wasn’t anything serious.

“Nothing was really going through my mind. I’m like, ‘I gotta do this,’ and just two seconds later, I just jumped and didn’t really think it through.

“The previous night we were drinking quite a bit so I was still feeling the effects of the alcohol.

“I hope I don’t inspire anybody to do this because it is very dangerous, I mean they’ll think this is a joke.”

In his Instagram comments at the time, he added: “What they told me shocked me. They told me that nobody dare swim in that water where I jumped because […] it was infested with sharks.

“So I was pretty lucky to be alive.”

Unsurprisingly, Royal Caribbean weren’t too impressed with Nick’s actions and promptly told him that he and his friends wouldn’t be welcomed back on to any of their cruises, just in case they were planning another dodgy dive in Dominica. Perhaps he was put off cruises anyway.

A Royal Caribbean spokesperson said at the time: “This was stupid and reckless behaviour, and he and his companions have been banned from ever sailing with us again. We are exploring legal action.”

Please DO NOT try this at home.

The government agency – full name National Aeronautics and Space Administration – announced in 2023 that it was preparing to fire an orbiting aircraft up to the celestial rock, which is officially named ’16 Psyche’.

Uniquely, this mighty space floater – measuring 173 miles (280 km) across and 144 miles (232 km) long – contains precious materials including gold, iron and nickel.

In a statement published at the time, NASA shared: “Teams of engineers and technicians are working almost around the clock to ensure the orbiter is ready to journey 2.5 billion miles to a metal-rich asteroid that may tell us more about planetary cores and how planets form.”

Since the spacecraft’s launch from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center in October 2023, mission controllers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory have dedicated over a year to checking over the spacecraft’s system; whether it’s still operational for deep space travel.

2.5 billion miles away, the asteroid is located in the belt between Mars and Jupiter, and NASA has produced a timeline of intended events.

The orbiter will hopefully reach its destination in August 2029, where it’ll spend a total of two research years.

Whilst positioned there, it will measure the floating formation’s gravity, magnetic properties and overall composition with specialist equipment.

But three years prior to this, in May 2026, the vessel is set to receive a gravitational momentum boost from the Red Planet, effectively hoisting it further towards 16 Psyche.

November 2031 is when the mission is scheduled to wrap up, allowing NASA to finally bring home the shiny beacon as it were.

Explaining 16 Psyche’s significance, Nicola Fox of NASA’s science mission directorate said: “Psyche is by far the largest [asteroid], and that’s why we want to go to it. Because the smaller ones are more likely to have been changed by things impacting them, whereas the big one, we think, is going to be completely unchanged.”

In other space news, Tesla CEO Elon Musk recently told podcaster Joe Rogan that it’s only ‘a matter of time’ before humankind gets walloped by an asteroid.

Such is the billionaire’s belief in this doom theory, he then suggested we should adopt a ‘second planet’ to ‘preserve civilisation’.

Are Mars properties on Rightmove yet?

It comes after the legendary professional wrestler-turned-actor shocked the entire WWE universe after Cena ‘turned heel’ on Saturday night’s Elimination Chamber live on Netflix with millions watching on.

Winning the big match to secure himself a place at WrestleMania in April against world champion Cody Rhodes, the legendary baby face (wrestling terminology for a good guy) turned heel (became a big old bad guy) by turning on Rhodes.

In doing this, he became the sidekick of The Rock during his ‘Final Boss’ run, which is kind of like a ‘do what he wants overlord’ of the whole thing.

It sent shockwaves throughout the WWE universe, with it being called the biggest moment in professional wrestling for decades and going completely viral, viewed millions of times outside of the live event.

Undoubtedly for some, it will be the biggest moment in their lifetime.

But what’s the link to GTA 6?

Well, taking to Instagram in the days after the huge twist, Cena posted the GTA 6 poster that we’ve all become familiar with since it was first released back in December 2023.

As always, Cena never posts words with his Instagram images but they usually have a link to modern pop culture or something he’s done.

In another post, he posted a picture of Aaron Eckhart as Harvey Dent in The Dark Knight Rises, who goes from saintly mayor of Gotham City to the supervillain Two Face.

Fans immediately got what this meant, with one person quoting the famous Dent dialogue from the movie: “You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain.”

Deep stuff. But the Grand Theft Auto VI reference is seemingly a lot more light-hearted and a reference to a longstanding meme about the game.

With it now being 12 years since the last GTA instalment, huge moments in pop culture are used to show just how long it’s been since GTA 5 with the ‘we got … before GTA 6‘.

In this case, it seems we most definitely got the biggest moment in WWE history, with the nicest guy in the industry turning in to the most shocking of bad guys, before we got GTA 6. You’ve just got to laugh at this stage.

It’s definitely one for both video game and wrestling fans, but if you understand either of them you understand the magnitude of what happened.

Cena is set to retire from professional wrestling at the of 2025, with him moving in to an out-of-ring career with the WWE, while he continues his time exploring Hollywood in a similar vein to his WWE colleague, The Rock.

For many, a villainous Cena was the dream but seemed too far away from anything that was ever going to really happen.

Times, though, they are a changing.