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Six New Species of Bats Discovered – Just in Time for Halloween

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Good News Network
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Tube-nosed bat-Murina luzonensis (Credit: D. Balete / SWNS)
Tube-nosed bat-Murina luzonensis (Credit: D. Balete / SWNS)

Six new species of bats have been discovered inside the protected forests of the Philippines—just in time for Halloween.

The tube-nosed bats were identified by an international research team that pointed out how the nocturnal – and slightly spooky – group of mammals is incredibly diverse.

“I’m astonished at how much we still don’t know about the natural world, such as how many bat species there are,” said one of the researchers, Dr. Burton Lim, assistant curator of mammals at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto (ROM).

The Philippines was known to have 79 species of bats – even before the latest discovery.

“Before we started our research, there were only two species of tube-nosed bats reported from the Philippines, but we did find five new species that were masquerading as (one of those).”

Eating only insects, tube-nosed bats are found throughout Asia and they depend on forested areas for roosting.

Even without deforestation, this type of bat is notoriously elusive, says study co-author Professor Jodi Sedlock, of Lawrence University in Wisconsin.

Tube-nosed bat Murina baletei (Credit: D Balete / SWNS)

“As a result, it’s deeply satisfying to see our collection make such an important contribution to Philippine biodiversity studies.”

“I’m eager to learn what these newly described tube-nosed bats do with their tube-like nostrils that, presumably, offer them directional smell detection.”

Halloween is celebrated less in the Philippines than in the UK and US, but Filipinos have their own bat-related folklore about the ‘aswang’ – frightening and shape-shifting monsters inspired by fox bats.

In China, bats are thought to bring good luck; in India they bring fortune and wealth—and they were even worshipped as deities in Guatemala and Mexico.

HALLOWEEN LOVERS: Ring Camera Video Catches Teenage Trick-or-Treaters Refilling Empty Candy Bowl: ‘It feels really good’ – WATCH

A study of the six new species—Murina alvarezi, Murina baletei, Murina hilonghilong, Murina luzonensis, Murina mindorensis, and Murina philippinensis—was published in the journal Zootaxa, by the Canadian scientists at ROM, and American researchers from the Field Museum in Chicago and Lawrence University.

The first of the new species was named in honor of James Alvarez, a young bat biologist and student with the University of the Philippines who tragically died during fieldwork in 2018.

MORE BAT NEWS:
• Bats Hold Vital Clues for Cancer Prevention as Scientists Study Their ‘Extraordinary’ Immunity
• Struggling Bats Can Now Fly Freely Through Countryside Thanks to First-of-Their-Kind Street Lights
• Bats Are Recovering in a Big Way After Decimation by White-Nose Syndrome: Numbers Grow for the 3rd Year

Another is named after prominent Filipino biodiversity scientist Danilo ‘Danny’ Balete, who had been involved since 1989 with the Field Museum’s Philippine Mammal Project.

To determine their uniqueness, researchers examined tooth pattern, skull shape, fur banding, and other visible characteristics, and conducted genetic analyses in the ROM Laboratory of Molecular Systematics.

KNOW ANY BATMEN? Share The Spooky News With Them…

‘Instant Tears’ for Principal Who Wished Students Were at Her Wedding – They Surprise-Married Her at School (WATCH)

By
Nathan Frederick
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Courtesy of Buffalo Academy of Science Charter School video
Courtesy of Buffalo Academy of Science Charter School video

It was a wish that not many people would make—she wanted her wedding to be filled with kids, preferably every one of the hundreds that attend her school.

The principal at Buffalo Academy of Science Charter School in New York, Brianna Lanoye, believed they were such a major part of her existence that it was hard to imagine celebrating one of life’s major milestones without them.

However, with the cost of ballrooms and banquet food, Brianna resigned herself to the much smaller guest list.

But, her assistant principal, Courtney Champlin, had a better idea anyway.

In secret, she enlisted the kids and staff at Buffalo Academy to transform the school’s courtyard, and brought in Brianna’s fiancé to prepare a giant surprise.

They created a formal aisle, complete with a red carpet, and set up decorations framing a white backdrop. Students huddled in the audience, while Ms. Champlin broke the news inside the principal’s office.

She pulled on a tuxedo T-shirt so she could stand in for a bridesmaid, and dressed Brianna in a veil overtop something resembling a white dress. Then, they walked down the aisle drenched in sunshine. (Watch the moments in the Steve Hartman video below…)

Courtesy of Buffalo Academy of Science Charter School video

“Instant tears. It was the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen, just seeing our school community out here,” Lanoye told WKBW News.

A student officiated the ceremony, and Ms. Lanoye and her fiancee, Zach Klapp, then exchanged their own vows and presented each other with candy rings. The real ones would arrive at their actual wedding a few days later.

Pupils stood up and gave speeches, with one saying, “I want to personally thank you for all you did for me. I will never forget the difference you have made in my life.”

Though the couple weren’t surrounded by schoolmates during the legally-recognized wedding, having hundreds of students gathered for a dress rehearsal of her major milestone was a dream come true for Lanoye.

MORE EPIC WEDDING STORIES:
• Crushed by Car, a Stranger Comforted Him Until Help Came–Now They’re Getting Married
• Groom Breaks Down in Tears Hearing Daughter’s Adorable Wedding Day Message (WATCH)

“I was completely overwhelmed with joy and emotion,” Lanoye said. “To see the love and effort the students and team poured into this for me was one of the most touching moments of my life. This is a day I will truly never forget. They are all a part of my family.”

