He got engaged, then ate 61 hot dogs

Joey Chestnut celebrates Friday, July 4, after winning the 98th annual Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest at Coney Island in New York. Chestnut ate 61 hot dogs to win the men's competition for the eighth straight year.

The competitors do what they do best as people keep count behind them.

Spectators cheer before the contest.

Chestnut, center, reacts next to fellow competitors Tim Janus, left, and Matt Stonie after the competition.

Chestnut proposes to his longtime girlfriend, Neslie Ricasa, before the contest.

David Turner walks down Surf Avenue while wearing his American flag accessories.

The women's competition was held earlier in the day. Miki Sudo, second from right, won by eating 34 hot dogs.

Sudo, right, eats next to last year's winner, Sonya Thomas.

Sudo celebrates her victory.

• Reigning king of world's most famous hot dog eating contest proposes before contest


• Joey Chestnut downs 61 hot dogs in 10 minutes


• He secures eighth consecutive title, falls short of record


• In women's contest, Miki Sudo inhales 34 dogs to eclipse former champ

New York (CNN) -- Joey "Jaws" Chestnut, reigning king of the world's most famous hot dog eating contest, may have had an extra boost of confidence Friday. With a hug and kiss, his girlfriend of three years accepted his marriage proposal.

On a rainy Independence Day at Brooklyn's Coney Island, the San Jose, California, resident once again clinched the title at Nathan's hot dog eating contest before hundreds of umbrella-toting spectators at the annual celebration of gluttony.

"It was just a dog fight the entire time," he told ESPN, which broadcast the popular event.

Chestnut sloppily devoured 61 hot dogs in 10 minutes -- edging his biggest competitor, Matthew Stonie, who placed second after swallowing 56 dogs.

Unlocking the keys to competitive eating

Chestnut's win at Nathan's 98th annual International Hot Dog Eating Contest secured his title for the eighth consecutive year, but he was still a handful of wieners away from his world record 69 hot dogs in 10 minutes that he set last year.

"The hot dogs were slow today, the weather slowed everything down," Chestnut told ESPN. "I could never find my rhythm."

As reigning champ, Chestnut was paraded into the contest on the shoulders of fans on a chariot-like hot dog cart.

In the women's competition, Miki Sudo won by inhaling 34 dogs to eclipse the former champ, Sonya "The Black Widow" Thomas.

The hot dog eating contest was divided into men's and women's competitions in 2011.

Contestants compete for prize money and Nathan's Mustard Belt.

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5 myths about mosquito bites

• Diet, blood type or color of clothing have little effect on mosquitoes


• Mosquitoes are primarily attracted to carbon dioxide and heat


• Citronella plants and candles aren't good repellents, experts say

(CNN) -- Just about everyone can agree that mosquitoes are more than a little annoying. They bite, the bites itch and the repellent stinks. Even more disturbing are the incurable viruses these tiny predators can carry, including West Nile, malaria, yellow fever, dengue fever and chikungunya.

But just about everything else you thought you knew about mosquitoes and mosquito bites may be wrong.

Here are the facts behind five mosquito myths to help prevent the itch and maintain your health:

Myth No. 1: All mosquitoes bite humans

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there are about 3,500 species of mosquitoes. Some feed on plant nectar, some on reptiles, some on birds and others on mammals. Of the species that do bite humans, it is only the females that go for blood -- the protein aids in egg production.

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The Aedes vexans species, which is found in every U.S. state, does feed on humans, making it seem that all mosquitoes are out to get you.

For this species, "if you're a mammal, you're on the menu," said Joseph M. Conlon, a retired U.S. Navy entomologist and a technical adviser to the American Mosquito Control Association.

Random fact: The mosquito featured in "Jurassic Park" wouldn't have bitten humans or dinosaurs, Conlon said; it is the only species that doesn't feed on blood.

Myth No. 2: Mosquitoes are attracted to certain foods, colors and blood types

You may have heard that eating certain foods -- such as bananas, beer and garlic -- can attract or repel mosquitoes. But Conlon said, "Nothing that you eat affects mosquitoes all that much."

You can rest assured that wearing dark clothes probably won't draw mosquitoes to you either. And Conlon said a study on mosquitoes' attraction to Type O blood was later refuted due to bad statistics.

Harry Savage, chief research entomologist at the CDC, said carbon dioxide and heat are the biggest draws for mosquitoes. Scent can also play a role. Ingredients in your sweat and other skin secretions, which are often genetically determined, can make one person more attractive to a mosquito than another.

