It's unknown how the pony became stuck in the tire - credit RSPCA, supplied to BBC
It’s unknown how the pony became stuck in the tire – credit RSPCA, supplied to BBC
A wild rescue story with a mystery comes from Stoke-on-Trent, where a pony was found entirely trapped inside a tractor tire.
Neither residents nor rescuers had any clue or idea as to what had gone on which saw the pony jailed by the derelict tire, but no one waited around to find out.
Residents immediately called the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals after finding the animal trapped in a field.
Rescue officer Nicola Riley described the event to the BBC as a “delicate operation” of an “understandably very scared and uncomfortable animal.”
Opting not to use a cutting tool, the RSCPA rescuers eased the pony’s head and shoulders out of the tire, allowing it to stand up and wobblily return to its comrades in the field.
“Thankfully, everyone worked really well together and we managed to get him out without causing any injury,” Riley said, who monitored the pony for the next hour to ensure he wasn’t suffering any lasting trauma.
– credit RSPCA, supplied to BBC
The pony began feeding not long after his release. His fur was matted and very dirty, suggesting a long period stuck in the tire.
The officer said that it could have ended very differently if the residents hadn’t called, and encouraged anyone in a similar situation to do the same thing.
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Only 10 human cases of Guinea worm were reported worldwide in 2025, the lowest number ever recorded, bringing the ancient disease closer than ever to eradication.
Poised to be only the second human disease eradicated after smallpox, the 10 Guinea worm cases mark a 33% decline from the 15 cases reported in 2024.
Shared in a statement from the Carter Center, the historic number follows the one-year anniversary of the passing of former US President Jimmy Carter who campaigned tirelessly to achieve this outcome, and in the 40th year since he began to do so.
When The Carter Center embarked of its global Guinea worm eradication campaign in 1986, an estimated 3.5 million human cases occurred annually in 21 countries in Africa and Asia.
Together with partners, including the countries themselves, the campaign has reduced the waterborne, parasitic disease by more than 99.99% compared to 40 years ago. This equates to more than 100 million cases of this devastating disease averted among the world’s most marginalized and neglected populations.
“Guinea worm causes immense suffering—not just for the individual but for their family and community as well,” said Adam Weiss, director of the Carter Center Guinea Worm Eradication Program.
“Every case is a real person we know by name. They are enduring a disease we know how to prevent, and we’ve been given this rare opportunity to wipe it out completely. We’re energized by this year’s progress, but zero is the only acceptable number, and that’s why our commitment to finishing this job is unwavering.”
The scope of the achievement is difficult to understate. Guinea worm is slated to be the first parasitic disease eradicated in history and the first without a medicine or vaccine.
However, the parasite that spreads the disease can infect both humans and animals, so eradication would require zero cases in either group. Currently, hundreds of cases are still detected every year in domestic animals. Human cases were only detected in South Sudan, Chad, and Ethiopia. Mali has now recorded zero cases for the second year in a row.
The Carter Center wrote that eradication efforts are driven by strong partnerships, community-based interventions, and behavior change, with a network of hundreds of thousands of community-based volunteers trained to provide health education.
For a disease to be declared eradicated, every country in the world must be certified free of human and animal infections, even in those where transmission has never been known to occur. To date, the World Health Organization has certified 200 countries free of Guinea worm; only six have not been certified.
“This campaign reflects the values that shaped my grandparents’ lives—the conviction that hope, hard work, and respect for everyone can change the world,” said Jason Carter, Carter Center board chair and eldest grandchild of President and Mrs. Carter.
“Seeing Guinea worm cases reach historic lows is one of the clearest expressions of that legacy and our commitment to the communities where trust has been earned.”
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From China’s arid Gansu Corridor comes the story of a rural county welcoming thousands of big city volunteers after a viral call for help.
Minqin County is on the front line of China’s struggle against desertification, but it recently received a helping hand thanks to a social media campaign “Plant a Tree in Minqin.”
It has led to a staggering 30,000 people traveling to the remote area on their own dime to help the area protect farming areas and water sources with new plants.
English speakers have the English-version of the Chinese outlet The Paper to thank for this frontier reporting on the area which has combatted desertification since 1950 with mass tree and shrub planting campaigns.
The area relies on hardy crops like corn, onions, and melons, and uses sauxal, white thorn, and other desert plants to help green peripheral areas and water sources.
A local named Zhong Jin launched the Plant a Tree in Minqin initiative in 2024 who, according to the The Paper, had returned to his home there after graduating university in 2020 with a specialty in desert control.
His call for help using short video sharing platforms caught fire when Minqin became the set for a Chinese reality TV program called Become a Farmer. 10 urban youth were selected to cultivate 450 acres over 190 days, and the show was a hit.
The county’s public welfare center sought to capitalize on the publicity by opening a volunteer registration portal on its website—to let real people experience what went on in the show.
