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Get Ready for the Solar Eclipse Over North American Coming Soon

By
Andy Corbley
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Neiva, Colombia – REUTERS/Vannessa Jimenez
People gather to watch the annular solar eclipse in Albuquerque –REUTERS/Adria Malcolm

A solar eclipse is coming on April 8th, 2024, and unlike when it drifts across the Indian Ocean or somewhere equally remote, this year’s event is going right across North America.

Occurring when the moon passes between the Sun and the Earth, eclipses are one of the most exciting phenomena for people who like to look up at the heavenly vault.

A total solar eclipse like this one only occurs every year or two, and there’s no guarantee for it to happen in places where no people live. The total solar eclipse on April 8th will be visible across Mexico, the United States, and Canada. That’s why some people are calling it “The Great North American Eclipse.”

Nearly everyone in North America will be able to see the Moon cover part of the Sun. That forms a partial eclipse, where crescents of the Sun remain visible. This time, and like the 2017 eclipse that passed over North America, millions of people will be in the “path of totality.” That means they will be able to see the sky turn to dusk in the middle of the day

The total solar eclipse begins in Mexico on the morning of April 8th. It will then cross into Texas in the United States. After that, it will pass Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine. Parts of Tennessee and Michigan can see it too. Then the total solar eclipse will reach Canada. The town of Maberly will be the last place on land to see it.

The total eclipse, the kind that noticeably drops the light and temperature, only lasts for a couple of minutes. But it takes about three hours for the Moon to completely move over the Sun.

Neiva, Colombia – REUTERS/Vannessa Jimenez

The Sun is about 400 times wider than the Moon. However, the Moon is about 400 times closer to the Earth. That’s why they appear roughly the same size from our planet

Whatever your view, partial or total, never look directly at the Sun because it can burn parts of your eye or cause blindness. Even a short while is enough to cause permanent damage. The only time it is safe to look at a solar eclipse is when the Moon covers the Sun completely.

But Amazon sells a variety of special eclipse glasses and solar viewers that not only allow you to look directly at the Sun, but see even more of the Sun’s activity behind the moon, such as coronal mass ejections.

Astronomy.com has the exact times of when the eclipse will begin at each state in the US.

SHARE This Story With Your Friends Who Want To See It Too…

“Memory is part of the present. It builds us up inside and keeps us who we are.” – Gregory Maguire 

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Good News Network
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Credit: Felipe Galvan

Quote of the Day: “Memory is part of the present. It builds us up inside and keeps us who we are.” – Gregory Maguire 

Photo by: Felipe Galvan

With a new inspirational quote every day, atop the perfect photo—collected and archived on our Quotes page—why not bookmark GNN.org for a daily uplift?

Senators Pushed Big Pharma to Cap Inhaler Prices at $35 – Successfully Bringing Relief to American Families

By
Andy Corbley
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Less than three months after U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin and her colleagues launched an investigation into the four major American manufacturers of inhalers, three of the companies have relented, making commitments to cap costs for their inhalers at $35 for patients who now pay much more.

25 million Americans have asthma and 16 million Americans have chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), meaning over 40 million Americans rely on inhalers to breathe.

Inhalers have been available since the 1950s, and most of the drugs they use have been on the market for more than 25 years.

According to a statement from the Wisconsin Senator’s office, inhaler manufacturers sell the exact same products at a much lower costs in other countries. One of AstraZeneca’s inhalers, Breztri Aerosphere, costs $645 in the U.S.—but just $49 in the UK. Inhalers made by Boehringer Ingelheim, GlaxoSmithKline, and Teva have similar disparities.

Baldwin and her Democratic colleagues—New Mexico Sen. Ben Ray Luján, Massachusetts Sen. Ed Markey, and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders—pressured the companies to lower their prices by writing letters to GSK, Boehringer Ingelheim, Teva, and AstraZeneca requesting a variety of documents that show why such higher prices are charged in America compared to Europe.

As a ranking member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, Baldwin recently announced that as a result of the letters they had secured commitments from three of the four to lower the out-of-pocket costs of inhalers to a fixed $35.00 rate.

REGULATORY NEWS: US Sets Policy to Seize U.S. Patents of Government-Funded Drugs if Price Deemed Too High

“For the millions of Americans who rely on inhalers to breathe, this news is a major step in the right direction as we work to lower costs and hold big drug companies accountable,” said Senator Baldwin.

MORE GOOD NEWS LIKE THIS: Drugs From Mark Cuban’s Pharmacy Could Save Medicare Billions Every Year, Harvard Says

A full list of the inhalers and associated drugs can be viewed here.

It’s the second time in the last year that pharmaceutical companies were forced to provide reasonable prices—after the cost of insulin was similarly capped successfully at $35 per month thanks to Congressional actions led by the White House.

SHARE This Amazing Good News With Any Asthmatics You Know… 

Bumblebees Share Knowledge Like Humans and Chimpanzees, Suggesting the Hive Mind Is More Personal

By
Andy Corbley
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A trained demonstrator bee, paired with an observer bee that must learn the full solution, examine the inaccessible target on a closed puzzle box. Credit: Queen Mary University of London.
A trained demonstrator bee, paired with an observer bee that must learn the full solution, examine the inaccessible target on a closed puzzle box. Credit: Queen Mary University of London.

