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Sighting of Elusive ‘Miner’s Cat’ a Fitting Reward for Philanthropists Rewilding Their Private Land

By
Andy Corbley
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The ringtail, a North American mammal - credit, Elster Photography, released
The ringtail, a North American mammal – credit, Elster Photography, released

For a philanthropic couple in Oregon, the sighting on a trail camera of one of North America’s most elusive animals was both surprising and not.

Bill and Sarah Epstein had committed a large plot of family-owned land to conservation, and so the appearance of a “ringtail” or “miner’s cat” was a sign that their work has been a success.

The Epstein Family Forest, in Oregon’s Siskiyou Mountains, is described by the trust that manages it as “a rich mosaic of oak woodlands, conifer forests, riparian corridors, and wetlands—supporting rare wildlife and clean water.”

It doesn’t come much rarer than the ringtail, even if it’s not considered endangered.

Despite being the cousin of the common raccoon, don’t expect to see the ringtail digging through your garbage. Nocturnal, rarely studied, smaller than a house cat, and protected under federal law even before the Endangered Species Act existed, it can be seen in the video jumping into the camera’s view, rearing up to look about, and then walking away, the rings on its tail testifying to its namesake.

Because of their rodent-hunting abilities, they were often kept as pets in mining camps and cabins, earning them the name “miner’s cat” or “ring-tailed cat”—despite not being felines.

The sighting on the 405-acre Epstein Family Forest, located near Ashland, didn’t happen by chance. Landowners Bill and Sarah have spent decades restoring a heavily damaged forest and subdivision of country homes into a model for conservation and fire-resilient, ecologically managed forest.

PRIVATE CONSERVATION AT WORK: Man Gathers Up Family Acres- Home to Moose and Mountain Lion– and Returns Them to Indian Tribe

They bought the land decades ago after it had been heavily logged and burned by a historic wildfire in 1973. The years of helping to return the ecosystem to a native state has seen hundreds of species of birds, amphibians, mammals come to range across that land as their habitats flow across the boundaries of public and private lands.

Since a member of the family received a stage-4 cancer diagnosis, they have been working with the Pacific Forest Trust to complete a “working forest conservation easement” on the land.

MUST WATCH CAMERA TRAP FOOTAGE: Rare Ocelot Caught on Camera in Arizona, the First Sighting in the Area for 50 Years

Such an easement is a permanent legal agreement that keeps forests in production while ensuring management practices support biodiversity and ecosystem health.

“It is a profound comfort to know the goals we have for our property will be steadfastly managed and protected in perpetuity,” the couple said in a statement.

Click the video below to watch… 

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Study Finds Many Older Adults Will Improve Over Time–Depending on Their Mindset

By
Andy Corbley
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Getty Images for Unsplash +
Getty Images for Unsplash +

A new study by scientists at Yale University suggests that older individuals can and do ‘improve,’ in all the senses of that word, over time.

Analyzing the results of a large study of older Americans that ran for a decade, a key data point was that the individual’s mindset toward aging plays a major part in their success.

If they believed aging was a process of decline, they declined. If they believed aging was a process of refinement, they improved.

Lead author Dr. Becca R. Levy, PhD, a professor of social and behavioral sciences at the Yale School of Public Health (YSPH) found that nearly half of adults aged 65 and older showed measurable improvement in cognitive function, physical function, or both, over time.

The improvements were not limited to a small group of exceptional individuals and, notably, were linked to a powerful but often overlooked factor: how people think about aging itself.

“Many people equate aging with an inevitable and continuous loss of physical and cognitive abilities,” said Dr. Levy, an international expert on psychosocial determinants of aging health. “What we found is that improvement in later life is not rare, it’s common, and it should be included in our understanding of the aging process.”

The findings are published in the journal Geriatrics.

For the study, the researchers followed more than 11,000 participants in the Health and Retirement Study, a federally supported longitudinal survey of older Americans. The research team tracked changes in cognition using a global performance assessment, and physical function using walking speed—often described by geriatricians as a “vital sign” because of its strong links to disability, hospitalization, and mortality.

Over a follow-up period of up to 12 years, 45% of participants improved in at least one of the two domains, according to the study. About 32% improved cognitively, 28% improved physically, and many experienced gains that exceeded thresholds considered clinically meaningful.

When participants whose cognitive scores remained stable over that period (rather than declining) were included, more than half defied the stereotype of inevitable deterioration in cognition.

“What’s striking is that these gains disappear when you only look at averages,” said Dr. Levy, author of the book Breaking the Age Code: How Your Beliefs About Aging Determine How Long & How Well You Live.

“If you average everyone together, you see decline,” Dr. Levy continued. “But when you look at individual trajectories, you uncover a very different story. A meaningful percentage of the older participants that we studied got better.”

As for why, Levy and her co-authors hypothesized that an important factor could be participants had assimilated more positive or more negative views about aging by the start of the study. In support of this hypothesis, they found that those with more positive age beliefs were significantly more likely to show improvements in both cognition and walking speed, even after accounting for factors such as age, sex, education, chronic disease, depression, and length of follow-up.

AGING RESEARCH: 2 Years of Exercise Reversed 20 Years of Aging in the Heart, Says Longest-Ever Randomized Trial on Exercise

The findings build on Dr. Levy’s stereotype embodiment theory, which posits that age stereotypes absorbed through a range of domains including social media and advertisements eventually become self-relevant and biologically consequential.

