THE REAL REASON THE NEPAL GLACIER COLLAPSED

New York Post

 

Mount Everest glaciers are under threat and melting — thanks to climbers relieving themselves

By Ben Cost

Published Sep. 4, 2026, 10:05 a.m. ET

 

Urine trouble, Mount Everest.

 

After standing the test of time for 50 million years, the world’s tallest mountain is under threat from an unlikely source: our pee.

 

Urine deposited on glaciers is enough to melt over 150 tons of ice and snow on Mount Everest every year, according to an a-thaw-calyptic study in the Regional Environmental Change scientific journal, as reported by the Independent.

 

“Urine, with a temperature of around 37°C (human body temperature), causes the ice to melt,” wrote the study authors, who were sent by Nepal’s Survey Department to determine the impact of humans on Everest.

 

The international team of scientists studied the Khumbu Glacier, the home of the Everest base camp on the mountain’s Nepalese side. Hundreds of people congregate there each year before attempting to summit the 29,035-foot wonder.

 

These throngs have turned this majestic pinnacle into a “Burning Man”-esque tent city producing disruptive noise, Himalayan trash mounds, and of course, mountains of human waste.

 

While climbers have been required to pack out their poop in bags since 2024, climbers still relieve themselves directly onto the ice.

 

The researchers focused on the spring season in 2023, when roughly 2,000 people descended upon base camp, situated some 17,958 feet above sea level, the Daily Mail reported.

 

According to their calculations, the pee generated by the enthusiastic climbers totaled roughly 3.181 liters (0.8 gallons) per person. That means on a 50-day journey, the overall leakage hits 338,299 liters — more than 89,000 gallons.

 

The researchers estimated that the heat from heeding nature’s call could melt around 154 tons of ice in a single season.

 

When coupled with the thousands of gallons of gas used for heating and cooking, that figure jumped to 2,492 tons — enough to fill an Olympic-sized swimming pool.

 

“The increasing number of climbers, trekkers and support staff, particularly at the campsite area, has intensified environmental impacts on the Khumbu Glacier,” the researchers wrote.

 

There’s one caveat to this trickle-down theory: The calculation assumes that all the heat from human pee transfers to the ice, which might not be true.

 

“This estimate is likely to represent an upper bound, as it does not account for heat losses through percolation into debris, runoff, incomplete heat transfer, or other dissipative processes that are difficult to quantify under field conditions,” the team wrote.

 

Nonetheless, the scientists are calling for Everest Base Camp to a dryer spot with less melting potential.

 

“Relocating the base camp to an ice–free site could help to mitigate human–induced glacier melt while fostering more sustainable mountaineering practices,” they wrote. “If implemented, relocation could reduce the stress on the Khumbu Icefall, enhance expedition safety, and contribute to a more resilient mountain ecosystem.”

 

Unfortunately, Everest is under threat from more than mountaineers making water.

 

The face is reportedly littered with more than 50 tons of trash, earning it the moniker “the world’s highest garbage dump,” according to National Geographic.

 

Last year, Nepal even shelved a scheme to have Everest adventurers bring their own trash down for cash after it failed to show tangible results, the BBC reported.

 

Part of the problem is that climbers would only haul back refuse from lower camps and not from the higher slopes, where the trash was most plentiful.

 

Therefore, the idea got binned.

ATLANTA TEACHER SETS UP FART CORNER

NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth

 

A ‘gas station' for farts? This Georgia teacher says it's a classroom win-win

The fart corner gives students a place to pass gas without leaving class — and helps normalize a very normal bodily function.

By Rachel Paula Abrahamson | TODAY • Published 1 hour ago • Updated 1 hour ago

 

The first thing to know about this gas station is that it is not a gas station.

 

There are no pumps. No convenience store. No windshield squeegees. And, despite what one might reasonably expect, there is no requirement that anyone actually purchase gas.

 

It is a designated corner of an Atlanta elementary school classroom where students can go when they need to pass ... gas.

