Quote of the Day: “Life holds its miracles, good erupting from darkness chief among them.” – John Patrick Shanley
Photo by: Filip Bunkens
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?
The first FDA-approved treatment using CRISPR may see hundreds of African Americans cured of sickle cell disease.
Making headlines without end for years, but only approved for trials, a CRISPR product is now finally on the shelves, so to speak, and this iteration of the treatment is called Casgevy and manufactured by Vertex Pharmaceuticals.
CRISPR edits the genetic code of the body’s own stem cells to treat conditions that arise from defective or mutated genes. In the case of sickle cell, Homo sapiens evolved this genetic change to protect themselves against the malaria parasite of the African continent.
However the disease that sometimes results from the sickle cell gene, which affects over 100,000 Americans, can cause debilitating pain and shortened lifespan.
“It’s been really remarkable how quickly we went from the actual discovery of CRISPR, the awarding of a Nobel Prize, and now actually seeing it being an approved product,” said Dr. Alexis Thompson, chief of the division of hematology at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, who has previously consulted for Vertex.
Until now, the only previous treatment for sickle cell disease was a bone marrow transplant from a donor which carried large risks such as rejection of the immune system. It’s also difficult to find a matching donor.
MORE CRISPR NEWS: FDA Clears First Study of CRISPR Gene-Editing in Human Patients
While classified as a one-time treatment, the process involves many individual appointments, which themselves are painful, but NBC spoke to one woman who feels as if she’s been given a second shot at life, and can now run and go to the gym; things she couldn’t do before.
“I’m just like a regular person. I wake up and do a 5K. I lift weights. If I wanted to swim, I can swim. I’m still trying to know how far I can stretch it, like what are all the things I can do,” said 29-year-old LaRae Morning.
MORE CRISPR NEWS: Aggressive Leukemia Disappears in 13-Year-old Girl Who was First to Receive New CRISPR Treatment
She would recommend the treatment to anyone who has the option, despite the painful administration process. Winning the Nobel Prize in chemistry in 2020, CRISPR is new, and state-of-the-art. What it isn’t, though, is cheap, and Casgevy costs $2.2 million.
Because it can help prevent years of medical care, NBC reports at least some of the cost will be covered by insurance.
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Sydney Moore watched as the bassinet containing her infant son Lord followed the roof of her mobile home up into the funnel of a tornado—ensuring, she thought, that she would never see him again.
Without time to shed a tear, she threw herself atop her 1-year-old boy just as the walls collapsed on them both.
Outside, her car was obliterated, and the area around her Clarksville Tennessee mobile home was completely destroyed.
Surviving the collapse of the home, she searched desperately for the 4-month-old with her boyfriend, who had been thrown by the force of the funnel which broke his arm and shoulder
“I thought he was dead,” Moore told WSMV in a sober voice. “I thought he was dead and I’d never see him again.”
Then, a miracle.
“It was like a little tree cradle,” Moore remembered. Her baby was but for a cut unscathed, lying asleep in the crook of a fallen tree. Moore’s sister remembered thinking that it looked for all the world as if little Lord had been placed there, as if an angel had guided him through the storm.
MORE MIRACLE STORIES: ‘Miracle’ Drug Has Young Girl Running Dancing and Swimming Again Despite Cystic Fibrosis
Caitlin, Sydney’s sister, organized a GoFundMe to help the family recover from the destruction of their home, means of transport, and the loss of all their furniture and most of their possessions.
Generous souls a-plenty have seen the fundraiser reach $68,000 out of the 100 grand the family is hoping for.
WATCH the story from WSMV…
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If you went out into the backyard of a house in a major metropolitan area, how many species of plants and animals would you expect to find there?
Well scientists who decided to conduct an experiment at their Brisbane suburban home in order to answer that question managed to find over 1,000 species of plants, animals, and fungi.
Dr. Matt Holden, a mathematician, Dr. Andrew Rogers, an ecologist, and Dr. Russell Young, a taxonomist, were roommates together in the city of Brisbane during the initial round of COVID-19 lockdowns in Australia.
The idea of the species count was born when Dr. Rogers went to vacuum cobwebs in his room and wondered how many spiders were on the property.
“We asked a large number of ecologists and conservation scientists how many species they’d expect to find in this setting and they predicted only 200,” said Rogers’ roommate, Dr. Holden. “But after 60 days of surveying, we’d already discovered 777 species.
“It shows suburban houses and apartments could have far more biodiversity than ever imagined, especially when it comes to insects.”