Bumblebees can teach others new behaviors too complex for them to learn alone, suggests a paper published in Nature that essentially posits humans and bees share knowledge in exactly the same way.

In the study, a bee taught to solve a puzzle for a sugary reward was able to train other bees to complete the task, providing evidence that bees can socially learn some behaviors at a level of complexity previously thought to be unique to humans and our ancestors.

Culture is a word that’s thrown around quite a lot, but at the root of it is the designation of a particular behavior that is socially learned and persists over time.

Increasing evidence suggests that, like human culture, animal culture can be cumulative, with sequential behaviors building on previous ones. Human cumulative culture involves behaviors so complex that they lie beyond the capacity of any individual to independently discover during their lifetime.

However, this behavior has not yet been demonstrated in an invertebrate species, generally considered at the bottom of the barrel of intelligent life.

“You and I are both, biologically speaking, African apes, but I am writing this on a laptop in Cornwall, and you might be reading it in Colombo, Caracas, or Canberra,” writes co-author of the study Alex Thorton. “This reflects one of the most remarkable attributes of the human species—the progressive improvement of skills and technologies as innovations spread and are built on.”

Bumblebees, however, are extremely social insects that have proven themselves capable of acquiring non-natural behaviors, such as string-pulling and ball-rolling, via social learning in order to gain rewards.

Alice Bridges, Lars Chittka, Alex Thorton, and their colleagues set up a difficult task to investigate whether bumblebees are capable of learning more complex behaviors from others in the colony.

MORE STORIES OF ANIMAL SMARTS: Clever Cockatoos Craft 3-Piece Tool Set to Extract Fruit – Becoming Only 4th Animal Species to Do So

They designed a two-step puzzle box in which the bees first must move an obstacle to allow a rotating lid to be opened, revealing a sucrose reward. Members from three separate colonies were given 24 days (a sizeable chunk of a bee’s life) to work this out, but not a single one succeeded independently through trial and error.

Indeed, it took around two days to train demonstrator bees to complete the task, often requiring a reward at the first step.

ALSO CHECK OUT: 5 Experiments Proving Invertebrates Are Much More Aware than We Think

“Imagine you dropped some children on a deserted island, they might with a bit of luck survive,” said Dr. Chittka, a professor of sensory and behavioral ecology. “But they would never know how to read or to write because this requires learning from previous generations.”

However, untrained bees quickly learned to open the two-step box from these demonstrators without needing a reward after the first step. The findings provide evidence that bumblebees are capable of social learning and possibly cultural transmission.

WATCH the bees in action below…

BUZZ This Story Off To Other Members Of Your Colony…

Greek Archaeologists Use The Iliad as a Map to Find 10 Ancient Shipwrecks

By
Andy Corbley
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Anchor from ancient shipwreck – Credit: Kasos Maritime Archaeological Project / Greek Ministry of Culture
Anchor from ancient shipwreck – Credit: Kasos Maritime Archaeological Project / Greek Ministry of Culture

Covering almost 5,000 years of history, a team of maritime archaeologists from Greece have located a series of shipwrecks off the coast of the island of Kasos.

Dating from as far back as (3,000 BCE), and through the Classical period (460 BCE), the Hellenistic Age (100 BCE to 100 CE) and Roman times, all the way up to the Byzantine period (800 to 900 CE), the medieval, and Ottoman periods, they are like a barnacle-encrusted history of Hellas and her neighbors.

Since 2019, the research team of the National Hellenic Research Foundation in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture has utilized sources, testimonies, and references, from Homer’s Iliad until modern times, to locate the wrecks, according to the Ministry.

In the epic, Homer writes that the people of Kasos sent ships to fight in the wars with Ilium (Troy).

The findings were recorded and documented with modern scientific methods, while sample recoveries of archaeological objects were carried out, the study of which offers new information and archaeological data, aspects of the history of Kasos, and the rich cultural heritage of the Mediterranean.

Sunken remains of ancient ships with merchandise from Spain, Italy, Africa, and the coast of Asia Minor were brought to light by an interdisciplinary team of Greek and foreign researchers that included divers, geologists, and others.

MORE SHIPWRECK DISCOVERIES: Experts Begin Hunt for Most Valuable British Shipwreck in History, and the Gold Worth 4 Billion

Among some of the objects discovered were amphorae stamped with a seal from Spain in 170 CE, as well as drinking vessels and flasks from Roman North Africa. A stone anchor was identified from the period in the aftermath of the Trojan wars.

The Kasos maritime project was documented with underwater footage for an 11-minute film called Diving into Aegean History

WATCH the film below… 

SHARE This Blue Slice Of History With Your Friends On Social Media… 

CA Redwoods to Be First National Park Co-Managed with a Native American Tribe That Used to Own it

By
Andy Corbley
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Caption – (left) Save the Redwoods President and CEO Sam Hodder, Redwood National and State Parks Superintendent Steven Mietz, Yurok Chairman Joseph L. James and California State Parks North Coast Redwoods Superintendent Victor Bjelajac sign the landmark agreement at ‘O Rew.
Caption – (left) Save the Redwoods President and CEO Sam Hodder, Redwood National and State Parks Superintendent Steven Mietz, Yurok Chairman Joseph L. James and California State Parks North Coast Redwoods Superintendent Victor Bjelajac sign the landmark agreement at ‘O Rew.

