Quote of the Day: “One can’t paint New York as it is, but rather as it is felt.” – Georgia O’Keeffe
Image by: Nighthawks by Edward Hopper, 1942 (cropped)
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?
A new method for measuring blood glucose levels, developed at MIT, could save diabetes patients from having to prick their fingers several times a day.
The MIT team used a technique that reveals the chemical composition of tissue by shining near-infrared light on them—and developed a shoebox-sized device that can measure blood glucose levels without any needles.
The researchers found that the measurements from their device were similar to those obtained by commercial continuous glucose monitoring sensors that require a wire to be implanted under the skin. While the device presented in this study is too large to be used as a wearable sensor, the researchers have since developed a wearable version that they are now testing in a small clinical study.
“For a long time, the finger stick has been the standard method for measuring blood sugar, but nobody wants to prick their finger every day, multiple times a day,” says Jeon Woong Kang, an MIT research scientist and the senior author of the study.
“Naturally, many diabetic patients are under-testing their blood glucose levels, which can cause serious complications. If we can make a noninvasive glucose monitor with high accuracy, then almost everyone with diabetes will benefit from this new technology.”
MIT postdoc Arianna Bresci is the lead author of the new study published this month in the journal Analytical Chemistry.
Some patients use wearable monitors, which have a sensor inserted just under the skin to provide glucose measurements from the interstitial fluid—but they can cause skin irritation and they need to be replaced every 10 to 15 days.
BIG DIABETES NEWS: In World First, Stem Cells Reverse Woman’s Type-1 Diabetes
The MIT team bases their noninvasive sensors based on Raman spectroscopy, a type that reveals the chemical composition of tissue or cells by analyzing how near-infrared light is scattered, or deflected, as it encounters different kinds of molecules.
A recent breakthrough allowed them to directly measure glucose Raman signals from the skin. Normally, this glucose signal is too small to pick out from all of the other signals generated by molecules in tissue. The MIT team found a way to filter out much of the unwanted signal by shining near-infrared light onto the skin at a different angle from which they collected the resulting Raman signal.
Typically, a Raman spectrum may contain about 1,000 bands. However, the MIT team found that they could determine blood glucose levels by measuring just three bands—one from the glucose plus two background measurements. This approach allowed the researchers to reduce the amount and cost of equipment needed, allowing them to perform the measurement with a cost-effective device about the size of a shoebox.
“With this new approach, we can change the components commonly used in Raman-based devices, and save space, time, and cost,” Bresci told MIT News.
In a clinical study performed at the MIT Center for Clinical Translation Research (CCTR), the researchers used the new device to take readings from a healthy volunteer over a four-hour period, as the subject rested their arm on top of the device.
MORE GOOD NEWS FOR DIABETICS:
• Carrots May Be Key to Unlocking Microbiome’s Diabetes Defense System
• Diabetes-Reversing Drug Boosts Insulin-Producing Cells by 700%
• Type 2 Diabetes Patients Who Stick to Low-Carb Diet May Be Able to Stop Taking Medication: Study
Each measurement takes a little more than 30 seconds, and the researchers took a new reading every five minutes.
During the study, the subject consumed two 75-gram glucose drinks, allowing the researchers to monitor significant changes in blood glucose concentration. They found that the Raman-based device showed accuracy levels similar to those of two commercially available, invasive glucose monitors worn by the subject.
Since finishing that study, the researchers have developed a smaller prototype, about the size of a cellphone, that they’re currently testing at the MIT CCTR as a wearable monitor in healthy and pre-diabetic volunteers.
The researchers are also working on making the device even smaller, about the size of a watch, and next year they plan to run a larger study working with a local hospital, which will include people with diabetes.
Edited from article by Anne Trafton | MIT News
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A microscopic ‘Christmas tree’ is a seasonal highlight of a remarkable science project that found eerie comparisons between the vast and the tiny.
Curated by NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, the series of pairings reveal stunning connections between the vast universe and the microscopic world that we cannot see with the naked eye.
Dubbed “New Perspectives”, the project takes space-based images and creates side-by-side comparisons with winning images from the Nikon Small World contest, an annual microscopy competition.
Highlights include a cluster of young stars, nicknamed the Christmas Tree Cluster, paired with collagen fibers and fat cells captured under a laser microscope.
Another eye-catching duo (pictured below) compares a section of heart tissue exposed to radiation, with tiny dots and tracks showing the effect of high-energy particles on cells with a bright young star seen in infrared light wrapped in the gas and dust of a stellar nursery.
“Whether we’re studying a galaxy cluster millions of light-years away or a crystal formation at the micro-meter scale, these images remind us of the shared beauty and complexity that define the natural world,” said Dr. Kimberly Arcand, Chandra’s emerging technology scientist who led the project.
