Quote of the Day: “A garden must combine the poetic and the mysterious with a feeling of serenity and joy.” – Luis Barragan
Photo by: Getty Images for Unsplash+ (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?
Happy 35th Birthday to the midfield maestro, Thiago Alcântara, one of the finest and cultured passers of the ball seen in recent memory. Enjoying a star-studded, honor-laden career with the mega clubs Barcelona, Bayern Munich, and Liverpool, as well as with the Spanish National Team, Thiago lifted no less than 27 major trophies and is remembered with extraordinary fondness for his charming smile and artistic passing and vision. WATCH him perform wizardry below… (1991)
A Georgia pre-teen saved her older brothers from potentially perishing in a fire that consumed the left side of the family’s two-story home.
She’s been hailed by the family and community as a hero, who saved the most important things the family had while everything else was destroyed in the fire: each other.
The Johnson family of 6 had only moved into the house a few months before the fire started last Monday in their garage.
As it raged across the ground floor, Macy arrived home on the school bus and saw the fire.
WJCL News didn’t say whether she knew her two older brothers were in the house, but in any case she ran to the door and began screaming that the house was on fire.
“My oldest son was preparing to go to work. He was in the shower, again, had no idea until she started screaming,” said Macy’s mother Lisa Johnson, who said her second-oldest son was asleep in his room over the garage. “She’s an incredible girl and I’m very proud of her.”
FIREFIGHTERS WITHOUT SIRENS:
Firefighters from Richmond Hill and Bryan County arrived quickly and stopped the fire before it consumed the entire house. The cause of the fire is under investigation.
“Hard as it is to know that we’ve lost almost everything, that we have a lot of memories, a lot of good things, we have each other and we have God,” Mrs. Johnson said. “And I have faith in him and there’s a reason for everything.”
WATCH the story below…
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For decades, 98% of transportation-related funding and infrastructure went to the 6% of people in the Philippines who own cars.
Now after years of research, advocacy, and lobbying, a national coalition has led a transformation in public transit and civic planning on behalf of cyclists, pedestrians, and non-car commuters, and has attracted international attention and support for their work.
Made up of 77,000 people across 142 citizen groups, Move As One began its revolutionary work following the government-enforced lockdowns and business closures during COVID.
With public transit in the capital of Manila shut down, authorities realized how many people in the city of 1.9 million people relied on it to get to work. Additionally, they heard from Move As One about just how close to the edge, financially speaking, transit workers were living.
When the buses stopped, with room for a pinch of exaggeration—but only a pinch—so too did the food on family tables.
From then on citizens representing the broad swath of society that didn’t drive began to demand change—they wanted official bus routes and stops, protected cycling lanes, raised, shaded sidewalks, and options that could cater to those with disabilities. Move As One was loud, persistent, and unified, and over the last 6 years has seen remarkable change in Manila and beyond.
“With Move As One, we gave everyone a platform to connect, to meet each other, to hear each other’s common struggles, to create that shared sense of solidarity and to form consensus,” said Rycel Bendaña, the national coordinator of the Move As One Coalition.
The coalition’s door-knocking, cold-calling, testimonies before the House and Senate, and relationship-building inside city hall has influenced decisions affecting an estimated $946 million in immediate transport funding and $12 billion in medium and long-term funding, the World Resource Institute’s Meghna Ray and Jen Shin detail in a feature piece.
In Manila, they wrote, some of that work has resulted in the redirecting of public funds to create a pedestrian boulevard along the Pasig River and supporting a car-free zone in Manila’s historic district of Intramuros as a people-friendly public spaces.
It also included the implementation of a dedicated bus route along the Epifanio de los Santos Avenue (EDSA), Manila’s main arterial highway, with dedicated stations, safer, inclusive pedestrian access, and structured boarding at various carousel-accessed stops. Across the country, more than 800 miles of bike lanes now connect neighborhoods in several cities.
MORE PHILIPPINE STORIES: College Project Sparks Student to Start Orphanages for Homeless Kids in Philippines: ‘Why haven’t I started this?’
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Mark Steven Pastor, undersecretary for road transport and infrastructure at the Philippine Department of Transportation, admitted to the WTI that Move As One has become something of the DoT’s “Swiss Army Knife,” providing anything and everything the department might need to effectively plan and carry out projects involved in transit and infrastructure.