The Yurok will be the first Tribal nation to co-manage land with the National Park Service under a historic memorandum of understanding signed on Tuesday by the tribe, Redwood national and state parks, and the non-profit Save the Redwoods League, according to news reports.

The Yurok tribe has seen a wave of successes in recent years, successfully campaigning for the removal of a series of dams on the Klamath River, where salmon once ran up to their territory, and with the signing of a new memorandum of understanding, the Yurok are set to reclaim more of what was theirs.

Save the Redwoods League bought a property containing these remarkable trees in 2013, and began working with the tribe to restore it, planting 50,000 native plants in the process. The location was within lands the Yurok once owned but were taken during the Gold Rush period.

Centuries passed, and by the time it was purchased it had been used as a lumber operation for 50 years, and the nearby Prairie Creek where the Yurok once harvested salmon had been buried.

Currently located on the fringe of Redwoods National and State Parks which receive over 1 million visitors every year and is a UNESCO Natural Heritage Site, the property has been renamed ‘O Rew, a Yurok word for the area.

“Today we acknowledge and celebrate the opportunity to return Indigenous guardianship to ‘O Rew and reimagine how millions of visitors from around the world experience the redwoods,” said Sam Hodder, president and CEO of Save the Redwoods League.

Reconstructed Yurok plankhouse made of redwood boards harvested from dead trees – NPS

Having restored Prarie Creek and filled it with chinook and coho salmon, red-legged frogs, northwestern salamanders, waterfowl, and other species, the tribe has said they will build a traditional village site to showcase their culture, including redwood-plank huts, a sweat house, and a museum to contain many of the tribal artifacts they’ve recovered from museum collections.

OTHER TRIBAL RETURNS: Absolutely Epic: Watch the Release of a Wild Bison Herd onto Blackfeet Tribal Land

Believing the giant trees sacred, they only use fallen trees to build their lodges.

“As the original stewards of this land, we look forward to working together with the Redwood national and state parks to manage it,” said Rosie Clayburn, the tribe’s cultural resources director.

MORE YUROK NEWS: Largest Dam Removal in History Begins Restoring Salmon and California Tribal Way of Life

It will add an additional mile of trails to the park system, and connect them with popular redwood groves as well as new interactive exhibits.

“This is a first-of-its-kind arrangement, where Tribal land is co-stewarded with a national park as its gateway to millions of visitors. This action will deepen the relationship between Tribes and the National Park Service,” said Redwoods National Park Superintendent Steve Mietz, adding that it would “heal the land while healing the relationships among all the people who inhabit this magnificent forest.”

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“We need 4 hugs a day for survival… We need 12 hugs a day for growth.” – Virginia Satir

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Quote of the Day: “We need 4 hugs a day for survival. We need 8 hugs a day for maintenance. We need 12 hugs a day for growth.” – Virginia Satir (renowned as the ‘Mother of Family Therapy’)

Photo by: Anastasia Vityukova

With a new inspirational quote every day, atop the perfect photo—collected and archived on our Quotes page—why not bookmark GNN.org for a daily uplift?

Optimist Pollster Finds Americans Are Far More Alike Than Different, With Shared Values Bridging Political Divides

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Good News Network
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By David Colarusso (cropped) – CC BY-NC 2.0

After listening to the media, you might think America has sunk into a political civil war, with neighbors fighting neighbors—and each side convinced the other will ruin the country.

Political debate has indeed become rancorous, but dig into the thoughts and feelings of everyday Americans and you will discover that things are better than you think.

Dubbed the most optimistic pollster in the country, The Harris Poll’s chief executive Will Johnson says the supposed divides disappear when you consider values, points of view, and experiences beyond politics.

“It turns out that we’re more alike than different,” says Johnson. People on the Left, Right, and Middle “all want to make a difference in the world, value learning and growing, and, most of all, crave love and caring. To put it plainly, our hearts are in sync.”

Of course, political views matter, but they are notoriously changeable and they can neglect to capture the complexity of the attitudes of individuals—and the results often challenge conventional wisdom.

In a Harris poll commissioned by Time, for instance, respondents were asked to select adjectives to describe their own life. They picked “hopeful” and “happy” as the top two. Only in third place was negative feeling, “frustrated”.

BIPARTISANSHIP IN THE NEWS: Ohio Man Brings Voters of All Stripes Together to Agree to Disagree Over ‘Dinner and a Dialogue’

Johnson insists that his Harris Poll data shows that Americans share many more values than they disagree on. Many enjoy having friends who hold different perspectives than theirs, and understand that they want the same things for themselves and their families. (And this is based on respondents who’ve been selected to reflect the U.S. population by gender, age, region, political affiliation, and economic status.)

Americans are more cheerful than headlines would suggest, when asked about their relationships with each other:

• 76% see the good in those they disagree with

• 71% have a friend who doesn’t share their views

• 57% think the “culture wars” are overblown in terms of how important the issues of those debates are to daily life

• 57% think most Americans get along with one another

• 56% believe that opportunities exist for nearly all to attain the American dream.