Between February and May, 30,000 people volunteered, made up of college and university age youth, parents looking to teach their children about farming and its challenges, and of course, fans of Become a Farmer.
Volunteers told the outlet that the sandstorms, rugged terrain, relentless sun, and cramped volunteer dormitories have proven a challenge, but also that they’ve brought out a spirit of frontier camaraderie as the pit-digging and tree-planting wears everyone out equally.
Local entrepreneurs have taken advantage to send the volunteers home with an experience they’ll never forget.
“A number of curated travel routes have also been launched, guiding visitors through tree-planting sites and major scenic areas, where cultural performances and live-action exhibitions showcase Minqin’s landscapes and heritage,” The Paper wrote.
The Plant a Tree in Minqin campaign aims to project vital areas for irrigation and agriculture with 1 million trees.
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Fragments of a life-sized mural depicting a larger-than-life figure of the Iliad has been found in the remains of a Roman villa near Reims, France.
The discovery included several exquisite bronze statuettes and the remains of a colonnaded facade, indicating that high artistic expression among local Roman well-to-do even was typical, and available, even when settling far from the capital.
Durocortorum is located in northern France near Reims, and was an important settlement in Roman Gaul by the 2nd century CE. While the center of Durocortorum has long been known have been a center of political life for the region, the suburbs are much less understood.
Now, France’s National Institute for Preventative Archaeology, (INRAP), has made major progress on the excavations of a Roman home known as a domus, and its contents and character suggest that Durocortorum’s importance spread well beyond its forum.
Situated more than half-a-mile from the forum, in a humid space near the main river which crosses Reims, the Vesle, the building would have faced the street with a column-lined facade, indicating wealth and status. The remains of two such columns have been found.
INRAP wrote in a statement that the building likely suffered from a fire and was demolished in the aftermath. This preserved some of the objects within under a layer of rubble and ash that protected them from the deleterious effects of moisture and oxygen.
Among this layer were fragments of a wall-to-wall fresco, with one of them bearing the name of the antihero of the Greek-Trojan War recorded in Homer’s Iliad, Achilles, and the other Deidamia, which refers to a mythological scene from Achilles’ life before the war.
The mythological story, as shared by Greek Reporter, recounts that Achilles’ mother knew of a prophecy predicting his death at Troy, and so dressed him up as a girl and sent him to live in a commune of priestesses on the island of Skyros. Here, Achilles falls in love with Deidamia, a young commune member, who bears him a son.
Eventually, as Greece prepares for war with Troy, Odysseus, who knows his country’s best hope of victory lies behind Achilles’ spear, arrives on Skyros disguised as a merchant with the intent to trick the great warrior into revealing his identity.
Spreading out his wares of clothes and jewelry, Odysseus also places a shield and spear for sale and orders one of his men to falsely raise the alarm of armed attackers. His warlike nature being irrepressible, Achilles, still dressed as a priestess, instinctively grabs the weapons Odysseus had laid out, and was subsequently removed from the commune.
INRAP reports that only 4 depictions of this event in a fresco have been recorded, with the other 3—at Aquileia, Pompeii, and Rome—all located in Italy.
Additional finds were bronze statuettes depicting Mars, the Roman god of war, a bull, and a goddess whose identify has not been ascertained.
“The eyes of the Mars statuette are enhanced with silver,” INRAP wrote. “Its shield presents a relief decoration of the Capitoline wolf nursing Romulus and Remus. The cleaning revealed a Medusa’s head on its breastplate.”
“The bull rests on a rectangular base. His eyes, also highlighted with silver, give great expressiveness to his face.”
The goddess seems to be a compositional piece. Dressed in a flowing gown, she wields the club of Hercules surrounded by a serpent and resting on a lion, bears a helmet depicting a sphynx, a crown, and a city wall, and would have clearly borne a pair of wings on her back.
The quality of the statuettes and the rare richness of the decorative repertoire of the house’s painted coatings indicate wealthy owners who were either Romans themselves, or very attached to Roman culture.
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Quote of the Day: “Nothing can bring you peace but the triumph of principles.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
Photo by: Getty Images for Unsplash+
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100 years ago today, jazz trumpeter and composer Miles Davis, was born. One of the most influential and innovative musicians of the 20th century, Davis broke long-held musical rules and helped popularize jazz fusion with his 4-time platinum 1959 album, Kind of Blue. From 1944 to 1948, Davis played in Charlie Parker’s revolutionary hard pop quintet, an undoubtedly strong influence on his career and music making for the following decade when he would be signed to a long-term deal with Colombia Records, where Kind of Blue was recorded. MORE more about the great man… (1926)
Laughter is the best medicine, according to an old adage. Now, new research suggests it also boosts child development.