Insects, yes, but not the ones you’d imagine. Their survey, which they turned into a scientific paper published in the journal Ecology, identified 436 moth and butterfly species, yet only 56 different spiders.
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In addition to the invertebrates, they found 8 reptiles and 56 birds, including tawny frogmouths, laughing kookaburras, blue-faced honeyeaters, rainbow lorikeets, spotted doves, and a Brisbane favorite: the Australian white ibis.
Holden and and his colleagues spoke with their university press about the experiment, and hailed their house as not just a bachelor pad, but a “complex ecosystem” that showcases Australia’s biodiversity without the need of even going to the Outback.
“The house was a complex ecosystem of species interacting—we stumbled upon the moth Scatochresis innumera, which as a caterpillar spends its whole time feeding inside the dung of a Brushtail Possum before emerging as an adult,” said Dr. Holden.
MORE BACKYARD SCIENCE: 10-year-old’s Backyard Discovery Reveals ‘Mind-blowing’ Interaction Between Plants and Insects
“The Parilyrgis concolor is another moth species whose caterpillar lives in spider webs and devours spider poop to survive. You don’t have to go traveling to connect with Australia’s diverse range of species, just look in your own backyard.”
Holden recommended keeping native and low-maintenance tree and shrub species, and ignoring the urge to manicure a lawn with pesticides to preserve the greatest biodiversity.
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Our partner Rob Brezsny, who has a new book out, Astrology Is Real: Revelations from My Life as an Oracle, provides his weekly wisdom to enlighten our thinking and motivate our mood. Rob’s Free Will Astrology, is a syndicated weekly column appearing in over a hundred publications. He is also the author of Pronoia Is the Antidote for Paranoia: How All of Creation Is Conspiring To Shower You with Blessings. (A free preview of the book is available here.)
Here is your weekly horoscope…
FREE WILL ASTROLOGY – Week of December 16, 2023
Copyright by Rob Brezsny, FreeWillAstrology.com
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21):
Egyptian Pharaoh Tutankhamun died over 3,300 years ago. When his mournful entourage placed him in his tomb, the treasures they left included a pot of honey, which was meant to sweeten his travels in the afterlife. In the early 20th century, archaeologists excavated the ancient site. They dared to sample the honey, finding it as tasty and fresh as if it had just been made. Amazingly, this same longevity is a characteristic of most honey. I propose we use this as a metaphor for your life. What old resources or experiences from your past might be as pure and nurturing as they were originally? And now could they be of value now?
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19):
Moonstruck screenwriter John Patrick Shanley writes, “Life holds its miracles, good erupting from darkness chief among them.” I predict a comparable miracle for you, Capricorn, though I suspect it will arise out of confusion or inertia rather than darkness. My advice: Don’t be so bogged down in the muddle that you miss the signs that a great awakening is nigh. Start rehearsing how you will feel when deliverance arrives.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18):
Before he reached the height of fame as a novelist, Aquarian Charles Dickens experienced financial instability. When he was 31, the situation got desperate, and he resolved to take extreme measures. For six weeks, beginning in October 1843, he obsessively worked on writing the story A Christmas Carol. It was published on December 19 and sold out in a few days. Within a year, 13 editions were released. Dickens’ economic worries were over. Dear Aquarius, I think the near future will be a favorable time for you, too, to take dramatic, focused action to fix a problem you’re having.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20):
Many religious people believe God can hear their prayers and intervene in worldly affairs. Other religious folks think God can hear their prayers but may not intervene. Then there are the non-religious folks who don’t believe in God and think praying is useless. Wherever you might be on the spectrum, Pisces, I’m pleased to reveal that you will have extra access to support and benefaction in the coming weeks—whether that’s from God, fate, nature, or other humans. So seek out blessings and assistance with alacrity. Be receptive to all potential helpers, even unlikely ones.