Operated by the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Chandra is one of NASA’s “Great Observatories”, which includes the Hubble and James Webb Space Telescopes that have offered unparalleled X-ray images of the cosmos for over a quarter century.
The “New Perspectives” project takes these space-based images and creates side-by-side comparisons with winning images from the Nikon Small World contest, an annual free microscopy competition that announced its latest winners in October.
Providing a new way to look at images from science, the goal of New Perspectives is to realize the benefits from looking at our world from different points of view.
Astronomy and microscopy are both fields that are built on the challenge of making the invisible visible. Each discipline relies on light and data to reveal hidden structures, whether across the vastness of space or within the intricacies of living cells.
While their goals differ in scale, the equipment of telescopes and microscopes reflects a shared purpose: to greatly extend human vision. Telescopes (“light buckets”) collect faint light across vast distances with mirrors and detectors, often orbiting in space to avoid Earth’s atmosphere.
Microscopes, by contrast, are more of light funnels, focusing on the tiny, using lenses, lasers, or electron beams to magnify the minute worlds around us.
LOOK: Tiny Van Gogh Gallery Created Inside a Watch By an Artist With a Microscope
Despite these differences, the two fields can converge through a common visual language.
MORE OF NATURE’S MAGIC:
• A Star-Shaped Sand Found in Japan With A Huge Secret Hidden Inside
• Otherworldly Scenes Show Plants Breathing in Close-Up Detail: A Long Sought Discovery
• Astro-Photographer Finds a Cosmic Grinch in a Holiday-Themed Star Cluster
Astronomy and microscopy remind us that vision is both a tool and a construction. By transforming the invisible into the visible, these disciplines not only advance science but also reshape how we perceive our place in the cosmos and the complexity of life itself.
ARTISTS AND SCIENTISTS WILL LOVE THIS–So Share it on Social Media…
A very old jaguar and her senior son are being welcomed to a specially-made retirement home in a UK zoo.
Wild jaguars typically live for around 12 years, but Bonita is already 16 and her son Remi is 11, having already survived cancer.
The two have lived side-by-side in a safari park since Remi’s birth and will remain together after being transported to their new enclosure at Chester Zoo in England.
The move follows months of planning with experts from Europe’s jaguar conservation program.
“Bonita and Remi are truly special animals, and we’re delighted to be able to provide them with a new retirement home here,” said Dave Hall, Chester Zoo’s Team Manager of Carnivores.
“Bonita has been a devoted mother to Remi throughout his life, so ensuring they stayed together was a real priority for everyone involved.
“Remi’s journey has also been a remarkable one. In 2019, a lump was removed from his head following a diagnosis of hemangiosarcoma, a very aggressive malignant cancer, which makes his continued good health today all the more extraordinary.
“Our teams have worked closely with colleagues from across the UK and Europe to make sure every detail of their move and ongoing care has been fully considered —from transport to the set-up of their new habitat.
“It’s fantastic to see them already settling in and exploring their new surroundings side-by-side,” said Hall in a statement from Chester Zoo, which released a video of the cats prowling around their new home.
MORE GOOD NEWS FOR JAGS:
• Jaguars in Mexico are Growing in Number, a Promising Sign That Conservation Strategies are Working
• 230,000 Acres of Tropical Rainforest Protected as Hotspot For Jaguars in Belize
Jaguars are the largest cat in Latin America and the species is listed as “Near Threatened” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature due to habitat loss through farming and illegal hunting.
Watch Bonita and Remi in their new home…
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Our partner Rob Brezsny, who has a new book out, Astrology Is Real: Revelations from My Life as an Oracle, provides his weekly wisdom to enlighten our thinking and motivate our mood. Rob’s Free Will Astrology, is a syndicated weekly column appearing in over a hundred publications. He is also the author of Pronoia Is the Antidote for Paranoia: How All of Creation Is Conspiring To Shower You with Blessings. (A free preview of the book is available here.)
Here is your weekly horoscope…
FREE WILL ASTROLOGY – Week of December 20, 2025
Copyright by Rob Brezsny, FreeWillAstrology.com
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21):
According to legend, the genius composer Mozart heard entire symphonies in his imagination before he wrote down any notes. That’s a slight exaggeration. The full truth is that he often worked hard and made revisions. His inspiration was enhanced by effort and craft. However, it’s also true that Mozart wrote at least five masterful works in rapid succession, sometimes with remarkably few corrections on the manuscript. They included his last three symphonies (Nos. 39, 40, and 41). I predict you will have a Mozart-like aptitude in the coming months: the ability to perceive whole patterns before the pieces align. Trust your big visions!