Making children laugh can help make their brains more resilient and open to learning, according to scientists.
Laughter builds deep emotional connections and soothes youngsters’ nervous systems, making them more resilient—because laughter is not frivolous, but rather a complex biological phenomenon.
Dr. Jacqueline Harding conducted extensive studies into how laughter and play contribute to healthy brain growth, emotional well-being, and social bonding.
The early childhood expert at Middlesex University in northwest London, argues in her new book The Brain That Loves to Laugh says laughter can help children navigate life’s challenges and better handle stress.
“Hope and humor, it seems, are not just the seasoning of life, but foundational to a recipe for healthy development,” said Dr Harding.
“When we see children laugh, we witness the brilliance of the brain in action: learning, connecting, and growing.”
It precedes the neural development of speech, she explained. But it also engages a distributed network of brain regions, including motor areas and the prefrontal cortex.
Laughter also “influences heart rate, respiration and production of antibodies.”
“It decreases the stress hormones cortisol and epinephrine, and increases ‘happiness chemicals’ dopamine, serotonin and endorphins.
Credit: a4gpa (CC license)
“It can strengthen the immune system and improve memory.
“Neuroimaging studies suggest that laughter plays a significant role in brain activity, as humor is cognitively demanding and engages neuro-plasticity.
“It challenges the brain to predict and resolve tension between conflicting ideas, providing a mental workout that enhances creative thought and activates both the working memory and frontal lobes.
“On the other hand, prolonged stress negatively affects both physical and mental development. It can impair learning, increase adult stress risk, suppress immune function, and contribute to illness.”
“I believe that as we continue to wrestle with humor – this most intriguing human function – we must strive to shake off any dismissal of its frivolous nature and allow its serious contribution to human learning and life in general to shine.
“In parents and their children, laughter can boost the levels of happy chemical oxytocin and enhance neural synchrony during parent-child interactions – in other words, build emotional bonds.
“These bonds are beneficial to the child and even contribute to a reduction in parental burnout and stress.”
Credit: La Priz (CC license)
But parents don’t need to rattle off jokes
Instead of jokes, simple shared play and laughter between parents and children, with eye contact, smiles, and close proximity, can all foster connection.
“Creative, happy play does its most brilliant work at a molecular level, especially at a time when the human brain is at its most receptive,” explained Harding.
“Spontaneous joyful play is an antidote to stress, as it increases levels of endorphins released by the brain.”
As well as nurturing bonds, she suggests that “humor and hope” can improve a child’s resilience to stressful events.
“The link between co-regulation and self-regulation is now well established. Co-regulation means the way in which the baby is guided by a caring and supportive adult early in life, so that they have a working model to draw upon for their own self-regulation as they mature.
“The immune system needs a store of positive experiences from which to draw.”
Her studies show that, in a child’s brain, the limbic system—which regulates functions such as emotion, behavior, and long-term memory—develops alongside the brain’s executive functions that help us plan, evaluate, and make decisions.
“Stated simply, the emotional state of young children directly influences how they navigate their way through the world.”
She says that carefully finding gentle ways to introduce joy and hope, and ease the burden on their nervous system, can even help youngsters who have already experienced extensive trauma.
Dr. Harding advocates integrating humor into educational settings to reduce the cognitive load, making complex information more digestible, and refresh the current educational paradigm.
“Maybe, just maybe, one day the value of hope, humor, and human connection will be taken as seriously as it deserves.”
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An important watershed in Oakland is now a thriving Eden of native species thanks to the work of two generations of volunteers.
30 years ago last week, Mr. Michael Thilgen and his neighbors formed the Friends of Sausal Creek nonprofit dedicating to restoring the waterway from its source in the Oakland Hills down to its terminus in the San Francisco Bay.
At 3 miles long, it’s hardly the most dramatic California water source, but one that’s nevertheless important for the local environment. Today it’s one of the only urban creeks in the state to host a wild population of rainbow trout, and also maintains a delicate population of pallid manzanita, a federally endangered species of shrub.
For 30 years, Friends of Sausal Creek has led all-volunteer efforts to keep the water course in the best possible shape, by de-weeding trails, clearing invasive vegetation, planting native plants, and even monitoring local wildlife health.
“Is the water clear? Does it look like something’s been dumped?” said volunteer and board member Kristy Brady to CBS News. “We monitor fish quality and so forth, making sure it stays healthy so everyone can enjoy it.”
The organization runs a native plant nursery and organizes seed collecting hikes to ensure they can continue to support reforestation long-term. They’ve introduced tens of thousands of native plants back into both the wild and less wild parts of the creek.
The group has also been part of a special long-term restoration project at Fern Ravine, where a second-growth coastal redwood forest meets Oakland’s own backyard. Here since 2010, Friends of Sausal Creek have been working to undo decades of disturbances.