The rise in the number of Independents with no party affiliation likely reflects the shared values of people who occupy the vast middle of the political spectrum.

JUSTICE FOR ALL: 2 Conservatives on Supreme Court Seal Historic Decision to Preserve Voting Rights in Alabama Gerrymandering Case

While other pollsters may look for black-and-white conclusions, Johnson always looks for the values beneath the surface.

“The idea that people can be put in a political box, which will then reflect the mood of the country, is outdated,” says Johnson. “Our goal is to find the nuance in U.S. public opinion since so much of our world is gray.”

One final word from Johnson on the truth about a so-called divided America. “The country has problems, for sure,” he says. “But most people remain hopeful and can see the big picture.”

KNOW ANY PESSIMISTS? Share This News With Them on Social Media…

Couple Orders a Cake Replica of Their Dog But it Was So Realistic They Couldn’t Cut it

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Anna Railton and Chris Smowton / SWNS
Anna Railton and Chris Smowton / SWNS

A couple who ordered a cake replica of their dog found that it was so realistic they couldn’t bring themselves to cut it.

Anna Railton and Chris Smowton bought an edible version of their pet Arthur for a joint birthday celebration.

But when the life-sized whippet dessert arrived, the English pair described it as “uncanny”, and had to get someone else to take a knife to it.

“It was literally the same size and weight as my dog—twice the size of what I thought it was going to be!” recalls Anna

“It came in this genuinely ridiculous huge box and I was thinking ‘my god, what have I done!”

The impressive cake was made by designers at The Cake Shop in the Oxford Covered Market.

Chris ready to eat the cake’s eyeball – Anna Railton and Chris Smowton / SWNS

“I have ordered cakes from them before and they are massive legends who enjoy doing non-standard cakes.”

The cake was set to feed 30 to 40 people, and Anna sent over various images of her beloved eight-year-old pooch, but she presumed it would be just a normal cake size.

TINY MIRACLES: You Won’t Believe Your Eyes Watching This Mouse Tidy up a Man’s Garden Shed Workbench

“It was so shockingly realistic.

Leftovers of the edible cake of Arthur the dog – SWNS

“Someone else had to cut up the face. That I was not down for, and glad I didn’t have to do that.”

LOOK: Wiener Dog Gives Birth to So Many Puppies it Might Be a World Record: ‘She’s Such a Great Mum’

There’s no word about whether Arthur got a taste of his doppelganger dessert.

HAIL THE CAKE MASTERY By Sharing the Fun With Friends on Social Media…

Despite Faulty Metal Detector, Treasure Hunter Unearths Largest Gold Nugget Ever Found in England

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Mullock Jones Auctioneers via SWNS
Mullock Jones Auctioneers via SWNS

Despite having a faulty metal detector and having to use an old back-up, a treasure hunter discovered the largest gold nugget ever found in England.

Richard Brock traveled three-and-a-half hours from his home in Somerset to join an organized expedition on farmland in the Shropshire Hills.

Upon arrival, he found he had difficulty with his detecting device and had to resort to using a dodgy older machine that was not even working properly.

But minutes later, the 67-year-old, who has been metal detecting for 35 years, discovered the biggest find of his life—unearthing a golden nugget weighing 64.8 grams.

“I actually arrived about an hour late, thinking I’d missed the action,” said the father-of-four who’s been detecting since 1989.

“Everyone there had all this up-to-date kit and I bowled up with three old machines, and one of them broke down there and then.

“After only 20 minutes of scanning the ground with this back-up detector that had a fading screen display, I found this nugget buried about five of six inches down in the ground.

By Richard Brock via SWNS

“I was a perhaps bit too honest and started showing people, and then all of a sudden I had swarms of other detectorists scanning the same area.

“The machine I was using was pretty much kaput and only half working. It just goes to show that it doesn’t really matter what equipment you use.

“If you are walking over the find and are alert enough to what might be lurking underneath the soil, that makes all the difference.

“I couldn’t look for anything else as I had the land owner, the organizer of the dig and every other detectorist around me trying to get a look at this nugget.”

Just what a gold nugget was doing in the Shropshire Hills, near Much Wenlock, remains somewhat of a mystery, although the area is believed to have been an old track or road with railway lines running through, containing stone likely distributed from Wales, a country known to be rich in gold.

KINDNESS FOUND: Tide-Savvy Metal Detectorist Reunites Woman With Late Mother’s Wedding Rings 2 Weeks After They Fell into Sea

Richard Brock via SWNS

The only examples of gold nuggets bigger than Richard’s in Britain have been found in either Wales or Scotland.

“The last one which claimed to be bigger in England was 54 grams but mine is 64.8 grams, so we’re pretty confident its the biggest found on English soil.

“It is quite incredible really.”

LOOK: Garden Ornament Bought for $20 at Flea Market is Actually a Medieval Hand Cannon and Sells for Thousands

Named ‘Hiro’s Nugget’, the metal lump is being sold by Mullock Jones Auctioneers in an online auction that runs until April 1, which they hope will fetch tens of thousands.

