Days after powerful Hurricane Michael made landfall Wednesday just north of Mexico Beach, Florida, thousands of people have been informally reported missing to local authorities.

Emergency crews made it their mission Friday to search for people after the Category 4 storm barreled into the Florida Panhandle before making its way to southwest Georgia and South Carolina – while also lashing North Carolina and Virginia. At least 17 people have been killed.

Emergency officials said they received thousands of calls asking about missing people, but with cellphone service out across a wide area, they found it impossible to know who among those unaccounted for was safe but just unable to dial out to friends or family. The Miami Herald reported that thousands of people have been “informally reported missing” to the Red Cross, local authorities and the state.

The only promise that is new about the promised peace plan is the way it will be forced on the Palestinians: no one has promised that the plan itself will be new. With Saudi Arabia and Egypt—the outside—brought onside with the promise of continued military aid despite their crimes against humanity and violations of international law and the Palestinians weakened by being silenced, economically crushed and stripped of any friends to help them, the United States and Israel are now free to attempt to impose a peace plan on the Palestinians.

It’s well known at this point that just under 30 percent of Americans ages 17 to 24 ? the prime age to join the Army ? aren’t eligible to join.

But beyond that, almost a third of those who sit down with a recruiter to take the first steps are immediately disqualified.

Why? Because of their weight.

“Out of all the reasons that we have future soldiers disqualify, the largest – 31 percent ? is obesity,” Maj. Gen. Frank Muth, head of Army Recruiting Command, said Wednesday at AUSA’s annual meeting in Washington, D.C.

A freshly published study, “Unhealthy and Unprepared” concludes that America’s rising numbers of overweight youth are going to have real impacts on the military’s ability to maintain effectiveness.

“We’ve got to make sure that message gets out, because our concern is what happens when that percentage that qualify … potentially goes down?” Muth said. “Or if the obesity, if that starts to go up.”

A group of astronomers observing the strange quiet death of a massive star, which exploded in a “peculiar” fashion some 920 million light years from Earth, also witnessed the birth of binary star system for the first time.

Astronomers from the California Institute of Technology and Carnegie Science Institute published their findings in the journal Science on Thursday. In the study, they describe the strange event in which the huge star exploded in a surprisingly faint and rapidly fading supernova - in stark contrast to the dramatic bang which exploding stars usually produce.

NASA says it’s dusting off its plans for flying the International Space Station without a crew after the aborted launch of a Russian rocket taking two astronauts toward the station.

Kenny Todd, a space station manager, said from Houston several hours after Thursday’s aborted launch that the station’s three current residents can remain on board until January.

Although the dramatic launch barely made it to space before the capsule tumbled back to Earth, it was certainly visible from space. Gerst was able to spot the rocket's climb from on board its hoped-for destination, capturing a majestic streak of white piercing Earth's atmosphere.

British billionaire Richard Branson said on Thursday that his Virgin Group would suspend its discussions with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund over a planned $1 billion investment in the group’s space ventures, in light of the disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, Reuters reports.

“What has reportedly happened in Turkey around the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, if proved true, would clearly change the ability of any of us in the West to do business with the Saudi government,” Branson said in a statement.

Branson also said he would suspend his directorship in two Saudi tourism projects around the Red Sea, citing Khashoggi’s disappearance. Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

As I was reading, on board an Air Canada flight from Mexico City to Vancouver, The Globe and Mail coverage of the horrors that have been unraveling for several days on the island of Sulawesi, I felt two powerful and contradictory emotions: I wanted to be there, immediately, ‘on the ground’, in the city of Palu, filming, talking to people, doing everything possible to help… and at the same time, I sensed that I was ‘already there’, so many times before, whenever the nightmares like those in Sulawesi were taking place all over the Indonesian archipelago.

And I wrote about them, I documented them, I was sending warnings, but nothing was done. The government (or I’d rather call it the ‘Indonesian regime’), is expert in hearing nothing and doing nothing, ignoring all frontal criticism. The same goes for the Indonesian elites. They are blind as they are deaf, as long as they can grab, steal and then, do absolutely nothing for the welfare of the Indonesian people.

In an age of technology and constant immersion in the digital sphere, a new initiative in Shetland, Scotland is encouraging individuals suffering from chronic illness to spend more time in nature.

The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) has teamed up with the National Health Service in Shetland to promote “Nature Prescriptions.” Doctors in the region can now officially prescribe “nature” to their patients.