 

Its creator, Candy Sydney-Browning, a 36-year-old second-grade teacher, calls it the “gas station.” The specific spot where students go is the “gusty winds area.” There are air freshener sprays nearby.

 

And, according to Sydney-Browning, it works.

 

“I have a very weak stomach, so I cannot take it,” she tells TODAY.com. “And so I was like, OK, I’m just gonna create this little area over here, and you just get up, you go over there, do your business, come back, and that’s just it.”

 

The arrangement has recently attracted considerable attention online after Sydney-Browning posted a TikTok showing the corner and explaining how it works. The video prompted thousands of reactions, ranging from disbelief to enthusiastic declarations that every classroom should have one.

 

One commenter wrote, “This is genius and normalizing body functions without disturbing the classroom amazing.”

 

Another asked the question that seems to trouble many adults: “And the rest of the class stays focused while somebody is farting in the corner???”

 

There was also a predictable amount of parental and teacher horror.

 

“I’d be so embarrassed with the whole class knowing I’m getting up to go fart,” one person wrote.

 

For Sydney-Browning, however, the point is not really about flatulence. It is about not wasting instructional time.

 

When she began teaching at her current school, she says, she noticed that students were frequently leaving the classroom to use the restroom. Because she wanted to maximize the amount of time students spent learning, she began having the class use the restroom before lessons.

 

But there was another problem. Children pass gas.

 

And unlike adults, who have spent decades perfecting the art of pretending that nobody noticed, young children can be remarkably direct about it.

 

“They were like, ‘He did it, she did it,’” Sydney-Brownings says. “And they’ll point fingers and they’ll try to move away from each other.”

 

Her response was essentially: Yes, people fart. Please behave accordingly.

 

“It’s normal,” she told them. “But you have to excuse yourself.”

 

So she created a place where they could.

 

In a TikTok showing the setup, Sydney-Browning walked viewers through her classroom. She pointed out where students sat for instruction and then demonstrated the route to the corner, where a small yellow sign marked the location.

 

Students did not need to raise their hands to use it. That, she said, was the whole point.

 

“While I’m teaching, no one has to ask,” she explained in the video. “I don’t have to stop teaching in order to say yes. You can go.”

 

Instead, a student simply got up, walked to the corner, took care of the matter and returned.

 

“The student inside the classroom, they don’t lose any instruction,” she said. “They can continue to learn. It’s a win-win situation.”

 

The first student to actually use the station last year provided an important test of the theory.

 

He had, Sydney-Browning says, “a very troubled stomach.” He was the first to make the trip. Some classmates turned around. There were smiles.

 

But, she said, nobody pointed fingers. Nobody made fun of him. And then, eventually, nobody paid attention at all.

 

“It just became a norm,” she tells TODAY.

 

That normalization is perhaps the most serious idea hiding beneath the jokes.

 

Children spend years learning which bodily functions are acceptable to discuss and which must be hidden. They learn that sneezing is fine, coughing is fine, blowing their nose is fine, but farting is something that should be met with shame, laughter or accusations.

 

Sydney-Browning’s approach is less complicated: Bodies do things. Handle them discreetly and move on.

 

Students have largely stopped reacting to the station, which may be the clearest indication that the novelty has worn off.

 

“Sometimes I even forget that I have it,” she says.

 

But that is not what has happened on TikTok. There, the novelty remains very much alive.

 

People have proposed installing fart corners in their homes. One commenter suggested getting a designated sign for a husband. Another said she had been “sending my husband to the corner after he farts” and had apparently been approaching the arrangement incorrectly.

 

Teachers have joined in, too.

 

One middle-school teacher wrote: “I teach middle school and we have a fart closet.” Another said she was adopting the idea as an eighth-grade teacher.

 

Still, not everyone is convinced.

 

One commenter worried that a child who passes gas frequently could become a target for teasing. Others wondered whether students would really be mature enough to ignore a classmate walking across the room specifically to fart.