ARIES (March 21-April 19):
In 1849, Harriet Tubman escaped from enslavement on a plantation in Maryland. She could have enjoyed her new freedom in peace, but instead resolved to liberate others. During 13 bold forays into enemy territory, she rescued 70 enslaved people and ushered them to safety. She testified that she relied on her dreams and visions to help her carry out her heroic acts. They revealed to her the best escape routes to take, the best times to proceed, and information about how to avoid the fiendish “slave catchers.” In alignment with astrological omens, I invite you to be like Tubman and seek practical guidance from your dreams in the coming weeks—to solve problems or seek bliss.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20):
Jack Nicholson has often played mavericks and anti-heroes in his movies. His life away from the silver screen has also been less than steady and predictable. For example, he has fathered six children with five different women. His fellow actor, Carrie Fisher, said Jack was “fun because he doesn’t make sense.” A person with casual knowledge of astrology might be surprised that Nicholson is a Taurus. Your tribe isn’t typically renowned for high eccentricity. But in his natal chart, Nicholson has the brash planet Uranus near his sun in Taurus, indicating he’s quirky. Aside from that, I have known plenty of Tauruses whose commitment to being uniquely themselves makes them idiosyncratic. These themes will be in play for you during the coming weeks. (PS: Taurus musician David Byrne starred in the concert film, Stop Making Sense.)
GEMINI (May 21-June 20):
The platitude says that if life gives us lemons, we should make lemonade. I’ve got a variation on this theme. Consider the Neva River in northwestern Russia. It freezes every winter. During the frigid months of 1739-1740, Empress Anna Ioannovna ordered her workers to cut huge blocks of ice and use them to construct a magnificent palace on the riverbank. She filled the place with furniture and art, making it a hub of festivities celebrating Russia’s triumph over the Ottoman Empire. I bring these themes to your attention, Gemini, because I suspect that in the coming weeks, you will have substantial redemptive power. Whether you make lemonade from lemons or a palace from a frozen river is up to you.
CANCER (June 21-July 22):
“If the world were merely seductive, that would be easy,” wrote Cancerian author E. B. White. “If it were merely challenging, that would be no problem. But I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve the world and a desire to enjoy the world. This makes it hard to plan the day.” According to my astrological analysis, your fate in recent weeks has been more challenging than seductive. You’ve been pressed to work on dilemmas and make adjustments more than you might like. But this rhythm is about to change. Up ahead, life is seductive, welcoming, and appealing. Are you prepared to drop any unconscious attachment you have to your interesting discomfort so you can smoothly make the transition to more ease?
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22):
I want to prepare you for the delights of the coming days. I want to make sure you are fully alert for them and primed to appreciate them. So I give you the thoughts of Leo psychologist Carl Jung. “It is important to have a secret, a premonition of things unknown,” he said. “We must sense that we live in a mysterious world—that things happen and can be experienced that remain inexplicable; that not everything can be anticipated; that the unexpected and incredible belong in this world. Only then is life whole.”
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22):
Have you taken a refreshing break lately? Maybe even a soothing sabbatical? Have you treated yourself to a respite from the gritty grind? If not, please do so soon. And while you are recharging your psychic batteries, I ask you to give your fantasy life ample room to wander wildly and freely. In my astrological opinion, your imagination needs to be fed and fed with gourmet food for thought. For the sake of your soul’s health, I hope you dream up fantastic, unruly, even outrageous possibilities.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22):
My Uncle Ned advised me, “The best gift you can compel your ego to accept is to make it your servant instead of your master.” An early Buddhist teacher sounded a related theme when she told me, “The best things in life are most likely to come your way if you periodically shed all hope and practice being completely empty.” The girlfriend I had when I was 23 confided, “You may get more enjoyment from the witty ways I confound you if you don’t try to understand them.” I offer these three ideas to you, Libra, because you’re in a phase when the moral of your story is that there is no apparent moral to your story—at least until you surrender your notions of what the moral of your story is.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21):
I believe you Scorpios are the zodiac sign mostly likely to benefit from being empathetic. By that I mean you have substantial power to thrive by reading other people’s moods and feelings. You are often able to figure out angles that enable you to gather what you want while helping others to gather what they want. You are potentially a genius at doing what’s best for everyone and getting paid and rewarded for it. According to my analysis of the astrological omens, this knack of yours will soon be operating at peak levels.
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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Halley’s Comet passed the farthest point in its orbit beyond Neptune and is now heading back toward Earth.
The most famous of all comets has a flattened elliptical orbit that sees it go from the Sun to the outer limits of the solar system. It arrived at the ‘perihelion’ or the closest point to the Sun, in February of 1986.
On December 8th, 2023, it passed its ‘aphelion’ or the furthest point from its orbit, and over the next few decades, there will be better and better chances to see it.
The Marshall Plan was still in the process of rebuilding Germany after World War II the last time Halley had passed its aphelion.
It should be able to be visible when it enters the area of Jupiter, in 2058. By May 2061, it will pass Mars, before arriving near Earth in June.