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19):
In Greek mythology, Proteus was a sea god famed for his ability to change his shape endlessly to evade capture. But now and then, a persistent hero was able to hold on to Proteus through all his transformations, whether he became a lion, serpent, tree, or flame. Then the god would bestow the gift of prophecy on the successful daredevil. I suspect that in the coming months, you will have an exceptional power to snag and grasp Proteus-like things, Capricorn. As a result, you could claim help and revelations that seem almost magical.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18):
In Florence, Italy, the Accademia Gallery houses several of Michelangelo’s sculptures that depict human figures partially emerging from rough blocks of marble. They seem to be caught in the process of birth or liberation. These works showcase the technique Michelangelo called *non-finito* (unfinished), in which the forms appear to struggle to escape from the stone. In the coming months, Aquarius, I foresee you undergoing a passage that initially resembles these figures. The good news is that unlike Michelangelo’s eternally trapped characters, you will eventually break free.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20):
To prepare you for 2026, I’ve gathered three quotes that address your most pressing need and urgent mandate. I recommend you tape this horoscope to your bathroom mirror. 1. “We cannot live in a world interpreted for us by others. An interpreted world is not a hope. Part of the terror is to take back our listening, to use our own voice, to see our own light.” —author Elaine Bellezza. 2. “To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson. 3. “The ability to tell your own story, in words or images, is already a victory, already a revolt.” —Rebecca Solnit.
ARIES (March 21-April 19):
Nine hundred years ago, Sufi philosopher Al-Ghazali provided rigorous advice that’s not very popular these days. “To understand the stars,” he said, “one must polish the mirror of the soul.” Here’s my interpretation: To fathom the truth about reality, you must be a strong character who treasures clarity and integrity. It’s highly unlikely you can gather a profound grasp of how life works if your inner depths are a mess. Conversely, your capacity to comprehend the Great Mystery increases as you work on purifying and strengthening your character. Everything I just said is good advice for all of us all the time, but it will be especially potent and poignant for you in the coming months.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20):
The sound of a whip cracking is a small sonic boom. The tip breaks the sound barrier, creating that distinctive snap. In my astrological reckoning, Taurus, life has provided you with the equivalent of a whip. During the coming months, you will have access to a simple asset that can create breakthrough force when wielded with precision and good timing. I’m not referring to aggression or violence. Your secret superpower will be understanding how to use small treasures that can generate disproportionate impacts. What’s your whip?
GEMINI (May 21-June 20):
Some Japanese potters practice yohen tenmoku. It’s a technique used to create a rare type of tea bowl with shifting, star-like iridescence on deep, dark glaze. The sublime effect results from a process that’s unusually demanding, highly unpredictable, and hard to control. Legend says that only one in a thousand bowls achieves the intended iridescence. The rest, according to the masters, are “lessons in humility.” I believe you can flourish by adopting this experimental mindset in the coming months. Treat your creative experiments as offerings to the unknown, as sources of wonder whether or not your efforts yield stellar results. Be bold in trying new techniques and gentle in self-judgment. Delight in your apprenticeship to mystery. Some apparent “failures” may bring useful novelty.
CANCER (June 21-July 22):
A fair-weather cumulus cloud typically weighs over a million pounds and yet floats effortlessly. Let’s make that one of your prime power symbols for 2026, Cancerian. It signifies that you will harbor an immense emotional cargo that’s suspended with grace. You will carry complex truths, layered desires, and lyrical ambitions, but you will manage it all with aplomb and even delight. For best results, don’t overdramatize the heaviness; appreciate and marvel at the buoyancy.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22):
Every 11 years, the Sun reverses its magnetic polarity. North becomes south, and south becomes north. The last switch was completed earlier this year. Let’s use this natural phenomenon as your metaphorical omen for the coming months, Leo. Imagine that a kind of magnetic reversal will transpire in your psyche. Your inner poles will flip position. As the intriguing process unfolds, you may be surprised at how many new ideas and feelings come rumbling into your imagination. Rather than resist the cosmic acrobatics, I advise you to welcome and collaborate with them.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22):
The sculptor Louise Bourgeois was asked why she worked so often with the image of the spider. She said it was a tribute to her mother, who was deliberate, clever, patient, soothing, helpful, and useful—just like a spider. In the coming months, I invite you to embody her vision of the spider. You will have the wherewithal to weave hardy networks that could support you for years to come. Be creative and thoughtful as you craft your network of care. Your precision will be a form of devotion. Every strand, even fragile ones, will enhance your long-term resilience.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22):
Researchers studying music theory know that dissonance—sounds that feel “wrong” or create tension—is in part culturally determined. Indonesia’s gamelan music and Arabic maqam scales are beautiful to audiences that have learned to appreciate them. But they might seem off-kilter to Westerners accustomed to music filled with major thirds and triads. Let’s use this as our starting point as we contemplate your future in 2026, Libra. Life may disrupt your assumptions about what constitutes balance and harmony. You will be invited to consider the possibility that what seems like discord from one perspective is attractive and valuable from another. My advice: Open your mind to other ways of evaluating what’s meaningful and attractive.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21):
In the Sonoran Desert of the southwestern United States, Arizona bark scorpions are hard to see at night. Scientists who want to study them can find them only by searching with flashlights that emit ultraviolet light. This causes the scorpions’ exoskeletons to fluoresce and glow a distinct blue-green or turquoise color, making them highly visible. Let’s use this scenario as a metaphor for you. In the coming months, you may reveal your best brilliance under uncommon conditions. Circumstances that seem unusual or challenging will highlight your true beauty and power. What feels extreme may be a good teacher and helper. I urge you to trust that the right people will recognize your unique beauty.