Move As One Coalition was selected as one of five finalists for the 2025-2026 WRI Ross Center Prize for Cities, which celebrates projects and initiatives catalyzing healthy cities.
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In November 2024, an exceptional shipwreck was discovered at the bottom of Lake Neuchâtel, Switzerland.
It contained an exquisitely preserved cachet of pottery, weapons, tools, and components for horse-drawn transport that date back 2,000 years.
Archaeologists believe it was a civilian merchant ship crossing the lake on a supply mission to a Roman legionary camp on the northern shore, but the cause of the wreck—given the absence of the boat itself—remains a tantalizing mystery.
“At the time, the loss must have been immense,” notes a statement from the Octopus Foundation, a nonprofit collaborating with the Cantonal Archaeology Office of Neuchâtel, which conducted the dives down to the lakebed.
The discovery in 2024 was made via drone surveys examining the details of the 84-square-mile lakebed. While initial surveys indicated the cargo was in good condition, there was a fear that it could become susceptible to looters, so a decision was made to recover it.
The first excavations were conducted in March of last year and continued until some 1,200 objects were recovered. Many of these were ceramics—dishes, plates, cups, and bowls produced regionally across the Swiss Plateau. Olive oil amphorae, imported from Spain, showed the extent of long-distance transport of goods in Roman times.
Metal tools including a pickaxe, horse cart/chariot components which even included wheels, and three swords, one still in its leather scabbard, were also found. A style of brooch known to be worn during the Imperial period of Rome, called a fibula, and a plank of wood, helped corroborate the year in which the cargo sank.
MORE GREAT SHIPWRECKS: Shipwrecked Cargo of Roman Lead Bars Provides a Chance to Observe Dark Matter on Earth
Based on the breadth of items, the Octopus Foundation wrote that the archaeologists’ working hypothesis is that the cargo was destined for the 13th Legion’s camp at what was then called Vindonissa along the Aare River between 16 and 45 CE.
The area was patrolled by the legion, whose job was to prevent hostile Germanic tribes from moving southward from Germany. The berth of the vessel might well have been Eburodunum, an ancient port at the southern end of the lake that is now called Yverdon-les-Bains, Smithsonian Magazine reports.
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Perhaps a strong gust of wind, as can manifest all-unexpectedly on Alpine lakes, caught the sailors unawares so that their goods slipped out of their moorings and into the water.
The Canton of Neuchâtel described the cargo as an “exceptional discovery, unique in Switzerland and in the inland waters north of the Alps,” and wrote that the items are destined for display at the Museum of Archeology of Neuchâtel once proper preservation work is carried out on the waterlogged artifacts.
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America doffs its hat to one of its greatest modern outdoorsmen: the first among our countrymen to conquer the two highest peaks in the world: Mount Everest in 1963, and K2 in 1978.
Jim Whittaker was born in Washington state on February 10th, 1929. His identical twin brother Lou was born on the same day. Just as they shared a birthday, they would share a life’s passion for mountain climbing.
The brothers Whittaker started doing just that—as soon as they were in the Boy Scouts, and at 16, they climbed Mount Rainier, the highest peak in the Lower 48.
At 34 years old, and a decade after Edmund Hillary and Tenzig Norgay first climbed it, Jim Whittaker became the first American to climb Mount Everest on an expedition funded by National Geographic. He actually made the ascent with a nephew of Norgay, Nawang Gombu. They were the only climbers to summit that season, and just the 10th and 11th men respectively to achieve the feat even though they ran out of oxygen and were carb-loading on JELL-O.
Mr. Whittaker was awarded the Hubbard Medal, recognizing achievements in research, discovery and exploration, by President John F. Kennedy for his achievement.
He followed this up by becoming the first American to summit K2 in 1978, and as the guide in the hugely successful Mount Everest International Peace Climb in 1990.
In it, Jim led climbers from the United States, USSR, and China to the summit. In addition to putting twenty climbers on the brow-line of the world, the expedition hauled off a large amount of trash left on the mountain by previous expeditions.
“We took the three countries that were enemies during the Cold War and demonstrated what could be done through friendship and cooperation,” Mr. Whittaker told National Geographic in 2003.
