Kazutaka Yonekura, chief executive of Tokyo startup Alt Inc., demonstrates his digital clone on a personal computer at his office in Tokyo, Aug. 17, 2023. His company is developing a digital double, an animated image that looks and talks just like its owner. (AP Photo/Yuri Kageyama)

Digital clones popular in Japan, so far lost in translation elsewhere

Animated image that looks and talks just like its owner being developed to liberate from the mundane

Kazutaka Yonekura, chief executive of Tokyo startup Alt Inc., demonstrates his digital clone on a personal computer at his office in Tokyo, Aug. 17, 2023. His company is developing a digital double, an animated image that looks and talks just like its owner. (AP Photo/Yuri Kageyama)
Lindsey Dixon, a BC pharmacist specializing in healthcare education. (supplied photo)

PODCAST: Lindsay Dixon explains New extended prescribing powers for BC Pharmacists

TODAY IN B.C.: Pharmacists can help with birth control, minor illnesses, ailments and more

Lindsey Dixon, a BC pharmacist specializing in healthcare education. (supplied photo)
This undated photo provided by Brights Zoo in Limestone, Tenn., shows a plain brown female reticulated giraffe that was born on July 31, 2023, at the family-owned zoo. David Bright, one of the zoo’s owners, said the animal is a rarity: Research found another giraffe that was born without a pattern in Tokyo in 1972 and two others before that. The spots serve as camouflage for giraffes in the wild. (Tony Bright/Brights Zoo via AP)
This undated photo provided by Brights Zoo in Limestone, Tenn., shows a plain brown female reticulated giraffe that was born on July 31, 2023, at the family-owned zoo. David Bright, one of the zoo’s owners, said the animal is a rarity: Research found another giraffe that was born without a pattern in Tokyo in 1972 and two others before that. The spots serve as camouflage for giraffes in the wild. (Tony Bright/Brights Zoo via AP)
Popkum Fire Chief Walter Roos is sworn in as a new Canadian citizen in his fire truck on the way to fight fires in West Kelowna on Tuesday, Aug. 22. (Photo/Popkum Fire Department)
Popkum Fire Chief Walter Roos is sworn in as a new Canadian citizen in his fire truck on the way to fight fires in West Kelowna on Tuesday, Aug. 22. (Photo/Popkum Fire Department)
The University of Victoria is home to the world’s largest Transgender Archives. (Graphic from Aaron Devor).

B.C. attracting researchers as home to world’s largest transgender archives

Visitors come from all over the world to study the archives at the University of Victoria

The University of Victoria is home to the world’s largest Transgender Archives. (Graphic from Aaron Devor).
From left to right: John Showman on fiddle, Max Malone on bass, and Chris Coole on banjo (Contributed Joel Varjassy).

Perseverance, hope at centre of B.C. wildfire song by band with Lytton roots

‘Praying for Rain’ from the Lonesome Ace Stringband, is about the 2021 Lytton fire

From left to right: John Showman on fiddle, Max Malone on bass, and Chris Coole on banjo (Contributed Joel Varjassy).
(Campbell River Skydive Centre/Contributed to Black Press Media)

PHOTOS: Campbell River grandma soars high to celebrate 90th birthday

Lucy celebrated her birthday by skydiving with her granddaughter

(Campbell River Skydive Centre/Contributed to Black Press Media)
Staff aboard the Nautilus exploration ship prepare to place a remote controlled vehicle into the ocean to search for meteorites that fell in March 2018 (Susan Poulton/Ocean Exploration Trust).

VIDEO: B.C. teacher helps share ocean terminology through ASL

Christopher Clauss is a member of the Trust’s 2023 Science Communication Fellows

Staff aboard the Nautilus exploration ship prepare to place a remote controlled vehicle into the ocean to search for meteorites that fell in March 2018 (Susan Poulton/Ocean Exploration Trust).
FILE - Norwegian Magnus Carlsen of SG Alpine Warriors plays against Poland’s Jan-Krzysztof Duda of Chingari Gulf Titans during Global Chess League in Dubai United Arab Emirates, on July 1, 2023. The world’s top chess federation on Monday has ruled that transgender women cannot compete in its official events for women until an assessment of gender change is made by its officials. Word of the decision comes as the federation is hosting a World Cup event in Azerbaijan, where top players including No. 1-ranked Grand Master Magnus Carlsen of Norway were attending. (AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili, File)

World chess federation bars transgender women from competing in women’s events

Ban will be in place until full assessment of gender change is made by federation officials

FILE - Norwegian Magnus Carlsen of SG Alpine Warriors plays against Poland’s Jan-Krzysztof Duda of Chingari Gulf Titans during Global Chess League in Dubai United Arab Emirates, on July 1, 2023. The world’s top chess federation on Monday has ruled that transgender women cannot compete in its official events for women until an assessment of gender change is made by its officials. Word of the decision comes as the federation is hosting a World Cup event in Azerbaijan, where top players including No. 1-ranked Grand Master Magnus Carlsen of Norway were attending. (AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili, File)
Linden Zoet, 7, and Dallas Fraser, 9, have fun at the Sproat Lake Water Sports Association on July 19, 2023. Sproat Lake has been named B.C.’s best lake in a CBC competition. (SONJA DRINKWATER / Special to the AV News)

‘Vote Sproat!’: Vancouver Island lake basking in vote declaring it best in B.C.