CELEBRATE SCHOOL SPIRIT by Sharing This with Teachers On Social Media…

Your Weekly Horoscope – ‘Free Will Astrology’ by Rob Brezsny

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Good News Network
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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 November 1, 2025
Copyright by Rob Brezsny, FreeWillAstrology.com

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21):
In the late 18th century, Balloonomania came to Paris. Large crowds gathered to watch inventors and impresarios send hot air balloons into the sky. Spectators were astonished, fearful, and filled with wonder. Some wept, and some fainted. I suspect you’re due for your own exhilarating lift-off, Scorpio—a surge of inspiration that may bewilder a few witnesses but will delight those with open minds. Halloween costume prop: wings.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21):
Don’t be too shocked by my unusual list of raw materials that might soon turn out to be valuable: grime, muck, scuzz, scum, slop, bilge, slime, and glop. Amazingly, this stuff may conceal treasures or could be converted into unexpected building materials. So I dare you to dive in and explore the disguised bounty. Proceed on the assumption that you will find things you can use when you distrust first impressions and probe beneath surfaces. Halloween costume suggestions: sacred janitor, recycling wizard, garbage genius.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19):
In the tidepools of America’s Pacific Northwest lives the ochre starfish, a keystone species that keeps mussel populations in check. Remove the starfish, and the ecosystem collapses into imbalance. Let’s make this creature your power symbol, Capricorn. The visible effect of your presence may not be flashy or vivid, but you will hold a stabilizing role in a group, project, or relationship. Your quiet influence can keep things harmonious. Your gift is not to dominate the scene, but to keep the whole system alive and diverse. Halloween costume suggestion: ochre starfish.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18):
For hundreds of years, the Blackfoot people of North America built buffalo jumps. These were steep cliffs where herds of bison could be guided and driven over the edge during a hunt. It required elaborate cooperation. Scouts tracked the herd, decoys lured them toward the drop, and prep teams waited below to process the meat, hides, and bones for the whole community’s sustenance. I hope you will engage in smaller versions of this project. Now is an excellent time to initiate, inspire, and foster shared efforts. Make it a high priority to work with allies you trust. Halloween costume suggestions: shepherd, sheep dog, cowboy, vaquero.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20):
In the ancient Greek world, oracles spoke in riddles. This was not because they were coy, but because they understood that truth must often arrive obliquely. Directness is overrated when the soul is in motion. Mythic modes of perception don’t obey the laws of logic. In this spirit, Pisces, I invite you to make riddles and ambiguities be your allies. A dream, an overheard conversation, or a misheard lyric may contain an enigmatic but pithy code. You should be alert for messages that arrive sideways and upside down. Tilt your head. Read between the flames. You will understand when your heart recognizes what your mind can’t name. Halloween costume suggestion: oracle or fortune-teller.

ARIES (March 21-April 19):
On the outskirts of a village in Ghana, a healer gathers plants only when the moon says yes. She speaks the names of each leaf aloud, as if to ask permission, and never picks more than needed. She trusts that each herb has its own wisdom that she can learn from. I invite you to emulate her approach, Aries. Now is a good time to search for resources you need to heal and thrive. The best approach is to be receptive to what life brings you, and approach with reverence and gratitude. Halloween costume suggestion: herbalist, traditional healer, sacred botanist.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20):
A well-cut ship’s sail is not a flat sheet. It has a gentle curve that the sailmaker crafts stitch by stitch so the wind will catch and convert invisible pressure into forward motion. Too taut, and the cloth flaps, wasting energy; too loose, and power dissipates. The miracle lies in geometry tuned to an unseen current. I invite you to be inspired by this approach, Taurus. Build curvature into your plans so that optimism isn’t an afterthought but a structural feature. Calibrate your approaches to natural processes so movement arises from alignment rather than brute effort. Make sure your progress is fueled by what you love and trust. Halloween costume suggestion: Wear a sail.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20):
All of us can benefit from regular phases of purification: periods when we dedicate ourselves to cleansing, shedding, and simplifying. During these intense times of self-healing, we might check our integrity levels to see if they remain high. We can atone for mistakes, scrub away messy karma, and dismantle wasteful habits. Here’s another essential practice: disconnecting ourselves from influences that lower our energy and demean our soul. The coming weeks will be a perfect time to engage in these therapeutic pleasures, Gemini. Halloween costume suggestion: purifier, rejuvenator, cleanser, refiner.

CANCER (June 21-July 22):
Deep in the Pacific Ocean, male humpback whales sing the longest, slowest, most intricate love songs ever. Their bass tones are loud and strong, sometimes traveling for miles before reaching their intended recipients. The coming weeks will be an excellent time to compose and unleash your own ultimate love songs, Cancerian. Your emotional intelligence is peaking, and your passionate intensity is extra refined and attractive. Meditate on the specific nature of the gifts you want to offer and receive in return. Halloween costume suggestion: singer of love songs.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22):
Between 1680 and 1725, Italy’s Antonio Stradivari and his family made legendary violins that are highly valued today. They selected alpine spruce trees and Balkan maple, seasoned the wood for years, and laid varnish in painstaking layers that produced sublime resonance. Their genius craftsmanship can be summed up as the cumulative magic of meticulousness over time. I recommend their approach to you, Leo. Be in service to the long game. Commune with people, tools, and commitments that age well. Act on the theory that beautiful tone is perfected in layers. Halloween costume suggestion: a fine craftsperson.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22):
Trained women dancers in Rajasthan, India, perform the ancient art of bhavai. As folk music plays, they balance on the dull edge of a sword and hold up to 20 clay pots on their head. They sway with elegance and artistry, demonstrating an ultimate embodiment of “grace under pressure.” I don’t foresee challenges as demanding as that for you, Virgo. But I suspect you will have the poise and focus to accomplish the metaphorical equivalents of such a feat. Halloween costume suggestion: regal acrobat or nimble dancer.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22):
In 1968, researchers at Stanford conducted the “marshmallow test.” Children were offered a single sweet treat immediately. But if they didn’t quickly gobble down the marshmallow, thus postponing their gratification, they were awarded with two candies later. The kids who held out for the double reward didn’t do so by sheer willpower alone. Rather, they found clever ways to distract themselves to make the wait more bearable: making up games, focusing their attention elsewhere, and adjusting their surroundings. I advise you to learn from their approach, Libra. Cultivate forbearance and poise without dimming your passion. Harness small triumphs of willpower into generating big, long-term gains. Diligent, focused effort invested now will almost certainly lead to satisfying outcomes. So please prioritize incremental, systematic grunt work over stunts and adrenaline. Halloween costume trick: carry two marshmallows.