If his exploits in the Himalayas weren’t enough to enshrine him among mountaineering legends for all time, he was also the first employee of Recreational Equipment Co-op, better known as REI, which at the time operated almost entirely as a mail-order business.
“It was too good to pass up,” Mr. Whittaker recalled in an interview. “What a job. I was the only one in the place. I opened the store, stocked the shelves, talked with customers, rang up sales, cleaned the place, locked up and made the bank deposit.”
As REI expanded, Whittaker oversaw sales, and eventually became president and chief executive in 1971 amidst a boom in popularity for gritty outdoor recreation activities he played a large role in catalyzing. REI inspired numerous outfitter imitators, as mountain climbing and other sports entered a glitzier retail environment.
Today, REI is a multi-billion dollar, international outfitter with exceptional brand recognition.
In 1965, Whittaker guided then-Senator Robert F. Kennedy to the top of Mount Kennedy in the Yukon. As the wilderness tends to do, it made friends out of the two men, and Whittaker helped lead Senator Kennedy’s presidential campaign in Washington in 1968.
He was in the hospital room, the New York Times reports, when Kennedy was pronounced dead after being shot in Los Angeles. Whittaker would go on to be a pallbearer at Kennedy’s funeral.
Jim Whittaker died in his home in Port Townsend, Washington. He is survived by his sons Leif, Bobby, and Joss, as well as his second wife, Dianne Roberts, who photographed her husband’s expedition to K2.
Lou Whittaker, became the most experienced Cascades Range guide in the country, and became a guide on Mount Rainier at just 19. He died in 2024 at the age of 95.
Lou’s sons, Peter and Win, are now incredibly successful climbers and guides on Mount Rainier like their father. Peter has summited Everest thrice, and served as the guide for both the oldest man and the oldest woman to reach the summit of Mt. Vinson in Antarctica.
Jim authored Life on the Edge while Lou wrote Memoirs of a Mountain Guide. Big Jim, and Big Lou, are both Washington mountains named for the famous brothers.
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Quote of the Day: “In my world, attachment is another word for devotion—the focused zeal of knowing what I love and joyfully working on its flourishing.” – Rob Brezsny
Photo by: Shane Stagner
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?
59 years ago today, Marvin Gaye finished recording “I Heard It Through the Grapevine,” one of the hottest singles in Motown history, for his then upcoming album In the Groove. Written by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong for Gaye, Motown executive Barry Gordy declined to release it at the time. Whitfield and Strong then recorded and released it with Gladys Knight & the Pips as a single, where it went to number one on the Billboard R&B Singles chart and number two on the Billboard Pop Singles char, allowing the songwriters to push harder for the release of Gaye’s original recordings, which proved even more successful. WATCH a great live version of the song from Montreux… (1967)
The butternut tree, (Juglans cinerea) a close relative of black walnut prized for its pale wood and wildlife value, is on the brink of disappearing from North American forests.
But a new study from Virginia Tech offers hope that the species could regain its foothold with help from modern data science. By mapping climate and soil conditions linked to natural resistance which the tree has developed to a fungal disease, researchers are guiding restoration strategies that could help this native species recover.
Published recently in Forest Ecology and Management, the researchers identify where endangered butternut trees and their more disease-resistant hybrids are most likely to thrive.
Using habitat modeling that combines climate, soil, and genetic data, the team mapped regions across the Midwest and Northeast that are best suited for restoration.
“Butternut has nearly vanished from our forests because of an invasive fungal disease that spread across the landscape a century ago,” said Carrie Fearer, assistant professor in the Department of Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation and senior author of the study.
“But we now know that some individuals have natural resistance, and by understanding the conditions that support those trees, we can focus conservation where it will matter most.”
The disease, known as butternut canker, has pushed the tree to Endangered status on the IUCN’s Red List. Working with Purdue University and the US Forest Service, the research team developed predictive maps that show where resistant trees are already surviving and where future planting efforts could succeed.
The models highlight parts of southern Indiana, western Kentucky, western Michigan, and much of New England as prime regions for resistant butternut. The results also identify areas where naturally occurring hybrids, crosses between native butternut and the disease-tolerant Japanese walnut, may already be helping the species persist.