Since 1920 when the city designated Fern Ravine a park, where a tributary of the Sausal Creek babbles away far from the sounds of car horns, high volumes of recreation traffic on trails and off them has resulted in substantial undergrowth loss.
The lack of ground cover plants saw the soil dry out, followed by greater erosion and sedimentation, and the arrival of several invasive species which cemented control in Fern Ravine and began to outcompete the native vegetation.
Through the nonprofit’s tireless weeding and planting, “extraordinary progress” has been achieved there.
“Oakland’s ancient redwoods are as unique and valuable as the old-growth redwood forests in California’s state and national parks,” said board member Dr. Robert Leidy in an organization document.
“Their ability to recover from centuries of abuse with proper management is a remarkable testament to their resilience. Oakland’s redwoods deserve the same reverence…”
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Susan Young Browne celebrating her birthday - family photo
Susan Young Browne amid her family – family photo
“I grow old gracefully,” said Susan Young Browne, who just received permission to keep driving until 115 years old.
That’s a testament to Browne enduring aptitude (and attitude) for life; having recently celebrated her 108th Birthday at the Modern Maturity Center in Dover, Delaware.
Browne was in Delaware in 1918 during Segregation where she worked on a farm with her family sans water or electricity. She would eventually attend Delaware State College for Colored Students, today known as Delaware State University, and graduate in 1945, going on to teach in a one-room school house.
Married twice, she enjoys the company of a clan of children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.
Nowadays, she can be found three times a work at the Modern Maturity Center where she enjoys group exercise classes; staying active is a key to that graceful aging she mentioned.
Susan Young Browne – supplied to CBS News
“When I get up in the morning, I have an exercise routine that I’ve been doing for the last 20 years,” she said. “When I retired and I walked around that classroom for 30 years, I am not going to sit down.”
130 people attended her birthday party, including the Delaware Governor Matt Meyer, where she was gifted a parking spot right in front of the building reserved for those 100 years or older.
That’s important, because as Ms. Browne told those assembled to celebrate her life, the state had just reissued her driver’s license until 2033.
WATCH the story below from CBS News…
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Hazezl the dog and the fire she saved her owner from - credit, Gary Thomas (left) JDC Rescue (right)
Hazezl the dog and the fire she saved her owner from – credit, Gary Thomas (left) JDC Rescue (right)
From a New Zealand outlet comes the story of a man who saved a dog from the pound, and the dog who saved him from perishing in a house fire.
Even though her new forever home has turned to ashes, Hazel the dog managed to save the only thing that really mattered: a life.
With a well-placed bite she woke her sleeping owner who found to his surprise that his house was on fire.
The incident occurred in Whakatāne last Friday. Locals told Stuff that the blaze grew beyond anyone’s ability to control faster than any had imagined. Firefighters had been called early on, but for Hazel the dog, it wasn’t soon enough.
Hazel, who had been surrendered by two previous owners, was still only 9 months old at the time, and she wasn’t willing to let it be 3 from 3. Hazel woke him up in time to escape with only a case of smoke inhalation.
“His dog actually bit him and woke him up. If his dog wasn’t there, he wouldn’t be here,” Christina Eichler, the home’s property manager, told Stuff.
Dora Motateanu from JDC Rescue where Hazel was living, said the tenant’s decision to adopt Hazel had definitely saved her life, and that now she had returned the favor.
“That’s amazing,” she said. “I mean this is why we do this, for those moments when we see dogs finding their families.”
“Despite the unfortunate circumstances she has faced, she remains the most gentle and loving girl you could ever meet,” JDC Rescue wrote online just last week before the man came to adopt Hazel, who was described as a “genuine treasure.”
“After being rescued as a small puppy, her hopes were high when she found a new home, only to be devastated once again when her owner decided to make a lifestyle change and dumped her.”
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Quote of the Day: Remember on Memorial Day “those who came out of the trenches as writers and poets, who started preaching peace (and) made this world a kinder place to live.” – Eric Burdon
Photo by: Aaron Burden
With a new inspirational quote every day, atop the perfect photo—collected and archived on our Quotes page—why not bookmark GNN.org for a daily uplift?
The Hands Across America event in Philadelphia - CC 3.0. SA, Buchoamerica
40 years ago today, the Hands Across America fundraising event was held, hoping to create a human chain across the entire country. Hosted over Memorial Day weekend, the hope was to raise tens of millions to fight hunger and homelessness, with volunteers encouraged to donate for a space in the chain. This seemingly fanciful goal was feasibly possible by the time the numbers of participants was counted. READ how close they came… (1986)
Owl in Aviary by Molly Wald for Best Friends Animal Society
Owl in Aviary by Molly Wald for Best Friends Animal Society
A great horned owl found covered in concrete has flown to freedom after six months of care at a Utah sanctuary.