WANT MORE? Listen to Rob’s EXPANDED AUDIO HOROSCOPES, 4-5 minute meditations on the current state of your destiny — or subscribe to his unique daily text message service at: RealAstrology.com
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Quote of the Day: “There is a rejoicing that, even in the darkest time, the sun is not vanquished. As of tomorrow, the days begin to get longer as the light of day grows.” – Dacha Avelin (Happy Winter Solstice day!)
Image by: Raimond Klavins (cropped)
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?
22 years ago today, Gangs of New York premiered in theaters. Martin Scorsese’s colorful and gritty depiction of gangland violence among the poor immigrant residents of New York City’s Five Points received 10 Academy Award nominations. While winning none, Daniel Day Lewis’ mesmeric portrayal of street gang leader Bill the Butcher won him several other awards. Grossing nearly $200 million worldwide, the project had taken Scorsese nearly 20 years to develop after reading a book called Gangs of New York: An Informal History of the Underworld. READ more… (2002)
When clients ask Christopher Jones how he cooks the delicious barbequed meat at his restaurant, he answers, “‘Just like you, except I have to concentrate a little harder.'”
The extra concentration, for a blind man, is a necessity not an option. But as is so often the case, this became the mother of Jones’ invention.
Blindfolded Barbeque is located at 598 E Wheatland Road in Duncanville, a city of 40,000 in southwestern Dallas County, Texas. It features a simple yet delicious menu all prepared by Jones, a former tow-truck driver who 5 years ago was diagnosed with diabetic retinopathy.
In other words, his diabetes robbed him of his sight, but it couldn’t take his inspiration. No: this father of 7 not only had mouths to feed, but realized he could feed the whole neighborhood.
“It’s a conversation starter, and that’s what I want to do is just bring awareness to it,” Jones said.
Using his grandfather’s recipes, he acquired a simple restaurant space, set up a BBQ menu, and taught himself how to cook without sight: using touch, sound, taste, but particularly smell.
“I have to rely on a lot of smell because I can measure, but if I know it’s too much, then I’ll fix it,” he said.
BLIND INSPIRATION: This College Student Sportscaster May Be Blind, But He Sees Every Play (LISTEN)
You think about how closely guarded are the secrets of BBQ sauce and spice mixtures; of how precise some of them must be to win awards and create one of the most beloved of American cuisines.
And then, when you consider that Jones makes his without being able to see how much of any ingredient he’s adding, the sandwich or pork ribs between your fingers seems suddenly so much more delicious.
WATCH the story below from CBS News…
SHARE This Great BBQ Spot With Your Texan Friends, And Give This Incredible Pitmaster Some Love…
Researchers in Sweden found a link between eating more high-fat cream and high-fat cheeses and a lower risk of developing dementia.
People who consumed 20 grams or more of high-fat cream daily had a 16% lower risk of dementia than those who consumed none.
People who ate 50 grams or more of high-fat cheese—containing more than 20% fat—had a 13% lower risk of dementia than those eating less than 15 grams daily, according to the study.
No association was found for low-fat dairy products, butter, milk or fermented milk, which includes yoghurt, kefir and buttermilk.
The researchers emphasized that the study, published in the journal Neurology, does not prove that eating high-fat cheese and high-fat cream lowers the risk of dementia, it only shows an association.
“For decades, the debate over high-fat versus low-fat diets has shaped health advice, sometimes even categorizing cheese as an unhealthy food to limit,” said Professor Emily Sonestedt, of Lund University.
“Our study found that some high-fat dairy products may actually lower the risk of dementia, challenging some long-held assumptions about fat and brain health.”
Researchers analysed data from 27,670 people in Sweden with an average age of 58 at the start of the study. They were followed for an average of 25 years. A total of 3,208 participants developed dementia during the study.
The participants kept track of what they ate for a week and answered questions about how often they ate certain foods during recent years. They also talked with researchers about how they prepared their food.
A typical serving of cheese is one ounce. Of those who ate more high-fat cheese, 10% developed dementia by the end of the study. Of those who ate less, 13% developed dementia.
After adjusting for age, sex, education and overall diet quality, the research team found that people who ate more high-fat cheese had a 13% lower risk of developing dementia compared to those who ate less.