Space.com has all the details—a truly staggering amount—one could want for planning a Halley’s Comet viewing party 38 years from now including where it will be in the sky at what time of the year, when it’s in opposition to the Sun or brighter planets, and when the best time is to see its blue ion tail.
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Quote of the Day: “The most important wealth is health.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
Photo by: Katie Smith
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?
In India, a group of considerate young people calling themselves the “good fellows” are changing the lives of India’s senior citizens by pairing them with volunteer grandkids.
Meant to combat loneliness and help bring these elders back into society, the organization allows members of the elder’s family to nominate them as a “grandpal” in search of a “good fellow,” typically if their spouse or closest family member isn’t around anymore.
The Goodfellows was started by Shantanu Naidu, Niki Thakur, and Gargi Sandu, a trio of young Indians from Mumbai who all shared a love of hanging out with their grandparents. Today, they have a team of 65 young men and women aged between 18 and 24, and 400 grandpals signed up.
Once nominated, Mr. Naidu, who leads recruitment, has a basic interview with them to gauge their cognitive faculties, but more importantly, their interests in order to pair them with a good fellow who is interested in the same things.
The Better India spoke with two good fellows, aged 23 and 24, who volunteered to pair with grandpals for the program, and they explained that there’s no telling what might happen during any given day. One of them noticed his grandpal needed a new pair of sandals, and so took him shoe shopping for 3 hours to find the perfect pair.
“Kersi uncle has been my grandpal for the last five months,” 23-year-old Aarohi Sawant told The Better India. “We genuinely look forward to hanging out. He’s had his fair share of tough moments, but he swears on focusing on the beautiful bits. He has inspired me to hold onto the moments that make life happy.”
One grandpal calls herself the luckiest lady in the world, because her good fellow is a tech-savvy listener with a good memory; skills that led her to begin writing the 81-year-old woman’s memoirs.
MORE GOOD NEWS FROM INDIA: All 41 Workers Rescued From Collapsed Tunnel in India Himalayas After 17 Days Trapped
In some cases, the pairing lasts as long as the grandpal’s remaining years, and in these situations, the good fellow is encouraged to take time off to grieve and take care of their mental health if needed.
“We’ve come across so many grandpals who tell us they feel alone. Aside from a few utility people, the [doorbell] never rings. But our model is now changing things. They are hopeful and excited on the designated days of the week. They look forward to the bell ringing,” Ms. Thakur told The Better India.
MORE GOOD NEWS FROM INDIA: Boy Invents Smart Spoon for His Uncle’s Trembling Hands that Is Affordable in India
Read more anecdotes and personal stories from The Goodfellows on The Better India, the subcontinent’s largest source for positive news.
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NASA’s Perseverance rover has officially completed exploring Jezero Crater, an ancient crater lake that the agency determined would be an excellent place to search for signs of life.
Having just passed its 1,000th day of operations, Perseverance has collected 23 samples of regolith, containing silicates, fine-graned silica, phosphates, and carbonates—in other words, a recipe for life as we know it.
Ever since the 5th Martian rover touched down on the Red Planet, Perseverance has been exploring a fan-shaped delta of an extinct water system.
With the help of the rover, NASA scientists have charted the path of the history of the Jezero Crater lake.
Presented at the American Geophysical Union fall meeting in San Francisco on Tuesday, Jezero formed from an asteroid impact almost 4 billion years ago.
After Perseverance landed in February 2021, the mission team discovered the crater floor is made of igneous rock formed from magma underground or from volcanic activity at the surface. They have since found sandstone and mudstone, signaling the arrival of the first river in the crater hundreds of millions of years later.
Above these rocks are salt-rich mudstones, signaling the presence of a shallow lake experiencing evaporation. The team thinks the lake eventually grew as wide as 22 miles (35 kilometers) in diameter and as deep as 100 feet (30 meters). Later, fast-flowing water carried in boulders from outside Jezero, distributing them atop the delta and elsewhere in the crater.
“We picked Jezero Crater as a landing site because orbital imagery showed a delta—clear evidence that a large lake once filled the crater. A lake is a potentially habitable environment, and delta rocks are a great environment for entombing signs of ancient life as fossils in the geologic record,” said Perseverance’s project scientist, Ken Farley of Caltech.
“After thorough exploration, we’ve pieced together the crater’s geologic history, charting its lake and river phase from beginning to end.”
The samples collected along the way have been stored in tubes about the size of sidewalk chalk, which were described before the mission launched as the “cleanest place in the universe”.