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

(Zodiac images by Numerologysign.com, CC license)

SHARE The Wisdom With Friends Who Are Stars in Your Life on Social Media…

“November at its best has a sort of delightful menace in the air.” – Anne Bosworth Greene

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Good News Network
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Credit: Rula Sibai

Quote of the Day: “November at its best has a sort of delightful menace in the air.” – Anne Bosworth Greene

Photo by: Rula Sibai

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?

Credit: Rula Sibai

Good News in History, November 1

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Good News Network
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Mackinac Bridge - credit WMrapids CC 0.0

68 years ago today, the Mackinac Bridge opened to connect the Upper and Lower peninsulas of Michigan over the Straits of Mackinac. Nicknamed the “Mighty Mac” when it was built, it’s still the longest suspension bridge “between anchorages” in the Western Hemisphere. Stretching 26,372 feet (8,038 meters) shore-to-shore, it was designed by David B. Steinman, who grew up in the Brooklyn Bridge’s shadow, and hoped to rival its greatness. READ more about Mighty Mac… (1957)

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Kentucky Teacher-of-the-Year Created a Prosthetic Hand for a Student Using School’s 3D Printing Lab

By
Andy Corbley
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STEAM Teacher Scott Johnson and student Jackson Farmer with new prosthetic hand 3D-printed at Red Cross Elementary School – Photo by Fiona Morgan / Kentucky Department of Education
STEAM Teacher Scott Johnson and student Jackson Farmer with new prosthetic hand 3D-printed at Red Cross Elementary School – Photo by Fiona Morgan / Kentucky Department of Education

Simply using corn-based bioplastic, a couple of screws, fishing line, and small rubber bands, an elementary school teacher turned himself into a hero.

But he didn’t have to throw on a cape and mask, he only had to switch on his 3D printer.

Scott Johnson, a STEA(rt)M-focused teacher at Red Cross Elementary School in Kentucky, noticed 4 years ago that one of his kindergarten students was missing a hand, and so had come into class wearing a rubber one. It had no function of its own, but the child just wore it for aesthetic purposes.

Being a STEAM teacher, Johnson happened to have a small arsenal of 3D printers in his lab/workshop, and thought what a good school project it would be to print a functional rubber hand for his student.

The boy, Jackson Farmer, was born without a right hand. He attended Mr. Johnson’s STEAM class, just like all 800 students in all the grades at Red Cross, from K to 6, but the teacher didn’t tell Farmer what he was working on.

Throughout last year, whenever Johnson had time, he would try to develop the design for a simple, modular, lightweight prosthetic hand that could be printed. A lot of help and advice came through a networking movement called E-Nable. Full of people using 3D printers to create low-cost functional prosthetics around the world, Johnson was able to access all kinds of valuable design information that he incorporated into his ultimate model.

“I never wanted him to feel like he had something heavy on his wrist; I want him to be able to play, so it’s pretty lightweight,” Johnson said.

Johnson chose not to tell Farmer or his family about the project just in case he found out he was in over his head and couldn’t get the job done. That wasn’t to be the case, however, and he eventually printed a prototype and showed it to the Farmers, who gave him permission to proceed with the real thing.

Red Cross Elementary’s STEAM lab prints a model of detached hands – credit, Fiona Morgan, Kentucky Department of Education

It took 25 hours of printing, and 4 hours of assembly, but requires no wires nor batteries. It has a simple grasping function triggered by movements in Farmer’s wrist. The boy had grown up over those years of planning and was in the 4th grade by the time the hand was ready.

“It felt great. It felt like it was just right,” Jackson said, according to the Kentucky DoT in a feature piece on Johnson’s STEAM class. “(My favorite thing is) trying to write (with the hand) … I’m not that good, but I try.”

3D-PRINTING FOR GOOD: 

The fingers are attached to the prosthetic wrist by fishing lines and use a fulcrum lever to move. When Jackson flexes his wrist down, the fingers close. When he relaxes his wrist, the hand opens back up.

All the materials cost between $20 and $30, and any part of the hand that tears or breaks can be 3D printed and replaced. Farmer, who does 3D printing in Johnson’s lab, will leave school with all the files needed to keep creating replacements as long as he uses the hand.

SHARE This Awesome Teacher And The Trouble He Went Through On Behalf Of A Student… 

Hope Is the Most Impactful Emotion in Determining Long-Term Economic, Social Outcomes

By
Andy Corbley
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Photo by Carl Hunley Jr on Unsplash
Photo by Carl Hunley Jr on Unsplash

Is hope just “a thing with feathers” as Dickenson wrote, or is it Aristotle’s “waking dream?”

Or instead. is it “a promise we live” rather than a “promise we give” as Amanda Gorman wrote in 2021.

According to new research examining the impact of hope as a positive emotion on long-term economic and social outcomes, it’s very much the Gorman definition.

That research presents evidence that not only is hope the least-studied dimension of positive emotional wellbeing, but that it’s also likely the most consequential in terms of long-term outcomes—beyond things like happiness or security.

Individuals in an Australian cohort of 25,000 randomly-sampled people that were more hopeful had on average improved wellbeing, education, economic, and employment outcomes measures years later, both better perceived health and objective measures of health, and were less likely to be lonely.

Hope in the researchers’ paper was also associated with higher resilience, the ability to adapt, and a robust internal locus of control. Hopeful individuals were also less likely to be influenced by negative life events and adapted more quickly and completely after these events.