In a generous gesture, Richard says he’s going to split the proceeds with the land owner.

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“Mistakes are almost always of a sacred nature… Understand them thoroughly.” – Salvador Dali

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Good News Network
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By Chris Fuller

Quote of the Day: “Mistakes are almost always of a sacred nature… Understand them thoroughly.” – Salvador Dali

Photo by: Chris Fuller (cropped)

With a new inspirational quote every day, atop the perfect photo—collected and archived on our Quotes page—why not bookmark GNN.org for a daily uplift?

64% of U.S. Homeowners Are Willing to Attempt Home Renovations on Their Own–But are Intimidated in Two Areas

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By Lotus Design N Print
By Lotus Design N Print

86% of American homeowners are inspired by watching home renovation shows—on average, about seven hours of remodeling content each week—enough to become armchair experts who want to make changes in their homes.

According to a new survey, almost two-thirds (64%) would be willing to attempt home renovations on their own today, and 35% believe they have the skills and know-how to actually host their own home remodeling show.

The poll of 2,000 homeowners, also revealed that despite their apparent confidence, 48% admit they wouldn’t want to tackle any plumbing or electrical work without a professional.

However, nearly seven in 10 respondents have already done remodeling, with 61% tackling their outdated bathroom, and 42% rehabbing their old kitchens.

A whopping 94% of these DIY homeowners consider their renovations to be successful. Even so, 14% of those respondents wish they’d enlisted help from a professional.

Conducted by OnePoll on behalf of bath and shower remodelers Bath Fitter, results found that of the 31% who haven’t attempted a remodel on their own, nearly half admit that fear got the best of them—leading them to avoid renovations so as not to mess them up.

LOOK: Man Transforms an Old Farmhouse into a Barbie Dreamhouse Fulfilling a Childhood Dream

Similarly, others believe that they required more skill than they have (43%), and they didn’t know where to start (31%).

But that doesn’t mean Americans haven’t been willing to get their hands dirty — many respondents have experience using tape measures (87%), drills (75%), levels (74%) and even sanders (55%).

“It’s no secret that home renovations can be intimidating but it’s encouraging to see so many American homeowners already attempting to remodel their homes to fit their unique needs and aesthetics,” said Jennifer Dionne, Vice President of Marketing at Bath Fitter.

COOL FOR CHEAP: This Ancient AC System will Cool your House Without Electricity

OMAZE / SWNS

Still, half of those polled would rather hire a professional than tackle home renovations on their own.

“The survey results found that of the respondents who have not attempted renovations, the top two rooms they’d feel most comfortable tackling include the bathroom and bedroom.”

“There’s a big myth in the renovation space which leads people to think that they need to gut everything to get what they want. That’s not true,” said Scott McGillivray, HGTV star and renovation expert.

CHECK OUT THE PICS: Ohio Family Converts a 1903 Church Into Their Home – and it’s Pretty Amazing

“You don’t need to create a big disruption demolishing to get what you’re looking for, especially in the bathroom. Oftentimes they have the perfect tub or shower location and size, but it just needs to be refurbished.”

Dubai Company Buys Used Cooking Oil to Turn Into Biofuel for Cars Citywide to Reduce CO2 Emissions

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Used cooking oil collection truck and one of the biofuel production plants – Credit: Lootah Biofuels
Used cooking oil collection truck and one of the biofuel production plants – Credit: Lootah Biofuels

A Dubai-based company Lootah Biofuels is producing biodiesel from used cooking oil bringing sustainable transportation options to a major oil-producing country.

The result is a fuel that is less expensive, renewable, and clean.

The United Arab Emirates company now boasts having their own fuel outlets across the city of Dubai, delivering 60 million liters annually.

It is the brainchild of Yousif Bin Saeed Al Lootah, who wants the UAE to be the first nation in the region to mandate that biofuels blends be featured alongside other fuel in all public stations.

They pay for the used cooking oil collected, thus giving an incentive to providers like restaurants, bakeries, and food chains, which provide 500,000 liters of waste oil every month.

The company says it converted the waste oil into 770 tons of biofuel last year.

The Lootah Biofuels website reports that used cooking oil has the highest carbon saving ratio amongst all the available biodiesel feedstock—and calculates their product has caused the reduction of 500 million tons of CO2, so far.

MORE RENEWABLE GOOD NEWS: United Airlines Flies Jet Entirely Powered by 100% Plant-Based Fuel from Corn Stalk Waste

WATCH the Reuters report from Dubai below…

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Scientists Discover Potential HIV Cure that Eliminates Disease from Cells Using CRISPR-Cas Gene Editing

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HIV-1 virus particles under electron micrograph with H9 T-cells (in blue) – Credit: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
HIV-1 virus particles under electron micrograph with H9 T-cells (in blue) – Credit: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

A new study has unveiled a likely future cure for HIV which uses molecular scissors to ‘cut out’ HIV DNA from infected cells.

To cut out this virus, the team used CRISPR-Cas gene editing technology—a groundbreaking method that allows for precise alterations to a patient’s genome, for which its inventors won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2020.

One of the significant challenges in HIV treatment is the virus’s ability to integrate its genome into the host’s DNA, making it extremely difficult to eliminate—but the CRISPR-Cas tool provides a new means to isolate and target HIV DNA.