Credit: Getty Images for Unsplash+

Dr. Levy’s prior studies have found negative age beliefs predict poorer memory, slower walking speed, higher cardiovascular risk, and biomarkers associated with Alzheimer’s disease. The current study shows that those who have assimilated more positive age beliefs often show improvement, Dr. Levy said.

“Our findings suggest there is often a reserve capacity for improvement in later life,” she said. “And because age beliefs are modifiable, this opens the door to interventions at both the individual and societal level.”

BETTER AGING: This Rarely-Trained Muscle Is Recognized Worldwide as a Marker of Human Health–And the Test for Living to 100

The improvements were not limited to people who started out with impairments. Even among participants who had normal cognitive or physical function at baseline, a substantial proportion improved over time. That challenges the assumption that later-life gains reflect only people getting better after being sick or rebounding from earlier setbacks, the authors said.

The authors hope their findings will reverse the popular perception that continuous decline is inevitable and encourage policy makers to increase their support for preventive care, rehabilitation, and other health-promoting programs for older persons that draw on their potential resilience.

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With Plasma, Solar, Magnets, EU Aims to Help Decarbonize Industrial Heat Generation

By
Andy Corbley
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Yasin Hemmati on Unsplash
Yasin Hemmati on Unsplash

Most industrial processes need heat, and most heat comes from burning fossil fuels, but armed with €400 million in grants, the European Commission is hoping to change that.

The commission has just seen the successful launch of its “industrial heat decarbonization project” auction, where it accepted 65 different projects presented from 10 different EU countries.

The proposals revolve around how to decarbonize the production of intense heat in industry, and involved such technologies as geothermal heat, plasma cutting, solar concentration, electromagnetic and dialectic heating, and heat pumps.

The proposals came from many of the largest manufacturing sectors, including paper and wood pulp, pharmaceuticals, ceramics, glass, iron and steel, construction materials, food and beverages, and textiles.

A total of €1.4 billion were requested through the grant application mechanism, according to PV Magazine, some 300% more than the commission had in its budget. Firms from Austria, Belgium, Portugal, Czechia, Slovenia, Denmark, Hungary, France, Germany, and Spain saw their proposals accepted.

By the numbers, if all proposed technologies succeed and are developed to nameplate capacity, it would hypothetically result in savings of heat equal to 1.5 billion cubic meters of natural gas burning over 5 years, saving 6.6 million tons of CO2 over 10 years, and generate 16.3 terawatt hours of heat.

Heat is a big topic these days as for the 4th summer in a row, a heat dome currently roasts most of continental Europe right as summer travel season begins.

“Waste heat” is a term used in urban planning and infrastructure that describes radiative heat from industry spilling out into the surrounding built environment and ratcheting up temperatures already sitting near records.

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE: Microsoft Campus Set to Use Geothermal Energy to Heat/Cool Millions of Sq Ft. of Office Space

Some cities, like Germany’s Hamburg, or Finland’s Varanto, are looking at waste heat as a product that needs to be responsibly disposed of.

Last July, GNN reported that the Aurubis copper smelter in Hamburg which produces 400,000 tons of pure copper every year, now channels the radiative heat down into a nearby heating system that provides hot water for around 28,000 homes and buildings, and saves 120,000 tons of CO2 per year.

MORE HEAT EXCHANGE IDEAS: Refrigerator-Sized Data Center Transfers Its Heat to English Swimming Pool, Saving Thousands in Energy Costs

In Varanto, a city-wide thermal exchange heating system will take waste heat from data centers and home heat exchangers like heat pumps and store it in water which is then pumped deep underground into a massive cavern. There, it remains hot until the frigid Finish winter, when it’s brought back up to the surface to decarbonize home heating.

SHARE These Projects For A Decarbonized Future In Industry… 

Humans May Have Always Been Able to Regenerate Body Parts–Scar Tissue Just Gets in the Way

By
Andy Corbley
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A conceptual graphic shows how growth factors BMP2 and FGF2 are applied to the injury site to stimulate tissue regeneration - credit, Melissa Bristow/Texas A&M University
A conceptual graphic shows how growth factors BMP2 and FGF2 are applied to the injury site to stimulate tissue regeneration – credit, Melissa Bristow/Texas A&M University

Some animals like salamanders can regenerate entire limbs, and by flipping a few genetic switches scientists have potentially unlocked innate human regeneration.

The key is essentially to deprogram the natural response to build scar tissue and reprogram cells to build back bone, ligaments, muscle, and skin.

“Why some animals can regenerate and others, particularly humans, can’t is a big question that has been asked since Aristotle,” said Dr. Ken Muneoka, a professor in the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences (VMBS).

“I’ve spent my career trying to understand that.”

In their study, published in Nature Communications, Muneoka and his colleagues detail a newly developed 2-step treatment that led to the regeneration of bone, joint structures and ligaments in mice. While the results were imperfect, the team believes this approach could be used more immediately to reduce scarring and improve tissues repair after amputations.

In mammals, injuries typically trigger fibrosis, a process in which fibroblast cells rapidly close the wound and form scar tissue. This response prioritizes survival by sealing the injury quickly, but also limits the body’s ability to rebuild missing structures.