A good Samaritan found him in a concrete mixer in October and called the Best Friends Animal Society headquarters 80 miles away in Kanab.
After removing the concrete, the team at the nonprofit’s wildlife refuge, Wild Friends, realized the young owl required new feathers to achieve silent flight, which is a necessity in the wild.
They waited patiently for the owl to molt, which would have replaced the damaged feathers naturally, but his spring molt was not going as predicted.
That led the Wild Friends team to take a training course about a procedure they had never done before: imping, which requires using donor feathers and adhesive to replace the raptor feathers.
Luckily, they found a donation from a wildlife rescue group in Northern Utah where a great horned owl of similar size had passed away.
To prepare for surgery, Supervisor Bart Richwalski kept track of the owl’s feather patterns.
Best Friends Animal Society
“We looked at his feathers every few weeks so we knew which ones would have to be done, snipping damaged shafts in advance.”
The imping finally took place on May 1, with Best Friends staff veterinarian Kelsey Paras joining three members of the Wild Friends team for the 90-minute procedure.
The donor feathers were laid out to replicate each wing, so the team could line up the replacement feather, cut it to the necessary length and adhere it, while the owl was under anesthesia. Ultimately, 10 primary and one second feather were replaced in the owl’s right wing, while the left wing didn’t require any replacements.
“The first few feathers were extremely nerve-wracking, but as we got into the groove, the imping became more comfortable, and everything went smoothly,” Richwalski said.
Owl feather imping procedure – by Molly Wald for Best Friends Animal Society
The team told GNN that the new feathers will come out naturally during future molts. “He’ll lose a couple of our imp feathers each year until he replaces that entire wing.”
After the successful imping, the owl was set to be released into the wild, after silent flight had been achieved inside the Wild Friends’ large aviary. (Watch the video below…)
Once the owl was seen flying to the highest perch, Richwalski measured the sound of its wingbeat using a decibel reader. He determined that the owl’s flight was quiet enough for safe release.
While the aviary roof slowly retracted, the owl hovered a bit before gaining speed, then flying straight up and out into the wild.
Best Friends Animal Society
It was quite a full-circle moment for Richwalski, who had cared for the owl since picking him up in St. George.
“I don’t know that my heart was beating until I saw him leave. I was beside myself, knowing that after all this time, he was healthy and back in the wild. It was such a good feeling.”
The owl’s remarkable journey has touched every level of the organization.
“Best Friends Animal Society believes that every animal has intrinsic value and the care that our team took with this owl really reflects that belief,” said Judah Battista, the Society’s Chief Sanctuary Officer.
“I’m so proud of the Wild Friends team for their incredibly hard work to get this owl to freedom.” (Watch their video below…)
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A drug often used to treat asthma and allergies may also help fight aggressive cancers, according to new US research.
The study revealed how tumors hijack common white blood cells to evade immunotherapy.
Scientists say their findings in mice and human tissues point to a new way to improve treatment for tough tumors—like triple-negative breast cancer—on which immunotherapy often fails.
The best news is the breakthrough could quickly move into clinical testing because the drug—montelukast, commonly known by the brand name Singulair—is already approved by the US Food and Drug Administration.
The research team from Northwestern University in Illinois explained that at the center of the discovery is a molecule called CysLTR1, which is best known for its role in asthma and inflammation.
Drugs that block it, such as montelukast, have been prescribed for decades to treat asthma.
The Northwestern team learned that many cancers exploit CysLTR1 to resist treatment. Specifically, the tumors trick the immune system into helping them grow by increasing a group of white blood cells called neutrophils.
They discovered it’s controlled by the CysLTR1 molecule, which acts as an on/off switch.
“When we turned off this switch, either genetically or with existing drugs, we not only slowed tumor growth, but also helped the immune system recover its ability to fight the cancer,” said study senior author Professor Bin Zhang.
Prof. Zhang and his colleagues from Northwestern’s Feinberg School of Medicine combined experiments in mouse models, human immune cells, and human tumor samples with analysis of large patient cancer datasets.
The mouse studies included models with triple-negative breast cancer, melanoma, ovarian cancer, colon cancer. and prostate cancer. The researchers either genetically removed CysLTR1 or blocked it using drugs such as montelukast.
In several mouse models, blocking the pathway slowed tumor growth, improved survival, and restored response to cancer-killing immunotherapy.
That worked even in tumors that had already stopped responding to treatment.
Zhang’s team also analyzed human immune cells. The findings, published in the journalNature Cancer, again showed that blocking CysLTR1 prevented the formation of immune-suppressing neutrophils.
“Importantly, instead of simply removing these harmful white blood cells, we were able to reprogram them into cells that support immune attack.
“That means we’re not just targeting the cancer, we’re re-training one type of abundant immune cells in the body to fight the tumor again.”