 

Sydney-Browning says that was precisely why she made the practice routine. The less attention adults give the behavior, the less interesting it becomes to children.

 

There is, perhaps, an accidental lesson here in classroom management: Sometimes the fastest way to make something stop being funny is to stop treating it as funny.

 

On TikTok, the debate continues.

 

In Sydney-Browning’s classroom, apparently, the matter is settled. The gas station is open.

 

This story first appeared on TODAY.com.

AH: Does this teacher use it?

CYCLOSPORIASIS OUTBREAK MAY NOW INDIRECTLY CAUSE CONSTEPATION

New York Post

 

The No. 2 complication of the explosive diarrhea outbreak isn’t what we expected

By McKenzie Beard

Published Sep. 3, 2026, 11:50 a.m. ET

 

Americans’ poop problems aren’t over yet.

 

An “explosive diarrhea” parasite had thousands of people glued to the toilets this summer — while countless others began steering clear of fresh produce for fear of catching the nasty bug.

 

Now, weeks after the stomach-churning outbreak made headlines, doctors are warning of an unexpected side effect of the Cyclospora scare — and, unfortunately, it also involves No. 2.

 

This time, however, the problem isn’t going too much. It’s not going at all.

 

Rather than expelling “pure water” nonstop, as many people with cyclosporiasis have reported, a growing number of people trying to avoid the infection are dealing with painful constipation.

 

“When you go from eating salads and fruit regularly to cutting it out completely, your fiber intake takes a significant hit and this can impact your bowel movements,” Dr. Rabia de Latour, a gastroenterologist who works with MiraLAX, told The Post.

 

That’s because fiber, when paired with enough water, gives stool the bulk and softness it needs to make a smooth exit.

 

“When you deprive your gastrointestinal tract of the fiber, this can result in constipation and harder, difficult to pass stools,” de Latour explained.

 

In more severe cases, she said stools may become smaller and lose their usual shape, even taking on an appearance similar to “rabbit pellets.”

 

Federal health officials are still digging into the Cyclospora outbreak that tore through 20 states this summer, sickening thousands, hospitalizing hundreds and killing at least two people.

 

The source was traced back to tainted iceberg lettuce supplied to chains like Taco Bell by Taylor Farms de Mexico, with contaminated greens also turning up in bagged salad kits at major retailers.

 

Taylor Farms pulled all iceberg lettuce sourced from central Mexico off US shelves in July and issued a recall — but by then, the damage to America’s trust in the produce aisle was done.

 

Widespread fear of infection, paired with confusing early guidance from health officials, led many to stop eating fruits and vegetables altogether, since Cyclospora is highly resistant to chemical disinfectants and practically impossible to rinse away entirely.

 

The nasty stomach bug can survive being frozen or even doused in bleach. The only way to actually kill it is cooking food to at least 158°F.

 

“I have a lot of friends and acquaintances reaching out to me seeking guidance on what is ‘safe to eat’ with the ongoing cyclospora outbreak,” de Latour said. “Many of them spent weeks avoiding almost all fruits and vegetables.”

 

That can backfire fast.

 

“Food moves through our entire gastrointestinal tract to be broken down, digested, absorbed and waste byproduct produced (poop), taking anywhere from 24 to 72 hours total,” de Latour said. “If you were to make a large adjustment to your diet, results could be seen in this similar time frame.”

 

The good news is that the offending lettuce is past its shelf life and out of circulation, so de Latour expects new cases to keep dropping.

 

“That being said, Americans are still experiencing food anxiety and hesitancy and many people are still avoiding iceberg lettuce when precut and bagged,” she noted.

 

For the still-nervous, de Latour suggests eating spinach or getting whole heads of iceberg from a farmers market — and washing it from a farmers market. She would also avoid other foods that have historically been linked to cyclosporiasis like snow peas, raspberries, parsley and cilantro.