“This study gives forest managers a conservation map,” said Fearer, also an affiliated faculty member of the Fralin Life Sciences Institute. “It tells us which combinations of temperature, precipitation, and soil carbon tend to support resistant butternuts. Those insights help us protect the right trees and guide future restoration planting.”
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Butternuts are valuable “mast,” or “canopy trees,” that is, they’re producers of large nuts that feed wildlife such as turkeys, deer, and bears. Their decline has ripple effects across forest ecosystems and the communities that depend on them.
“Losing a canopy species like butternut changes everything from wildlife habitat to forest composition,” Fearer said. “It’s about protecting the biodiversity and heritage of our eastern forests.”
Aziz Ebrahimi, a research scientist at Purdue University who worked on the project, said the results of their work are practical tools that guide where to collect seed, establish regeneration orchards, and focus restoration efforts.
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As climate patterns shift, identifying where endangered species can survive is important. Fearer said that the same modeling approach could guide efforts for other native trees under threat from invasive diseases and changing temperatures.
“We can’t move trees everywhere,” she said, “but we can predict where they’re most likely to succeed. This research gives us a road map for restoring not just butternut, but resilience to our forests.”
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Construction of a “transformational” new railway line linking China, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan will allow goods to transit from east to west across Eurasia a whole week faster.
On the way, it’s also predicted to have a transformational impact on the economy of Kyrgyzstan, one of the slowest developing countries on the continent.
To speak of Europe later, the railway will address Central Asian transit in a dramatic way. A map will prove handy to understand why. If you wanted to send a load of goods from China to the capitals of Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan) or Tashkent (Uzbekistan), you’d have to send them all the way across Kazakhstan first before doubling back via truck, a quite absurd runaround considering China’s border with the former is actually closer than with Kazakhstan.
Now, the “CKU” will give direct transit options for most of Central Asia while unlocking substantial natural resource opportunities among a depressed, mountainous region of Kyrgyzstan.
“This railroad will virtually transform Kyrgyzstan—and not just Kyrgyzstan, but the whole of Central Asia,” Edil Baisalov, the country’s deputy prime minister, told The Times of Central Asia.
“Even under the most pessimistic scenarios, the cargo loads expected to transit this route could generate at least $300 million in annual revenue, benefiting the country significantly.”
Other estimates have placed the totals closer to $200 million, but either way it would allow the country to pay back the costs of the construction work in a few prosperous years.
The trilateral agreement to build the 300-mile-long railway was signed on December 27th, 2024, and construction began the following year. $1.1 billion will be provided by China for the Chinese portion, and $573 million by Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan for their respective portions. An additional $2.3 billion will be paid by a Chinese joint venture overseeing the project.
90% of the Kyrgyzstan portion will run through the poor region of Naryn, 70% of which is mountains. To get through it, the CKU railway will pass over 50 bridges and through 29 tunnels. Already the country has 5,000 people employed on this impressive engineering project.
Huge infrastructure investment like this takes years to pay off, but Baisalov sees ample opportunities for the private sector to take root along this vital corridor. Kyrgyzstan is a resource economy, yet 82% of all freight in the country is transported on roads, making it slow, seasonal, and vulnerable to fuel shocks.
With the CKU comes the opportunity to access the region’s “world class” mineral wealth, including iron and aluminum which cannot be transported via trucks.
“During the Soviet era, Kyrgyzstan’s mineral base was largely ignored in favor of deposits elsewhere. The Soviets focused only on uranium here, which was used for their first nuclear bomb, but otherwise, industrial development was minimal,” Baisalov explained, adding that as a result, Kyrgyzstan remained mostly agrarian—producing crops and animal products.
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Additionally, there is the opportunity for logistics businesses and warehousing to service transit along the line.
“The railroad will also stimulate manufacturing and logistics. International investors are already building logistics centers and assembly facilities along the line, leveraging the region’s labor force,” said Baisalov.
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As for the value of the railroad on a continental basis, existing transcontinental railway lines pass through Kazakhstan and Russia, and for the purpose of exporting between Europe and China, would require an extra week of transit time.
Instead, with a terminal in Uzbekistan’s Fergana Valley, the CKU will link directly with trans-Caspian routes to Turkey and onto Europe.
