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An Espresso a Day Could Keep Alzheimer’s at Bay by Preventing Tau Clumping

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Good News Network
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By Kimiya Oveisi
By Kimiya Oveisi

Whether enjoyed in a latte, Americano, or even a martini, espresso coffee provides an ultra-concentrated jolt of caffeine. But it might do even more for one’s alertness over the long run, according to new research.

In vitro laboratory tests shows espresso compounds can inhibit tau protein aggregation, which is one of the processes believed to be involved in the onset of Alzheimer’s disease.

Although the exact mechanisms that cause dementia are still unclear, a protein called tau plays a significant role. In healthy people, tau proteins help stabilize structures in the brain, but when certain diseases develop, the proteins can clump together into fibrils.

Scientists believe the ‘tangles’ are one of the key causes of dementia – slowing thinking and memory skills.

Some researchers propose that preventing this aggregation could alleviate symptoms. So, Mariapina D’Onofrio and colleagues at Verona University in Italy—where they drink a lot of espresso—wanted to see if compounds in the coffee could prevent tau clumping in lab experiments.

The researchers pulled espresso shots from store-bought beans, then characterized their chemical makeup using nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. They chose caffeine and trigonelline, both alkaloids, along with the flavonoid ‘genistein’ and ‘theobromine’—a compound also found in chocolate—to focus on in further experiments.

RELATED: Drinking Coffee Might Give You a 64% Better Chance at Living Longer Than Those Who Don’t, Study Says

These molecules individually, along with the full espresso extract, were incubated alongside a shortened form of the tau protein for up to 40 hours. As the concentration of espresso extract, caffeine or genistein increased, fibrils were shorter and didn’t form larger sheets, with the complete extract showing the most dramatic results.

Shortened fibrils were found to be non-toxic to cells, and they did not act as “seeds” for further clumping.

In other experiments, the researchers observed that both caffeine and the espresso extract could bind pre-formed tau fibrils.

SHARE THIS: Good News For Pregnant Women Who Love Drinking Coffee

Italians knock back some 30 million espressos each day in little cups, and multiple studies in the last decade showed that the drink could have beneficial effects thanks to its antioxidants and plant chemicals which dampen inflammation.

Regular consumption has been linked to reduced risk of premature death—protecting against heart disease, type 2 diabetes, liver disease, Parkinson’s and some cancers.

Prof D’Onofrio said: “Coffee extracts contain a large variety of bioactive compounds exhibiting health-beneficial effects. We were able to identify the most abundant constituents.

“We have presented a large body of evidence that espresso coffee is a source of natural compounds showing beneficial properties in ameliorating tau-related pathologies.”

WHAT ABOUT TEA? Tea Drinking (and Coffee) May be Associated With Reduced Rates of Stroke and Dementia

Although much more research is needed, the team, which published their results in the American Chemical Society’s Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, says that their preliminary in vitro findings could pave the way toward designing bioactive compounds that could protect against neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer’s.

RAISE a Cup to Good Health By Sharing This With Coffee Drinkers on Social Media…

Your Weekly Horoscope From Rob Brezsny: A ‘Free Will Astrology’

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Our partner Rob Brezsny 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 July 22, 2023
Copyright by Rob Brezsny, FreeWillAstrology.com