In analyses of human tumor samples and public cancer datasets, the scientists found more evidence that CysLTR1 plays a crucial role in promoting cancer growth.
They discovered that patients with higher CysLTR1 activity tended to have worse survival and poorer response to immunotherapy across multiple cancer types.
Prof. Zhang says because drugs that block CysLTR1, such as montelukast, are already FDA-approved, the findings could quickly move into patient trials.
“We may be able to quickly and safely test it in cancer patients to improve immunotherapy, especially in aggressive cancers, like triple-negative breast cancer, where new options are urgently needed.
“The next steps are to confirm this mechanism in patients, identify who will benefit most, optimize how we use these drugs especially in combination with immunotherapy, and begin carefully designed clinical trials.”
Fin Whale by Sara Golaski for the Dolphin Project via SWNS
Fin whale by Sara Golaski for the Dolphin Project via SWNS
Increased sightings of the world’s two largest whale species offers fresh hope for the future of the endangered ocean giants.
More than 40 years since the end of commercial whaling, new research reveals a recent increase in sightings of blue and fin whales in the southeastern Atlantic.
Researchers compiled more than 60 years of confirmed sightings from Namibia and South Africa’s west coast, including any stranded animals.
Although overall numbers remain low, the findings showed sightings of both species have increased markedly in recent years—with 95% of observations recorded since 2012.
“Our results provide important evidence that these giants of the ocean are slowly recovering from the devastating impact of 20th century commercial whaling, which pushed them to the brink of extinction,” said study lead author Dr. Bridget James.
“Sightings remain rare, but they are becoming more frequent than in previous decades – and with sustained protection, there is reason to believe this recovery can continue.”
The study to be published in the African Journal of Marine Science focused on Antarctic blue whales and fin whales, both heavily targeted during the industrial whaling era.
Between 1913 and 1978, an estimated 350,000 blue whales and 725,000 fin whales were killed, causing dramatic global population declines.
Today, Antarctic blue whales are still listed as critically endangered on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s Red List.
Their population is currently estimated at around 3% of the pre-whaling numbers, but they’re increasing slowly at about 5-8% per year, according to the scientists.
Blue whales – NOAA
Fin whales are currently classified as vulnerable, with populations thought to have recovered to more than 30% of historical levels and growing at around 4-5% annually.
But, despite the signs of improvement, researchers say both species remain difficult to study as they roam vast distances and spend much of their lives in remote Antarctic waters.
Data from migration routes and potential breeding grounds—including the southeastern Atlantic—has been particularly limited.
“Historic whaling data suggests that the southeast Atlantic may once have been an important nursery area for both blue and fin whales,” said Dr. James, from the University of Cape Town, South Africa.
Until now, researchers have had very little information on their recent presence in the region. To address this gap, they compiled verified sightings and strandings recorded in the 60 years between 1964 and March 2025, focusing on the Benguela upwelling ecosystem—a nutrient-rich region off Namibia and the west coast of South Africa.
Blue whales were recorded infrequently, with 12 sightings, one stranding and five additional published records.
Fin whales were encountered more often, with 76 sightings documented along with six whales stranded.
Blue whales were most often seen between late spring and autumn, while fin whales appeared to occur year-round.
“As populations slowly rebuild, we would expect to see these whales begin reoccupying parts of their historical range,” said study co-author Dr. Simon Elwen, from the University of Stellenbosch, South Africa.
“The increase in sightings and strandings is consistent with this gradual recovery, although increased offshore observation efforts may also contribute.”
Threats have not disappeared, however. Large whales remain at risk from ship strikes, entanglement in fishing gear, and pollution or climate-driven changes in ocean ecosystems.
“Even with more than 50 years of recovery since the end of commercial whaling, we could only compile 12 records of blue whales off our coast,” explained Dr. Elwen.
The researchers recommend expanding passive acoustic monitoring, increasing trained observer coverage in commercial sectors, and incorporating whale distribution data into marine spatial planning to safeguard their slow but important recovery.
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Happy 85th Birthday to Bob Dylan, the Bard of our ‘(Forever) Young’ generation. Born Robert Zimmerman in Minnesota, Dylan renamed himself after the Welsh poet, Dylan Thomas. The singer-songwriter-musician and visual artist, produced anthems for young Americans in the 1960s that chronicled the nation’s social unrest, like “Blowin’ in the Wind” and “The Times They Are a-Changin’”. WATCH a fascinating video tribute… (1941)
Quote of the Day: “Tears are the summer showers to the soul.” – Alfred Austin
Photo by: Joshua Earle for Unsplash+
With a new inspirational quote every day, atop the perfect photo—collected and archived on our Quote of the Day page—why not bookmark GNN.org for a daily uplift?
Tucked away in the parks and alleyways of East London lies one of the city’s most vibrant collections of public art.