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An Applebee’s manager whose been afraid of storms since she was a child nevertheless stepped up to rapidly lead her staff and guests to safety as a tornado was barreling towards the restaurant.
It was a normal Friday at the Applebee’s in Three Rivers, Michigan, when all of a sudden Aubrey McKenzie saw the weather service issuing a severe tornado warning.
“When we got the tornado warning, we’re like, ‘Aw, there’s no way, like, it’s beautiful outside.’ And then it turned serious very, very quickly,” McKenzie told Wilcox Newspapers. “It hit so fast and so unexpectedly. I’m glad that everybody was able to get somewhere somewhat safe and able to walk away and tell their story.”
At the time, the restaurant manager was leaving for a neighboring Applebee’s location, and they discussed the tornado with McKenzine. Both more or less came to the conclusion that they had seen dozens of tornado warnings come to nothing in their lives, and that it was a beautiful day. In short, they were prepared to ignore it—but only for about ten seconds.
“I came back in and I heard everybody’s phone going off, like, blaring; every guest, every bartender, everybody,” she told Fox News 17.
Conditions were so obviously changing fast, and before long, she could see the funnel cloud outside.
Admittedly panicked, McKenzie tapped into that Friday-night dinner rush spirit—when any server or bartender has to stay calm amid the million things they need to do. McKenzie asked herself “what do I have to do right now?” and her response was quick and orderly.
She led all the guests and staff into the prep kitchen where there are no windows. It was a tight squeeze, but it was their best chance of shelter. After everyone was inside, she “peaked her head out” one last time, and saw that a man and his dog were sitting in a pickup truck outside the restaurant, as well as a boy on his phone, who seemed like he was waiting for someone. She told the man and the boy to come inside immediately.
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“I think he was waiting for his dad or something, I don’t know, but I grabbed his arm and dragged him to the back and everything,” McKenzie told Wilcox.
Then the tornado hit.
“Your ears were popping, but then you could also hear the glass shattering from the dining room. It’s exactly how you would imagine it would be standing in the middle of a tornado. Shattering, like things hitting everything. It sounded like a freight train.”
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The brick-built Applebee’s held up, even though it took 4 days to clean up the restaurant, with glass from the broken windows and spirit bottles finding its way into every conceivable nook and cranny. New vacuums had to be bought, new carpets too, but not one single person was hurt.
“I was surprised that I was able to get everybody, and be that organized in that short amount of time,” she admitted. “I’ve been called ‘hero’ a lot lately, and I laugh it off, but I guess I did what I felt I had to do.”
WATCH the story below from Fox 17…
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3 years ago this month, GNN reported that a UK land trust had set the goal of reforesting a 70 acre “celtic rainforest” on the Isle of Man.
30,000 trees later, the effort exceeded expectations and finished ahead of schedule.
The budding rainforest instead stretches 100 acres across an area called Creg y Cowin, owned by the Manx Wildlife Trust, which owns three properties for the sake of conservation.
Temperate rainforests are one of the rarest kinds of ecosystems worldwide, and in the UK are found in Wales, on the Isle of Man, and a few other locations.
MWT chief executive Graham Makepeace-Warne spoke with the BBC about how best to categorize the ecosystem, describing something akin to the forests of the American Pacific Northwest.
“Temperate rainforests can be described as plants growing on plants, growing on plants,” he said.
It will take around 50 years for the trees to reach the level of maturity where that lush microclimate can be seen, a date too far off for some of the volunteers, many of whom brought their children with them to show them what they had hopefully secured for their posterity.
“To plant 30,000 trees in three years in incredible work, our volunteers should be really proud of that,” Makepeace-Warne said. “I love the idea of them coming back with their kids, when it is a proper woodland, that they can enjoy—that’s a lovely idea.”
MORE IMPRESSIVE TREE-PLANTING: Leslie Dart has Planted 372,290 Trees Across Canada Over the Past 3 Summers and Inspired So Many Others
Makepeace-Warne said he believes it will take far less than 50 years for cattle and sheep to be welcomed back into the rainforest. Unlike our image of domesticated cattle out in a field, the native bovid species on the British Isles was a woodland animal, which enjoyed scratching itself on trees and sheltering from extreme temperatures.
