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Texas Oak Tree Thought to Be Extinct Discovered in Big Bend National Park

By
Andy Corbley
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Michael Eason - released
Michael Eason – released

America’s national parks are more than just places of rest and relaxation or protective zones around our country’s most bizarre, unique, and delicate landscape features, they are bastions of biodiversity.

Case and point, Big Bend National Park in Texas, where a species of oak unique to the state’s western mountain ranges was rediscovered having been declared extinct for some time.

Quercus tardifolia or the late-leaf oak, is a living relic of a bygone climactic period in Texas’ history when the Lone Star State was wetter and cooler. The tardifolia keeps its leaves all winter and regrows them very late into spring.

As such, the only place it can thrive is in north-facing canyons in Big Bend National Park’s Chisos Mountains where there is plenty of shade and moisture.

Michael Eason, a scientist with the San Antonio Botanical Garden’s Rare Plants and Conservation program, went into Big Bend with a team of botanists in order to try and find a late-leaf oak.

“The Tardifolia, the one that nobody could ever find, was sort of a—I wouldn’t say a missing link—but we were trying to figure out ‘where does this sit?’” Eason told NPR. 

OTHER TEXAS TALES: Texas Lists Two Critical Pollinator Flowers as Endangered Species, Practically Guaranteeing Milkweed Recovery

Getting a hold of some leaf samples in a location called Boot Canyon, Eason sent them to the Morton Arboretum to be analyzed. When the microscopy results came back, it confirmed Eason’s suspicions that Quercus tardifolia was still out there.

credit – Bartlett Tree Research Laboratories And Arboretum

Fanning out along the slopes of Boot Canyon, Eason and his team were able to locate two of these supposedly extinct oaks, take off some branches, and graft them onto oak rootstock back at the San Antonio Botanical Garden.

“It’s definitely a highlight of the career finding something that was presumed extinct,” he said. “There’s definitely elation when we found it that first day, I was pretty emotional. I don’t think anyone thought that we would find two, and I don’t think anyone ever thought that we would be looking at other populations on private land.”

MORE SPECIES RECOVERIES: After 20 Years He Finally Spotted the Elusive North American Butterfly Beauty in a Nearby Bog

Other individuals were found in canyons on privately-owned ranch land in the surrounding area.

Eason now has quite a few oaks in his greenhouse and is shipping seedlings to botanic gardens across the country in order to preserve the species.

SHARE This Good Texas Story About Bringing Species Back From The Brink…

Sydney Resident Watches with Joy as Surfer Paddles out to Save Drowning Magpie

By
Andy Corbley
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credit Amanda Williams
credit Amanda Williams

In the Australian state of New South Wales, a surfer cut his surf trip short to save a struggling magpie that had somehow managed to dump itself in the ocean waves several dozen yards from shore.

Watching it all from an observation deck was Amanda Williams, the only reason the still-anonymous surfer’s good deeds are known to the world, because she described this “beautiful” rescue to local news.

Walking along the headland above South Cronulla beach in NSW, Williams noticed there was something struggling in the water. At first she wasn’t sure what it was, but the fear it might have been a human led her to take out her phone’s camera and zoom in.

That’s when she saw that it was a magpie—this small bird was flapping about, getting swooped by seagulls no less, with no ability to save itself.

Williams wanted to help, but there was no one around, and with her 6-month-old infant strapped to her chest, there was nothing she could do.

After 10 minutes, some surfers went out to catch some of the waves, and one of them noticed the magpie was there. Paddling his board under the exhausted bird, he lifted it out of the water. The waves though sent his board bobbing up and down, and eventually the surfer just had to pick the magpie up in his hand.

MORE AUSSIE NEWS: Big White Dogs Save the World’s Smallest Penguin in Australia

“He was just holding this thing like it was a pet bird, it just sat in his hand,” Mrs. Williams said. “It was so beautiful, he could’ve just left it or ignored it but he went and cut his surfing trip short for this poor little magpie. He went out of his way and took it to the vet, it was beautiful.”

She watched, touched, until bird and brawn were out of sight. She then went home and posted the episode to her local Facebook page where it accumulated a big reaction.

MORE ANIMAL RESCUES: Migrating Turtles and Tiny Hatchlings Get a Boost from Workers at a Connecticut Dry Cleaners

“I have no idea who he is, he just did it on his own. No one was watching, there was no-one on the shore cheering. He just did it for this poor little bird that was drowning in the surf,” she said, adding that she wanted to thank him for “showing me that there are still good people around”.