In regenerative species, like salamanders that can regrow lost limbs, those same types of cells organize into a blastema, a temporary structure that enables tissue regrowth.

“It’s as if these cells can move in 2 different directions,” Muneoka said. “They could either make a scar or make a blastema. Our research focused on redirecting the behavior of fibroblasts already present at the injury site.”

To test whether mammalian healing could be shifted toward regeneration, researchers developed a sequential treatment using two well-studied growth factors.

The first step involved applying fibroblast growth factor 2 (FGF2) after a wound had already closed. This timing allowed the body to complete its typical healing response, and then the team “changed what happens next.”

FGF2 stimulated the formation of a blastema-like structure—something that does not normally occur in mammals following this type of injury; several days later, a second treatment—using bone morphogenetic protein 2 (BMP2)—was applied, triggering those cells to begin forming new structures.

“This is really a 2-step process,” Muneoka said. “You first shift the cells away from scarring, and then you provide the signals that tell them what to build.”

A key implication of the study is that regeneration does not depend on adding external stem cells, as many current approaches in regenerative medicine attempt to do.

“You don’t have to actually get stem cells and put them back in,” Muneoka said. “They’re already there—you just need to learn how to get them to behave the way you want.”

The study also showed that cells can be redirected to form structures beyond their original location—a concept known as positional re-specification, which plays a critical role in development.

This means cells that would normally contribute to one part of the body can be instructed to rebuild a different structure after injury.

Although the regenerated structures were not exact replicas of the original anatomy, researchers were able to restore all the expected components removed during amputation, such as the bone, tendon, ligament and joint.

FUTURE WOUND HEALING: ‘Game-Changing’ Skin Printer Works Like a Paint Roller, Speeding Up Healing on Even Bigger Wounds

The results included both skeletal elements and connective tissues, organized in a way that reflects the natural structure.

“We regenerated what you would expect to see at that level of injury,” Muneoka said. “The structures are there, just not in a perfect form.”

The findings also revealed that regeneration occurs through multiple biological pathways, indicating that rebuilding tissue is more complex than relying on a single mechanism.

REGENERATIVE MEDICINE: UPDATE—World’s First Drug to Regrow Teeth Enters Clinical Trials

While the research is still in early stages, it may have more immediate applications in improving how wounds heal. Rather than focusing solely on regrowing entire structures, researchers believe the approach could first be used to reduce scarring and improve tissue repair.

“People should start thinking about using these signals during the healing process,” Muneoka said. “Even shifting the response slightly away from scarring could have real benefits.”

Because BMP2 is already FDA approved for certain medical uses and FGF2 is in multiple clinical trials, the pathway to clinical exploration may be more accessible for entirely new therapies.

HEALING NOT TREATING: Revolutionary Treatment Heals 3rd Degree Burns Across the Face of World’s First Human Recipient

For Muneoka, those questions have guided decades of research, and now, finally, have a new foundation.

“Regenerative failure in mammals can be rescued,” he said. “Now we have a model to begin figuring out how.”

SHARE This Important Step Towards Future Wound Healing On Social Media…

“How beautiful the leaves grow old. How full of light and color are their last days.” – John Burroughs

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Good News Network
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Getty Images for Unsplash+

Quote of the Day: “How beautiful the leaves grow old. How full of light and color are their last days.” – John Burroughs

Photo by: Getty Images for Unsplash+ (cropped)

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?

Getty Images for Unsplash+

Good News in History, June 23

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Good News Network
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Banff National Park, one of Canada's true jewels - CC license.

139 years ago today, The Rocky Mountains Park Act passed Canadian parliament, establishing Banff National Park, the nation’s largest and most famous park. It was modeled on the law that created Yellowstone National Park south of the border just a few years before. Before, there had been a small preserve of 26 square miles that included hot springs. The park was expanded under the law to 674 km2 (260 sq mi) and named Rocky Mountains Park. READ more about its history… (1887)

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Man Enjoys ‘Accidental Time Capsule’ After Recovering a Wallet He Doesn’t Remember Losing

By
Andy Corbley
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- credit, The Secret Garden Rawdon
– credit, The Secret Garden Rawdon

An English sports reporter has been reunited with a wallet that he never knew he’d lost more than 30 years ago.

Among the time capsule treasures was a Leeds United membership card from the 1992-93 Premier League season when he used to cover the Whites for the Yorkshire Evening Post.

Owner Mark Dexter used to live in the area of Rawden where it was found, and was a frequent patron in the local pub scene, but admitted he doesn’t remember losing a wallet, and was at a loss for how it turned up there.

The wallet was found by the organizer of a local forest school, “but I’ve no recollection of ever walking down there at any time in the past” said Dexter, “so I’ve no idea how it’s got there.”

Working assumptions are that it might have been stolen on a night when he had more than his fair share of brews, perhaps while attending a cricket match.

Claire Wilson, the school owner, found it and posted on Facebook some images of its contents asking if anyone was able to locate the person portrayed on the Leeds card—issued at the start of a season where Leeds were preparing to defend the English football title, which they had won the previous year over Manchester United.

“Given that I was a sports reporter, you would have thought I would have had more of a smile on my face on the Leeds card,” Dexter told the BBC. 

Dexter’s wife saw the Facebook post and the pair went to retrieve the old wallet.