Many of the UK’s plant species evolved to rely on the downstream effects of the cattle’s presence, such as hitching a ride for their seeds on the animal’s fur.
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Creg y Cowin was included in the UK’s Temperate Rainforest Restoration Program, which aims to reforest these ecosystems where they’re found across the British Isles. The project is led by the national Wildlife Trusts, and funded with a mixture of public and private money up to $52 million (£38.9 million).
Future sites, as GNN reported in 2023, could include the peak and slopes of Bwlch Mawr, in North Gwynedd, Wales.
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Quote of the Day: “Love is all; it gives all, and it takes all.” – Soren Kierkegaard
Photo by: Fa Barboza
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?
161 years ago today, the American Civil War ended when Robert E. Lee and his Army of Northern Virginia surrendered to General Ulysses Grant and the Union Army. The moment was the first time the two men had seen each other face-to-face in almost two decades. Suddenly overcome with sadness, Grant found it hard to get to the point of the meeting. The victorious general granted parole and freedom to the 28,000 Confederate soldiers, allowing them to return home with their horses—and officers with their swords and pistols—effectively ending the four-year war. READ more about the moment… (1865)
A research team at Johns Hopkins Medicine is developing a nose-delivered inoculation against tuberculosis, the world’s leading cause of death from infectious disease.
The approach fuses two tuberculosis genes with the goal of directing the immune system to fight drug-tolerant bacterial survivors that can endure antibiotic treatment to spread another day.
The paper on the vaccine was published last week in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, where JH Medicine researchers were joined by colleagues from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
TB is estimated by the World Health Organization (WHO) to be spread asymptomatically by around 2 billion people. In 2024 , WHO reported that TB was the leading cause of death from a single infectious disease.
In recent years, WHO has called for therapeutic vaccines that can be used alongside drug therapies to shorten TB treatment regimens and improve outcomes, particularly because long multidrug courses are difficult to complete, and drug-resistant TB strains continue to emerge. The vaccine described in the new Johns Hopkins study shows promise for meeting that need.
The new Johns Hopkins vaccine, says study lead author Styliani Karanika, MD, fuses two genes: relMtb and Mip3α, and is given through the nose to take advantage of 3 beneficial biological activities.
“Administered together with first-line TB drug therapy, our intranasal DNA fusion vaccine helped infected mice clear the disease bacteria faster, reduced lung inflammation, and prevented relapse after treatment ended,” says Karanika, a faculty member of the Johns Hopkins Center for Tuberculosis Research.
“The vaccine also helped the powerful TB drug combination of bedaquiline, pretomanid, and linezolid work better, suggesting it could be used with treatments against drug-resistant TB to help the body fight the disease, even hard-to-treat cases.”
Dr. Karanika explained that TB bacteria possess a gene—relMtb—that produces a protein called RelMtb—which together help the microbes survive hostile conditions such as antibiotic exposure, low oxygen, and nutrient limitation by entering a drug-tolerant persistent state.
Fusing relMtb with another gene called Mip3α produces a signal that attracts immature human dendritic cells. These cells pick up TB proteins and ‘present’ them to T cells, the immune cells that help coordinate a targeted attack on the TB bacteria.
“Finally, intranasal delivery focuses vaccination on the respiratory mucosa in the lungs where TB infection occurs, helping generate long-lasting localized T-cell immunity in the airways and lungs, along with systemic immune responses,” says Karanika.
By combining these strategies, the investigators aimed to strengthen immune activity directly in the respiratory tract, where transmission most commonly occurs.
In the mouse studies, this approach both improved the quantity and organization of dendritic and T-cells in the lungs, and generated immune responses both locally and systemically. The improved response included to two types of T-cells, CD4 (also known as helper T-cells) and CD8 (also known as killer T-cells).
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One study strongpoint was that it included tests on primates: in this case, rhesus macaques. The researchers found that their nose-delivered DNA vaccine prompted measurable TB‑focused immune responses in blood and in the airways similar to what led to lower bacterial counts in the lungs of the mice they studied.
These responses persisted for at least 6 months, suggesting durability for the vaccine’s action.