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22):
Leo theologian Bernard McGinn defines mysticism as “the consciousness of the immediate presence of God.” In other words, people having a mystic experience are filled with a visceral sensation of the divine intelligence. It’s not just an idea or concept; it’s a deeply felt communion infused with intimate tenderness. You Leos will be more likely than usual to have such contact in the coming weeks—if you want it. If you don’t want it, or don’t believe it’s real, or don’t think it’s possible, well, then, you can of course resist it. But why not give it a whirl? There’s nothing to lose, and it could be fun.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22):
Here’s a parable for you. Once upon a time, there was a woman who could read the future in the night sky. She regarded the planets and stars as her divine informants. On one moonless evening, she took a walk down a dirt road near her home. It was so dark she could barely see two feet ahead of her. Oops! She should have brought a flashlight. Lost in wonder, she gazed up at the heavenly bodies, watching and listening for revelations they might have for her. Then one of the lights, the planet Saturn, whispered, “Stop and look down, friend.” The woman turned her eyes from the sky to the ground just in time to find she was two strides away from stepping into a deep, muddy hole. What’s the moral of the tale? Here are some possibilities. 1. Sometimes the heights provide useful information about the depths. 2. Soaring visions may help you tune in to practical details. 3. To become aware of important facts you’ve overlooked in your daily rhythm, consult your higher mind.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22):
A Libran writer I know received many rejection notices when he launched his career. I was amazed at how undaunted he was. In fact, he was the opposite of undaunted. He taped copies of his rejection notices to his bedroom wall. Seeing the evidence of his failures motivated him. It drove him to improve his writing and churn out even more articles. It fueled his search for a wider array of publications that might host his work. During the fourth year of this approach, luck and fate turned in his favor. Within the next eight months, 12 of his pieces appeared in print. My muses tell me, Libra, that you need to hear this story right now.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21):
The cartoon character Bart Simpson is one of the stars of The Simpsons animated TV show. According to him, “Life is a paradox. You’re damned if you do and damned if you don’t.” While that principle may sometimes be true, I believe you will be exempt from it in the coming weeks. In fact, I suspect you will be as free as it’s possible for a human to be of grueling contradictions, frustrating oppositions, clashing truths, and paralyzing contraries. There’s a good chance you will also outwit and avoid annoying incongruities and silly arguments. Congratulations in advance, Scorpio! Take full advantage of this phase of simple clarity.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21):
The dragon has appeared in the myths and legends of many cultures. Europe, China, and Mesoamerica are just a few places where the fire-breathing flying reptiles have fascinated the human imagination. In some traditions, they are dangerous and predatory. In China, though, they have been harbingers of good fortune and symbols of great power. Emperors claimed the dragon as their special emblem. In assigning the dragon to be your soul creature, Sagittarius, I am drawing from Chinese lore. What would you like to accomplish that would benefit from you having access to fierce, dynamic, indomitable energy? Call on the dragon for help and power.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19):
“There is a world of people who will love you for who you are,” writes author Cheryl Strayed. “A whole, vibrant, fucked-up, happy, conflicted, joyous, and depressed mass of people.” In the coming months, one of your prime tasks is to specialize in communing with these folks. Make it your intention to surround yourself more and more with interesting, imperfect, ever-changing life-lovers who appreciate you for exactly who you are—and who inspire you to grow more and more into the full idiosyncratic glory of your authentic self.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18):
What psychic or prophet is most popular with a-list celebrities? I can assure you it’s not me. Few of my millions of readers are world-famous. What about the planet’s most scientifically accurate astrologer? Who might that be? It ain’t me. I don’t regard astrology as a science, and I mistrust those who say it is. In my view, astrology is a mythopoetic language and psycho-spiritual system that nurtures our souls and helps liberate us from our conditioning. We shouldn’t try to get “scientifically accurate” information from it. Now I encourage you to do what I just did, Aquarius. Have fun telling people who you are not, what you don’t believe in, and which goals you aren’t interested in pursuing.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20):
To come up with your astrological reports, I study the positions of the sun, moon, and planets in relation to your sign. That’s the technical part of the work, the framework within which I unleash my intuition and imagination. To augment this work, I meditate and pray, asking higher powers to guide me in providing useful information for you. I often consult books written by my favorite astrology writers. (Currently reading Steven Forrest’s The Elements Series.) I also ask my deep mind to slip me info that might not be accounted for by traditional factors. How about you, Pisces? How do you do the work that you love and care about? Now is a good time to take inventory and make necessary adjustments.

ARIES (March 21-April 19):
Your deep psyche will soon well up with extra creativity and fertility. I hope you will eagerly tap into these gifts. You should assume that you will be more imaginative and ingenious than usual. You will have an enhanced ability to solve problems with vigor and flair. In what areas of your life would you love to gently erupt with a burst of reinvention? Which of your habits might benefit from being cheerfully disrupted? Give yourself permission to change whatever bores you.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20):
My teacher Paul Foster Case said the color yellow is midway between warm, exciting red and cool, calming blue. “Yellow has an equilibrating influence,” he wrote. “It stimulates the finer functions of the brain, is of assistance in developing alertness and discrimination, and helps to establish emotional balance.” According to my astrological analysis, Taurus, you should emphasize this hue in the coming days. If you call on yellow to help strengthen the qualities Case describes, you will place yourself in sweet alignment with cosmic rhythms.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20):
Because I enjoy joking with you, I am slightly tempted right now to give you one of the following nicknames: Fidgety, Twitch, Jittery, Quivers, or Shakes. But I will take a more serious tack. Let’s instead see if we can influence you to slow down, stabilize your rhythm, get really steady and secure, and stand strong in your foundational power spot. Would you consider adopting any of the following nicknames? Anchor, Unshakeable, Sturdy, Rock Solid, Staunch, Steadfast, Resolute.

