Dec. 10, 2025

Tony Pork sets skateboard record

Show Notes
Transcript

A false alarm about monkeys in Newark, a study showing the health benefits of casual walking for seniors, the artistic transformation of Austrian power lines, a plastic-eating robotic fish developed by the University of Surrey, and a skateboarding pig named Norbert setting a record.

5 Good News Stories is a daily podcast with five positive, uplifting news stories to brighten your day. New episodes every day. Follow on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen. Part of the Caloroga Shark Media network

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WEBVTT

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Callaroga Shark Media. Hey there, I'm Chunny Mack with five

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good news stories. That's so much fun doing regular stories

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Yesterday I'm like, eh, I'm gonna pop back on and

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do regular five good news stories again. Not that I

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don't like the Christmas. I love the Christmas obviously, but

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I just like mixing it up. There's no real rules here,

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just trying to make you smile and have a nice day,

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all right. Police in New Jersey said reports of monkeys

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on the loose. Uh oh, I'm in New Jersey. What

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Apparently these monkeys were on the loose in Newark? Oh good?

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It was a social media hoax perpetuated by photos and

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videos that appear to be AI generated. The public Safety

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director of Newark said police received a report of wild

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monkeys on the loose in Newark. Now, if you've ever

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been to Newark, highly unlikely, And that came a day

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after local animal control received similar reports of monkeys loose

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on the streets of Newark. Again highly unlikely. The public

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safety director said officials have not located any monkeys. Any

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photos or videos posted on social media regarding this incident

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are likely AI generated, he said likely. He didn't say definitely,

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So there may be wild monkeys out there. Be careful. Hey,

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good news. If you like a casual walk, just four

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thousand steps once or twice a week might help you

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live longer, especially if you're a senior. A new study

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published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine found that

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older women who took at least four thousand steps on

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one or two days a week had a twenty six

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percent lower risk of death and a twenty seven percent

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lower risk of heart disease compared to those who didn't walk.

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The four thousand researchers tracked this for a decade. All right,

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so this wasn't a flighty thing. They tracked thirteen thousand

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women with an average age of seventy two over the decade.

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Those who hit the four thousand step mark did really well.

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In Austria, they're turning power lines into public arts. The

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Austrian Power Grid teamed up with designers to create Austrian

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power Giants. These are massive pylons shaped like animals representing

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each of Austria's nine states. Yeah, you know those big

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aluminum looking things out I know what they're made out of,

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But you know those pictured things with the power lines. Yeah,

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you've seen this, John, Why are you try and explain

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to us what a power pylon is? I don't know,

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all right, what are the nine? Well, there's a stork

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and a stag. Those are both prototypes that have already

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been tested for stability and high voltage performance. There's plans

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to install more. The officials say, if a community sees

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a pylon as a landmark rather than an isore, acceptance follows.

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That makes sense, all right. More science for you. Engineers

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at the University of Surrey have created a plastic eating

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robotic fish that powers itself by turning microplastics into energy.

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Which sounds great at first, until the robotic fish take

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over the world. If they're powering themselves. Let's be careful scientists,

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what are you doing using a microbial fuel cell. Gilbert

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with two l's feeds on pollution, meaning the more plastic

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it eats, the more energy it has to keep swimming.

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This sounds like a science fiction movie that is going

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to go sideways. I'm not sure this is good news.

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This might be apocalyptic news from Johnny Mack today. As

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it glides through the water, Gilbert filters out small particles

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as small as two millimeters and it glows in the dark,

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so researchers can track it. For now, Doctor Roberts says,

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we don't know where the vast majority of plastic dumped

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in our waterways ends up. We hope the robofish and

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its future descendants descendants are the first steps in the

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right direction of helping us control this plastic pollution problem. Sure,

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but what is your solution to controlling the robofish population? Hey,

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good news for Norbert the pig. He set a record.

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He was showing off his skateboarding skills. Norbert took a

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thirty three foot ride in just over eleven seconds. That

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sounds awfully fast. It, of course, is the record for

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the fastest ten meters pushing a skateboard by a pig.

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Norbert's friend, Vincent the Human, said, I had my board

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from when I was a kid. I figured, man, try

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the pig on it. I went outside, laid the board

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down and took out some unsalted peanuts of streets. In

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about fifteen minutes, I had the pig standing on the board.

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After a couple more sessions, he was pushing himself down

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the street. Norbert even has a new nickname. It is

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Tony pork in honor of legendary skateboarder Tony Hawk. Next thing,

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you know, they'll be Hawks skateboarding and what will we

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nickname them? I don't know, knows your fine good news

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stories for today. Hey, if you would like this thing

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without commercial interruption, open up Apple Podcast. There's a banner there,

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hope you have a great day. See you then,