Because HIV can infect different types of cells and tissues in the body, each with its own unique environment and characteristics, the researchers are searching for a way to target HIV in all of these situations.

In this study, which is to be presented ahead of this year’s European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, the authors used CRISPR-Cas and two guide RNAs against “conserved” HIV sequences.

They focused on parts of the virus genome that stay the same across all known HIV strains and infected T cells. Their experiments showed outstanding antiviral performance, managing to completely inactivate HIV with a single guide RNA and cut out the viral DNA with two guide RNAs.

CRISPR HOPE FOR CANCER: Aggressive Leukemia Disappears in 13-Year-old Girl Who was First to Receive New CRISPR Treatment

“We have developed an efficient combinatorial CRISPR-attack on the HIV virus in various cells and the locations where it can be hidden in reservoirs, and demonstrated that therapeutics can be specifically delivered to the cells of interest,” said Associate professor Elena Herrera Carrillo from the University of Amsterdam AMC.

“These findings represent a pivotal advancement towards designing a cure strategy.”

HIV AIDS virus (in yellow) infecting a human cell – Credit: National Cancer Institute

The team has a long way to go before their cure will be available to patients, but said, “These preliminary findings are very encouraging’.

Currently, HIV can be kept in check with anti-retroviral medication, but no one has actually been cured—although three patients receiving stem cell transplants for blood cancer were subsequently declared free of the disease when their HIV became undetectable.

“We hope to achieve the right balance between efficacy and safety of this CURE strategy,” said Dr. Carrillo. “Only then can we consider clinical trials of ‘cure’ in humans to disable the HIV reservoir.

“Our aim is to develop a robust and safe combinatorial CRISPR-Cas regimen, striving for an inclusive ‘HIV cure for all’ that can inactivate diverse HIV strains across various cellular contexts.

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Your Horoscope for the Seasonal Equinox – ‘Free Will Astrology’ From Rob Brezsny

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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 March 23, 2024
Copyright by Rob Brezsny, FreeWillAstrology.com

ARIES (March 21-April 19):
I suspect you will soon have far more beginners’ luck than you ever thought possible. For best results—to generate even more wildly abundant torrents of good luck—you could adopt what Zen Buddhists called “beginner’s mind.” That means gazing upon everyone and everything as if encountering it for the first time. Here are other qualities I expect to be flowing freely through you in the coming weeks: spontaneity, curiosity, innocence, candor, and unpredictability. To the degree that you cultivate these states, you will invite even more beginner’s luck into your life.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20):
Taurus artist Salvador Dali was prone to exaggerate for dramatic effect. We should remember that as we read his quote: “Mistakes are almost always of a sacred nature. Never try to correct them. On the contrary: Rationalize them; understand them thoroughly.” While that eccentric advice may not always be 100-percent accurate or useful, I think it will be true and helpful for you in the coming weeks. Have maximum fun making sacred mistakes, Taurus! Learn all you can from them. Use them to improve your life.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20):
The professional fun advisors here at Free Will Astrology International Headquarters have concluded that your Party Hardy Potential Rating for the coming weeks is 9.8 (out of 10). In fact, this may be the Party Hardy Phase of the Year for you. You could gather the benefits of maximum revelry and conviviality with minimal side effects. Here’s a meditation to get you in the right mood: Imagine mixing business and pleasure with such panache that they blend into a gleeful, fruitful synergy.