– credit, Mark Dexter

Wilson said the area where she found it had once been a private garden, and at another time was attached to a nearby hotel. The wallet had been swallowed up by the weeds and uncovered whilst cutting those back as part of a community project run through the forest school.

For 63-year-old Mark, it was a strange and serendipitous reason to take a moment and appreciate a life well-lived.

“In ’92 I was 30 and happy, having a good time, loving journalism, loving working in newspapers. It was just great.”

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A ‘Stonehenge Prototype’ Aligned with the Solstices Is a Once in a Lifetime Find for These Archaeologists

By
Andy Corbley
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Wessex Archaeology’s illustration of what summer solstice celebrations at Bulford may have looked like 5,000 years ago - Credit: Wessex Archaeology
Wessex Archaeology’s illustration of what summer solstice celebrations at Bulford may have looked like 5,000 years ago – Credit: Wessex Archaeology

It was essentially two post holes in the ground and a couple of trash dumps: but it’s still one of the greatest finds of archeologist Phil Harding’s career.

Found near Wiltshire just 3 miles from Stonehenge, and dated to 2,950 BCE, Harding’s big find is a Stone Age monument that aligns to the summer and winter solstices as Stonehenge so famously does.

Harding was doing preservation archaeology work in advance of a Ministry of Defense building project in Bulford, and the evidence was so scant he almost passed it over. It was only when, examining his survey maps, he drew a line between the two post holes with a ruler and pencil and noticed it was about 50 degrees off true north, “which was pretty much the line of the midsummer sunrise,” Harding told the Guardian.

“And so I got really, really excited about that.”

Carbon dating of remains in the rubbish dumps and post holes strongly suggest the 2,950 BCE date, and based on the depths of the holes, it’s likely the wooden poles they supported were around 3-4 meters tall. They were placed 120 meters apart.

One hypothesis is that the poles were a prototype or trial run in advance of building the real thing, as the building date comes 500 years before the large trilithon stones the solstice Sun shines through were erected at Stonehenge.

Another is that it was a campsite of the same people who built the first stage of Stonehenge, but whatever it is, it has the defining feature of archaic life on the Wiltshire plain—alignment with the rising of the Sun on the summer and winter solstices.

MORE HENGY NEWS: A Circular Wooden ‘Stonehenge’ Discovered in Denmark Is 4,000 Years Old

Matt Leivers, the senior research manager at Wessex Archaeology, the organization that was contracted to do the work by the Defense Ministry, spoke extensively to the Guardian about the discovery and what it means for research into Stonehenge and its builders.

“What we’re seeing here is the religion of the Stone Age made manifest in the ground. Obviously we have no understanding of precisely what any of it meant, but the fact that time and again, over thousands of years, people are coming back to [the Stonehenge landscape] to build and rebuild and mark and remark this set of substantial events—it gives us an indication that this is religion. This is how they are understanding their place in the cosmos, how the universe works, what their deities are.”

ANCIENT ASTRONOMY: Ancient Chinese Astronomer’s Star Log is Found to Be World’s Oldest–Predating Greeks by 200 Years

“We don’t know what the sun meant to them. We don’t know whether they personified it as a deity. But the amount of effort that’s directed toward marking it and its movements leaves us in no doubt at all that this is a major religious event that’s inscribed over the whole landscape over millennia.”

SHARE This Great Expansion In Our Understanding Of Stonehenge And Its Builders…

Activist Wins 10-Year Battle to Ensure That Child Abuse Is Considered Above All Else in NY Custody Trials

By
Andy Corbley
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New legislation that will compel New York judges to consider domestic violence or child abuse charges and risks—above all else—in child custody decisions, could soon become law.

Resulting from a decade of work from a dedicated mother, bills known as “Kyra’s Law” passed both the senate and house and is on Governor Kathy Hochul’s desk for signing.

The bill’s author is Jacqueline Franchetti, a resident of Long Island who had to rewrite the language several times to ensure that hearsay and unfalsifiable negatives—in other words, allegations of low-merit—would not influence decisions.

The result of her tireless campaigning was some 300,000 emailing their reps or participating in marches to bring Kyra’s Law to the Chamber floor for a vote, a moment that Franchetti admitted was “very emotional.”

“Kyra’s Law is going to move us lightyears forward in addressing the child custody crisis and protecting children from abusive parents,” she told CBS News.

The law is named after Franchetti’s daughter, Kyra, who was killed by her father in a murder suicide at the man’s home years ago. During a lengthy child custody battle, the judge had determined Franchetti’s ex to be of “low risk” even though she had furnished proof of activities like stalking and making threats, the merits of which the police testified to.

Franchetti was trying to win sole custody, but the judge ruled it should be jointly held.

“It will definitely be helpful for judges in family court to have this bill that states that child safety is the top priority in a child custody case or child visitation case,” said a family court career expert Patricia Pastor in a comment with CBS.

MORE STORIES LIKE THIS: Mexico City’s Ban on Bullfighting Could be Death Knell to the ‘Sport’

It will help tragedies like what happened to Kyra, and others Pastor cited—and others that may come to pass in the future—be prevented.

The Governor’s mansion said in a statement that Hochul is reviewing the legislation, something which she has until the end of the year to sign or send back to the congress.