When looking at specific types of dementia, they found people who ate more high-fat cheese had a 29% lower risk of vascular dementia.
Researchers also found a lower risk of Alzheimer’s disease among those who ate more high-fat cheese, but only among those not carrying the APOE e4 gene variant, a genetic risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease.
The team also compared people who consumed 20 grams or more of high-fat cream daily to people who consumed none. After similar adjustments, researchers found that those who consumed high-fat cream daily had a 16% lower risk of dementia compared to those who consumed none.
Typically, observational studies that show links and associations are not considered useful unless the association reaches above 60%. In that sense, the value of the findings is questionable.
PRO CHEESE: 26 Years of Research Shows Cardiovascular Health in Dairy Lovers is Not Aversely Affected by Choosing Cheese
The healthy user bias is a feature of observational studies that can affect the outcome. It describes a phenomenon whereby people who are willing to make one choice regarding their health are more likely to make others, and that as their potential effects become difficult to separate out of the data.
Intuitively, one would guess a study influenced by healthy user bias would find a negative association with cheese and cream, since those who eat no cheese or cream will usually be making that choice in conjunction with several others to try and improve health, such as exercise or a higher quantity of vegetables at meals.
ALSO CHECK OUT: Trendy Type of Norwegian Cheese May Stave Off Bone Thinning, Shows New Study
People who don’t focus on health in their lifestyle and diet choices won’t exclude cheese cream—an inference because they won’t make any other choices. The results, being counter-intuitive, make the study results compelling even if the association with dementia was small
The fermented foods like yogurt and kefir, generally eaten for health reasons, showing no association only adds to the curious direction the data took.
The team says further research is needed to explore whether consuming certain high-fat dairy offers some level of protection for the brain.
MORE CHEESE NEWS: First Ever Cheese Museum Opens in Paris: ‘It’s Gouda Brie a Delicious Visit’
“These findings suggest that when it comes to brain health not all dairy is equal,” said Professor Sonestedt. “More research is needed to confirm our study results and further explore whether consuming certain high-fat dairy truly offers some level of protection for the brain.”
Sonestedt noted that in Sweden, cheese is often eaten uncooked, while in the United States, cheese is often heated or eaten with meat. She says it is important that studies also be conducted in the United States.
SHARE This With Your Cheese Lovers, And Plan A Fondue Night Maybe…
This incredible Christmas tree was designed and manufactured by incredible women in India’s state of Goa who felt another fake plastic Christmas tree was something the world didn’t need.
Made entirely of crocheted yarn, the community tree was designed to help revive a fading craft, feature women’s labor, and offer a sustainable alternative to plastic-heavy festive décor.
Located inside the Museum of Goa, the tree features more than a thousand individually crocheted squares made by 25 talented women of the Crochet Collective, an inter-generational, inter-continental collaboration that wields this introduced form of craft to help knit a community together.
Brilliantly told by Leila Badyari at The Better India, the story of this Collective effort begins in August, at the group’s first meeting over Zoom. Apart from the three organizers, Sheena Pereira, Sharmila Majumdar, and Sophy Sivaraman, none of the 25 crochet artists had met each other before.
The whole reason for their meeting was a dream that Pereira had about making a crocheted Christmas tree. If the surname here sounds distinctly un-Indian, that’s because Goa was a Portuguese colony, and crochet a direct, 15th century Portuguese import. Another of the 25 women is named Jennifer Fernandes, for example.
The crochet group began online during COVID, but Pereira wanted to take it offline with in-person meetups, and it was the connection with Sivaraman that gave her the impetus. At the Zoom meeting, no one could give an estimate on how big the tree would be, how it would be shaped, or how long it would take to finish.
“We decided to begin anyway,” Majumdar told the Better India. “We felt the place would come.”
And so the 50 skilled hands began their needlework, and as the weeks turned to months, the tree began to take shape. The Collective would meet at Majumdar’s home in Goa. There would be tea, coffee, music, and conversations of days gone by; of family, of childhoods.
Things really accelerated when a local civil engineer quickly welded a conical tree frame out of metal and donated it, along with the transportation, to the Collective without charging a rupee.
CRAFTS FOR GOOD: Terracotta Is a 3,000-Year-Old Solution to Fighting Extreme Heat
Suddenly, there was something on which to tie the 800 hand-crafted squares, and once they had the tree frame, the Museum of Goa opened its doors to feature the tree squarely in its “We Gather” collaboration.
“It wasn’t supposed to be this big,” Sivaraman admitted, laughing. “But then again, none of us knew how big it would become.”
MORE STORIES FROM INDIAN CRAFTS: Textile Waste and Forgeries Cut from Indian Supply Chains with Brilliant Desk-Top Spectroscope
The question of size, during the monsoon season, quickly became a problem of size: the squares they had been weaving were too small, but they had used up almost all their yarn and couldn’t start over. So they began using their own yarn collections, or unraveling old pieces they didn’t care for anymore. The result was beautiful, unpredictable, originality.