Williams did manage to contact the veterinary hospital, who said the bird was rapidly improving.

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“We all have ability. The difference is how we use it.” – Charlotte Whitton

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Quote of the Day: “We all have ability. The difference is how we use it.” – Charlotte Whitton

Photo by: Alexandre Pellaes

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?


Probiotics Enhances Cognitive Abilities Through the Gut: A Key to Aging Brain Health

By
Andy Corbley
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Lactobacillus rhamnosus LSU lab CC 2.0. (Dr. Karen Sullivan)
Lactobacillus rhamnosus LSU lab CC 2.0. (Dr. Karen Sullivan)

It’s not correct to tell someone you are what you eat, because you’re also what the trillions of microbes that live inside your GI tract and brain eat.

A study looking to see if taking a probiotic could improve symptoms of mild cognitive impairment found that the above refrain is correct—even when it’s related to cognitive decline associated with aging.

Specifically, participants with cognitive decline who were given Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG (LGG) for three months had increased cognitive scores associated with specific and measurable changes to the composition of their gut microbiome.

“The implication of this finding is quite exciting, as it means that modifying the gut microbiome through probiotics could potentially be a strategy to improve cognitive performance, particularly in individuals with mild cognitive impairment,” said Mashael Aljumaah, a microbiology doctoral candidate at the University of North Carolina.

“This adds a new layer to our understanding of the microbiome brain-gut connection and opens up new avenues for combating cognitive decline associated with aging.”

On account of the microbes, including viruses, bacteria, and other creatures that live in the gut, the gut is both the largest immune center and endocrine organ in the body, meaning more immune system activity is activated and modulated and more hormones are created in the gut than anywhere else.

When factoring in digestion and nutrient absorption, it’s perhaps no surprise that the diversity of microbial species in the gut could affect our biology as far afield as the cognitive centers of the brain.

The trial was double-blinded, meaning neither the patients nor the researchers knew who was given the placebo, and who was given the LGG. Over three months, patients aged 52 and 75 years old with mild cognitive impairment had their neurological markers improve concordantly with a drop in the prevalence of a microbiota genus called Prevotella.

MORE HEALTH NEWS: Men Free of Prostate Cancer Had Guts Fortified By Microbes Found in Yogurt

“By identifying specific shifts in the gut microbiome associated with mild cognitive impairment, we’re exploring a new frontier in preventive strategies in cognitive health,” said Aljumaah. “If these findings are replicated in future studies, it suggests the feasibility of using gut microbiome-targeted strategies as a novel approach to support cognitive health.”

The researchers are now working to understand the specific mechanisms of how microbes like Prevotella influence the gut in a way that improves brain health. Specifically, they are exploring how certain molecules produced by these bacteria modulate the functionality of neuroprotective hormones that can cross the blood-brain barrier.

Commercial probiotics contain many different species, and before running off to the store to buy one, it’s important to remember that this trial used one single species, and that the results were correlated with the drop in a single genus—a genus that may not be present in all gut microbiomes.

MORE NEWS FROM THE GUT: Specific Gut Bacteria Extract More Energy Which Seems to be Associated with Obesity

Nevertheless, it’s a very important finding, but just one in a long, long line of discoveries related to gut health and overall wellness.

SHARE This Very Important Finding With Your Friends… 

Migrating Turtles and Tiny Hatchlings Get a Boost from Workers at a Connecticut Dry Cleaners

By
Andy Corbley
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Some years ago, a Connecticut dry cleaners realized their store was smack dab in the middle of a turtle migration route, and now every year from May through September, job responsibilities shift from cleaning and pressing clothes to cleaning and pressing clothes and picking up turtles.

Pameacha Pond, a 19-acre body of water in Middletown, CT, is the site of a spring migration of Eastern painted turtles, who have to cross a busy two-lane road to get there and lay their eggs.

Later in summer, the flow of turtles changes, and rather than adult turtles entering Best Cleaner’s front door, tiny hatchlings—no bigger than a quarter—come through the back.

“Every summer, we’re always looking at our feet because we don’t want to step on them,” assistant manager Jennifer Malon told the Washington Post.

Malon is just one pair of hands at Best Cleaners that routinely crosses the busy road, turtle(s) in hand, because ever since local news covered the story, and it was picked up by the Post, locals have been coming to pitch in.

“We have all helped bring at least one turtle across,” Malon told Middletown Press. “We’re used to it now; it’s part of the job almost. We put them a good distance toward the water and they usually climb down the bank.”