CANCER (June 21-July 22):
Cancerian author and psychotherapist Virginia Satir (1916–1988) was renowned as the “Mother of Family Therapy.” Her research led her to conclude, “We need four hugs a day for survival. We need eight hugs a day for maintenance. We need 12 hugs a day for growth.” That 12-hug recommendation seems daunting to achieve, but I hope you will strive for it in the coming weeks. You are in a phase when maximum growth is possible—and pushing to the frontiers of consensual hugging will help you activate the full potential.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22):
Have you been genuinely amazed anytime recently? Have you done something truly amazing? If not, it’s time to play catch-up. According to my analysis of the astrological omens, you need and deserve exciting adventures that boggle your soul in all the best ways. You should be wandering out on the frontiers and tracking down provocative mysteries. You could grow even smarter than you already are if you expose yourself to challenges that will amaze you and inspire you to be amazing.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22):
I invite you to perform a magic spell that will help prepare you for the rich, slippery soul work you have ahead of you. I’ll offer a suggestion, but feel free to compose your own ritual. First, go outside where it’s raining or misting, or find a waterfall. Stand with your arms spread out as you turn your face up toward the falling moisture. As you drink it in, tell yourself you will be extra fluid and flowing in the coming weeks. Promise yourself you will stimulate and treasure succulent feelings. You will cultivate the sensation that everything you need is streaming in your direction.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22):
You are gliding into the climax of your re-education about togetherness, intimacy, and collaboration. The lessons you’ve been learning have deepened your reservoir of wisdom about the nature of love. And in the coming weeks, even further teachings will arrive; even more openings and invitations will be available. You will be offered the chance to earn what could in effect be a master’s degree in relationships. It’ll be challenging work, but rewarding and interesting. Do as best as you can. Don’t demand perfection from yourself or anyone else.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21):
Now is not a favorable phase to gamble on unknown entities. Nor should you allow seemingly well-meaning people to transgress your boundaries. Another Big No: Don’t heed the advice of fear-mongers or nagging scolds, whether they’re inside or outside your head. On the other hand, dear Scorpio, the coming weeks will be an excellent time for the following actions. 1. Phase out attachments to alliances and love interests that have exhausted their possibilities. 2. Seek the necessary resources to transform or outgrow a frustrating fact about your life. 3. Name truths that other people seem intent on ignoring and avoiding. 4. Make simple, small, slow, practical progress.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21):
Falling in love is fun! It’s also exciting, enriching, inspiring, transformative, world-shaking, and educational. Wouldn’t it be fabulous if we could keep falling in love anew three or four times a year for as long as we live? We might always be our best selves, showing our most creative and generous sides, continually expanding our power to express our soulful intelligence. Alas, it’s not practical or realistic to always be falling in love with another new person. Here’s a possible alternative: What if we enlarged our understanding of what we could fall in love with? Maybe we would become perpetually infatuated with brilliant teachings, magical places, high adventures, and great art and music. The coming weeks will be an excellent time for you to cultivate this skill.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19):
I’m perplexed by spiritual teachers who fanatically preach the doctrine that we should BE HERE NOW as much as possible. Living with full enjoyment in the present moment is a valuable practice, but dismissing or demeaning the past is shortsighted. Our lives are forged from our histories. We should revere the stories we are made of, visit them regularly, and keep learning from them. Keep this in mind, Capricorn. It’s an excellent time to heal your memories and to be healed by them. Cultivate deep gratitude for your past as you give the old days all your love. Enjoy this quote from novelist Gregory Maguire: “Memory is part of the present. It builds us up inside; it knits our bones to our muscles and keeps our heart pumping. It is memory that reminds our bodies to work, and memory that reminds our spirits to work, too: it keeps us who we are.”

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18):
Controversial author William S. Burroughs was a rough, tough troublemaker. But he had some wisdom that will soon be extra useful for you. He said that love is the best natural painkiller available. I bring this to your attention not because I believe you will experience more pain than the rest of us in the coming months. Rather, I am predicting you will have extra power to alleviate your pain—especially when you raise your capacity to give and receive love.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20):
The planet Saturn entered Pisces in March 2023 and won’t depart for good until February 2026. Is that a bad thing or good thing for you Pisceans? Some astrologers might say you are in a challenging time when you must make cutbacks and take on increased responsibility. I have a different perspective. I believe this is a phase when you can get closer than ever before to knowing exactly what you want and how to accomplish what you want. In my view, you are being called to shed secondary wishes that distract you from your life’s central goals. I see this period as a homecoming—your invitation to glide into robust alignment with your soul’s code.

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)

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“Consider not the gift of the lover, but the love of the giver.” – Thomas à Kempis 

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Good News Network
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Credit: Diego PH

Quote of the Day: “Consider not the gift of the lover, but the love of the giver.” – Thomas à Kempis 

Photo by: Diego PH

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A Coal Billionaire Is Building the World’s Biggest Clean Energy Plant to Power 16 Million Homes in India

By
Andy Corbley
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Bhadla Solar Park in Gujurat, seen from ESA's Copernicus Sentinel-2, satellite, will pale in comparison to Khavda when it's completed
Bhadla Solar Park in Gujarat, seen from ESA’s Copernicus Sentinel-2, satellite, will pale in comparison to Khavda when it’s completed

The Khavda solar and renewables park in a barren salt pan in India’s state of Gujarat is going to be big; really, really big.

Its aim is for 30 gigawatts—as much as the national grid of Switzerland. It will sprawl out across an area of lifeless desert five times the size of Paris costing $20 billion, and generate enough to power 16 million Indian homes.

In fact, this one renewables farm is estimated to provide 9% of the entire Indian renewable portfolio by 2070 when it finishes in a few years. The project involves solar panels, wind turbines, and battery storage.

“A region so large, a region that is so unencumbered, there’s no wildlife, there’s no vegetation, there’s no habitation. There is no better alternative use of that land,” said Sagar Adani, the executive behind all the powers and departments making the project possible.

Nephew to India’s second-richest man, Adani is the executive director of Adani Green Energy Limited (AGEL) a subsidiary of the Adani Group, India’s largest coal-power owner-investor.

It’s inspiring to see a family that has a net worth of $100 billion directing its resources, both corporate and personal, to a project of the scale of Khavda, which is set to be the largest renewable power plant on Earth.

The Adani Group plans to invest $100 billion into energy transition over the next decade, with 70% of the investments earmarked for clean energy, according to CNN. 

MORE INDIA NEWS: Poverty Rate in India Drops Below 5% First Time Ever as Rural-Urban Divide Shrinks

In 2021, Prime Minister Narendra Modi pledged that India would achieve net zero emissions by 2070, and the scale of the Khavda project is likely to be music to his ears.

India bulls see the economic future of the subcontinent as one of perhaps unprecedented growth, with 6% annualized expansion, and 600 million people entering the middle and upper-income brackets in the next 10 years alone.