“That’s why you see unexpected shades,” Sivaraman says. “Pink. Orange. Everything. There’s no factory-made decorations. Just what we already had.”
SHARE This Truly Unique And Irreplicable Christmas Tree With Your Friends…
A sweet little lost pooch has come home in time for Christmas—to a bigger family than the one he left.
That’s because little Choco was gone for 5 years. But his hominid mama Patricia never gave up hope of finding him again.
It was 2022 when Choco disappeared from his Antelope, California home, and though the family sought help from neighbors and searched as far afield as felt reasonable, they couldn’t find him.
Then in November, Choco was identified by his microchip after being found chained to a fence in Detroit, more than 2,000 miles away. No one knows how he got there, but Helping Paws and Claws, a volunteer animal rescue charity, took responsibility for getting Choco home after he was taken in by the Lincoln Park Animal Shelter.
There must have been a fair few eyebrows raised at the shelter when the microchip turned up a dog registered to California, but Paws and Claws didn’t hesitate to reach out and even arrange air transit to get Choco back to his owners.
“Shocked,” Patricia described herself as being when she listened to the message on her answering machine. “I called the number, ‘You’re talking about Lincoln, California, right? No, Lincoln, Michigan.'”
Then, if the story needed anymore sweetness, a stranger named Pamela donated her SkyMiles to Penny, a volunteer with Paws and Claws, in order to fly Choco home to California.
MORE STORIES LIKE THIS: Dog ‘Remarkably Unscathed’ After Plunging 100ft Down Cliff Face After a Team Rescue
It had been 5 years since Choco was amongst his people, and over the years his family had grown. It hadn’t outgrown him, however, and his place on the couch was restored amid tears and laughter.
“Microchip your dogs,” Patricia said. “With the holidays and the extreme cold, a story like mine can be your story next.”
WATCH the story from CBS News…
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Quote of the Day: “Courage is found in unlikely places.” – J. R. R. Tolkien
Image by: Resource Database 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?
249 years ago today, Thomas Paine published his first essay under the pseudonym, Common Sense, to inspire American colonists in a language that the common man could understand. Paine knew that the Colonists weren’t going to support the American Revolutionary War without proper reason to do so, so he set out to persuade them. First entitled The American Crisis, it had its intended effect. READ the famous opening lines… (1776)
In a pair of groundbreaking studies, scientists replicated a time-consuming, laboratory-based, cancer therapy within myeloma patients’ own bodies.
If standardized, such an advancement would allow for one of the most successful non-chemo cancer treatments to be done both faster and cheaper.
CAR T-cell therapy involves retrieving a patient’s immune system component called a T-cell and using a virus to genetically add the CAR, or chimeric antigen receptor, to it. This process is done in a lab—typically outside the hospital where the patient is being treated—before the cells are shipped back for transplant.
The alteration allows T-cells to home in on cancer cells directly by penetrating the biological stealth capabilities tumors have, but is also expensive and laborious. If, scientists have considered in the last decade, the process could be done inside the body, it would save lives that are sometimes lost waiting out the month-or-so-long process it takes to alter the T-cells in the lab.
That’s exactly what’s been established in a pair of recent trials, the results of which were just presented at the American Society of Hematology’s (ASH) annual meeting.
In the team’s first trial in July, 4 patients with multiple myeloma, a kind of blood cancer, had their T-cells engineered in vivo with the CAR gene. They produced the altered cells, which successfully attacked the tumors in their bone marrow.
2 of the patients seemed to be cured, with the cancer cells no longer detectable in their bone marrow, and a tell-tale circulating blood protein also absent from their bodies. 2 others didn’t benefit to that extent, but appeared to be in remission after 5 months.
“The question is no longer can you really do this,” Yvonne Chen, a cancer immunotherapy researcher at UCLA, told Science News. “The question now is can you reach the level of efficacy that’s expected and will the safety profile meet the target.”
On the question of safety, the patients suffered from significant side effects, likely due to the effects of the deactivated virus used to reprogram their T-cells, which has been known to trigger flu-like symptoms that have even been fatal on occasion with the lab-based CAR T-cell method.
Interestingly, the flu-like inflammation was very mild in all 4 patients, who instead suffered from drops in blood pressure, lack of oxygen, and mental confusion. All recovered following the treatment process.
CAR T-CELL THERAPY AT WORK: Christmas ‘Miracle’ for 6-Year-Old with Leukemia Who’s Now Thriving After T-cell Therapy Instead of Chemo
In the second trial, another 4 patients with previously untreatable multiple myeloma had no detectable cancer cells in their bone marrow 1 month after treatment, a status maintained in one patient 5-months post-treatment. The side effects were less substantive for unknown reasons.