According to a statement from the RSPB:

From reducing cardiovascular disease, hypertension, stress levels, rates of aggression, obesity. It can be used when treating Type II diabetes or depression or when recovering from operations, and it has been proven over and over again to provide relief from anxiety. Plus it’s free and easily accessible to all. It makes complete sense to work with the medical profession to connect people with nature.

A California judge opened the door Wednesday to a do-over of the landmark trial that awarded California groundskeeper DeWayne Johnson $289 million in damages from agri-chemical giant Monsanto after he claimed constant use of the company's Roundup weed-killer caused his cancer.

San Francisco Superior Court Judge Suzanne Bolanos issued a tentative ruling ordering a new trial, arguing that Johnson did not present "clear and convincing evidence of malice or oppression" on the part of Monsanto, The Associated Press reported.

Every year at about this time, public health officials and their media megaphones start up the drumbeat to encourage everyone (including half-year-old infants, pregnant women and the invalid elderly) to get a flu shot. Never mind that more often than not the vaccines don’t work, and sometimes even increase the risk of getting sick.

As it moved inland over Georgia on track to hammer some parts of South and North Carolina that haven't yet recovered from Hurricane Florence, Hurricane Michael was downgraded to a tropical storm Wednesday night. It's expected to exit the Continent on Friday, leaving a more than 200-mile long trail of devastation and what's expected to be roughly $20 billion in damages as it tears through the southeastern US. Already, 2 deaths have been confirmed, and it's believed that more will come. During the latest update, the storm was 30 miles west of Augusta, Georgia and is headed into South Carolina.

To protect its environment from the self-replicating pollution of GMO plants, Hungary has set fire to 500 hectares of GM corn, according to LaJos Bognar, Hungary’s Minister of Rural Development. The planting of genetically modified crops is currently illegal in Hungary, and in 26 other countries around the world. Moreover, in at least 50 countries, GMOs are required to be labeled.

Meanwhile in America, the USDA disallowed GMO labeling and is promoting the continued commercialization of genetically modified crops. Monsanto has entrenched itself within the American political and legal systems, influencing politicians to sell out the environment for profit.

Children's hospitals across the country are reporting the spread of a rare polio-like illness which has affected 38 people across 16 states this year.

The rare but serious disease known as Acute Flaccid Myelitis or AFM first made headlines in 2014. Since then, the CDC has tracked 362 cases almost entirely confined to children.

There is no vaccine for AFM - which is defined as an "inflammation of the spinal cord" which results in "limb, facial, oral or eye weakness" which can vary from subtle to severe.

Five children in Western Washington are in the hospital with a mysterious polio-like illness that causes paralysis in arms and legs.

The Washington State Department of Health said Wednesday it was investigating the cases of possible acute flaccid myelitis.

All of the cases involve infants or children under the age of six.

As the world population of honey bees continues to decline at a dangerous rate, a new study suggests that mushrooms could have a powerful effect on bees by helping them combat the viruses that have been killing their colonies.

According to the results of a recent study, which was titled “Extracts of Polypore Mushroom Mycelia Reduces Viruses in Honey Bees,” researchers were looking for a way to combat the highly infectious viruses that were wiping out global honey bee populations, and they started looking at mushrooms when they noticed bees were seeking out the fungus:

Hurricane Michael - one of the most powerful storms ever to strike the US mainland - has roared into the Florida coast bringing tree-snapping winds and towering waves.

The Category 4 storm made landfall at Mexico Beach at approximately 1:30pm local time, with wind speeds of 155mph - just shy of an extremely rare Category 5 storm.

The storm is the most powerful ever to hit north-west Florida. Earlier in the day, Florida Governor Rick Scott warned of "unimaginable devastation" calling it the worst storm to hit the area "in a century".

A Russian Soyuz rocket carrying a new U.S.-Russian crew to the International Space Station failed during its ascent Thursday (Oct. 11), sending its crew capsule falling back toward Earth in a ballistic re-entry, NASA officials said.

A search-and-rescue team has reached the landing site, both crewmembers are in good condition and have left the Soyuz capsule as of 6:10 a.m. EDT, NASA spokesperson Brandi Dean said during live television commentary. Russian space agency Roscosmos has released photographs of both astronauts being checked over after their abrupt landing.

Telescopes have picked up a huge number of mysterious signals coming from deep in space, Australian researchers have announced.