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Made of sterilized sapphire, the tubes had to be prepared in such a way as to be sure that any evidence of life found upon their return wouldn’t be mistaken as Martian, when it really was a contaminant from Earth.
Using the Planetary Instrument for X-ray Lithochemistry, or PIXL, designed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Perseverance has been able to color-code various mineral signatures in the ground below its wheels to determine where to drill for samples.
Phosphate, a critical component of human DNA and cell membranes shows up in green, while silica, a fine-grained material that’s excellent at preserving fossilized life on Earth, shows up as a kind of Burnt Siena.
MORE MARTIAN STORIES: Mars Rover Discovers Liquid Salt Water on the Red Planet For the First Time
Of course, Perseverance’s instruments are also capable of detecting both microscopic, fossil-like structures and chemical changes that may have been left by ancient microbes, but they have yet to see evidence for either.
The exploration of Jezero may have concluded, but the still state-of-the-art rover is far from retired, and will soon be exploring the furthest reaches of the canyon where the river would have flown into the lake. Rich carbonate deposits have been spotted along the margin which stands out in orbital images, and in any case, the rover has a lot of time to kill until the sample return mission arrives in the second half of the decade.
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A drug that targets the deadliest form of breast cancer has recently been found to elicit no side effects, and triggered an immune response in 75% of patients.
Conducted at the Cleveland Clinic with funding from the Pentagon, the vaccine was administered to 16 women in three separate doses. The form of the vaccine that went through trials is meant to stop the return of this aggressive form of cancer in those who have already been treated.
Further research will tool it to attack tumors in women who have yet to undergo treatment.
mRNA vaccines for cancer tumors are really where this technology comes into its own. Using a piece of the tumor to train immune cells like bloodhounds to search them out is far more effective than using it to train a single component of a constantly mutating virus, as was done to try and combat COVID-19.
It could be available in five years, estimates ABC’s medical correspondent Dr. Jennifer Ashton, who didn’t participate in the research.
According to Anixa Biosciences, the firm behind this vaccine, the drug will target a lactation protein, known as α-lactalbumin, that is present in the majority of triple-negative breast cancer patients.
“The data from our Phase 1 trial to date has exceeded our expectations, and we are pleased with our progress. This vaccine is designed to direct the immune system to destroy TNBC cancer cells through a mechanism that has never previously been utilized for cancer vaccine development,” stated Dr. Amit Kumar, Chairman and CEO of Anixa Biosciences.
OTHER CANCER DEVELOPMENT: Scientists Develop Personalized Anti-Cancer Vaccine That Works in Mice
This year, GNN reported on another cancer vaccine with immense promise; this one for melanoma, which is predicted to be the second-most common type of cancer in the US by 2040.
In a phase 2b trial, 107 participants were treated with both the vaccine and immunotherapy drug pembrolizumab. Their melanoma returned in only 24 patients (22.4%) within two years, compared with 20 out of 50 (40%) who received only pembrolizumab.
WATCH the story from GMA below…
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Set amid the rows of identical block apartments in the background, Huizhen High School is a breath of positive air for the students of Ningbo city, and it recently won one of architecture’s highest honors.
Recently hailed as World Building of the Year at the World Architecture Festival (WAF) in Singapore on Friday, it was made to blur the distinction between inside and outside; a variety of treehouse-like rooms and corridors connecting various open-air spaces like a lecture hall and study area.
Years of modern booming property markets and a hardcore communist past left decades of school construction amorphous, grey, and without aesthetic of any kind. But in a country with deep societal pressures for educational attainment and classrooms that can number as many as 60 students, a more welcoming and refreshing design could be considered imperative.
Huizhen High School was designed by Approach Design Studio, based in Hangzhou. They partnered with the Zhejiang University of Technology and Engineering, and managed to beat Newark Liberty International Airport’s recently opened Terminal A, Australia’s Holocaust Museum in Melbourne, and new national stadiums in both Cambodia and Senegal the win the top distinction in addition to the best school distinction.
“Our focus was not just about designing a school, or working with new forms, spaces, materials, and facades, but about designing new school life and bringing the power of nature into the building,” said Di Ma, director at Approach Design Studio and the Zhejiang University of Technology Engineering Design Group, in a statement.
MORE CHINESE ARCHITECTURAL TRENDS: Epic ‘Floating’ Science Fiction Museum is Erected in One Year to Wow Fans at 81st World Sci-Fi Convention-LOOK
Approach also said that while teaching is nationally standardized to be efficient, the areas of the school are meant to help students “release stress, adjust their body and mind and discover beauty” outside the classroom where trees blend in with concrete and inside with outside.
