The Daily: April 23

We scour the news so you don't have to
Australian farmer in Australia finds an impeccable fossil of ancient sea predator
Scientists believe that a five-foot jawbone fossil found in Australia is more than 100million years old and belonged to a baby Kronosaurus Queenslandicus. An Australian cattle farmer was spraying weeds on his property when he discovered the pre-historic fossil, thought to have been visible because of a local drought killing much of the draught. The fossil is believed to be the worlds most complete sets of remains of the Kronosaurus Queenslandicus, a 36-foot reptile with a crocodile-like head and four flippers. According to Dr Timothy Holland from an Australian Museum, the creature was not yet fully grown, but the completeness and impeccable nature of the fossil would provide a better understanding of what the ancient predators looked like.

Number of marathon runners from UK has decreased
Ahead of the London Marathon this weekend, a report displaying global statistics of marathon running has revealed that marathon running in the UK has decreased by 5%, compared to the global growth of 13%. The biggest growth has been in Russia at 300% while the largest decline is in Switzerland at 33%. Interestingly, women's participation in the UK has increased by 12% while the men's has decreased by 13%. Women, however, still only make up 30% of marathon runners globally. UK as a whole is the second slowest nation in Europe, with Greece behind us, but this perhaps reflects a healthier balance in age and gender of those competing, or of participation of non-athletes at an amateur level. The London Marathon is this Sunday, with the Elite runners starting at 9:20 and the general runners starting at 10:10.

Shoebox revealed to still be a popular place to keep important personal papers
According to a recent survey, 32% of 2,000 Britons keep their important possessions (certificates, letters, photos etc.) in a shoebox which is then filed away to the loft, garage or cupboard. Therefore, despite the significant advancement of technology over the past years, a third of the population neglects the storage capacity of the computer/internet and keeps our most precious documents in boxes or filing cabinets. Only 6% keep a back-up copy of vital paperwork online and only 13% scan it into a computer. This perhaps suggests that our modern day society still trusts tangible storage more than the 'Cloud' for their important personal belongings, despite the endless capacity of the online world.

TV Channel to shut down to encourage youth to vote
Channel 4 is to shut down comedy and lifestyle channel E4 on the 7th of May in an attempt to encourage younger members of society to vote. Popular comedy shows such as 'The Big Bang Theory' and 'How I Met Your Mother' will not be aired on Election Day, instead viewers who do tune in will see 'Darren' manning the control room. This will be the first time a UK channel has closed to encourage people to vote, as the marketing campaign will ask viewers 'How many times have you missed life-changing events because you want to watch your favourite show?'. In an age where young people find it hard to detach from social media and technology, shutting of their favourite digital channel (as E4 is the most popular channel for 16-34 year olds) may be the way forward. E4 will resume on air at 7:00pm with the normal showing of Hollyoaks. The shut down will be promoted across all four of Channel 4's stable of channels, beginning on Wednesday.

Las Vegas sign designer has died aged 91
The designer of the famous Las Vegas welcome sign, Betty Willis, has died aged 91 at her home in Nevada. Betty designed the sign as part of quest for a tourism boost in 1959, becoming an instant hit with tourists and locals. The shape and design of the sign, which says: 'Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas, Nevada', was influenced by the 'Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company Logo', while the star at the top was inspired by Disney in a desire to signify happiness and dreams coming true. Additionally, the word 'Welcome' is spelt out on silver dollar coins, in an attempt to promote the idea of luck. Betty's design has made this sign one of the most recognisable in the world, even though Betty did not copyright the sign, or make any money out of it as she claimed it was her gift to Las Vegas.