“I think it gives us a glimpse into the future,” said hematologist Joy Ho of the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital. “In vivo CAR-T for multiple myeloma is here and hopefully it will stay.”
CANCER IMPROVEMENTS: Oncologists Treat Patient’s Rare Cancer with Isolated Chemotherapy Delivery, Preventing Side-Effects
CAR T-cell therapy is also being looked at as a treatment for non-cancer diseases like autoimmune disorders. The lab-based process not only takes a month, but costs hundreds of thousands of dollars, and requires a particularly aggressive chemotherapy session to wipe out the existing T-cells before receiving the new, altered ones.
If the in vivo process can be rendered safer, it would allow hundreds more patients to access it, and save hundreds of lives.
Cancer Research Gets Better And Better: LET YOUR FRIENDS KNOW…
A wild female polar bear was recently filmed with a cub that’s not her own: a notably rare behavior that’s been determined to be an adoption.
It was filmed during the annual polar bear migration along Canada’s Western Hudson Bay in Manitoba.
There’s a reason why “red in tooth and claw” has been used to describe the natural world ever since society began attempting to establish laws as a means to separate ourselves from it: that’s because it’s true.
There are fewer places where this maxim clearer than in the world of bears, which engage in both infanticide and cannibalism. But a softer side, reinforcing the strength of the animal’s maternal instincts, was recently filmed and confirmed by scientists.
“Throughout over 45 years of tracking more than 4,600 individual polar bears in this Western Hudson Bay subpopulation, this is the 13th known case of adoption,” said Dr. Evan Richardson, a polar bear research scientist for the group Environment and Climate Change Canada.
“The mother, known as bear X33991, was encountered by researchers in the spring of 2025 as she came out of her maternity den, and she only had one cub, which was tagged. When she was seen again in the fall, she had two cubs, one with a tag and one without. Genetic samples were taken from the adopted cub and are being analyzed to try to identify its biological mother.”
OTHER ODD ADOPTIONS:
There is more than one reason for polar bears to adopt other cubs, Richardson said in an email statement. In some previous adoption cases, he explained, biological mothers were known to still be alive, suggesting the cub wasn’t an orphan, but rather the subject of “switching litters.”
While the survival rate for any polar bear cub to adulthood is about 50%, having a mother provides a much better chance for the adopted cub. In the Western Hudson Bay population, 3 out of 13 adoption cases have survived to adulthood.
WATCH the footage below…
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On Sunday, Egyptian authorities unveiled the completed restoration works on two colossal alabaster statues of a notable Egyptian king.
Located in Luxor, and standing over 30 feet tall, the two statues were destroyed in an earthquake 1,200 years ago, making their reconstitution an awfully long time coming.
King Amenhotep III (spellings may vary) ruled between as early as 1,388 BCE to as late as 1349, and presided over one of several zeniths in ancient Egyptian society. The 9th Pharoah of the Eighteenth Dynasty, he was worshipped as a deity during his lifetime.
His impressive mortuary temple on the Western bank of the Nile was guarded over by two enormous depictions, called the Colossi of Memnon. They were hewn out of Egyptian alabaster from the quarries of Hatnub, in Middle Egypt, and depict Amenhotep looking to the east and wearing a royal/godlike crown called the nemes headdress.
In the late 1990s, reports Africa News, an Egyptian-German mission chaired by German Egyptologist Hourig Sourouzian was working on the temple site and began to investigate the potential for reassembling the alabaster rubble into its original forms.
The works resulted in the discovery, restoration, documentation, reinstallation and lifting of many statues that existed in the temple, as well as some of its architectural elements—apart from the Colossi.
MORE EGYPTIAN MONUMENTS:
The right-side statue’s torso and head are more complete than the left-hand side statue, which in turn has both of the legs the right-side statue is missing. The right side has an almost complete face, and even the serpent which crowned the nemes headdress over the forehead has survived through the ages.
The Secretary General of the Supreme Archaeological Council emphasized in a statement that all statue works were done according to the latest scientific methods and international standards approved in the field of archaeological restoration and the use of materials consistent with the nature of the archaeological stone, both ensuring their long-term sustainability and historical integrity.
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An Australian zoo credited with saving 7 native species from extinction aims to continue its vital work by rewilding a 3,050-acre tract of farmland.
The aim of planting a Box-Gum tree fores across the cleared land that would act as a corridor to help connect existing wildlife habitats.
The Taronga Zoo Conservation Society (TZCS) then plans to release platypus, koalas, spotted quols, and the Endangered regent honeyeater bird.
The farmland can be found on the Nandewar Range, part of the Australian continent’s Great Dividing Range, in New South Wales. It’s about 100-times bigger than the zoo the society maintains in the Sydney Harbor.