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE: In Tribute to His First Love, Man Constructs a Wetland Home for Beavers and Frogs

Though neither rare nor endangered (the Eastern painted turtle is one of the most common turtles in America) they are important indicator species and can be used as a proxy of the integrity of the ecosystem as a whole.

Charmingly, the residents of Middletown believe it’s part of what makes the town special—seeing turtles slipping about on the floors of the store when they come to pick up the dry cleaning.

SHARE This Quaint Story Of A Small Town Making Room For Nature… 

Artist Drops Sketchbook With Years of Work Lost – Until Toronto Steps up to Help

By
Andy Corbley
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Dmitry Bondarenko / Facebook
Dmitry Bondarenko / Facebook

From Toronto comes a lovely story about lost and found, and how this nearly universal feature of Western society can bring out the best in people.

Dmitry Bondarenko, a Toronto-based artist and lecturer, had spent 10 years filling up a 5×7 black sketchbook of paintings in acrylic and gouache, but lost it while cycling through his adopted city of Leslieville.

Bondarenko and his parents immigrated to Canada from the USSR, and the sketchbook contained some of that memory, including still-life paintings of objects belonging to his Russian great-grandfather in the Red Army.

The weight of its absence was felt immediately, and Bondarenko set about trying to find it. He retraced his steps, put up more than 70 flyers on telephone poles and street lamps, and checked with park services in the park he had cycled through.

Eventually he turned to social media, writing in a Facebook post that normally “I’d just let it go, but this book was different. Some losses and mistakes simply hurt more than others, and I need to give finding this book a try.”

Two days later, the post was shared onto a FB group called “I Am A Leslievillain” where it reached a man who had found the sketchbook on the trail.

It didn’t sit well, the Toronto Star reported, in the home of Chris Ellam, 75. One glance through its paint-bound pages was enough to clue him in on the book’s significance to someone. But there was no name, no phone number or address, and nothing in the numerous artworks that gave Ellam any idea who it might belong to.

He had considered hanging it from a tree near to where he found it, but wanted more to ensure it wasn’t damaged by the rain. Fortunately after two days he saw the Facebook post, and through a relay of several people was able to get in touch and schedule a meet-up with Bondarenko.

MORE FRIENDLY CANADIANS: Woman Spontaneously Offers Homeless Man a Job on Her Farm Proving the Power of Kindness

“And then I lectured him like an old man,” Ellam told the Star. “I told him, ‘Put your name and number in it!’”

The Russian-Canadian tried and failed to present Ellam with a reward, and said it was a very humbling experience, a welcome act of goodwill in difficult times.

SHARE This Nice Story Of A Nice Neighbor With Your Friends…

Historic Homes Being Turned into Heritage Building Materials by These Awesome Savannah Women

By
Andy Corbley
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Katie Fitzhugh of Re:purpose Savannah - @repurposesavannah on IG
Katie Fitzhugh of Re:purpose Savannah – @repurposesavannah on IG

In Savannah, Georgia, a female-led non-profit works in hard hats and pink high-vis vests in a gradually growing business of reuse and recycling—deconstruction.

Deconstruction is what you do if most parts of a building could and should be used again; because they’re made from heritage materials; because they’re built with boards of high-quality endangered timbers; because otherwise it would all be thrown in a landfill.

Re:purpose Savannah is a 501(c)3 that takes old, condemned buildings apart for their bricks, timber, door frames, metalwork, and other components and sells them to construction firms building new homes for discerning clients. They’ve taken apart beach houses, dairies, bungalows, cottages, and traditional homes in town.

It’s the ultimate in circular economics, and despite the fact that 6 times more labor hours go into deconstructing a house than demolishing one, it was during COVID-19 that the value of this niche occupation revealed itself.

“When COVID happened the price of lumber skyrocketed, all our lumber was coming from elsewhere,” said Mae Bowley, Executive Director for Re:purpose Savannah. “My supply, which is local, didn’t dry up, I didn’t have to raise my prices a penny,” she said in a mini-doc shot by the Christian Science Monitor.

Bowley said that her company’s salvaged lumber was comparable in cost to the high-priced lumber during COVID.

Furthermore, much of the wood that Bowley and her crews pull down comes from trees no longer used for lumber because they are endangered, or because there are better options for mass timber planting.

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These include white and red oak, longleaf pine, sweetgum, walnut, and hickory. Longleaf pine in particular is a very high-quality wood with a tensile strength that’s higher than steel.

The non-profit sells all of the salvaged material at its own lumber yard, where old boards, beams, joints, and flooring undergo a light touch of restoration to remove decay or split ends.