Perhaps contrary to others’ definitions, the study authors defined hope as having a “strong grounding in individual agency.”

“Hope is not just a belief that things will get better (i.e., optimism), but the determination to make them better, which reflects agency and determination,” they wrote in their introduction. “The distinction between tragic optimists and hopeful pessimists is another way to think of this.”

Their data was pulled from the Household, Income and Labor Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey, which began collecting self-completed questionnaires in addition to face-to-face interviews with members of the Australian public over the age of 15 in 2001.

The data used in the study goes as far back as 2007, and includes the years 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019, and 2021. The measurements of hope were simply the reverse measurements for one of the survey questions on psychological distress which read, “In the past 4 weeks, how often have you felt hopeless?”

OPTIMISIM PAYS: A Positive Outlook on Aging is Linked to Feeling Sharper Mentally, Says New Study

69% of respondents said “all of the time” over the last 4 weeks, and 18% said “most of the time.”

Not only did they enjoy more positive outcomes in health, education, and economic undertakings than those who were less hopeful on average, but that moving from less hopeful to more hopeful was correlated with improved attainment in these dimensions.

Moving from hopeless to hopeful correlated to better life outcomes credit – Mahdi Dastmard

Moving, for example, from totally hopeless to totally hopeful resulted in a 4% higher probability of achieving a bachelor’s degree in the next 2 years and a 2% lower probability of being unemployed in future years.

MORE POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY: In Maine, Students Choose a Hike Over Detention–and Feel the Benefits

In the health realm, higher levels of hope were linked to a lower probability of being obese in the next 2 years, to reductions in smoking levels, and even to a lower likelihood of having a serious illness or injury. Hopeful people were more likely to have more friends, and less likely to be both lonely and being incarcerated in future years.

One caveat with the data follows the tendency typified by the famous “healthy user bias” in nutrition and fitness literature, where data can appear more impactful than it may actually be because of the way that people who are likely to make a choice regarding their health (for example, choosing to exercise thrice a week) are more likely to make further choices in regards to their health than those who avoid making any such choices.

MORE AUSTRALIAN SCIENCE: Childbirth and Breastfeeding Can Reduce Breast Cancer Risk Shows New Study

Essentially, there was a 1.5% greater chance that previous survey respondents would undergo follow-up surveys if they were more hopeful, skewing the data slightly towards the hopeful over the hopeless.

The authors claim it’s the first large-scale analysis showing the links between hope and a range of long-term life outcomes.

“We believe that better understanding the drivers of hope and its consequences can ultimately inform the ability of both individuals and of public policy to improve people’s lives,” the authors wrote in their conclusion.

SPREAD The Word Of Hope And Its Powerful Resonance On Social Media… 

He Won a Crayola Crayon-Naming Contest in 1992 as a Boy–Now it’s Been Voted #2 Color in the World

By
Andy Corbley
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World's Top 3 Favorite Crayola Colors
World’s Top 3 Favorite Crayola Colors

An iconic and charming shade of light blue has a surprising origin story, one that was just recognized in a worldwide poll as one of the most popular crayon colors ever made.

It turns out an 8-year-old boy hatched the idea to name the color “robin’s egg blue”—not a chic design catalogue. He won a Crayola crayon color naming contest in 1992 with the idea.

Chris Straub from Vermont gave the iconic name to the iconic color, and in a international survey of 180 countries, Crayola recently revealed that of all the crayon colors they’ve ever produced (and they’ve made a lot), robin’s egg blue was the second favorite.

“My mom being a third grade teacher, that was just something that we had,” Straub told ABC 22. So, I was definitely always coloring—obviously with Crayola products.” (Watch the video below…)

The favorite was cerulean, followed by robin’s egg blue, and wisteria.

Back in ’92 when Straub came up with the name and won the contest, he was flown out to California to visit Universal Studios, and says it’s surreal to think that his 8-year-old brain created something loved by millions.

MORE LEGACY MAKERS: Man Who Made History in ‘Blinking Guy’ Meme Using His Fame to ‘Pay it Forward’

“Britney Spears’s favorite color was Robin’s Egg Blue, which for a middle schooler, was absolute gold!” Chris reminisced, adding, “I’m having a daughter in about a month, and she’ll discover this color, so it is incredible to have named something that has provided joy generationally.”

He and his wife live in Dover, New Hampshire, where their baby girl may one day go to school and find a delightful shade of blue among the coloring supplies—and have her father to thank for it.

SHARE This Cute Story And The Origin Of Robin’s Egg Blue… 

Portland Coffee Shop Raises Over $87,000 to Feed People Losing Benefits as Government Shuts Down

By
Andy Corbley
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credit - Heretic Coffee Shop, taken as screengrab from homepage
credit – Heretic Coffee Shop, taken as screengrab from homepage

Having crested 30 days of government shutdown, a Portland coffee shop has stepped up to channel donations towards supporting those in need.

With Americans’ Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits lagging, Heretic Coffee Shop, which itself operates on a not-for-profit base, has raised $87,000 to replace that welfare.

With a model of selling coffee to afford the time and supplies to help people train to become coffee roasters and baristas, Heretic already radiates a civic mindset,

Run by volunteers at 5120 S.E. 28th Ave., Heretic began soliciting donations on Tuesday. By 10 a.m., the shop had raised $72,000, rising to $86,000 by closing time.

“Over two thousand of you have given toward this cause,” wrote owner Josh White in an Instagram post. “We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again: when the system fails us, it’s on everyday people to take care of each other. This, right here, is the proof.”

White told told The Oregonian in a Wednesday update that “every second, another donation comes in. It’s like nothing I’ve ever seen.”

By then, $100,000 had been raised. The donation link is still active for generous Oregonians, Portlanders, or Americans to give a little to those in need.