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‘Groundbreaking’ Potential Lupus Cure Sends Patients into Remission, Allowing Dreams to Be Fulfilled

By
Andy Corbley
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- credit, Katie Tinkler, supplied to UCLH
– credit, Katie Tinkler, supplied to UCLH

A genetic therapy that’s already revolutionized cancer treatment has now sent five patients of lupus into remission, allowing one to fulfill her dreams of skiing.

The uncurable autoimmune disorder lupus affects 1.5 million Americans, but a trial of CAR T-cell therapy for lupus recently concluded in the UK shows that the disease’s permanence may be at an end.

GNN has reported over a dozen times on the use of CAR T-cell therapy, a Nobel Prize-winning discovery that leverages human white blood cells for cancer targeting.

The white cells are withdrawn from the patient’s blood before receiving modified genetic coding that reprograms them to hunt malignancies. That new programing spreads to the rest of the immune system, and the patient’s own body becomes capable of destroying their cancer.

Cancers are mostly protected from human immunity because of a sort of invisibility cloak that convinces the immune cells like T lymphocytes (the T in CAR T-cell) that they are perfectly normal cells.

In complete contrast but with a similar outcome lupus, like other autoimmune disorders, sees the immune system identifying normal healthy cells as malignant intruders and targeting them for destruction. In the case of lupus it’s the kidneys, and sometimes other organs.

9 patients at University College London Hospital (UCLH) were treated for lupus nephritis, a life-threatening lupus-related condition that can result in debilitating fatigue, inflammation, joint pain, and organ failure. 5 went into a sort of lupus remission, including one named Katie Tinkler, who since recovering has fulfilled a dream of going Alpine skiing for the very first time, and was able to dance at her daughter’s wedding too.

Among the treatment group, 6 patients received a lower dose of CAR T-cell therapy, and 3 got a higher dose. 5 of those on the lower dose went into remission within just 3 months, and stayed there over the study’s 11 month follow-up period.

RARE GENETIC DISORDERS CURED:

The higher-dose patients are still being monitored.

“These findings are truly groundbreaking and offer fresh hope to people living with lupus,” said Professor Karl Peggs, the director of UCLH’s biomedical research center, in a news release. “If these results are confirmed in larger studies, the prospect of a cure for lupus may no longer be out of reach.”

“While more research is needed, the possibility that CAR T-cell therapy could deliver an immune reset and potentially free patients from the cycle of chronic autoimmune disease marks a remarkable step forward.”

MORE STORIES LIKE THIS:

The Guardian heard from Tinkler, who said that her lungs, heart, and kidneys were all deteriorating, and the lupus remission is lifechanging.

“My life two years ago versus now, it’s unrecognizable. I feel blessed.”

SHARE This Inspiring Potential Cure For A Truly Debilitating Disease… 

“What I am looking for is a blessing NOT in disguise.” – Jerome K. Jerome

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Good News Network
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Quote of the Day: “What I am looking for is a blessing not in disguise.” – Jerome K. Jerome

Photo by: Getty Images For Unsplash+

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?

Getty Images for Unsplash+

Good News in History, June 22

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Good News Network
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Lady and the Tramp - fair use

76 years ago today, Walt Disney Productions released Lady and the Tramp, then advertised as Disney’s “happiest motion picture yet.” The film follows Lady, the pampered cocker spaniel, as she grows from puppy to adult, deals with changes in her family, and meets and falls in love with the homeless mutt Tramp. The story was cooked up by Disney himself and a friend of his, based on their own experiences with dogs given as presents to their wives. READ more about this timeless classic… (1955)

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UK Startup is Making Electricity From Bacteria in the Soil – Maybe Your Garden Will Power Your Home Some Day

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Good News Network
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Courtesy of Bactery
Courtesy of Bactery

British startup Bactery says its battery, powered by bacteria, uses nature’s microbes to generate an unending trickle of power—and by stringing the prototypes together they can generate a stream.

Bactery founder and CEO Jakub Dziegielowski says the device complements standard renewable systems like solar, especially because it draws power even when the sun isn’t shining.

“In the labs we have six-times more powerful systems,” Jakub told Reuters News in a video about how it works. (Watch below…)

“The end goal is to get to 4 watts per cubic meter.”

The device is designed to be maintenance-free, and have a 30-year lifespan.

“You can scale the devices bigger and have them installed fully underground.

“Then you take an averaged size garden and all of a sudden you can offset most of your household electricity bills with your garden—all year round.”

WATCH the Reuters video below…

MORE ‘GOOD TECH’ NEWS:
• Batteries That Use Sodium Instead of Lithium Could Be Low-Cost Rival to Tesla’s
• 3 Teens Win Global Earth Prize for Inventing Tamarind Powder That Easily Removes Microplastics

SHARE THE POSSIBILITIES – By Sharing This on Social Media…

30,000 Scottish Descend on Boston for World Cup–And the Amazing Viral Videos Remind Us We’re All Neighbors

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Good News Network
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Boston Police Department via Facebook
Boston Police Department via Facebook

It’s estimated that 30,000 Scottish football fans descended on the city of Boson last week, and the ensuing shenanigans have been so generational that folk songs are being written about it.

The World Cup-winning friendships that developed between locals and the Scots went viral on social media throughout their stay, but it began at 6AM when a crew of lads staying in an Airbnb roused the neighbors “with the unfamiliar tone” of bagpipes.