RELATED: Watch Woman Save Bees By Rescuing Hives From Old Buildings With Her Bare Hands

They keep detailed records of every historic building that’s torn down so that as much context as possible can stay with the materials and lumber as they’re shipped off to their new home.

WATCH the documentary below… 

SHARE This Awesome Story Of Wonder Women And Historic Homes… 

“When in doubt, don’t.” – Benjamin Franklin

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Quote of the Day: “When in doubt, don’t.” – Benjamin Franklin

Photo by: Steve Rotman (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?


A Humble Stick Reveals Wealth of Information About Extinct Heidelberg Hominids as Hunters and Craftsmen

By
Andy Corbley
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Double-pointed throwing stick from Schöningen Germany / SWNS
Double-pointed throwing stick from Schöningen Germany / SWNS

In the hands of a capable Ice Age hunter, this simple stick could be used to nail small mammals, or even assist in taking deer and horses.

It is supposed that the four-foot-long projectile could be hurled at beasts grazing up to 30 meters away, and with a point at either end, was twice as likely to do damage as a single-pointed dart.

It was dug up at the Schoeningen Palaeolithic site complex in Lower Saxony, a coal-mining area that has yielded a number of archaeological discoveries since the 1990s. Produced by early humans known as the ‘Heidelberg People,’ the skillful woodwork techniques show how they may have been more sophisticated and intelligent than previously thought.

“Our detailed analysis of the double-pointed stick leaves no doubt this was a well-planned, expertly manufactured, and finely finished tool,” said Dr. Annemieke Milks of Reading University, lead author of the paper published on the tool.

The Heidelberg People were the first recorded proper hominids to build homes and hunt big game, but they became extinct before the end of the last Ice Age. This stick was found amid a number of similar wooden tools found by a lakeside where it is believed they had a permanent encampment.

Throwing sticks have been recorded in dozens of ancient cultures, perhaps the most famous of which being the boomerang of the Australian Aborigines. They’re a rudimentary rung of the evolutionary ladder that took humans to the modern archery setup of carbon fiber, laser pointers, and razer-bladed mechanical broadhead tips, but could nevertheless be absolutely lethal if aimed properly.

OTHER NEWS LIKE THIS: Remains of Prehistoric BBQ Suggests Dinner was Served 780,000 Years Ago–600,000 Years Earlier than we Thought

“The hominins selected a spruce branch which they then debarked and shaped into an aerodynamic and ergonomic tool. They likely seasoned the wood to avoid cracking and warping. After a long period of use, it was probably lost during hunting,” wrote Dr. Milks.

An interesting, if less-likely scenario for this throwing stick is that it was a child’s toy—meant to fit their hands and allow them to gain experience with a larger, similar weapon they would eventually grow up to use. Other researchers have shown this to be common practice among early hominids.

MORE PREHISTORIC FINDS: Prehistoric ‘Axe Factory’ Found in Britain Triggers Search for More Artifacts

“The Schoeningen hominins thus had the capacity for remarkable planning depth, knowledge of raw materials, and considerable woodworking skill, resulting in an expertly designed tool,” Dr. Milks commented.

“The double-pointed sticks were potentially used to assist the hunting of larger prey but may have also been used for hunting birds and small mammals.”

Researchers can only guess how exactly the stick may have been used. Some hunter-gatherers alive today rely on wearing down their prey over long-distance chases. In such circumstances, a volley of these double-pointed sticks hurled at a target in the hope of a light wound could have made all the difference over the miles of the successive chase.

SHARE This Prehistoric Hunting Strategy With Your Friends… 

The First Cargo Ship Running on Green Methanol Weighs Anchor Amidst Merchant Shipping Decarbonization

By
Andy Corbley
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Maersk - released
Maersk – released

Global merchant shipping leader Maersk is launching a bio-methanol-powered container ship this week as part of its fast-track decarbonization strategy.

Producing about the same emissions globally as the airline industry, merchant shipping is experimenting with several ways of cutting back emissions, including through the use of methanol gas, ammonia, and hydrogen.

While these fuels are anywhere between 200% – 400% more expensive than conventional fuel, because of the massive amounts of cargo the ships are capable of carrying, a pair of shoes might only accrue a related cost increase of five cents.

“There’s this fear, I think, of making the wrong bet or getting it wrong somehow,” Morten Bo Christiansen, who leads decarbonization at Maersk, told an audience at the TED Countdown Summit last week. “And of course, in the ideal world, we would spend a decade figuring out all the pros and cons and what is best. But we need to address this problem now.”