The radio telescopes have nearly doubled the number of the known “fast radio bursts” – bright flashes of radio waves that make their way to Earth from deep space.

And the signals represent the closest and brightest of the bursts that have ever been found.

Fast radio bursts are one of the most mysterious phenomena in the universe. They are blasts of incredible energy – equivalent to the amount released by the Sun in 80 years – that last for just a moment, and come from a mysterious source.

Pain is one of the first signs that the body exhibits whenever it’s experiencing problems. Although it is helpful for diagnosis, pain can be very uncomfortable, which is why many people depend on pain relievers. Aside from harmful synthetic drugs, pain relievers also come in the form of plants.

People can experience pain in many ways. It could either be localized or felt all over, fleeting or lasting, or it could also be sharp or dull. No matter how it’s experienced, pain relief is always wanted. Synthetic painkillers, such as acetaminophen and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), are widely used across the globe. However, these often come with adverse side effects, such as liver damage, ulcers, and kidney problems. Aside from these, people that regularly take synthetic painkillers tend to develop a resistance to the drug, which may leads to an addiction since the body requires a higher intake for the drug to be effective.

Hurricane Michael, one of the most powerful storms ever to hit the continental United States, slammed into the Florida Panhandle on Wednesday, unleashing a trail of destruction across 200 miles that splintered houses, peeled off roofs, and stirred up a terrifying surge of seawater that submerged entire neighborhoods and sent boats careening down city streets.

A storm that was initially forecast to arrive as a tropical storm instead amped up to furious intensity, hitting landfall just after midday near the small seaside community of Mexico Beach, 100 miles southwest of Tallahassee, with winds topping 155 miles per hour.

Images from there showed swaths of shattered debris where houses once stood and structures inundated up to their rooftops; the streets of Panama City, farther west, were blocked by downed tree limbs and impossible tangles of power lines. Recreational vehicles, trucks, and even trains were pushed over, surrounded by new lakes of water.

A botched launch of the Russian spaceship Soyuz narrowly avoided becoming the latest fatal space incident on Thursday. Rescue systems managed to save the lives of two crew members and conduct an emergency landing.

The Soyuz-MS-10 spacecraft was meant to deliver Roscosmos’ Aleksey Ovchinin and NASA astronaut Nick Hague, members of Expedition 57/58, to the International Space Station (ISS). But 119 seconds after take-off from the Baikonur launch site in Kazakhstan the Soyuz-FG launch vehicle experienced a malfunction and crew rescue protocols were engaged.

A Soyuz MS-10 spacecraft atop a Soyuz FG rocket manned by a team of two cosmonauts was set to deliver a team to the International Space Station (ISS).

Chief of Russian state space corporation Roscosmos Dmitry Rogozin has commented on the Soyuz MS-10 emergency landing, saying that the Soyuz crew had landed safely and everyone was alive.

"The crew has landed. All are alive," Dmitry Rogozin wrote on Twitter.

Russian State Space Corporation Roscosmos chief Dmitry Rogozin has departed for the emergency landing site of the Soyuz crew, Roscosmos said in a statement.

Meanwhile, the crew has left Kazakhstan for Moscow.

Russia's space agency, Roscosmos, has released footage of the ISS crew lounging on a couch with hot beverages and snacks after they were forced to make an emergency landing on Thursday.

Judging by the photographs, Russian cosmonaut Aleksey Ovchinin and American astronaut Nick Hague appear to be healthy and in good spirits. They are both hooked up to medical equipment monitoring their vitals.

Have you ever seen the instruction on your medication 'do not take this medicine with grapefruit juice' and wondered why? You're not alone.

At least 53 medications can be made less effective by the citrus fruit and people taking certain drugs should take extra care when deciding whether to eat it.

Grapefruit contains a compound which interferes with an enzyme in the small intestine, which is responsible for breaking down nearly half of all medicines.

As a result, the fruit can make medicines too strong or not strong enough by affecting how well your body absorbs them.

The latest archaeological research near Mount Vesuvius indicates that the victims of the 79AD eruption may have died from vaporized internal organs and bodily fluids which, in turn, caused their skulls to explode.

During the two-day eruption, Pompeii and other settlements within a 20km radius of Vesuvius were carpeted in volcanic ash before the 200- to 500-degree Celsius (392- to 932-degree Fahrenheit) pyroclastic flow smashed the settlements into the annals of history at a speed of between 100 and 300kph (62 to 186mph).