Mike Morrison posted footage from his quiet Massachusetts suburb. Far from being an angry noise complaint, he adored the jet-lagged fans’ energy—even grilling some sausages for them—and the camaraderie went wild on Twitter.

Now Airbnb is sending the Boston neighbor to Miami for Scotland’s June 24 match against Brazil so he can reunite with the Tartan Army, which presented Mike with an honorary membership certificate—and persistent offers of a morning beer.

“No Scotland–No party”, was a familiar chant heard in the streets—and it was soon clear that Bostonians would not be able to keep up with the drinking habits of the Tartan Army.

The Samuel Adams Boston Taproom had to order four “emergency deliveries” to restock after fans drank 4,000 pints in four days—leaving the taproom with 90 empty kegs—four times as much as the pub would usually sell over the busy 4th of July weekend. ‘Boston is running out of beer’ became a cheeky refrain on social media.

It wasn’t just beer and football that bonded the cultures. An impromptu collaboration between a Scottish bagpipe player jamming with a street musician was captured outside historic Faneuil Hall. Without a single word or rehearsal, Neil Wilson joined bucket drummer David Bowdre, and their synchronicity drew a massive, cheering crowd. (Just click to see their amazing duet…)

After the Scottish team won their first match against Haiti (1-0), the Tartan Army was psyched, especially because the Scots were making their first appearance at the World Cup in 28 years. But they ended up losing their game in Boston’s home stadium against Morocco (0-1).

Throughout the week the city’s police department joined in, kicking soccer balls in the streets and trying on shirts with Tartan colors for visitors. Sgt. Connor Hardy stunned one crowd by doing flawless soccer juggling tricks in full tactical gear—and his captain bought him a kilt after the video went viral.

Hear what the cops are saying about the Tartan Army below…

JAPANESE FANS WENT VIRAL, TOO: Japanese Fans Cleaned the Stadium After World Cup Match And the Players Cleaned Locker Room

The police chief in nearby Providence, Rhode Island, where an estimated 6,000 Scots were staying, admitted “We simply don’t want them to leave!”

After the fun was over, the city’s newspaper The Boston Globe printed a full page farewell tribute to the Scots, and the mayor, Michelle Wu, announced plans for a new partnership between the two cities, building on historic ties and the goodwill that was created.

But the days will never be forgotten, thanks to the viral folk song celebrating the visiting Scottish fans, by musician David Law. Law posted his musical tribute on his social media accounts, with a montage of videos from the historic week, racking up hundreds of thousands of views.

Watch the Heartwarming Ode Below… (I’m not going to lie, I cried tears of joy. See the lyrics are at the bottom)…

When the Tartan Came to Boston – By David Law

When the Tartan came to Boston, All the city came alive.
And we danced upon the Common With a spirit we’d forgotten.
When the bars of Faneuil opened There was something that revived
Sharing pints and songs and anthems To remind us of our pride.

Oh, raise a glass and sing From the Highlands to the harbor,
Now we stand a little taller Since the Tartan came to Boston.
Now we laugh a little harder Since the Tartan came to Boston.

They were playing pipes at sunrise, At six on Sunday morning
And we threw open our windows, For the unfamiliar tone.
Every road became a ceilidh (party), As we drank on cobblestones
And our crowded little city Felt a little more like home.

Oh, raise a glass and sing From the Highlands to the harbor,
Now we stand a little taller Since the Tartan came to Boston.
Now we drink a little harder Since the Tartan came to Boston.

So pour another round And bring this song wherever you go.
Someday we will cross the ocean And we’ll meet again in Glasgow.

Oh, raise a glass and sing From the Highlands to the harbor,
Now we love a little harder Since the Tartan came to Boston.
Now we drink a little harder Since the Tartan came to Boston.

It took thirty thousand strangers To remind us we were neighbors.
And we haven’t been the same since
When The Tartan came to Boston.

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Given Just 8 Months to Live, Teen Graduates Cancer-Free 4 Years Later Thanks to Doctor’s Promise (Watch)

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Dr. Mary Austin and Dylan
Dr. Mary Austin and Dylan

At the age of 14, Dylan was diagnosed with Stage 4 kidney cancer—and doctors gave him just eight months to live.

But he’s alive today thanks to Dr. Mary Austin, who not only treated his disease, but transformed his thinking—through friendship and a solemn promise.

She urged him to persevere through 52 weeks of chemotherapy so she could attend his high school graduation.

Dr. Austin, who made time for lunch with Dylan, was there for the boy, checking-in during his darkest days, when there was serious doubt he would live long enough to get that diploma.

“I call her my second mom,” the Kansas City teen told CBS’s Steve Hartman.

“She just hyped him up,” Dylan’s mom says.

Dylan’s parents believe this human connection played a big part in saving their son.

“Just that trick of saying, ‘Hey, I’ll make it for your graduation,’ changed everything,” added Dylan’s dad. “He just decided, you know… to keep fighting.”

Now 4 years later, he’s cancer free, and this month he donned a cap and gown for a graduation ceremony—and there was a big surprise waiting at the end. (See the moment in the inspiring video below…)

MORE CANCER INSPIRATION:
• Bear Shocks Vets By Going into Remission From Terminal Cancer After Taking Meds in Honey–a Rare Treat That Delights Her
• Belgian Boy is the First Child in the World to Have Been Cured of Brain Stem Glioma, a Brutal Cancer
• Aussie Dad Recovers from Brain Tumor, Stroke, and Coma in 5 Month ‘Miracle’ to Spend Christmas at Home

Even though Dr. Austin now works at Seattle Children’s Hospital, 1,500 miles away from Missouri, she showed up—just like she did every week during his monumental travail.