GNN reported during the pandemic that Americans gave more dollars in charitable giving than ever before, shattering the gloomy headlines and proving, as we always strive to do, that there are more good people left in the world than corporate media would have you believe.

WATCH the story below from the Oregonian…

SHARE The Important Work Done By This Humble Coffee Shop With Your Friends… 

“A smile is a curve that sets everything straight.” – Phyllis Diller

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Good News Network
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By Gui França

Quote of the Day: “A smile is a curve that sets everything straight.” – Phyllis Diller

Photo by: Gui França

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?

By Gui França

Good News in History, October 31

By
Good News Network
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Zaha Hadid in Baku, 2013. Fair Use

On this day, 75 years ago, the British-Iraqi architect Zaha Hadid was born. Described as the “Queen of Curves,” who “liberated architectural geometry, giving it a whole new expressive identity,” Hadid was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for her contributions to world architecture. The firm she founded in London, Zaha Hadid Architects, continues to innovate and build fabulously impressive structures around the world. READ more about her life and work… (1950)

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Two-Headed Wind Turbine Could Solve Every Challenge in the Offshore Industry

By
Andy Corbley
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Ming Yang OceanX in operation - credit, Ming Yang Smart Energy
Ming Yang OceanX in operation – credit, Ming Yang Smart Energy

As the global leader in offshore wind development, a Chinese turbine manufacturer has designed a two-headed behemoth that will generate 50 megawatts on its own.

Blazing past renewable energy targets, the wind lobby in Beijing are serious players, unlike in Europe and North America where investment and R&D has lagged behind solar power.

Ming Yang Smart Energy already makes one of these two-headed turbines, but is planning to debut one that’s double the size of its existing model in 2026.

This Fortune 500 China-edition company is the undisputed world leader in wind turbines, particularly offshore ones, but not exclusively. It lays claim to both the most powerful land and offshore wind turbines in service today.

It developed the first typhoon-resistant floating turbine mooring, which was tested in September when Super Typhoon Ragasa passed over the entire 1,345-unit offshore fleet, and not one was upended. Every single one remained operational.

In 2024, the company debuted the previously mentioned double-rotor turbine—called the OceanX—consisting of two 8.3 MW turbines installed on 219-meter towers at an angle atop a floating platform. For comparison, the top-end turbines in the Moresea 1 wind farm in Great Britain generate 9 megawatts.

Just one OceanX in ideal conditions is boasted as having the capacity to power 30,000 homes annually. The counter rotating blades increase each turbine’s output beyond what the wind can do alone, but during testing the blades broke off from the force.

Nevertheless, the company managed to find buyers, and the OceanX was soon installed at the Yangjiang Qingzhou IV offshore wind farm, off the southeast China coast.

Marketing for the 50MW leviathan has already begun, with production slated for next year according to company boss Zhang Qiying who spoke at a Beijing conference recently. Such a turbine would drop the cost-per-kilowatt for wind energy in the Guangzhou area to around one-fifth of the current price for offshore wind energy in Europe.

Offshore wind power comes in for more criticism from environmentalists than land-based turbines, and so has been subjected to more research into its effects. However, with most of the world’s largest offshore wind farms coming online within the last decade, the body of evidence is limited.

CHINA’S RENEWABLE MARCH: A City in China is Planning an Offshore Wind Farm So Big It Could Power All of Norway

Regarding collisions with birds, one 2022 study found that it was “unlikely that small-scale displacement by single wind farms would have an impact at the population level,” of migratory seabirds, which the study team found were at a 75-92% lower abundance inside the boundaries of the wind farm than out of it.

Concerns over disturbances among whales and the seabed sediment have also been raised, as well as offshore farms’ impact on coastal tourism, and their susceptibility to sabotage.

WIND POWER STORIES: New Airship-style Wind Turbine Can Find Gusts at Higher Altitudes for Constant, Cheaper Power

One surefire way to reduce these eco-impacts would be to reduce the number of turbine units in a given wind farm, and the best way to do that would be find a way for turbines to generate more electricity. 50 MW would be a truly astonishing operational achievement, and represent as much as a 15-fold increase in per-unit power generation compared to some turbines deployed in the North Atlantic.

With such an abundance of energy, farms in sensitive environmental areas like whale or migratory seabird routes could substantially reduce their turbine counts if the Ocean’XL’ was part of the farm’s fleet.

SHARE The Future Of Offshore Wind With Your Friends On Social Media… 

Endangered Palau Ground Doves are Thriving After Restoration Effort

By
Andy Corbley
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Endangered Ground doves safely exploring the forest floor - Credit, Island Conservation
Ulong Island beaches – credit, Matt Kieffer CC 2.0. Wikimedia

Native species like the Endangered Palau ground dove have significantly increased in number thanks to a successful restoration campaign on Ulong Island in Palau.

Working together in 2023-24, government agencies advised and assisted by the NGO Island Conservation, removed damaging invasive rats which devoured native bird eggs and young, decimated native plant populations through seed predation, preyed on native crabs, and disrupted food webs—ultimately threatening ecosystem collapse.

Endangered Ground doves safely exploring the forest floor – Credit, Island Conservation

Now, after one full year of rigorous monitoring—including trail cameras, eDNA sampling, and field surveys—the partners confirmed no invasive rodents remain on the island. This success marks a monumental step forward for conservation in Palau, the Micronesia region, and across the Pacific.

Located due north of the eastern group of Indonesian islands, Palau is made up of 340 islands totaling 466 square miles of land area. Ulong is located in the western waters of the archipelago, and is considered one of the best diving spots on Earth.

Ulong, where little human habitation exists, and which for all the world seems like the perfect tropical paradise, was nevertheless infested with rats brought there by ships. The doves were sitting ducks (or sitting doves) for the rats, which could get at their young and their eggs with ease.