 

Once you start eating fiber again, de Latour said stools should bulk back up and constipation should ease within 24 to 72 hours — but if not, you can try an osmotic laxative

 

“If you continue to experience symptoms despite this intervention and there is longevity to your symptoms, there might be more to your constipation beyond dietary influences and you should seek medical attention to have it thoroughly worked up,” she said.

THE MORNING MIX HOSTS SUCCESSFUL DIAPER DRIVE 2026

Here's the story.

Wow! Half of Chicago families (I assume overall) can't afford diapers!

WHY TOILET SEATS IN PUBLIC WASHROOMS HAVE GAPS

New York Post

 

The real reason why public toilet seats have gaps in them — and it’s not as gross as you might think

By Fabiana Buontempo

Published May 24, 2026, 2:55 p.m. ET

 

This is news for those who skeeve public toilet seats.

 

There are many unspoken, strange things in a public restroom — the gaps in toilet seats are one of them.

 

And while you might think it’s a manufacturing error, there’s actually a very real, legal reason why public toilet seats look the way they do compared to your porcelain throne at home.

 

Since 1955, that center gap in a public toilet seat has been required in every public restroom across the country, thanks to the American Standard National Plumbing Code, which states, “Water closets shall be equipped with seats of smooth non-absorbent material. All seats of water closets provided for public use shall be of the open-front type.”

 

If you’re someone who meticulously lays down toilet paper or squats over the bowl, not to come in contact with it for hygienic reasons, rest assured that the reason for the U-shape seat is actually contact elimination.

 

“A closed oval seat creates a continuous surface where skin presses against plastic that thousands of strangers have already sat on. Removing the front section eliminates that contact zone entirely. Fewer shared square inches, fewer bacterial transfer points between users,” X user, @aakashgupta wrote in a now viral X post, with over 5.2 million views.

 

The second reason? To make it easier for women to wipe their privates without accidentally skimming the gross toilet seat. “The gap is sized for a hand to pass through cleanly,” Gupta explained.

 

And for men who don’t know how to aim properly, “The open front also eliminates the surface where urine pools at the front of the seat, so the next user sits on dry plastic instead of someone else’s miss.”

 

Of course, X users had a field day with this news, many scratching their heads at this news.

 

“You don’t sit on the opening anyway but the rest of the seat so I don’t get this point,” one wondered.

 

“I always thought it was for men who failed to lift the seat up,” quipped someone else.

 

While someone else chimed in, writing, “In Italy right now, I really miss American toilets.”

WNEW-FM LITTLE ESSENTIALS INITIATIVE COLLECTS 30 THOUSAND DIAPERS

Wow, they got three times more than the goal they'd set. 

AMAZON DELIVERY DRIVER PEES IN CUSTOMER'S DRIVEWAY

New York Post

 

Amazon driver caught in vile act outside of customer’s SoCal home

By Ross O'Keefe

Published May 1, 2026, 4:08 p.m. ET

 

An Amazon driver delivered more than packages to one Southern California resident’s home.

 

The female driver was caught on camera urinating between two vehicles parked on the customer’s driveway in Pomona on Thursday after she delivered his packages.

 

The homeowner, Jose Villalobos, was shocked by what he saw in the footage.

 

“I was so surprised,” he told KTLA. “I couldn’t believe someone would even think to do that.”

 

Despite his disgust, Villalobos said he wanted to give the driver the benefit of the doubt.

 

“Like, when you got to go, you got to go, I understand that,” he explained. “If she would’ve asked, I probably would have let her [use my bathroom]. She’s probably working crazy hours with no restroom nearby.”

 

Amazon is notorious for reports of delivery drivers working long hours without restroom breaks. One driver told The Guardian that he uses a bottle to urinate.

 

Amazon told KTLA that the worker is with Amazon Flex, which uses independent contractors driving their own vehicles to deliver packages.

 

“We’re aware of this matter and take situations like this seriously. An investigation is underway to determine the facts,” a company spokesperson said.

 

Last year, a female Amazon driver in Woodland Hills was caught on camera relieving herself on two front porches.