Green methanol is a combustible gas collected from decomposing plant waste and can reduce CO2 emissions and equivalents from a container ship by as much as 70%.

Maersk ordered the ship two years ago and has already placed an order for 25 more methanol-powered vessels in addition to retrofitting existing ships with methanol engines and turbines, according to Fast Company.

MORE LOW-CARBON TRANSPORT: World’s First 100% Hydrogen-Powered Trains Now Running Regional Service in Germany to Replace Diesel

By the end of the decade, the company plans to have low-carbon fuels transport a quarter of all tonnage across its 700-strong fleet.

Globally, shipping companies have 120 vessels with low-carbon or carbon-neutral propulsion systems on order.

Additionally, retrofitting of existing diesel ships with sails is also seen as a fast and easy way to decarbonize.

SHARE This Blue-Green Corporate Milestone With Your Friends… 

With No In-Flight Entertainment, Steward Breaks out Karaoke for Rousing Rendition of Ed Sheeren

By
Andy Corbley
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credit @_ashwebster on TikTok
credit @_ashwebster on TikTok

A pair of Australian travelers got the word out from 35,000 feet that the flight attendant aboard their Air Asia flight was singing to them over the intercom.

With the inflight entertainment either absent or malfunctioning, the brief trip from Cambodia to Vietnam became a karaoke stage for the steward to demonstrate his familiarity with the Ed Sheeran song, Perfect.

Silence reigned apart for a few giggles as the East Asian-accented English rang out the speakers normally reserved for broadcasts on arrival times and weather, during which one of the Aussie travelers, Ashleigh, wrote on the screen on her TikTok that she has never felt “so confused and so happy at once.”

Comments on the video were overwhelmingly in favor of the man taking entertainment matters into his own hands, despite a few off-pitch notes.

“This is so sweeeet,” one commenter said on the video that has garnered over 1.5 million views. “Why is everyone so quiet, I would’ve been hyping that king uppppp.”

Others have said that it’s not once in a blue moon to experience this sort of thing aboard Air Asia, who regularly employs “some of the funniest people” as another commenter noted.

WATCH the video below… 

@_ashwebster Ive never been so confused & so happy at once. #fyp #flightattendant #inflightentertainment #mustwatch ♬ original sound - Ashleigh

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13-Foot Sawfish Spotted Farther North Than Any in Decades Hints at Recovery of Species

By
Andy Corbley
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credit – Derrick Biglin released

While on a fishing trip with some students, hoping to be able to teach them about the habits of sharks, a scientist in Florida landed 13 feet of jagged-faced hope.

Up from the depths of Cedar Key came a mature female sawfish, a bizarre relative of the ray with a chainsaw for a nose (called a rostrum), and an animal that almost went extinct in the US.

Dean Grubbs, a marine ecologist at Florida State University, was hoping to be able to catch a juvenile shark, perhaps a nurse shark, for the students on board his boat. But when the line jerked in the sheltered gulf waters southwest of Gainsville, Grubbs had a hunch as to what was on the other end.

“I was pretty sure this was a sawfish, but I remained stone-faced because I didn’t want to disappoint the students if I was wrong,” Grubbs says in a statement. “I saw the tail before the rostrum, so I lost my calm at that point and screamed ‘Sawfish! It’s a sawfish!’”

Once they had it secured alongside their boat, one of the students returned to the shore to get a tagging device which they hadn’t imagined that they’d need for anything. It was the first sawfish to be tagged in Cedar Key in over 30 years.

Once widespread in the US southeast, sawfish numbers plummeted due to a variety of factors. They were the first native freshwater fish to be put on the Endangered Species List.

The tagging will allow the biologists to track the animal for 10 years to see where it spends its time. Grubbs and his colleague were encouraged to see that the animal was female and that she had mating scars: she was reproducing.

credit – Florida State University released

MORE GOOD FISH NEWS: True ‘River Monster’ of the Amazon Has Recovered Thanks to New Sustainable Fishing

Sawfish nurseries tend to be found in the calm waters under and around mangrove trees—like near Tampa Bay, south of Cedar Kay where three juveniles were recently found at a place called Rattlesnake Key.

Both Cedar and Rattlesnake keys would have had plenty of sawfish at the turn of the 20th century, and a belief is forming that they are returning to old haunts as part of a slow, steady recovery.

RELATED: Shrimpers and Crabbers Get Paid to Collect Abandoned Traps, Saving Wildlife from Derelict Fishing Hazards

“What’s remarkable to me is that they’re creeping back into exactly the previous habitats and range from which they’ve been extirpated,” Gavin Naylor, director of the Florida Museum of Natural History’s shark research program, says in the statement. “It’s as if they have a deeply embedded knowledge of where to go.”