Both experts agree that size matters when it comes to being bitten.

Evidence suggests mosquitoes tend to prefer men over women, adults over children and larger people over smaller ones. Conlon said the larger figures likely produce more heat, more carbon dioxide and have more body mass to bite.

Myth No. 3: Pregnancy puts you at risk

If you think that being pregnant makes you a mosquito magnet, you aren't alone. A study published in 2000 supported the belief that mosquitoes prefer pregnant women.

But the study included only 36 pregnant women and 36 nonpregnant women, and used mosquitoes native to Gambia, a small country in Africa.

Conlon and Savage said the study might be valid, but not for the obvious reason.

Pregnant women give off more heat and carbon dioxide, which our experts said are attractive to mosquitoes. Getting hot and sweaty, and breathing heavily after a workout could potentially make you just as much of a target as a mom-to-be.

Myth No. 4: Citronella plants and candles will protect you

"Citronella is a weak repellent -- the oil. You have to crush the leaves," Conlon said. So that citronella plant on sale at the store? It's not your best bet for preventing bites.

Citronella candles aren't going to help much either. A breeze or change of wind direction can blow away any protection.

"To me, citronella only protects the candle," Savage said.

Conlon said there is no known effective area repellent. The best option is an Environmental Protection Agency-registered repellent for use on the body, such as products that contain the ingredient DEET. The EPA has an online tool for finding products that meet its standards.

Conlon also cautions against natural products claiming to repel mosquitoes. "There really isn't any evolutionary pressure to produce a (natural) repellent for humans. We are just another protein source on this planet."

Myth No. 5: The United States is free of mosquito-borne diseases

"No matter where you go in the U.S., there are good vectors (mosquitoes that transmit disease)," Savage said.

The Asian tiger mosquito, common in the Eastern and Central states, is a particular species to watch. It arrived in the United States from Asia in the 1980s, and the species is a documented carrier of dengue fever, yellow fever, chikungunya, dog heartworm and West Nile. Savage said this mosquito can be found in Ohio and Missouri, for example, and along the East Coast.

Malaria is no stranger here either. Malaria can flourish in moderate climates, Conlon said, not just in the tropics. As recent as the late 19th century, half the United States was endemic with the disease, according to the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals.

Of more recent concern to public health experts is the introduction of atypical or non-native viruses, such as West Nile and chikungunya.

"More challenges are meeting our shores every day from tourism and travel. If we let our guard down, chikungunya could take hold here," Conlon said. "The world's becoming a smaller place, and some of nastiest diseases on Earth are only a six-hour plane flight away."

Truck of the future may drive itself

Mercedes' Future Truck 2025 will drive by itself. A prototype took a 3-mile self-guided trek.

In the spacious cab, the driver will be able to turn away from the wheel, gas and brakes.

Truck drivers will have time to surf the Internet or monitor data, while Future Truck 2025 watches the road.

In the future, vehicles will communicate with each other and tap into Big Data, Mercedes-Benz envisions.

Multiple radar systems, stereo cameras and wireless LAN watch the road and other vehicles.

Mercedes' truck of the future should automatically keep its distance from other vehicles but not pass them automatically.

• Driver can surf the Internet or read while Future Truck 2025 does the work


• But the trucker is ultimately responsible, and has to pass slow vehicles by hand


• Mercedes envisions truckers of the futures acting as "transport managers"

(CNN) -- Tractor-trailer drivers, if you text while driving in the middle of the freeway, then the future may belong to you.

If you can afford a Mercedes truck, that is.

The German vehicle maker sent an 18-wheeler barreling down the Autobahn recently, while the driver surfed the Internet for food recipes on tablet computer -- at least that's how media photos told the story.

Its test drive was brief, covering about three miles, German media reported.

The trucker's hands didn't touch the wheel and his eyes were fixed on pork cutlets. But that could be the way some drive in the future, perhaps in the next decade or so.

That's the message of the prototype "Future Truck 2025," which Mercedes says is the first self-driven freight vehicle. It may seem illogical right now, but the hands-off idea is aimed at eliminating human error.

Special cameras and multiple radar systems watch the road, the sides of the road, and cars and trucks behind the vehicle.

Future Truck is also envisioned to communicate with other vehicles and connect to growing sources of online information as Big Data balloons on the road.

Its computerized controls will also make it more fuel efficient, Mercedes boasts.