Watch the moment, and the hug that says it all, in the CBS video below…

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A Golden-Ringed Jewel: Britain’s Longest Dragonfly Hitches Ride on Woman’s Thumb (LOOK and LEARN)

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Golden-Ringed Dragonfly by Sarah Hawkes via SWNS
Golden-Ringed Dragonfly by Sarah Hawkes via SWNS

A woman was stunned when Britain’s longest dragonfly stopped to hitch a ride—on her thumb.

Sarah Hawkes came across the striking Golden-Ringed Dragonfly when walking near the Ceiriog River in Wales.

The insects can grow up to 4 inches (9cm) with a wingspan just as long.

Sarah, who happens to be a conservation officer of Buglife Wales, called the spectacular sighting a “gorgeous girl”.

“They are found mainly in Wales, Scotland and North West England because that is where their special habitat is found.

“They breed in the more acidic rivers and streams coming off peat and crossing sandy soils and rock types.”

“I was walking near the Ceiriog River in Wales, which tumbles down from the Berwyn Hills, and saw her clinging to a grass stem by a hedgerow.

“My dog and I go out early, so it was cool, and insects rely heavily on external heating from the sun, so she was still a bit lethargic—like me when I wake up!”

Sarah Hawkes via SWNS
Golden-Ringed Dragonfly by Sarah Hawkes via SWNS

WHAT A MOMENT: Magical Footage Shows Stag Strolling up to Lick a Man’s Camera Then Calmly Walking Away – WATCH

“The Dee River Catchment, which the Ceiriog is part of, is in one of Britain’s ‘Important Insect Areas’ where there are some really special insects.”

The golden-ringed dragonfly can be seen on the wing from May to September, explained North Wales Wildlife Trust.

Despite their dainty wings, the dragonflies are voracious predators, feeding on large insects, like wasps, beetles, and bumblebees—and even other dragonflies.

They are fast, agile and powerful flyers, too. And even their larvae nymph-phase is menacing to other creatures.

Dragonfly nymph on steam bed by Greg Schechter CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia

“The larvae of the golden-ringed dragonfly live buried at the bottom of streams, ambushing prey as it passes by.

“They grow very slowly and may spend as long as five years in the water before they emerge to turn into a dragonfly.”

MORE NATURE FUN:
• Bird Snuggles into Photographer’s Chest And Stayed With Her for Warmth on a Snowy Day (LOOK)
• Comedy Wildlife Contest Unveils Wonderful Photos to Make Everyone Smile

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“Love and fear. Everything the father of a family says inspires one or the other.” – Joseph Joubert (Happy Father’s Day)

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Credit: Getty Images For Unsplash+

Quote of the Day: “Love and fear. Everything the father of a family says inspires one or the other.” – Joseph Joubert (Happy Father’s Day)

Photo by: Getty Images For Unsplash+

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?

Credit: Getty Images For Unsplash+

Good News in History, June 21

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Joi Ito - CC 3.0. BY-SA

Happy 59th Birthday to eBay founder Pierre Omidyar. The computer geek entrepreneur became a billionaire at age 31 when the company’s stock was offered for sale to the public three years after the first eBay auction in 1995. READ  more about Omidyar and his activities… (1967)

Joi Ito – CC 3.0. BY-SA
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Thawing Permafrost Not Only Emits CO2, It Absorbs it Too, Shows Landmark Study

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River in the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau – Credit: Liwei Zhang
River studied in the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau – Credit: Liwei Zhang

Thawing permafrost is considered a growing source of greenhouse gases as our climate warms and releases ancient carbon once stored in the frozen soils.

But a new study reveals an overlooked plus side: the process will also trigger a removal of emissions from the atmosphere as the landscape thaws.

The research, published in the journal Nature, shows that rock weathering increasingly counteracts river CO2 emissions, as permafrost degrades.

Rivers may develop a capacity to remove CO2 through intensified rock weathering. Researchers found that warming and permafrost degradation expose reactive minerals and increase water–rock interactions, accelerating chemical weathering processes that consume CO2.

In some river catchments, this geological carbon uptake is partially or even fully offsetting river CO2 emissions.

The research team from Umeå University in Sweden and East China Normal University investigated 50 rivers across the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau to understand how thawing permafrost reshapes carbon cycling. Outside of polar regions, the Plateau in southwestern China is Earth’s largest high-altitude cryosphere (areas with snow or ice year round). It’s often called “the Roof of the World”.

By combining measurements of river CO2 emissions, dissolved carbon, isotopic tracers, and geochemical modeling, the researchers found evidence that thawing landscapes intensify chemical weathering, transferring carbon into dissolved inorganic forms while consuming atmospheric CO2.

Another river studied in the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau – Credit Liwei Zhang / Released by Umea University

Carbon uptake can even exceed emissions

“We found that river CO2 emissions decline while carbon uptake through rock weathering increases as permafrost cover decreases,” said Liwei Zhang, biogeochemist at East China Normal University.

“In some catchments where permafrost has become patchier, weathering-driven carbon uptake was large enough to offset or even exceed river CO2 emissions.”