Grubbs told Newsweek that he believes the population is recovering after the ESL listing, as well as additional measures like increased protection for mangroves and a ban on gill nets which the sawfish rostrums were famous for getting trapped in.

SHARE This Remarkable Catch And Positive Trend With Your Friends… 

“Love has no errors, for all errors are the want for love.” – William Law

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Good News Network
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Quote of the Day: “Love has no errors, for all errors are the want for love.” – William Law

Photo by: Nathan Anderson

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?


Cat Missing for Five Weeks Found Trapped Beneath Neighbor’s Floorboards After They Hear Meowing

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Good News Network
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Jo Rymill with Arthur – SWNS
Jo Rymill with Arthur – SWNS

A “miracle” cat missing for five weeks was found still alive underneath a neighbor’s floorboards.

The Russian blue’s overjoyed owners believe he narrowly survived by eating spiders and bugs and licking condensation from pipes.

Arthur lost half his bodyweight while trapped in the English home, and he was only discovered when the neighbors heard distressed mewing and pulled up the floorboards.

For over a month, his owner Jo Rymill knocked on doors, stuck flyers to lamp posts, and posted on social media—never expecting she would find her missing pet just three doors down.

After five weeks of searching, the owner of an AirBnb who had recently renovated the home, posted a message on the neighborhood chat saying the tenants in her property heard a mewing beneath the floor.

Within 12 minutes nearby residents in Ramsgate, Kent, descended on the property and ripped up the floorboards to rescue frail and dehydrated Arthur.

Ms. Rymill was in line for popcorn at the cinema with her husband when the news came through.

“We jumped in the car and raced home,” she recalled. “They started sending pictures and on the way home I was saying ‘OMG! It’s him! It’s him!’

LOOK: Cat Has Gotten So Big He Now Measures Over 4-Feet and Gets Mistaken for Dog

“I thought after five weeks there’s no way he would have survived that because, logically, how could he? The first thing I did was burst into tears.

“I came out and all the neighbors were standing there holding him and it was the most amazing feeling. I still can’t believe he’s with us.”

She said their four-year-old kitty used up more than one of his nine lives after disappearing from their house on June 8.

The dirt-covered moggy was rushed to an emergency vet and spent 24 hours on a drip, while the 55-year-old feared he wouldn’t make it through the night.

CAT KINDNESS: Kind Stranger Rescues Kitty Frozen to the Ground in a Storm–and He Now Looks Amazing

Describing Arthur’s hospital stint, she said: “At the start, we were really worried his kidneys would have gone.

“The first round of blood tests on Friday night wasn’t very good, but the next day they settled out. It’s more than a miracle – nobody can believe he survived for five weeks.

Arthur recovering – by Jo Rymill / SWNS

“This is the best street to live in…The message went out and everyone went ‘oh my God’ and descended.

“If we weren’t all so close, nobody would have known who to contact. The speed of getting him out is what saved him.”

OUR FAVORITE FELINE: Cat Walks Across France to Their Old Home Before Being Reunited With ‘Stunned’ Owners 13 Months Later

However, within half an hour he was reportedly purring and meowing to his owner.

“He has the most resilient personality,” said Mrs Rymill, who now reminds owners to make sure their pets’ microchips are up-to-date and to report them on the database if they disappear. (Watch the video about the rescue below…)

SHARE the LUCKY Life of a Feline With Cat-Lovers on Social Media…

Tiny Baby That Fit Inside Mom’s Hand is Home Laughing After 181 Days in Hospital Not Expected to Survive

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Good News Network
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Courtesy of Krysten Risbon via SWNS
Courtesy of Krysten Risbon via SWNS

A first-time Pennsylvania mom who was told her baby “wouldn’t make it” because he was born so small, now says he is “thriving” at home following 181 days in hospital.

Zaylan was born when Krysten Risbon went into labor 16 weeks early.

He had a hole in his heart and needed constant oxygen, but he made it—and Krysten is now studying to become a NICU nurse, inspired by the care they received.

“When I first held him he could fit in my bra,” said the 22-year-old from Altoona. “Now only his foot fits in.”

“He’s a little fighter.”

The expecting mom and the young father Janerio Reed were over the moon when they found out they were expecting their first baby in August 2022, but she started bleeding at 23 weeks/six days and suddenly was in intense pain. Turns out, she was 4cm dilated.

“They said, ‘You’re going to have this baby today… He’s probably not going to make it’,” recalled Krysten.