Once the truck merges into traffic, it won't accelerate to clichéd Autobahn breakneck speeds. The system will throttle it to a meek 50 mph, Mercedes says.

Many of the component parts to put a vehicle like this into production are already available in trucks on the market: Systems that help drivers keep their distance from other drivers, active braking assistance, guidance and mapping systems, and fine-tuned cruise control and tons of other hi-tech tchotchke.

If a puttering slowpoke pulls out in front of Future Truck 2025, it will slow down automatically to keep off of its bumper, but the 18-wheeler won't pass it by itself.

That's when the driver will have to turn off the ball game, put down the iPad or lay away the knife and fork, then take the wheel.

But he'd be ill advised to goof off too much, because two cameras and a sensor under his seat will monitor his activities.

Mercedes says that the trucker will still be expected to be responsible for controlling the vehicle. But by then they won't be called that anymore.

In 2025, they'll be promoted to "transport managers."

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This helicopter flies itself

Pentagon grounds F-35 fleet

A F-35C conducts a test flight over the Chesapeake Bay on February 11, 2011. Inspections of F-35 engines have been ordered after a runway fire took place at Eglin Air Force Base on June 23. The F-35 Lightning II, still in its development and testing phase, has been beset by delays and cost overruns in the years since its introduction.

F-16 Fighting Falcons are parked at the Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Center in Tucson, Arizona, on December 11, 2004. General Dynamics (which was later sold to Lockheed) delivered the U.S. Air Force its first F-16As in 1979. More than 4,500 of the fighters have been built and are used by more than 20 nations in addition to the United States.

An F/A-18C Hornet becomes the first aircraft to be catapulted from the USS George H.W. Bush on May 19, 2009. The F/A-18 Hornet, a late-'70s contemporary of the Air Force's F-16 Fighting Falcon, became the workhorse of U.S. carrier-based air power, and still supplements the Navy's and Marines' more current fleet of F/A-18E and F/A-18F Super Hornets. It is designed as both a fighter and attack aircraft.

An F-15E Strike Eagle flies by during a U.S. Air Force demonstration on September 14, 2007, near Indian Springs, Nevada. The F-15E was designed for long-range, high-speed interdiction without relying on escort or electronic warfare aircraft. It was derived from the F-15 Eagle, which was developed to enhance U.S. air superiority during the Vietnam War.

Pilots perform daily flight checks on their F-5E/F Tiger aircraft in Key West, Florida, on January 7, 2005. The Vietnam-era aircraft -- one of several offshoots of the original Northrup F-5s that went into service in the early 1960s -- is used to simulate adversary aircraft in training.

A F-22 Raptor flies over Marietta, Georgia, home of the Lockheed Martin plant where it was built. The F-22 is the only fighter capable of simultaneously conducting air-to-air and air-to-ground combat missions.

A AV-8B Harrier lands on board the USS Nassau on April 14, 1999, following a strike mission into Kosovo. The AV-8B Harrier is a single-engine ground-attack aircraft capable of vertical or short takeoff and landing. Though production of the aircraft ceased in 2003, the U.S. Marine Corps is looking at systems enhancements and plans to continue using Harriers well into the next decade.

• Fire takes place June 23 at Eglin Air Force Base


• The F-35 fighter was grounded last year because of a crack in an engine component


• The F-35 program has been beset by cost overruns

(CNN) -- The Pentagon's most expensive weapons program ever, the F-35 warplane, is grounded again.

Developed at a staggering cost of nearly $400 billion, and beset for years by cost overruns and delays, the so-called Joint Strike Fighter was put down temporarily this week following a runway fire in Florida.

Pentagon spokesman Rear Adm. John Kirby said the cause of the June 23 incident remains under investigation, and the timing of when they might take off again is unclear.

"Additional inspections of F-35 engines have been ordered, and return to flight will be determined based on inspection results and analysis of engineering data," Kirby said.

Pentagon grounds F-35 fighter jets

Engine maker Pratt and Whitney said in a statement that it was working with Air Force investigators to inspect all engines in the fleet. It declined further comment.

Contractor Lockheed Martin is producing variants of the plane for the Navy, Marines and the Air Force. The Pentagon wants more than 2,400, while hundreds more are expected to go to allies like Italy, Japan and Australia.

Among other things, the F-35 is designed to hit supersonic speeds at times and blend in features that make it stealthy, or hard to detect.

The military says the fighter will be "the most affordable, lethal, supportable and survivable aircraft ever to be used by so many warfighters across the globe."