What makes it all the more special is the mending of mental health maladies that transforms its volunteer artists.
The sometimes sprawling, Roman-inspired masterpieces are the work of the Hackney Mosaic Project and its founder Tessa Hunkin.
Her chance encounter with a mental health recovery group in Westminster sparked a realization: the meticulous, slow, and repetitive act of building a mosaic can offer profound therapeutic value.
Over the last 15 years, the project has not simply make colorful public murals out of broken fragments. It has restored pieces of lives broken by depression, PTSD, and addiction, while bringing together people of all backgrounds in a shared vision of beautifying corners of the community.
For the participants, sorting glass shards, nipping ceramic tiles, and carefully pressing each piece into mortar demands intense concentration.
Like embroidery or knitting, this steady rhythm offers a therapeutic calm, and helps interrupt negative thought patterns, quieting the internal noise of trauma and stress while building confidence.
“I spent a lot of time walking around Hackney, which has more parks than any other London borough,” Tessa recalled in an interview with Spitalfields Life. “A hidden little corner in Shepherdess Walk (park), off the City Road—that was the first.”
“Eventually, we had children running around, recovering addicts, some not-so-recovered people with quite serious mental health problems and people who lived close by, all sitting together making mosaics.
Tessa Hunkin
“They finished the mosaics much more quickly than I was anticipating and we have never stopped since.”
“It gives people a holiday from their head,” said the 72-year-old architect turned artist. “It is a simple task that requires concentration and produces something at the end, so it is never time wasted because you can see where your time has gone.”
One recent project was launched in 2023 following the COVID-19 pandemic to combat employee burnout for healthcare workers and staff at the River Place Health Centre.
The large new mural on the building showcased the name of the practice along with various plants and animals, like ducks, cats, and a fox.
In a second phase, the outdoor concrete benches of the health center were transformed with vibrant floral designs, with weekly workshops that also engaged the local patients in creating the artwork unveiled a year ago.
River Place Health Centre Benches in Islington: Situated right off Essex Road, over 100 local patients, including those recovering from mental health conditions, helped revamp drab concrete benches into vibrant floral mosaics (see the photo above).
The Hounds of Hackney Downs in Hackney Downs Park: A spectacular collection of vibrant dog portraits in a wall mosaic features highly detailed portraits of local neighborhood dogs to celebrate the community’s daily life. The 50 whimsical dog portraits sit near further mosaics of native flowers that are in the park’s wildflower meadow.
The Hounds of Hackney Downs Park – Courtesy of The Hackney Mosaic Project
Also in the same park are circular benches designed by Tessa and meticulously hand-tiled by the group’s volunteers, with vibrantly patterns topping the brick and concrete benches to provide a colorful gathering space.
Canalside Square along Arlington Avenue: A large circular mosaic decorated with animals is built into the pavement surrounded by the park benches and playground near a canal.
Building Markers in Hoxton: small circular markers have been installed into sidewalk cobblestones in Hoxton, too, outside the Shoreditch Library and the historic performing arts theater and community center called Hoxton Hall.
The weekly workshops, normally held on Wednesdays and Fridays 2-5pm, and on alternate Saturday afternoons, are in flux this year due to changes facing their current home in the Pavilion on Hackney Downs, which may become a cafe.
But over the years, the assembling of thousands of broken pieces of tile into resilient works of art by Tessa Hunkin and her dedicated volunteers will forever offer a profound and lasting metaphor for the journey of healing within dozens of Londoners.
New Jersey’s own Triantha novacaesariensis – Credit: Yianni Laskaris for Temple University (supplied)
New Jersey’s own Triantha novacaesariensis – Credit: Yianni Laskaris for Temple University (supplied)
A researcher discovered a ‘rare’ wildflower that only grows in New Jersey—after studying a plant that everyone assumed to belong to another species.
In the Pine Barrens region of southern New Jersey, Temple University researcher Sasha Eisenman helped identify the long mistaken plant as unique to the state—a discovery that could help protect it for years to come.
In research published in Phytotaxa, Eisenman confirmed the plant is distinct from its closest known relatives, and formally named it Triantha × novacaesariensis—a Latinization of New Jersey.
“It’s very special, very rare (and) only exists in this one place in the entire world,” said Mr. Eisenman, an associate professor in horticulture.
That place is part of what makes the finding so compelling.
Stretching across nearly a million acres in southern New Jersey, the Pine Barrens National Reserve is one of the region’s most ecologically distinctive landscapes, home to rare habitats and plant life. Eisenman said the discovery is especially striking because the northeastern United States has been studied so extensively.
“To really identify something as new and unique is pretty rare these days,” he said.
For years, the plant, which features clusters of thin, strap-like leaves and white 6-petaled flowers that rise above the surrounding grasses, had been identified as Triantha racemosa, a species typically found much farther south or suspected to be a hybrid of Triantha racemosa and Triantha glutinosa.