WHO KNEW? Mom Became Pregnant While Already Pregnant, Conceiving Twins 28 Days Apart in Age

She was taken to a specialized neonatal intensive care unit at UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital by helicopter.

“It was scary because nobody could come with me.. I just kept thinking everything was going to be ok.”

They gave her steroids to help the baby’s lungs, and doctors were able to halt the birth for another two days, until December 23rd when he was born weighing 1-lb 6oz.

“He was so tiny he fit in the palm of my hand.”

LOOK: Preemie Given 10% Chance of Survival Defies the Odds and is Now ‘a Genius’ Who Outsmarts His Teachers

He had surgery after being born with ROP—an eye disease which can occur when babies are born prematurely—to improve his eyesight.

Finally, Zaylan was able to come home June 21, 2023.

“It was unreal having him home, and pretty insane,” she said. “I can’t believe how small he was.

Zaylan and Krsyten – SWNS

“He’s pretty funny now. He gives me the side eye. He smiles and laughs all the time.”

“He’s a miracle.”

RELATED: First of its Kind Brain Surgery on Baby Inside the Womb has Successfully Prevented Heart Failure

Krysten will start her studies to be a nurse at Mount Aloysius College this Fall.

MULTIPLY THE HOPE By Sharing This With Moms on Social Media…

Boy Stops at Random House to Leave a Pep Talk on Stranger’s Doorbell Cam (Watch)

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Good News Network
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SWNS on Youtube
SWNS on Youtube

A young boy was headed down a neighborhood sidewalk when he made a stop at a random house with a doorbell camera—to leave a positive message of encouragement for a stranger.

The video, posted on YouTube by South West News Agency, does not identify the boy or the location, but the youth is an American walking with a few friends in a tree-lined neighborhood.

He looks directly into the camera with an earnestness and wisdom seemingly beyond his years.

“You matter, alright?

“There’s always going to be someone who cares about you.

“You’re a good person. No matter what people say about you; you matter.”

“I’m just trying to say something nice.

“You matter, man, or girl. Whoever you are, you matter to someone. Just keep that in mind. Don’t forget that.”

ALSO INSPIRING: 70 Million People Cheer on Young Boy Who Rang A Doorbell Asking for Help Finding Friends

Then he went on with his day, sauntering down the sidewalk with a small shopping bag, presumably headed home.

Watch the astonishing moment below…

PLEASE SPREAD THE MESSAGE With Friends Who May Need it on Social Media!

Robot Medic Can Roll Into Hazardous Environments to Provide Medical Treatment Where Doctors Can’t (WATCH)

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Good News Network
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SWNS
SWNS

A new robotic medic could save lives in places like radiation zones that are too dangerous for nurses and doctors to operate.

Human medics can control the vehicle remotely and use the robot’s arms to check a patient’s temperature, blood pressure, heart rate, and even give injections.

The “game-changing” technology has potential to save lives in high-risk emergency environments, such as humanitarian disasters or war zones, say the University of Sheffield team who developed it.

And the first-of-its-kind system was developed in just nine months.

Using medical telexistence (MediTel) technology, researchers from the University’s Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC), Sheffield Robotics and Department of Automatic Control and Systems Engineering, created the mobile, robotic-controlled un-crewed ground vehicle (UGV).

It boasts virtual reality (VR) capability, enabling medics and operators to assess critical casualties in hazardous environments, allowing them to perform a remote triage while also ensuring their safety.

It features two robotic arms which can effectively remotely operate medical tools to perform a critical initial assessment of a casualty within 20 minutes.

That includes temperature, blood pressure and heart rate checks. It can also carry out a palpation of the abdomen and administer pain relief through an auto-injector—all while streaming real time data to the remote operator. (Scroll down to see the video demonstration.)

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SWNS

“Developing and field testing a state-of-the-art, complex system such as MediTel in just nine months has been an incredible achievement and a testament to the skills and capabilities of the entire project team,” said David King, Head of Digital Design at the AMRC.

“MediTel combined existing medical devices with state-of-the-art robotics systems to develop a platform capable of allowing a remote operator to navigate through difficult terrain and provide critical diagnoses of high-risk casualties.”

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Professor Sanja Dogramadzi, director of Sheffield Robotics, said: “This platform could be used by multiple emergency response services.

They will now integrate other sensing modalities to assist patient triage.

MediTel was one of three novel telexistence technologies funded by a £2.3 million innovation competition through the Defense Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) and the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority.