Across the study region, the team estimated that, on average carbon uptake from rock weathering offsets roughly 35% of river CO2 emissions.

However, in landscapes with discontinuous or isolated permafrost, weathering-driven carbon uptake sometimes exceeded 100 percent of river CO2 emissions, suggesting that geological carbon uptake can rival biological carbon release.

The findings challenge a simplified view of thawing permafrost as only a carbon source.

MORE CLIMATE GOOD NEWS:
• Polar Bears are in Better Physical Shape than 25 Years Ago, Despite Ice Losses
• One Glacier Is Actually Growing–Perplexed Scientists Hope to Discover its Secrets
• Pumping Water Onto Sea Ice Could Halt its Loss in the Arctic—Nonprofit Proves ‘Naive’ Idea Plausible

As frozen soils thaw, rivers receive large inputs of ancient organic carbon that microbes convert into greenhouse gases released to the atmosphere. But the new research suggests that geological processes operating alongside biological ones may partly counterbalance these emissions.

The researchers argue that future climate assessments should move beyond a sole focus on biological driven carbon emissions and, instead, incorporate geological carbon sources and sinks that emerge as frozen landscapes thaw.

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Quarter Million N95 Respirators Headed to DRC as California Group Eases Ebola Strain on Health System

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Credit: Tori Gordon / Direct Relief
Credit: Tori Gordon / Direct Relief

A California relief organization is sending more than a quarter million N95 respirators to help protect health workers on the front lines of the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Responding to widespread PPE shortages, the aid package, which also includes eye protection and protective coveralls—all donated by 3M—is the largest announced shipment of N95s to date in response to the Ebola crisis.

The nonprofit Direct Relief, now in its 69th year, shipped the aid from its warehouse in Santa Barbara headed for Bunia, in the eastern region where the outbreak is centered.

Friday’s shipment also contained essential drugs—including antibiotics, deworming treatments, medications for cardiovascular disease and diabetes, gastrointestinal drugs, oral rehydration salts, and water purification supplies—to ensure primary care continues unhindered by the current public health emergency.

“An effective Ebola response has to do two things at once: contain the virus, and help the broader health system keep functioning,” said Dr. Jeffrey Samuel, a clinical pharmacist and Direct Relief’s regional director for Africa.

In addition to deaths from the Ebola outbreak itself, many die from loss of access to primary medical care. For instance, during the 2014 Ebola crisis in West Africa, more than 10,000 people died from malaria, HIV/AIDS, and tuberculosis because clinics shut down, people stopped seeking care out of fear, and health systems buckled under the strain.

That death toll nearly matched the 11,325 lives Ebola itself claimed in the outbreak.

“That is why Direct Relief is delivering not only PPE and supportive care medicines for Ebola, but also medicines and supplies that help partners continue primary care, chronic disease care, maternal health services, and other essential healthcare during the outbreak.”

Warehouse of medical aid destined to DRC for Ebola response – Credit: Tori Gordon / Direct Relief

Since May, Direct Relief has shipped more than $10 million in medicine and medical supplies to DRC to treat patients, help protect health workers, and limit the spread of the disease.

They partner with VillageReach, a global health nonprofit working across Africa to transform health care delivery to reach everyone. VillageReach will coordinate the distribution with DRC’s Ministry of Public Health to ensure these critical resources reach frontline health workers wherever they are.

VillageReach will train and mobilize 600 community health workers and facilitators for early case detection and contact tracing, strengthen diagnostics through secure transport of lab samples, maintain routine immunization services, and combat misinformation about treatment.

“The arrival of this PPE is critical to protecting frontline health workers and stopping the spread of Ebola,” said VillageReach’s DRC Country Director Freddy Nkosi. “Working alongside the Ministry of Health, and with support from Direct Relief, VillageReach is helping ensure these supplies reach the last mile — so health workers can safely continue providing essential care to their communities.”

Since 2023, Direct Relief has provided $17.5 million in medical support for diabetes care in DRC, including insulin, needles, test strips, and refrigerators for cold storage of temperature-sensitive medications.

CARING COMPASSION: 6,500 Volunteers Build 10,000 Beds in 24 Hours for Kids Who Don’t Have One of Their Own (WATCH)

Headquartered in Santa Barbara, Direct Relief has quite an origin story:

William Zimdin, a wealthy Estonian businessman who had to flee Nazi Fascism in Europe, settled in the coastal California town in 1945, and began using his fortune to mail thousands of relief parcels containing food, clothing, and medicine to refugees and displaced people rebuilding their lives in postwar Europe.

He established the William Zimdin Foundation in 1948 and following his death three years later (obit below), his friend Dezso—a Hungarian wartime refugee whom Zimdin had helped rescue—took over management. Mr. Karczag expanded the mission globally and renamed the charity the Direct Relief Foundation in 1957.

NEIGHBORS WHO LOVE YOU: Waitress Has Fed 270,000 Meals to Homeless Floridians Thanks to a Family That Gives Their All

Courtesy of Direct Relief

Since then, it’s consistently earned a perfect four-star rating from Charity Navigator and a perfect fundraising efficiency score from Forbes magazine.

According to its website, Direct Relief serves people affected by poverty or disasters across all 50 states and in more than 90 countries “without regard to politics, religion, or ability to pay”.

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