Judged on 18 different criteria by a panel of 140 experts, the WAF World Building of the Year is considered to be one of architecture’s highest honors.
MORE AWESOME BUILDINGS: One of the Most Beautiful Green Buildings in the World is a Winery
Last year’s winner was Sydney’s spectacular Quay Towers, which rather than being knocked down, were “upcycled” into a new and incredible construction at half the price. The upcycling saved thousands of tons of CO2 emissions from the lack of demolition operations.
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Quote of the Day: “Change and impermanence have a positive side. Thanks to impermanence, everything is possible.” – Thich Nhat Hanh
Photo by: Michal Hlaváč (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?
There’s a small town in Wyoming where the people are outnumbered; by animals, by trees, and even by snowmen.
It was back in July when snow was equal distance a hope and a memory that Pauline Parker of Burlington, Wyoming began making personalized snowmen for everyone in her town.
Painted onto wood to ensure they didn’t melt, it was a hobby that grew and grew and grew until there were more snowmen than people, and a centerpiece snowman was one of the tallest things in the town at 27 feet high.
“I think snowmen bring joy to you,” Parker told KTVQ. “My last count was 316; you can find brown-eyed snowman, or blue or green.”
News doesn’t only travel fast in a small town, but also across small towns, and soon neighboring hamlets wanted their own. One town, with a population of just 10, got a snowman version of every person posing together under the roadsign, replicating a real-world picture of the same scene.
Throughout this month, Parker has decided to host a community snowman scavenger hunt, with snowman-shaped treats as a reward for getting the 20 questions correct across Burlington, and the nearby towns of Otto and Emblem.
MORE STORIES LIKE THIS: Minnesota Snow Sculpting Team Takes First Over Artists From Germany, Finland in World Championships–LOOK
The joyful crusade has won Parker a variety of fans, among art classrooms in the county, but also among the locals who love that she’s spruced up their town in a unique way.
Check out all her snowman designs through this news report from KTVQ.
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There is more than one species of ‘corpse flower’ and in an incredible coincidence, two managed to bloom at the same time in a Japanese botanical garden, allowing the two to pollinate naturally.
The result of this incredible stroke of fortune is that one of the corpse flowers has now fruited, bearing 736 seeds critical for conserving this wondrous botanic enigma.
While the most famous corpse flower may be the Rafflesia genus, these Amorphophallus titanum, or titan arums for short, share all the same wonders.
In the rainforests of the Indonesian islands of Sumatra and Borneo, these flowers produce massive blooms at completely random intervals spanning years. Of the 10 titan arums in the Tsukuba Botanical Gardens of Japan’s National Museum of Nature and Science, only one has bloomed since 2012. Once the flower, which is the world’s largest, comes out into the sun, it begins to release a chemical scent to attract pollinating insects.
But it isn’t looking for nectar feeders, Rafflesia and Amorphophallus are looking for carrion flies. The smell has been described as everything from rotting meat to rancid garlic, and made it difficult for the workers at Tsukuba to gather the pollen from the giant flowers.
Every artificial attempt at pollinating these plants in captivity has failed, and none of the plants have pollinated naturally.
“We don’t know why, whether pollination can’t occur with pollen from this one plant, or whether pollen has a limited shelf life,” Head researcher Chie Tsutsumi told the Mainichi.
Then, in May of this year, a female plant in their gardens produced a small bloom 8 days before a male plant produced an enormous one. They quickly took pollen from the first one and used it to pollinate the second one.
It took about an hour to carefully swab the pollen onto the female plant, all the while the staff were bathed in a famous reek that was very difficult to get out of their clothes, the Mainichi reports.
In November, the plant fruited, and the team gathered the persimmon-like seeds from over 700 small red fruits for cultivation.
“It’s a difficult plant to cultivate, but I’m looking forward to growing it from seed,” said Tsutsumi.
MORE CAPTIVE BREEDING SUCCESS: Flower That Grew Only in York Brought Back From Extinction After 30 Years—First Ever British De-Extinction
In February of 2022, GNN reported on the work of Sofi Mursidawati, a Ph.D. in agriculture at the Bogor Botanical Gardens, who is attempting to create the world’s first nursery for a more famous corpse flower, Rafflesia arnoldii, which has a very different character to titan arum.
Rafflesia is a parasitic specimen that has no leaves, roots, or stems, but rather only one giant, one-meter-long, 20-pound bloom. By contrast, titan arum has a root system—it’s the largest single corm, or tuber, on Earth—weighing over 200 pounds.
