Study finds ‘dog cuddles’ can reduce pain

Affection from a dog is medicinal, according to a new study. Researchers found that patients suffering from pain in hospital emergency rooms found their discomfort reduced after spending just ten minutes with a four-legged friend, reported CNN. The study’s author asked more than 200 emergency room patients to report their level of pain on a scale from one to ten before and after spending ten minutes with a therapy dog.

Artist draws Putin using dog poo

A UK artist has made headlines for painting a portrait of Vladimir Putin using dog poo. Dominic Murphy, from Welwyn Garden City, teamed up with his dog, Sybil, to create the image, which he named “Poo-tin’s a s**t”. Speaking to the Welwyn Hatfield Times, Murphy said he “didn’t want to do anything wishy-washy like doves”. Addressing an obvious concern, he added: “I mixed it [the poo] with mud then varnished the whole thing about 30 times so you can’t smell it.” He will be donating half of the proceeds from the painting’s sale to Unicef.

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Elon Musk names second child Y

Elon Musk, the Tesla and SpaceX founder, and his musician girlfriend Grimes have welcomed a second child, calling her Exa Dark Siderael Musk, or ‘Y’ for short. Grimes, whose real name is Claire Elise Boucher, revealed that their daughter was born via a surrogate in December. She said her name was a tribute to supercomputing, space and time. The couple are already parents to son X AE A-12, known as X, noted The Daily Telegraph.