But its development has been controversial for its cost and for setbacks. Test flights began in 2007 and are ongoing.

Last year, it was grounded because of a crack in an engine component.

There is precedent for the move.

Last year, the U.S. military grounded the F-35 because of a crack in an engine component that was discovered during a routine inspection in California.

The nearly $400 billion Joint Strike Fighter is the Pentagon's most expensive weapons system program.

It has been beset by cost overruns and various technical problems during development.

The U.S. military describes the jet as the "next generation strike aircraft weapon for the Navy, Air Force, Marines and our allies."

It also says the fighter will be "the most affordable, lethal, supportable and survivable aircraft ever to be used by so many warfighters across the globe."

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Filmmakers charged in crew death

Sarah Elizabeth Jones died doing the job she loved. The South Carolina native was working as a second camera assistant when she was killed on set February 20. Her friends and the film community are rallying to remember Jones in a movement called Slates for Sarah. Hundreds have shared photo tributes since the group started days after her death.

"She was really just an easygoing [person], loved to have fun and really enjoyed what she did kind of person," says her friend, Eric Henson. He and Jones were on a set in New Orleans when this photo was taken.

Crew members from the TV show "Glee" shared messages of "RIP Sarah Jones."

Jones worked on the set of "The Vampire Diaries" in Atlanta as a second camera assistant. Part of her job included marking the start of a take with a camera slate. Her co-workers shared this tribute in remembrance of her.

Buses of crew members from "Vampire Diaries" and other productions filming in Georgia were on their way to Jones' memorial in Columbia, South Carolina, on Wednesday afternoon.

The cinematography department at Full Sail University shared this tribute for Jones on Tuesday. The colorful tape is standard issue on film sets.

Within a day, the movement to honor Jones had spread beyond the United States. Workers at a camera rental house in Berlin were moved to share this photo tribute.

Crew members from the set of the TV show "Nashville" honor Jones. One of her duties as a camera assistant was to mark shots with a camera slate.

"I've had a lot of people saying, 'I haven't seen something like this in 30 to 40 years in the film industry,'" said Henson. "The solidarity of people coming together has really been incredible."

The Del Mar Theater in Santa Cruz, California, changed its marquee in honor of Jones.

Workers from the set of "Downton Abbey" shared their condolences. By Wednesday afternoon, more than 30,000 people had "liked" the Facebook group.

Crew members from "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" paused to remember Jones, as well as Brent Hershman. Hershman was a crew member who died in 1997 when he fell asleep at the wheel and crashed his car after a 19-hour day. His death spawned a large conversation about working hours and workplace safety.

Even the crew on the set of "Sharknado 2" shared their message of remembrance.

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• "Midnight Rider" filmmakers charged with involuntary manslaughter


• Crew member Sarah Elizabeth Jones died in February during filming


• Jones and others were on railroad tracks when train came through


• Friends set up a Facebook group in her honor

(CNN) -- Three members of the "Midnight Rider" moviemaking team have been indicted in the death of a camera assistant.

Randall Miller, Jody Savin and Jay Sedrish were charged Thursday with involuntary manslaughter and criminal trespass regarding the death of Sarah Elizabeth Jones, a camera assistant on the film. Jones was on the set of the Gregg Allman biopic when she was struck and killed by a freight train near Savannah, Georgia, on February 20.

The indictment notes that Miller and Savin are the owners of Unclaimed Freight Productions Inc., the film's production company. Sedrish was the executive producer.

Under Georgia law, involuntary manslaughter carries a potential sentence of 10 years. Criminal trespass, a misdemeanor charge, has a potential sentence of 12 months.

Film crew member killed by train

Six other crew members were also injured in the accident, which occurred when Jones and others were filming on train tracks in Wayne County, Georgia. A CSX train, moving at about 58 mph, came through and struck Jones.

After the incident, Jones became the subject of mourning in the film community. Friends set up a Facebook group, Slates for Sarah, and she was even noted in the Academy Awards' "In Memoriam" montage.

Film crew member's tragic death prompts movement

Gregg Allman, "Midnight Rider's" subject, also shared his condolences.

"I am so terribly saddened by the news of the tragedy that took the young life of Sarah Elizabeth Jones on the film set," he wrote on his website. "My thoughts and prayers go out to her family, friends and colleagues during this time of mourning."

CNN's Carolyn Sung, Christina Zdanowicz and Ray Sanchez contributed to this story.