With seeds the size of sawdust grains, pollinated flowers infect a genus of vines called Tetrastygma, before slowly growing over many months into an enormous cabbage-sized bulb. The curiosities don’t end there. In fact, it barely qualifies as a plant.
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It branched away from having genetics that code for photosynthesis millions of years ago, and relies entirely upon its host for energy. Furthermore, and unlike most flowers that have pollinating and pollination equipment, Rafflesia blooms are sexually monomorphic, which means that even after taking a year to grow a flower once it’s time to reproduce, it can only succeed if there is another flower of the opposite sex within the same territory of the carrion flies attracted to the scent of rot from its nectar.
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Last year, GNN reported on the kind heart of 11-year-old Isaac Winfield, who opened a food bank in his garden shed to help the poor during COVID-19 lockdowns.
Now, Isaac is preparing to open a “gift bank” for moms and dads who can’t afford presents for their children, in addition to a fifth shed-born foodbank.
December is a big month for Isaac. It’s his birthday month, but there’s also Christmas, and the anniversary of the launch of his food bank, which he started with money from his birthday.
He went on to open additional food banks in his hometown of Redditch, in Worcestershire, England, after realizing how many people in his community needed a helping hand.
His gift bank opened last week, after enlisting the help of the local Greenland Pub to store the hundreds of toys and gifts for needy families he’s received from donors.
“Christmas can be a stressful time and Isaac wanted to help as many people as possible have a celebration without worrying about what is under the tree,” said his mother, Claire.
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“He is absolutely ecstatic seeing his shelves full of toys and gifts for families. His dedication his weekends and spare time to helping is the best Christmas present he could have asked for.”
According to Claire, they had 200 children arrive on the first day of their present bank.
“The response has been phenomenal. We’ll be holding present bank days another three times at this same pub and put on more dates if there’s still the demand,” says Claire.
“We’ve had baby toys, books, dolls, teddies, Nerf guns, blankets, toiletries, there’s just a bit of everything here. It has all been quite overwhelming to see. “
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“The fifth food bank has been opened alongside the YMCA and the support we’ve had for that has been incredible also.”
Anyone with toys or food to donate can find all the links on the Friends of Isaac Food Bank page on Facebook.
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A Kiwi professor of zoology was visiting Colombia and got the surprise of his life.
The South American country has more birds, both endemic and overall, than any other country, but when his companion spied a curious-looking honeycreeper with blue and green plumage, Professor Hamish Spencer was sure it was a once-in-a-lifetime entry on his life list.
Amateur ornithologist John Murillo was with Spencer, and managed to take some incredibly good still photographs of the green honeycreeper. Half of its body was blue, which meant that the men were looking at a “bilateral gynandromorph,” or a bird that had half-female half-male plumage.
“Many birdwatchers could go their whole lives and not see a bilateral gynandromorph in any species of bird. The phenomenon is extremely rare in birds, I know of no examples from New Zealand ever,” said Spencer.
Murillo and Spencer published a paper on their discovery. Published in the Journal of Field Ornithology, it’s just the second time that a bilateral gynandromorph has been observed in this species in 100 years.
Professor Spencer says gynandromorphs are important for our understanding of sex determination and sexual behavior in birds.
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The main groups in which the phenomenon has been recorded include animal species that feature strong sexual dimorphism; most often insects, especially butterflies, crustaceans, spiders, and even lizards and rodents.
“The phenomenon arises from an error during female cell division to produce an egg, followed by double-fertilization by two sperm,” Spencer explains to his university press.
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He hopes the novel discovery will inspire people to “treasure exceptions” as they always reveal something interesting.
“Be always on the lookout for oddities—who will find the first New Zealand example of a bilateral gynandromorph in a bird?”
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Quote of the Day: “Our first and last love is self-love.” – Christian Nestell Bovee
Photo by: DESIGNECOLOGIST
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A pit bull named Bolo needed just one day with the officers at the Hopkinsville Police Department for them all to fall in love.
Now sworn in as the first-ever “Paw-trol Officer” Bolo has found his fur-ever home.
Arriving at the station in Hopkinsville Kentucky as part of a publicity program for the nearby Christian County Animal Shelter, Bolo was only meant to stay for a day and contribute his handsome face to the Department’s social media posts as a means to help him find a home.
“Oddly enough, everybody fell in love with him,” said Police Chief Jason Newby.