Temple University horticulture professor Sasha Eisenman -Photo by Ryan Brandenberg (supplied)
To reach that conclusion, Eisenman combined genetics, fieldwork, and historical plant records, and studied plant samples preserved for long-term study, from across the US and Canada. He then compared them with field samples from New Jersey and related populations in Maine; New York; New Brunswick, New Jersey; Alabama; Georgia and Florida.
The study found that all three New Jersey plants carry a unique genetic signature and have distinct physical traits that set them apart from each other. The two previously known plants are also geographically isolated from the newly named wildflower.
“There’s genetic differences, there’s structural and morphological differences, and there’s also isolation,” Eisenman told Temple News.
That isolation is central to the story. According to the research, the nearest known populations of T. glutinosa and T. racemosa are hundreds of miles away. Eisenman said the evidence suggests the New Jersey plants likely originated long ago when the two species intermingled but have persisted on their own for thousands of years.
“It’s been a stable population or group of populations for a long time,” he said. “It’s not just a chance accident.”
The finding also carries real conservation value. Because the plant is now officially identified, researchers and land managers have a clearer basis for recognizing its significance and planning for its care.
“It’s really important to have a name on a plant in order for it to be conserved and protected,” Eisenman said. “Until it’s been identified as unique and named with a unique identification, it doesn’t have as much opportunity for protection and stewardship.”
The project began more than a decade ago and drew on support from a wide network of researchers, herbarium curators, and conservation partners across the U.S. and Canada.
For Eisenman, who studies naturally occurring and cultivated plants, the discovery reflects both a longstanding interest in plants and a broader commitment to sustainability.
The next step is for New Jersey to figure out how best to protect it.
“For a rare plant tucked into one of New Jersey’s most distinctive natural landscapes, being formally recognized and given a name could make all the difference,” he concluded.
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White-bellied pangolin for sale by local vendor in Liberia – SWNS
White-bellied pangolin for sale by local vendor in Liberia – SWNS
Tiny samples of DNA taken from a wide variety of animal sources can pinpoint hotspots of the illegal wildlife trade, utilizing a new research technique—and eventually lead to dismantling lucrative poaching networks.
The study focused on pangolins—with their scales prized for traditional medicine. One of the most poached species, they account for almost a third of recorded international seizures in recent years.
Genetic data can be valuable for tracing trafficked animals to their place of origin, but the method has been hindered by difficulties in obtaining genetic samples of pangolins.
In the new study, French scientists overcame that barrier by employing a gene-capture method to recover usable genomic information from degraded pangolin samples.
The team sequenced DNA from more than 700 samples of pangolins from international trade seizures, museum collections, bushmeat markets, and in the wild.
Using the genetic data from samples of known geographic origin in museum and field specimens, the researchers built a genomic “reference map” which helped them to trace each trafficked pangolin back to its likely origin.
“We’ve shown that it’s possible to trace trafficked pangolins back to their geographic origin with remarkable precision—sometimes to within just a few kilometers,” said Dr. Sean Heighton of the University of Toulouse.
Pangolins produce one pup every 1-2 years, making them even more vulnerable – SWNS
The data revealed several hotspot locations of illegal pangolin collection, including south west Cameroon, Myanmar, and several locations across Africa.
The genetic record also tracks major trade routes for the three pangolins types studied—Sunda, Chinese, and white-bellied—which cross the borders of China and between Indonesian islands.
The findings, published in the journal PLOS Biology, also pinpointed wild populations that are exploited for both domestic and international trade, revealing the interconnectedness of the markets.
The team says their sampling technique has “great potential” for tracking the illegal wildlife trade, but genetic material remains limited.
They propose that a more detailed DNA database of trafficked animals could be developed with the establishment of standardized genetic sampling protocols, shared tools, and greater data integration between wildlife trade tracing initiatives worldwide—for pangolins as well as other trafficked species.
“Integrating archival museum material with newly collected field and seizure samples enabled us to bridge long-standing gaps in geographic coverage and strengthen the accuracy of pangolin trade tracing,” said the University’s Dr. Philippe Gaubert.
“This enables more efficient, intelligence-driven conservation by directing limited resources toward key poaching hotspots, whereby a range of targeted interventions can be employed to disrupt illegal trade networks.
“One of the most exciting aspects of this work is that we developed a single gene-capture kit that works across all eight pangolin species and on degraded museum specimens, making genomic tracing more accessible, scalable, and practical for real-world pangolin conservation and forensic use.”
Dr Gaubert added: “One of the most striking findings was that domestic pangolin trade is largely local, but it overlaps with the same sourcing regions that supply international trafficking—revealing a connected supply chain rather than separate markets.”
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