With the pressure of invasive species removed, however, signs of recovery in this unique ecosystem are already emerging. Island Conservation’s monitoring team noticed a higher incidence of ground doves, including sightings of chicks at landing sites where they were never previously recorded.

“The results are thrilling,” shared Coral Wolf, Island Conservation’s Impact Program Manager who conducted monitoring on the island over a three-year period, starting in 2022. “We’re seeing and hearing recovery: since the program began, we’ve recorded a significant increase in calls from brown noddies, white terns, and bridled terns. This increase occurred just one-year post-eradication—who knows what recovery remains to be discovered!”

Austin Hall, Island Restoration Specialist at Island Conservation, in front of a cave on Ulong – Credit, Island Conservaton / Coral Wolf

These early indicators of success can be expected to cascade into the surrounding marine ecosystem, which will benefit from repaired nutrient flows between land and sea.

Acoustics data shows a dramatic increase in bird calls across the project site. Trail cameras also captured footage of Endangered Palau ground doves safely navigating the forest floor, fear from persecution by the rats.

MORE OF ISLAND CONSERVATION’S WORK: 

As well as the pristine beaches and reefs, Ulong is also home to precious artifacts of pre-colonial indigenous culture. Its ancient caves contain paintings and pictographs signifying beliefs and activities that far preceded colonialization. These treasured cultural sites are couched in an equally priceless, finely tuned ecosystem, home to many rare species.

Tourists and their guides have also noticed the difference. Camping outings on Ulong Island have become more enjoyable, with fewer disruptions and a renewed sense of connection to the island’s natural beauty and cultural history. To safeguard this progress, the partners implemented a robust biosecurity protocol to prevent reinvasion and protect the long-term conservation investment.

“Conservation has always been central to Palau’s identity, and here in Koror, we’ve seen how it strengthens both our ecosystems and our way of life,” a spokesman for the Koror State Government, under which Ulong is administered, said in a statement. “The restoration work on Ulong is a shining example of what’s possible—not just for our community, but for others across the Pacific who share our commitment to protecting island environments.”

Island Conservation, whose work GNN has reported on consistently over the last we years, is currently analyzing monitoring data, including seabird point counts, camera trap footage, and stable isotope samples. These findings will be integrated into a broader island-ocean context in collaboration with Scripps Institution of Oceanography, with full initial results expected by early next year.

“This project shows the world what’s possible when a partnership of culture, conservation and innovation unite.” said Tommy Hall, Project Manager at Island Conservation. “Seeing endangered species rebounding so quickly reminds us that nature is resilient; and with biosecurity securing the future, Ulong Island stands as a beacon of success for Pacific islands.”

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Ancient Stone-Lined Basin Discovered at Roman Town Reveals Engineering Brilliance Predating Concrete

By
Andy Corbley
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The stone-lined basin in Gabii - credit, University of Missouri, released
The stone-lined basin in Gabii – credit, University of Missouri, released

A massive, early republican-era water basin was recently uncovered in the ancient Roman town of Gabii, central Italy, that was constructed without concrete.

While architectural students from around the world come to marvel at the Romans’ structures of marble, brick, and self-healing concrete, this basin was made of meticulously stacked stones in harmony with the local topography.

Gabii was inhabited by a pre-Roman Italian tribe that eventually abandoned the site, some 11 miles away from the Eternal City, by 50 BCE, and it’s been under excavation since 2009. Unlike Rome, where the ancient foundations have been overbuilt throughout the last 2,000 years, Gabii remains largely as it was.

Like Pompeii, Gabii yields new discoveries frequently, and most recently it was this stone basin that captured headlines. Partly carved into the bedrock, it was likely made around 250 BCE, but could be as old as 400 BCE. It’s the first example of monumental stonework found at Gabii that isn’t a fortification or temple.

“Basins like this are rare, and this one predates Roman concrete and hydraulic mortar. Its design also shows how ancient engineers used the natural slope of the land—part of the ancient volcanic crater that Gabii was built next to—to its advantage,” says Marcello Mogetta, chair of classics, archaeology, and religion at the University of Missouri, who leads the team excavating the site currently.

The builders’ choices to use such durable materials and work in concert with the slope of the hill below which it was built demonstrate a substantial knowledge of how to engineer structures to last—in this case literally through the ages.

“Excavating the original soil at the bottom will tell us whether it was fed by a spring or the water table and whether it was mainly for practical uses—supplying water to nearby buildings—or had a symbolic or sacred function,” Mogetta told Engineering News Record.

ALSO CHECK OUT: Tiny Italian Town Dug Up an Extremely Rare Roman Temple while Trying to Build Supermarket

Roman roads are famous for their engineering excellence. The Romans built the final layer of the road—the cobbles—like a wall, by stacking stones that fit together naturally. The basin on the surface seems to exhibit similar stone-stacking methods.

The Temple of Juno, from the rear – credit, Carlo Morino, CC BY-SA 3.0

The University of Missouri holds a 3-year permit for excavation at the site under the Gabii Project, launched in 2009 by the Univ. of Michigan with the aim of conducting a geophysical survey of the former urban center of Gabii.

Previously, the only above ground evidence of any note were several walls of a temple dedicated to Juno, but following the survey, large-scale unearthing was performed over the twenty-teens that revealed substantial portions of several ancient city blocks.

MORE PRE-ROMAN DISCOVERIES: Archaeologists Find 24 Bronze Statues ‘Without Equal’ Preserved in Tuscany for 2,300 Years That ‘Rewrite History’

In regards to the basin, Mogetta believes that it likely had a ceremonial use, based on finds of pottery and oil lamps discovered very nearby.

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A 9-Year-Old Son Saves His Father from Leukemia by Donating Stem Cells

By
Andy Corbley
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Nick Mondek with his family after the stem cell procedure - Credit: Cedars-Sinai
Nick Mondek with his family after the stem cell procedure – Credit: Cedars-Sinai

A boy in California may have saved his father from a deadly returning cancer by becoming one of if not the world’s youngest stem cell donor.