“So when it came time for him to go back that day, they got him in his cage, and he kind of dropped his head and whimpered, and everybody’s heart melted, and we decided to adopt him.”
They didn’t just adopt him, they signed him up for the blue and black.
“[O]n Tuesday, during the Hopkinsville City Council meeting, Bolo was officially made a part of the team and sworn in by Mayor J.R. Knight as HPD’s very first Paw-trol Officer! We can’t wait to follow this sweet pup’s career on the force,” the Department wrote on Facebook.
In it, the mayor recited the traditional oath about supporting the citizens of Hopkinsville Kentucky as Paw-trol dog.
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“You can bark if you want to,” said Mr. Knight in conclusion.
Short of a bark, Bolo committed himself to a bright future with an inky paw print and a photo.
WATCH the ceremony below…
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A wise man once said that aging is the gradual acceleration of comfort-seeking, and Englishman Lew Burja, who’s 92 and still practices kung fu and tai chi, certainly seems to think so.
A grandfather with three grandkids, decades of remaining spry has ensured he can keep up with the little ones, and keep up a diet rich in the best kinds of delicious foods like oven roasts and chocolate.
“At my age, I have friends dying all around me and [tai chi] has kept me going,” said Burja. “It’s really important to keep moving—which is lucky because I can’t stand still.”
He found tai chi in his 50s after suffering from repeat chest infections and a bad back. He had already done sports most of his life, which included rugby, weightlifting, track, Judo, and English football, but had never done tai chi before.
Captivated by watching a tai chi demo at a fair he attended, he decided to give it a go and started weekly two-hour sessions, also including a half-hour of kung fu.
Tai chi is an internal Chinese martial art practiced for health, known for its slow, intentional movements, while kung fu refers to any skill achieved through hard work in a general sense, and doesn’t specifically refer to martial arts.
“I was fit and healthy. But these chest infections just kept coming back just a few months after I stopped antibiotics,” he said. For some reason, I was really attracted to the slow movement and deep breathing of the tai chi.”
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“There’s a specific sequence of movements you can do to manage certain health conditions. That’s how I stopped getting chest infections. I’d often had colds before starting tai chi and they stopped too.”
Burja, from Leeds, can still walk up to seven miles a day and he says running is no problem. He is also training to become a thriller writer to keep his mind sharp.
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“Plenty of exercise is what keeps you going, and it also gives you a really positive outlook on life,” said Burja on this point. “And it’s kept me fully compos mentis. I’m training to be a thriller writer.”
“I don’t fight in kung fu anymore but I can still do the hits and kicks.”
WATCH Lew in action below…
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In one of Africa’s last great wildernesses, a remarkable thing has happened—the scimitar-horned oryx, once declared extinct in the wild, is now classified only as endangered.
It’s the first time the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the world’s largest conservation organization, has ever moved a species on its Red List from ‘Extinct in the Wild’ to ‘Endangered.’
The recovery was down to the conservation work of zoos around the world, but also from game breeders in the Texas hill country, who kept the oryx alive while the governments of Abu Dhabi and Chad worked together on a reintroduction program.
Chad is one of the most corrupt countries on Earth, and ranks second-lowest on the UN Development Index. Nevertheless, it is within this North African country that can be found the Ouadi Rimé-Ouadi Achim Faunal Reserve, a piece of protected desert and savannah the size of Scotland—around 30,000 square miles, or 10 times the size of Yellowstone.
At a workshop in Chad’s capital of N’Djamena, in 2012, Environment Abu Dhabi, the government of Chad, the Sahara Conservation Fund, and the Zoological Society of London, all secured the support of local landowners and nomadic herders for the reintroduction of the scimitar-horned oryx to the reserve.
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Environment Abu Dhabi started the project, assembling captive animals from zoos and private collections the world over to ensure genetic diversity. In March 2016, the first 21 animals from this “world herd” were released over time into a fenced-off part of the reserve where they could acclimatize. Ranging over 30 miles, one female gave birth—the first oryx born into its once-native habitat in over three decades.
In late January 2017, 14 more animals were flown to the reserve in Chad from Abu Dhabi.
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In 2022, the rewilded species was officially assessed by the IUCN’s Red List, and determined them to be just ‘Endangered,’ and not ‘Critically Endangered,’ with a population of between 140 and 160 individuals that was increasing, not decreasing.
It’s a tremendous achievement of international scientific and governmental collaboration and a sign that zoological efforts to breed endangered and even extinct animals in captivity can truly work if suitable habitat remains for them to return to.
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