Sproat Lake, west of Port Alberni, edges Shuswap Lake in CBC competition

Linden Zoet, 7, and Dallas Fraser, 9, have fun at the Sproat Lake Water Sports Association on July 19, 2023. Sproat Lake has been named B.C.’s best lake in a CBC competition. (SONJA DRINKWATER / Special to the AV News)
Surgeons at NYU Langone Health prepare to transplant a pig’s kidney into a brain-dead man in New York on July 14, 2023. Researchers around the country are racing to learn how to use animal organs to save human lives. (AP Photo/Shelby Lum)

Pig kidney works in donor body marking step toward animal-human transplants

Researchers are breaking new ground in the scicne of using animals to save human lives

Surgeons at NYU Langone Health prepare to transplant a pig’s kidney into a brain-dead man in New York on July 14, 2023. Researchers around the country are racing to learn how to use animal organs to save human lives. (AP Photo/Shelby Lum)
FILE - Carolina Panthers’ Michael Oher speaks to the media during the first day of their NFL football offseason conditioning program in Charlotte, N.C., April 20, 2015. Oher, the former NFL tackle known for the movie “The Blind Side,” filed a petition Monday, Aug. 14, 2023, in a Tennessee probate court accusing Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy of lying to him by having him sign papers making them his conservators rather than his adoptive parents nearly two decades ago.(AP Photo/Chuck Burton, File)

Blind Side battle: Tuohys call Oher’s filing ‘hurtful’ shakedown attempt

Former NFL tackle and movie subject claims family enriched themselves at his expense

FILE - Carolina Panthers’ Michael Oher speaks to the media during the first day of their NFL football offseason conditioning program in Charlotte, N.C., April 20, 2015. Oher, the former NFL tackle known for the movie “The Blind Side,” filed a petition Monday, Aug. 14, 2023, in a Tennessee probate court accusing Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy of lying to him by having him sign papers making them his conservators rather than his adoptive parents nearly two decades ago.(AP Photo/Chuck Burton, File)
Arnold Lim. (Black Press Media photo)

PODCAST: Arnold Lim, award-winning filmmaker and photojournalist

TODAY IN B.C.: Film ‘My Name is Arnold’ earns widespread accolades

Arnold Lim. (Black Press Media photo)
Desert Hills Ranch Farm Market ordered a large shipment of cantaloupe, only for it to arrive undersized. The market is giving away the fruit for free and asks the community to consider donating to food banks and others in need. (Desert Hills Ranch Farm Market/Facebook)

Size matters: B.C. market giving away 50,000 pounds of wrong-size fruit

The Desert Hills Ranch Farm Market is urging the community to take as much as they want

Desert Hills Ranch Farm Market ordered a large shipment of cantaloupe, only for it to arrive undersized. The market is giving away the fruit for free and asks the community to consider donating to food banks and others in need. (Desert Hills Ranch Farm Market/Facebook)
Avril Lavigne performs during the Juno Awards in Toronto on Sunday, May 15, 2022. Lavigne is among the five newly announced inductees to Canada’s Walk of FameTHE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette
Avril Lavigne performs during the Juno Awards in Toronto on Sunday, May 15, 2022. Lavigne is among the five newly announced inductees to Canada’s Walk of FameTHE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette
A tarantula is shown in a Canada Border Services Agency handout photo. The agency says officers discovered two live tarantulas hidden inside plastic containers at the Edmonton International Airport earlier this year. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Canada Border Services Agency

Border officers at Edmonton airport seize hidden tarantulas

Border agency says animals were legal to import, but were not being transported humanely

A tarantula is shown in a Canada Border Services Agency handout photo. The agency says officers discovered two live tarantulas hidden inside plastic containers at the Edmonton International Airport earlier this year. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Canada Border Services Agency
Ignus, the 10.5-foot steel and aluminum sunflower art installation created by Terrace artist Jordie Laidlaw and his team. Inspired by his experiences as an ICU nurse during the COVID-19 pandemic, the piece is set to embark on a 2,500-kilometre journey to Burning Man, symbolizing resilience, connection, and creativity.
(Vilk Studios photo)

Terrace man to bring ValhallaFest art installation to Burning Man

ValhallaFest organizer and ICU nurse seeking community support through a GoFundMe campaign

Ignus, the 10.5-foot steel and aluminum sunflower art installation created by Terrace artist Jordie Laidlaw and his team. Inspired by his experiences as an ICU nurse during the COVID-19 pandemic, the piece is set to embark on a 2,500-kilometre journey to Burning Man, symbolizing resilience, connection, and creativity.
(Vilk Studios photo)
Mikki is one of the many dogs in Canada providing companionship to people. Do you know how many dogs live in Canada? (Kim Lawton photo)

QUIZ: Are you enjoying the dog days of summer?

For many, dogs are constant and loyal companions

Mikki is one of the many dogs in Canada providing companionship to people. Do you know how many dogs live in Canada? (Kim Lawton photo)
TEASER PHOTO

Could you eat this B.C. pub’s big burger in 30 minutes? Only 2 ever have

Competitive eaters twice videoed their Blarney Stone Challenges at Donegal’s in Surrey

TEASER PHOTO
A pair of conchuela stink bugs crawl over an amaranth plant at the front of Kathy Crosbie’s Salmon Arm home. (Lachlan Labere-Salmon Arm Observer)

Meet the little stinker sucking the life out of B.C. Interior farms and gardens

Conchuela stink bugs causing a real stink for fruit and vegetable growers

A pair of conchuela stink bugs crawl over an amaranth plant at the front of Kathy Crosbie’s Salmon Arm home. (Lachlan Labere-Salmon Arm Observer)