“These nonhuman primate data are encouraging because they show that the Mip3α/relMtb vaccine can generate durable, antigen-stimulated immune responses in an animal model whose immune system more closely resembles that of humans,” said Dr. Karanika. “That gives us an important translational bridge between the mouse efficacy studies and the additional preclinical work needed before human trials.”
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Readers may recoil from the notion of primate testing, but Old World Monkeys are very susceptible to TB, and in fact spread it between themselves just as we do. Research has shown that TB has been spread among humans as far back as 70,000 years, and followed our migration out of Africa and across Asia.
The authors say their findings support a broader strategy of targeting surviving TB bacteria with immunotherapy, rather than relying solely on antibiotics to eliminate actively replicating bacteria. Because DNA vaccines are relatively stable and can be manufactured efficiently, they may offer practical advantages if this approach ultimately proves effective in humans.
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When Venetian conservators were preparing for another round of conservation work on a monumental, 500-year-old masterpiece, they decided to open the process to the public eye.
Now installed in a special work area, visitors to the Galleria dell’Accademia can watch the various stages of conservation work that such an important and massive artwork requires to ensure it survives through the centuries.
Called Madonna and Child Enthroned, Music-Making Angels and Saints Francis, John the Baptist, Job, Dominic, Sebastian and Louis of Toulouse, the wood-panel painting was specially made by Venetian Renaissance artist Giovanni Bellini for the altar piece at the Church of San Giobbe.
According to a museum statement, the painting was carried out by Bellini between 1478 and the end of the following decade, and represents a “decisive turn” in the evolution of altar piece artworks.
By 1810, time had taken its toll on the work which was made out of 13 horizontal panels of poplar wood held together with glue and wooden pins. The bottom five panels, over several historic rounds of conservation work, have held up the best, while the above 8 have fared poorer.
In that year it was taken from the Church of San Giobbe to the Galleria, where it’s remained ever since. This preservation work will include special diagnostic analysis, including ultraviolent, fluorescent, and infrared imaging to get a better understanding of what lies beneath the pigments, what the pigments themselves were made of, and perhaps whether Bellini began with preparatory work.
Already, conservators have learned that preparatory work was carried out with layers of glue and white primer, and that Bellini’s brush wielded precious and expensive pigments mixed by three.
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The previous centuries’ restoration efforts have now left the panel in need of a comprehensive treatment that will involve removing old varnish, addressing cracks formed in the swelling and shrinking of the poplar wood, scraping off dirt, and revivifying some of the color, a process which will take 2 years and $580,000 in grant money generously given by Venetian Heritage.
With so much touching up to do, the museum decided to move the altar piece to a special area where visitors can watch conservators work on the painting and receive explanations and descriptions about what is being done.
WATCH the painting being moved into the new area below…
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Cambodian artists and authorities have unveiled the statue of a four-footed hero to the nation, never to be forgotten.
During his remarkable life and career, Magawa the African giant pouched rat used his incredible sense of smell to locate 100 landmines and unexploded bombs before they were able to hurt anyone.
Because of his aptitude, exceptional even among minesweeping rats, (more on that later) there are 1,5 million square feet of space, equivalent to 20 English footfall fields, safe for farming and living once again.
A UK veterinarian’s charity PDSA awarded Magawa its ‘Medal of Gallantry’ in 2020 for his incredible work over a 5-year career that started in Africa in 2016.
The statue of the beloved ‘Hero Rat’ carved from local stone by artists was unveiled in Siem Reap on April 4th, International Day for Mine Awareness.
As GNN has reported before, one of the world’s great underreported tragedies is how much of the Earth is covered in landmines and unexploded bombs and shells from past conflicts.
Removing productive farmland from use, lying dormant with the potential to kill and maim for decades after being embedded in the ground, their deadly, indiscriminate effects are most often felt among children, who see strange metal objects among the grass and mistake them for toys.
Trained to sniff landmines by a Belgian NGO called APOPO, the Hero Rats were first deployed to Mozambique, the first nation since the 20th century began to be declared mine-free.
Over the course of APOPO’s work the rats it employs (and pampers) have safely located over 106,000 mines. Even though they’re one of the world’s largest rats, they are too small to trigger the detonation of mines, and are therefore safter than humans and dogs.