“The project has enabled us to demonstrate the art of the possible to end users, so that we can better understand where telexistence could add value to defense and security environments,” said Dr. Nicky Armstrong, technical lead at Dstl.

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The Sheffield team hopes to build on the project’s success and explore the development of a large-scale medical emergency platform, capable of rapid deployment to humanitarian disasters.

WATCH this team do its magic…

SHARE the Awe-inspiring Technology on Social Media…

“Real knowledge is to know the extent of one’s ignorance.” – Confucius

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Good News Network
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Quote of the Day: “Real knowledge is to know the extent of one’s ignorance.” – Confucius

Photo by: Matthew Feeney

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?


Visitor Saves Hummingbird Trapped in Foyer of Historic Site By Cleverly Using a Ladder–While Shooting Video (LOOK)

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Good News Network
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(Rumble license)
(Rumble license)

A woman had just arrived at the Judge Wickersham House, an historic 1898 home in Juneau, Alaska to get a tour, when she happened upon a high-flying crisis.

One of the employees at the site greeted her by immediately asking, “What do you know about hummingbirds?”

She explained that one of the tiny birds had been trapped in the house’s foyer all morning, flying close to the ceiling in a panic for about four hours.

The woman had tried different things to get the female bird to fly out without success.

“Let’s try getting a ladder and the hummingbird feeder high up where she might notice it,” said the clever tourist who had just arrived.

While standing on the ladder for 15 minutes, the hummer actually landed on her hand several times and began sipping from the feeder.

“I felt the wind from her wings on my face and had her poke her little beak between my fingers!”

But the plan finally worked, and the moment was captured in a video.

“I can’t believe I pulled out my phone to record at the exact right moment,” said Rumble user, meadowlinden.

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“It was one of those magical moments I’ll never forget!”

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SHARE The Great Rescue Idea With Hummingbird Lovers on Social Media…

Miss England Inspires Girls to Be Rocket Scientists After Graduating With Aerospace Engineering Degree

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Good News Network
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Graduate Jessica Gagen at the National Space Centre in Leicester –SWNS
Graduate Jessica Gagen at the National Space Centre in Leicester –SWNS

Crowned Miss England, Jessica Gagen is on a mission to become an astronaut, and has just graduated from university with a bachelor’s degree in Aerospace Engineering.

The 27-year-old became the first ever redhead winner of the prestigious beauty pageant last year in October and, after juggling competitions on the catwalk alongside her studies at the University of Liverpool, was delighted when she graduated alongside her classmates this week.

She now wants to use her degree and beauty queen title to inspire the next generation of female engineers and get more women into STEM subjects.

Her university journey was fraught with obstacles as she suffered insomnia and chest pains while combining her studies with being Miss England.

“I think it’s important that today’s youth know that sometimes things don’t go entirely to plan, and that’s perfectly okay,” said Jessica, who’s from Lancashire, near Liverpool.

“But I’m incredibly proud with what I have achieved. I don’t think it’s quite sunk in yet.

“Aerospace engineering was very challenging, covering topics like aerodynamics, structural mechanics, programming, and advanced materials. It equips candidates with a range of skills sought after by different industries, making them highly employable in the fields of science, technology and finance.

“I absolutely loved it. It certainly opens up a lot of opportunities for me and I can’t wait to see what the future holds.”

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She says she went out to celebrate “with the lads” after graduation because there weren’t many girls in her department.

When she started her college career she had no intention of entering Miss England, but after noticing the lack of females at school—only about 10 percent of her classmates were women—she made it her mission to advertise the subject to the next generation through social media, which subsequently lead her to be scouted for Miss England.

“There’s a lot of work that goes into becoming Miss England, and I really wanted to win because I knew I could use the platform to get more girls into engineering.”

Upon winning the contest, Jessica recalls, “I was ecstatic and life went crazy.

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“I had to protect my health and my grade – I was set to be traveling around the world with the Miss England team from February, a once in a lifetime opportunity. But was thrilled to be able to attend the graduation ceremony.

“The lads in class felt like little brothers, we had the best relationship and I missed them incredibly, so it was lovely still being able to graduate with them.

Jessica Gagen, Miss England – SWNS

Jessica now spends a lot of time visiting schools up and down the country giving free talks about STEM subjects, aimed to advertise them to the next generation.

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She plans to go back to school and get her Masters degree but will continue the pageant circuit by competing in the 71st annual Miss World Contest in December.

With an eye toward space her ambitions include becoming an astronaut—the first beauty queen in outer space.

INSPIRE Girls to Show Off Beauty AND Brains By Sharing on Social Media…

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