9-year-old Stephen Mondek from Torrance loves playing catch with his dad, Nick, who himself loves nothing more than being a father.

In 2022 Mr. Mondek was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia, and had to be treated rapidly with an injection of donor stem cells from his older brother who was a perfect genetic match.

He went into remission but the cancer came back “ferociously fast,” and Mondek’s only option was that he had to find another stem cell donor. This form of leukemia affects the blood-forming cells in the bone marrow, but an injection of stem cells can form the basis of a new immune arsenal that can locate and attack the leukemia tumors.

A search through the National Bone Marrow Registry failed to turn up a match, but remembering the case of a friend of his, Mondek went into Cedars-Sinai Cancer center in April with a question to his doctors. He was remembering the case of a friend of his who received a lifesaving stem cell donation from his 18-year-old son to cure lymphoma.

“As my doctor came in the room, I said, ‘Could a 9-year-old who’s 70 pounds give us enough stem cells?’” Mondek said to NBC Nightly News.

Ronald Paquette, the clinical director of the Stem Cell and Bone Marrow Transplant Program at Cedars-Sinai Cancer, confirmed that Stephen Mondek who turned 10 back in August, was a possible donor. A child receives half of their DNA from each parent, so Stephen would naturally be a half-match.

Reporting on the story itself, Cedars-Sinai wrote that Paquette said a half-match might make the transplant more effective. A half-matched immune system might more easily recognize and kill the cancer cells in Mondek’s bone marrow, and transplants from younger donors tend to be most successful.

“The conversation with Stephen was pretty simple,” Mondek said. “I said, ‘Hey, Buddy, Dad’s sick and they need someone to give me stem cells, and they want to know if you want to get tested to see if you can do it.’”

Stephen’s response: “When do we go?”

“I wanted to make my dad’s cancer go away, and if I was sick, I would think he would do the same thing for me,” Stephen said.

CANCER BEING BEATEN: After Childhood Cancer Diagnosis, Donor Bone Marrow from Little Sister Sends it into Remission

After confirming that Stephen was a suitable match, he had the procedure explained to him so that he could give his own informed consent before visiting Cedars-Sinai Guerin Children’s Hospital for the donation that required general anesthesia. The stem cells were collected via a process of blood cycling over 6 hours.

A week later, Mondek underwent pre-donation chemotherapy to suppress his own immune system before eventually receiving the stem cells. After 6 weeks in the hospital, he was back home, but not before arriving in time to watch the final inning of Stephen’s little league game.

MORE STORIES LIKE THIS ONE: British Woman Gives Birth After Receiving Transplant Womb from Sister and Pro Bono Surgery at Hospital

“Stephen was very brave, and our team made sure everything went perfectly so that this young boy could help his father,” said Hoyoung Chung, DO, a critical care pediatrician at Cedars-Sinai Guerin Children’s.

“He donated six million stem cells to save my life, so it’s not just an honor to call him my son, I’m proud to call him my hero,” Mondek said.

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“To forgive is the highest, most beautiful form of love. In return, you will receive untold peace and happiness.” – Robert Muller

By
Good News Network
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Credit: Joshua Earle for Unsplash+

Quote of the Day: “To forgive is the highest, most beautiful form of love. In return, you will receive untold peace and happiness.” – Robert Muller

Photo by: Joshua Earle for Unsplash+ (Scottish Isle of Skye – 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?

Credit: Joshua Earle
for Unsplash+

Good News in History, October 30

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Good News Network
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52 years ago today, the Bosporus Bridge was completed, linking mainland Europe with Anatolia over the Bosporus Straits for the first time. It’s a gravity-anchored suspension bridge with steel towers and inclined hangers, and upon its completion was the 4th longest suspension bridge in the world. READ more famous historical figures who had proposed such a bridge… (1973)

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Childbirth and Breastfeeding Can Reduce Breast Cancer Risk Shows New Study

By
Andy Corbley
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- credit Leighann Blackwood
– credit Leighann Blackwood

Scientists in Australia, which endures the highest rates of breast cancer in the world, have presented multiple lines of evidence to suggest that breastfeeding and childbearing reduces a woman’s risk for developing breast cancer.

The scientists started by first pointing out that as far back as 300 years ago, people noted that women who didn’t have children—nuns, in this case—suffered from the highest rates of breast cancer in society.

More modern research confirmed these early observations, but the mechanism behind why that might be remained hidden. While previously hypothesized to be the work of hormonal shifts, the answer now seems clear: breastfeeding works on the human immune system.

“Pregnancy and breastfeeding leave behind long-lived protective immune cells in the breast and the body, and these cells help to reduce risk and improve defense against breast cancer, particularly triple-negative breast cancer,” Professor Sherene Loi, a medical oncologist and lead author on the research, told ABC News Au.

Triple-negative breast cancer, one of several forms of the disease, is characterized by an absence of the three receptors commonly found on breast cancer cells. It’s common in younger women but is one of the less-common forms of the cancer, as well as the most lethal.

Cancer risk is determined by many factors, but Loi felt confidant is ascribing the decision by many modern women around the world to delay pregnancy and shorten, or even abandon breastfeeding, as contributing to cancer risk.

A study published last week in Nature found that women who had children and breastfed had more T cells in their breast tissue, which “act like local guards, ready to attack abnormal cells that might turn into cancer,” Loi said.

T cells are those which are activated to fight cancer in the Nobel Prize-winning treatment known as CAR-T cell therapy, and these were found to be more plentiful in the breast tissue of women who breastfed or had children, and that these elevated T cell counts were conserved for years and years after the mother had stopped breastfeeding.

To provide additional controls, Professor Loi and her co-authors performed a test with mice, implanting cancerous cells in the mammary fat of animals that had never reared offspring, that were rearing them, or who had had and finished rearing them.