ALSO CHECK OUT: Largest US Solar Storage Project Goes Online – Enough for a Quarter Million Homes

Such flourishing requires energy, and the demand in the country for air conditioning alone is expected to overtake all of Africa by 2050.

On such a scale, it’s unsurprising that Sagar Adani has stopped reading and calculating numbers on the Khavda plant—they’re too big and too abstract, he says, and it sounds like that’s how it ought to be if India is going to avoid the worst of 1.5°C of warming.

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Witness the Glory of the 2024 European Tree of the Year – Growing in Poland for 200 Years

By
Andy Corbley
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credit - Marcin Kopij
credit – Marcin Kopij

In this year’s edition of the European Tree of the Year contest, the leafy crown was bestowed upon a common beech in the botanical gardens of the University of Wroclaw.

Thought to be 200 years old, The Heart of the Garden is the third Polish tree in a row to win, following up on the Oak Fabrykant with its outrageous 60-foot-long digit in 2023, and the 400-year-old Oak Dunin outside the Białowieża Primeval Forest, in 2022.

“Its majestic appearance impresses us with its unusually shaped and thick trunk, widely spread branches, and purple-colored leaves that shine beautifully in the sun,” the contest organizers wrote.

Known in the UK as a “copper beech” all beech trees seem to have the genetic potential to be purple, though exactly what causes it to happen is unknown. The naturally occurring mutation appears spontaneously, without human interference, and is most commonly seen in either saplings or old trees.

The Heart of the Garden is certainly old, and what a wonderful confluence of character that it should have been grown as the centerpiece in the arboretum, and be 200 years old, and have a copper beech mutation.

OTHER GLORIOUS TREES: Tree-Loving Brits Crowdsource a National ‘Ancient Tree Inventory’ – 200,000 Unique Trees

The Fagus genus took silver as well, with The Weeping Beech of Bayeux, in France. Popular for its immense weeping canopy and massive twisted branches probably related to whatever genetic mutation is responsible for Verzy’s faux trees, it’s a perfect romantic spot for celebrations and weddings.

Spreading over 120 feet, or 40 meters in width today, the city had to keep on perfecting an incredible supporting structure for the last 100 years.

THE CONTEST IN BRITAIN: Tree of the Year Contest Features Oak that Stood Up to Bombing and Elm that Survived Catastrophic Plague

Held every year, the European Tree of the Year contest is a delightful opportunity for tree photographers to showcase their skills, for nature lovers to connect with the continent’s wild heritage, and for residents to celebrate the old or interesting trees in their area.

Ongoing since 2011, it grew from a similar contest held in Czechia, and as a result, East-Central Europe boasts the largest number of finalists.

(CORRECTION: An earlier version described the 200 year old tree as 2,000 years old.)

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School Bus Catches on Fire, Driver Gets All the Kids Out–and Herself–Before it Explodes Behind Her

By
Andy Corbley
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The charred remains of Kia Rousseve’s school bus - Kia Rousseve, released.
The charred remains of Kia Rousseve’s school bus – Kia Rousseve, released.

Some very successful comedic songwriters once said: “cool guys don’t look at explosions,” which turns out to apply equally to cool gals as well.

Schoolbus driver Kia Rousseve rescued a flock of children when her bus caught fire, and it wasn’t until she—the lost one off—took 8 or 9 steps before the front half exploded in flames.

Rewinding to the beginning of this everyday hero story, Rousseve had around 7 stops left in her route to bring New Orleans’ children to Lafayette Academy for the opening bell.

At approximately 7 a.m. on March 13th, she found that her bus was losing power and had begun to smoke. Pulling over, one of the children, a hero in her own right, alerted Rousseve that a fire had started under the bus.

“As soon as I seen the bus smoking, my instinct was get them off of the bus,” bus driver Kia Rousseve said. Speaking with WOWT 6 News, she added that she performs her own brief inspection of her bus every day, despite the school district having claimed it’s relatively pristine.

Ignoring the emergency exit, she led every child aged Kindergarten through 8th grade, through the front door and onto the street. Once everyone was a safe distance away, she reboarded, double-checked to make sure no one was left, killed the engine, and then stepped off again—just in time as it turns out.

RESCUING CHILDREN IN AMERICA: Hero Bus Driver Saves Boy From Choking on Coin, Rushing Him to Safety–WATCH

“I turned the bus off and got off. When I got off, the bus blew up,” she said. “All I heard was boom, boom, boom. I was like, ‘Oh my God, the bus blew up.’”

A statement released by the school district called her efforts and poise under pressure “nothing short of heroic.”

MORE EXPLODING RESCUES: Man Hailed as a Hero After He Rushed to Pull Driver From Burning Car After Fuel Explosion

“It’s a poignant reminder of the crucial role bus drivers play in our lives, often going unnoticed until a moment of crisis thrusts them into the spotlight,” said the statement, which was first reported by Nola.com.

Rousseve has decided to stop driving school buses, as the days that have since passed gradually made her realize how close she came to losing her life.

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“The secret of happiness is something to do.” – John Burroughs

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Good News Network
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Quote of the Day: “The secret of happiness is something to do.” – John Burroughs

Photo by: Marin Tulard

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