The TZCS estimates that around 1 million seedlings will be needed to return native tree cover, after which they suspect some species will come back quickly.
CEO Cameron Kerr told ABC News AU that experts would then monitor the manner in which these native species recolonize the area, and decide how to manage the species that would be expected to need a decade or more to fully reclaim their ancestral territory.
“What we are going to do is first of all establish the habitat and get the ecosystem looking after itself so that pest management and weed management will decline over time as the habitat becomes healthy,” Mr. Kerr said.
“At the right time we will assess what wildlife is coming in from outside and what wildlife we need to re-introduce.”
TZCS has a large body of experience in reintroducing native species. ABC claims that 60,000 animals, from tadpoles to larger mammals like koalas, have been bred, reared, and released through the society’s 16 targeted breeding programs.
AUSSIE LAND CONSERVATION:
At the same time, rewilding landscapes will be a first for the zoo, and the Nandewar Rangeland is the only such project since it transformed 300 acres into the Western Plains Zoo in Dubbo.
Directors of the program are aware that the landscape isn’t free of invasive predatory animals like foxes and pigs, so feral animal control will have to be incorporated into plans. Kerr said that Australia can no longer rely on the forest landscapes it has left to protect native, threatened wildlife.
The nation has to actively start to restore native forests if citizens want the continent’s panoply of curious, native animals to survive long into the future.
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Quote of the Day: “No man was ever wise by chance.” – Lucius Annaeus Seneca (Roman philosopher, statesman, dramatist)
Image by: Petr Slováček 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?
30 years ago today, the Chauvet-Pont-d’Arc Caves were discovered in southern France containing remarkable cave paintings that are roughly 32,000 years old, the earliest-known and best-preserved cave art and engravings in the world. The site, located on a limestone cliff above the former bed of the Ardèche River, was first explored a few months after an opening in the Chauvet Cave was discovered. In addition to the paintings of lions, deer, horses, and rhinoceros, other human evidence was discovered from the Paleolithic era, including fossilized remains, footprints, and markings from a variety of animals, some of which are now extinct. READ About the paintings and their discovery… (1995)
From Canada’s “As it Happens” comes a story by way of Texas of a “Grandma Stand” where volunteer elders offer to lend an ear to anyone beset by troubles.
Anyone can walk by the purple lemonade stand and sit down across from a real grandmother to chit-chat, ask advice, or just vent a little to someone who’s seen it all.
The idea was dreamt up by the New York City reporter Mike Matthews, who recommended a female coworker call his grandmother for a talk. The coworker, whom he described as a guarded Brooklyn hipster, admitted it was the “weirdest thing that anyone’s ever said,” to her.
Nevertheless, she called Matthews’ grandmother—95-year-old Eileen Wilkinson, and was so impacted by the connection after separating with her boyfriend of 5 years, that the two had chats every week for years.
The difference that Wilkinson’s empathy and years of wisdom made for Matthews’ coworker gave him the idea of opening a “Grandma Stand” on the streets of Brooklyn. His nan lived in Washington, so he left a cheap laptop with a video chat open and wrote a sign on the box that anyone who needed a bit of company could sit down and talk.
“I have no idea how many people she talked to through those years, but at least a thousand,” Matthews said. “She had never had any hesitancy caring and just being present with whoever sat down on that chair.”
Wilkinson passed away at the age of 102, but her legacy at that booth took on a life of its own.
Now in McKinney, Texas, a team of volunteer grandmas rotate counselor roles behind the same style of purple lemonade stand that Matthews first used with his grandmother and laptop.
“I’m officially old now,” 71-year-old volunteer grandma Nancy McClendon told “As It Happens” host Nil Köksal. “What’s the use of being old if you can’t share from your life experiences?”
The Grandma Stand is not Matthews’ exclusive copyright, and instead is replicated by others around the US, and may soon jump north to Canada. This spot in McKinney is a holiday-time pop-up, and McClendon was recruited through a local senior center.
WISDOM OF OUR ELDERS: The World’s Oldest Human Gives Us the Best Advice, Before She Dies at 117 Years
On her first 150-minute shift, she spoke with a father of three who wanted parenting advice, a young married woman with a fear about losing connection with her husband over the long term, and a couple struggling with fertility issues.
She admits she didn’t have answers for everyone, but it felt good to listen, and felt good for the speaker to know there was someone listening—even if she was a stranger they’d never see again.
MORE STORIES LIKE THIS: Japanese ‘Rental Grandmother’ Service Provides Much-Needed and Much-Loved Purpose for Older Women
Western society has done a very effective job at cocooning individuals into little pods, enlivened through digital connection. A general understanding is emerging that this is no way for our species to live, social primates that we are.
“We kind of know in our gut that we’ve lost a lot of connection, and true face-to-face connection,” McClendon said. “Which I think is what people find so refreshing [about] the novelty of sitting down in that setting.”
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