Group 2 showed smaller tumor growth with a higher T cell count, while group 3—those who had reared and weened pups—showed the smallest tumors. To continue their tests, the scientists removed the T cells from the mammary tissue, and the cancer began to grow and spread unabated.

Lastly, the study presented an analysis on 2 papers totaling 1,000 women with triple-negative breast cancer to see if the effect in mice was replicated in humans.

SUPERMOMS:

“What we found is that women who had breastfed did better than those who had not breastfed, and their tumors actually had more immune cells … suggesting there was ongoing immune activation and regulation from the body against their breast cancer,” Professor Loi told ABC. 

Though quantifying this protective effect is very nuanced, it seems that every child a woman has reduces her risk for breast cancer by 7%, and each 5 months of breastfeeding reduces it by an additional 2%.

These are substantial differences when the average rate of breast cancer incidence is about 1 in 8 women.

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Toddler Safe After German Shepherd Tracks Her for Hours in Cold Dense Woods

By
Andy Corbley
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Credit: Jeremy Corson
Credit: Jeremy Corson

A volunteer and his 7-year-old German shepherd named after a goddess have been hailed as heroes for finding a lost toddler amid plummeting temperatures.

In Dorchester, New Hampshire, temps were passing 40 on route to an expected 20°F when a mother called 911 to frantically explain that her 2-year-old daughter and the family dogs were missing.

A hole where a wooden fence joined a metal wire fence told of clever canines and a curious child in tow.

At 3:15 p.m. on October 10th, the word went out to fire and rescue, state and local police, and volunteer teams, and soon 90 people were scouring the deep woods looking for the child.

“Everybody dropped what they were doing and came over extremely quickly knowing the temperature was dropping,” Sgt. Christopher McKee of New Hampshire Fish and Game told the Washington Post. “They are all volunteers, doing this all on their own time … the sheer outpouring of support was incredible.”

One man who showed up though made off with the headlines. Jeremy Corson from Concord, almost 40 miles away, arrived with Freyja, a trained scent tracking dog to lend a hand, a heart, and a nose to the search.

It is, Corson said, his 13th year of volunteering as a search and rescue personnel in these situations. He described the woods as very thick where one couldn’t see more than a few feet in any direction.

While Corson and Freyja hunted, the two family dogs returned home, worrying the rescue teams that time was running out. There were no more warm bodies or good company for the toddler, and the Sun was going down. On the bright side, it meant they were likely looking in the right area.

Corson told the Post that it isn’t as easy as it looks working with a rescue dog—just giving an old piece of clothing for it to smell and then running off into the woods.

“The dog and the handler are very much a team,” Corson said. “We do the human part of it, figuring out how the wind moves and how to move through the area — and the dog provides the nose … she brought us right into it.”

MORE HEROIC DOGS AND VOLUNTEERS: Dogs Are Being Trained to Track Elusive Spotted Lanternfly and Save Crops from Devastation

That she did. At about 8 p.m., while Freyja went along nose to the ground, Corson heard a voice respond as he was calling out the toddler’s name. They found her and she was very happy to see them, thinking Corson was her father.

At home the mother was overwhelmed and “broke down.” All the rescuers were relieved and there was a sense of elation in the air. The toddler declared she was ready for night-night, though her parents agreed it was wise to take her to the hospital to check for hypothermia and other injuries.

Corson was extremely proud of his dog, and bought her a brand new ball as a reward.

GREAT SCENT TRACKING DOGS: These Welsh Puppies are Helping Stop Wildlife Poachers in Africa

The comment section was awash with praise for the man and his dog.

“What a wonderful story. The bond between the dog and handler is amazing,” wrote one, while many others admitted it reaffirmed their love for one of the most famous of all working dog breeds.

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Family Finds Trove of Rare Tudor Coins Buried in Backyard–Now They Can Sell at Auction

By
Andy Corbley
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- credit, Numismatica Ars Classica
– credit, Numismatica Ars Classica

English news headlines are no stranger to buried treasure. Thousands of silver coins have been found by citizens up and down the country over the last 50 years.

Gold ones, however, are substantially rarer, and that makes this haul of 69 gold coins from the Tudor dynasties of 15th and 16th-century England one of the most incredible in decades.

Found embedded in a patch of clay under a garden during fence maintenance at a family’s home in the south England coastal area of Hampshire, the haul was kept secret from the public while its discovery was reported to the British Museum’s Portable Antiquities Scheme.

With 63 coins found in 2020, archaeologists eventually visited the property and turned up another 6 nearby a year later.

Now, on November 5th, the treasure, called the New Forest Hoard, will be sold by the Swiss coin auctioneer and appraiser Numismatica Ars Classica. Smithsonian Magazine reported the current valuation to be over $300,000.

The hoard includes coins from the reigns of Henry VI, Edward IV, Henry VII, and Henry VIII, and examples also carried the names of two of the latter’s wives and the initials of a third. According to the auction catalogue, the collection is the “only complete and fully documented gold coin hoard from the early Tudor period ever to have been sold at auction.”

“Four kings, two queens and one cardinal are named on coins in the hoard,” numismatist and business owner David Guest told Fox News Digital. “I am very confident that the total price realized will be significantly more than the pre-sale estimate.”

A HOARD OF HOARDS:

“While we will never know why and by whom the hoard was buried, it was almost certainly concealed during the tumultuous first phase of the English Reformation, when Henry VIII was dissolving England’s ancient monasteries and appropriating much of the wealth of the Catholic Church,” Guest said.

This chapter in English history saw the country briefly break relations with the Vatican, and many churches likely attempted to hide their wealth in hopes of reclaiming it during calmer times.

A workable strategy from the dawn of hard currency to our present day, the burying one’s gold or silver when at risk will always represent a decent guess as to any particular item’s provenance.

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