An APOPO Hero Rat like Magawa can search the area of a tennis court in 30 minutes—something that would take a human with a metal detector up to four days to achieve.
Dr. Ly Tuch, First Vice President of the Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority, pulled the curtain off the statue, and gave a speech that wouldn’t be out of place on in a Medal of Honor ceremony.
HEROIC ANIMALS: First French Memorial for ‘Hero Dogs’ Honoring Their Military Service With New Monument – LOOK
“Before us stands Magawa—a small creature, yet one who changed the ground beneath our feet,” the translated speech read. “For years, Cambodia lived with land that could not be trusted. Fields held danger. Paths carried uncertainty. Families measured every step.”
“But Magawa moved through that same land with calm precision. Where others saw risk, he found what was hidden. Where fear remained, he helped restore confidence. More than 100 landmines and explosive remnants were cleared through his work.”
MINESWEEPING:
“Each detection meant a space returned to life. Each cleared area meant children walking safely, farmers working freely, communities rebuilding without hesitation. This is the true meaning of mine action. It is about restoring normal life. It is about dignity. It is about giving people back their future.”
“The statue we unveil today carries more than form. It carries a message — that even the smallest actor can leave a lasting impact.”
SHARE This Hero Minesweeper Honored By A Nation…
On the last day in March, GNN reported that the conscientious efforts of a 70-year-old delivery driver left an Idaho man so taken aback, he raised $24,000 on GoFundMe to reward the employee, who told him he was mere weeks away from retirement.
Well the nation has clearly concurred that Dan the Dominoes deliveryman deserves a decent retirement, and it’s sent the GoFundMe to the moon, having surpassed $129,000 at publishing time.
“Hi everyone! First off, thank you SO much for your incredible donations to Dan,” wrote Brian Wilson, who ordered the pizza that Dan delivered. “We’ve had several opportunities to chat with him about the fundraiser, and he’s BLOWN away! Dan is such a humble guy, and incredibly appreciative of your contributions.”
The story began in late March when Wilson ordered a pizza and Diet Coke for delivery, but was called by the store later to explain that they had no Diet Coke and the driver had already left. He didn’t think much of it—because he didn’t know that Dan had stopped at a nearby store to pick up the soda especially for him, an extra mile that took just 3 minutes, Dan later admitted.
Wilson was shocked when Dan explained it all at his door, and wanted to tip more at the time, but had no cash on him. So as GNN has so often seen, he started a GoFundMe, and the whole nation responded.
“We were honestly blown away. That level of care and kindness is rare these days,” Wilson wrote on GoFundMe. “Let’s show Dan that his kindness didn’t go unnoticed. Let’s help him step into retirement feeling appreciated, supported, and celebrated.”
@katey_93 When Domino’s is out of Diet Coke, but your delivery driver stops at the store to get it for you. Dan, you went above and beyond tonight, thank you!The world needs more Dans. Happy almost retirement! #dominos #fyp ♬ original sound – Katey Ann
Wilson sent a letter to the store with $50 cash, while also sharing the Ring Camera video interaction on TikTok to see if anyone else would like to give Dan a tip. Just a few days later, that GoFundMe has received more than 1,600 donations totaling over $23,000.
MORE STORIES LIKE THIS: Woman’s Viral Video of Elderly DoorDash Driver Channels $1 Million to Help Him Retire
In an update to the story, local news sat down with Dan while he recounted the events. He remembered going into work the next day and his coworkers saying “you’re famous dude!”
“I’ve always tried to work hard and go the extra mile on stuff, and I guess maybe I’m getting rewarded for that,” he said, when it was up to around $18,500.
Oh if you only knew Dan, if you only knew.
WATCH the video below…
SHARE And CELEBRATE Dan’s Hard Work And Just Rewards On Social Media…
Quote of the Day: “We can spend our life suffering because we can’t relax with how things really are, or we can embrace the open-endedness of the human situation.” – Pema Chödrön
Photo by: Lili Popper
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?
Happy Birthday to actress Robin Wright, who turns 60 years old today. Known for her film portrayals as Buttercup, in The Princess Bride, and Jenny in Forrest Gump, she won a Golden Globe for playing the devious political wife on the critically-acclaimed Netflix series House of Cards. READ more about Wright… (1966)
