A former Disney child star sparked criticism after charing her young online fans in order to enter a raffle. Skai Jackson faced backlash from some fans who disagreed with the star charging fans $5 each to enter a raffle in which they could win a new MacBook laptop. The 21-year-old actor rose to fame thanks to roles in the Disney shows Jessie and Bunk’d and according to reports has a net worth of $2 million. So, fans were left confused when Jackson went live on TikTok and asked followers to enter a raffle and pay $5 “for a chance to win a MacBook”. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Jackson said: “I don’t know if you guys have been to school before, but I know I’ve been to school, and we used to have raffles all the time, where you get a ticket – it might be a physical ticket – but you put in $5, $2, whatever and you get a prize.” In the live video, Jackson claimed the cost of entering the raffle would go towards the prize itself and, if there was any leftover money, it would go towards a follow-up giveaway “soon”. She continued: “I do not need money,” adding, “Me personally, I do not need money. And I’m not saying this like, in a bragging way or anything … I’m just letting you guys know I do not personally need money, like, I am very fine in my life. I don’t need money.” But, it seems that some were left unconvinced by her explanation of the raffle’s funding. One person suggested: “If you ‘don’t need the money’ why not you just give the MacBook away.” Another said: “‘The money goes towards the prize’… that’s not how raffles work mama.” A winner of the Macbook raffle appeared to be chosen on 8 July as Jackson shared their Instagram handle and a screenshot of their conversation on her Twitter. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

Given the popularity of food horror these days, it was probably just a matter of

Since 2016, YouTube audiences have been riveted by Avocado devouring everything listed on fast-food menus

Veronica Valencia embarks on a transformative journey to craft living spaces that evoke a sense of nostalgia and reconnect people with their roots

Last week Shannon Sharpe announced he was bringing his Club Shay Shay podcast to The Volume, the digital network and podcasting outfit founded by Colin Cowherd. The multiyear deal includes Sharpe's company, Shay Shay Media, jointly producing new programming with the network. A few days after that, both ESPN and Sharpe confirmed reports that he would be teaming up with Stephen A. Smith on First Take on Mondays and Tuesdays beginning next week, dovetailing with the start of the NFL season for what promises to be appointment television.

'1000-lb Sisters' star Tammy Slaton responds to the constant criticism over her filtered photos

Media star and entrepreneur Bonang Matheba has left her fans and followers in suspense with her new relationship

TikTok star Alix Earle knows how to make heads turn with her stunning outfits

Board members from Hollywood’s actors union have voted to approve the deal with studios that ended their strike after nearly four months

Tiffany Haddish's second DUI arrest has sparked an internet outrage

Dani Rojas, a foreign player in AFC Richmond is based on the profile of a former Mexican footballer

A group of amateur radio enthusiasts have set up a beacon in the UK that allows anyone to observe meteors as they burn through the Earth’s atmosphere. The UK Meteor Beacon project uses radio signals to identify meteorites as they pass through a 400 km-wide section of sky over England and Wales. The data is then displayed on a live online feed, with meteors appearing as blue streaks that emit a ping followed by a trailing pitch. The system captures more than 100 meteors every hour, even during times of relatively low activity. For the upcoming Perseid meteor shower, which peaks on 12 August, the frequency could be in the region of thousands per hour as Earth passes through the tail of the Swift-Tuttle comet. Unlike optical astronomy, the use of radio signals mean that meteors can be observed in nearly any weather conditions at all hours of the day and night. It also means that the system can pick up smaller meteors that may not appear as ‘shooting stars’ to the naked eye. This method of observation could potentially lead to the discovery of new meteor showers, which could then be tracked to uncover previously unknown comets. The radio transmitter is based at the Sherwood Observatory near Mansfield in Nottinghamshire, however receivers can be placed anywhere in the country. “The transmitter is illuminating the sky above Mansfield with radio signals that can be reflected by meteors and their trails,” Brian Coleman, who designed the system’s hardware and has a receiver in his back garden, told The Independent. “Even outside the Perseids and other meteor showers we’re seeing them at a rate of two a minute – and we can observe them day and night no matter what the weather. Only thunderstorms and lightning can interfere with it.” It is the first meteor beacon system run by amateur radio and astronomy volunteers in the UK, and has already received funding from the Radio Society of Great Britain and the British Astronomical Association. It has also gained the attention of academic and citizen scientists keen on studying meteors. Setting up the beacon transmitter is only the first part of the project, with the four-person team now planning to design and deploy echo receivers that can be distributed throughout the country at distances of up to 1,200 km from the Sherwood Observatory. The receivers can be built for as little as £10, according to Mr Coleman, using plastic pipes and other materials found in DIY stores. His hope is that the low cost will encourage schools to set up their own receivers to develop STEM-related projects that will encourage students to explore radio engineering and astronomy. Observations of the meteors from different directions can also be used to calculate the location and trajectory of meteors, with the team currently trying to establish whether it is possible to triangulate the meteors by studying the horizontal lines and blue smudges that appear on the waterfall display. Such measurements are currently possible with military-grade pulse radar systems, but it has never been done before on this scale. If it is possible, then knowing the speed and direction of the meteors will allow them to calculate the landing spot of any meteors that make it through the Earth’s ionosphere without burning up completely. These samples can then be studied to offer a better understanding of the universe. “The ultimate ambition is to have a system like Blitzortung, which uses a network of ground-based detectors to track live lightning strikes around the planet,” Mr Coleman said. “If successful, we could observe meteors entering Earth’s atmosphere in real-time throughout the world – but there’s still a lot of work to do before we achieve that.” Read More Amateur astronomers make ‘major breakthrough’ in saving Earth from asteroids ‘It’s becoming like an airport’: How SpaceX normalised rocket launches Perseid meteor shower offers best chance to see a ‘shooting star’ in 2023 Watch live: Russian cosmonauts step out of ISS to perform spacewalk Earth hit by powerful ‘X-1’ solar flare, after fears of ‘cannibal’ blast