Chicago woman is world’s oldest skydiver

Dorothy Hoffner says she loved being up in the sky. Pics/Instagram

A 104-year-old Chicago woman is hoping to be certified as the oldest person to ever skydive after leaving her walker on the ground and making a tandem jump in northern Illinois. "Age is just a number," Dorothy Hoffner told a cheering crowd moments after touching the ground on Sunday at Skydive Chicago in Ottawa, about 85 miles (140 kms) southwest of Chicago.

The Guinness World Record for oldest skydiver was set in May 2022 by 103-year-old Linnéa Ingegärd Larsson from Sweden. But Skydive Chicago is working to have Guinness World Records certify Hoffner's jump as a record. Hoffner first skydived when she was 100. On Sunday, she left her walker behind just short of the plane - a Skyvan - and was helped up the steps to join the others waiting inside to skydive.

When she first skydived, she said she had to be pushed out of the aircraft. But on Sunday, tethered to a US Parachute Association-certified instructor, Hoffner insisted on leading the jump from 13,500 feet (4,100 metres). She looked calm and confident when the plane was aloft and its aft door opened to reveal tan crop fields far below shortly before she shuffled toward the edge and leaped into the air. She tumbled out of the plane, head first, completing a perfect forward roll in the sky, before flying stable in freefall with her belly facing the ground.

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The dive lasted seven minutes, including her parachute's slow descent to the ground. Coming in to land, the wind pushed Hoffner's white hair back, she clung to the harness over her narrow shoulders, picked up her legs and plopped softly onto the grassy landing area. Friends rushed in to share congratulations, while someone brought over Hoffner's red walker. She rose quickly and she was asked how it felt to be back on the ground. "Wonderful," Hoffner said. "But it was wonderful up there."

Plastic in the rain

Researchers have found evidence that even rain has microplastics now

When it rains, it pours… microplastics, that is. Researchers in Japan have discovered nine kinds of polymers and one rubber floating among the clouds - a worrying sign for the climate.

Intrepid teams of scientists climbed Mount Fuji and Mount Oyama to collect water from the foggy mist that veils the mountain tops. Their samples were then brought to labs where advanced computer imaging parsed the physical and chemical properties of the cloud-derived water.

Each litre of water they collected held between 6.7 and 13.9 pieces of plastic, which measured from 7.1 micrometres up to 94.6 micrometres, or about the diameter of a human hair. Researchers say these plastics may impact the weather.

Like mother, like son

Erica Russo, a Connecticut mom of two and psychic medium, revealed her nine-year-old son Kyle has "psychic and intuitive abilities" just like her - but sometimes "negative energy" keeps him up at night. Russo, 36, discovered her son's abilities when he was four years old and saw him talking to someone who was not physically there. "I found out then that he was a medium."

Trippy cats

Veterinary researchers have discovered that cats "glow" in the dark, according to a new study published in the journal Royal Society Open Science. They found that 125 species had the fluorescent properties that allow them to glow in the dark under a UV light, including the domestic species of cat (Felis catus). "We reported fluorescence for 125 mammal species," they said.

Talk to the AI

A virtual avatar of the artist Van Gogh answers questions from visitors at the Musée d'Orsay in Paris. The responses are inspired by an analysis of the numerous letters Van Gogh wrote - mostly to his brother Theo - before taking his own life in July 1890 with a revolver. "The truth of my motivation remains a mystery even to me," the AI incarnation says when asked why the painter shot himself.

Who let the birds out?

For the past five months, the people of Pravia, a town in Spain's Asturias Region, have been under constant siege from flocks of crows who mindlessly attack their homes and vehicles. The citizens experienced groups of birds flying into their windows repeatedly.

Missing your mom? Try renting one

Tammy Kumin isn't the actual mother of the kids who she caters to in emergencies. "I'm a mom away from mom - a total support system for students," says Kumin, who is the founder of Concierge Service for Students (CSS).