CANCER (June 21-July 22):
The sometimes overly clever author Oscar Wilde said, “When the gods wish to punish us, they answer our prayers.” I reject that warped view of reality and assure you it will have no bearing on your life in the coming weeks. If you formulate your prayers with care and discernment, they will lead you to rewards, not problems. Maybe not the exact rewards you imagined, but still close to your hopes and helpful in the next chapter of your life story. (PS: No sloppy, lazy, careless prayers, please. Be precise and clear.)

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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“Don’t brood. Get on with living and loving. You don’t have forever.” – Leo Buscaglia

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Quote of the Day: “Don’t brood. Get on with living and loving. You don’t have forever.” – Leo Buscaglia

Photo by: Jan Brennenstuhl

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?

Alongside What Appears to Be Pizza, Recent Pompeii Excavations Reveal Yet More Hidden Treasures

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Andy Corbley
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The Pizza fresco - Archaeolgoical Park of Pompeii, released
The Pizza fresco – Archaeological Park of Pompeii, released

The discoveries yielded at a new excavation site at the Roman city of Pompeii have everyone talking—about the undeniably familiar shape in a beautifully preserved fresco.

Yes indeed, the item sitting on a silver platter in the depiction looks an awful lot like one of the other things the city of Naples is famous for: pizza.

The dig site is located in a 32,000 sq. foot (3,000 sq. meter) “insula” or neighborhood that was first excavated in the 19th century. Archaeologists at the time found what’s been identified as a laundry, and left the rest alone.

Returning to the insula on Via Di Nola, archaeologists have found a bakery oven, a kitchen shrine adorned with serpents, remains of a mattress, exquisite frescos, and skeletons.

“Every room in every house has its own micro-story in the grander story of Pompeii. I want to uncover those micro-stories,” Gennaro Iovino, the co-lead excavator, told BBC.

The building in which these treasures were found is suspected to be a wholesaler, but nevertheless, the wealth of the merchant(s) that ran it is conspicuous. The atrium of the building featured a skylight where lion-headed statues poured rainwater down into a basin, probably surrounded by plants.

The right-hand side of this area has a massive oven that could have baked 100 loaves of bread per day. Without a shop window, Iovino and his team believe the oven made bread for wholesale. It’s here that the fresco of the pizza was first discovered, making a splash worldwide after it was announced in June.

However, the archaeologists remind us, there’s almost no chance it’s pizza since tomatoes are native to South America, and mozzarella hadn’t been invented yet. They hypothesize it’s focaccia bread with toppings.

MORE NEWS FROM POMPEII: Astonishingly Wealthy Pompeii Home of Two Men Freed from Slavery Reopens to Public

In any case, the park director, Gabriel Zuchtriegel points out how the ancient pizza/focaccia sits upon a silver platter, representing pizza’s history as rising from a poor man’s food to crown jewel of culinary invention.

“How can we not think about pizza, also born as a ‘poor’ dish in southern Italy that has now conquered the world and is served in Michelin-star restaurants?” Zuchtriegel said in a statement. 

Also in the building were discovered the charred remains of a mattress in a bedroom, and the skeletons of two women and one child. As often as the well-preserved ruins of Pompeii yield treasures, they also yield tragedies, and it’s all too clear that these three Romans sought shelter from the volcano under a staircase, only for it to collapse on top of them.

MORE ROMAN NEWS: “Incredibly Rare” Roman Mausoleum Uncovered Beneath London Construction Site

In the middle of the room, another fresco depicts the myth of Achilles who dressed up like a woman to avoid fighting in the Trojan War. In another area, designated as a kitchen, two beautiful yellow serpents coil along a shrine covered in a burnt burgundy background.

For all of the discoveries Pompeii has yielded, a whole one-third of its total space is unexcavated.

“Much of that will be for future generations,” Alessandro Russo, the co-lead archaeologist on the new dig, told the BBC. “We have a problem to conserve what we’ve already found. Future generations may have new ideas, new techniques.”

SHARE This Awesome New Discovery From The Famous City… 

Leslie Dart has Planted 372,290 Trees Across Canada Over the Past 3 Summers and Inspired So Many Others

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Andy Corbley
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credit - Leslie Dart TikTok
credit – Leslie Dart TikTok

A young woman in Canada’s Saskatchewan Province recently garnered 8.7 million views on a TikTok video of her planting 4,545 trees in a single day.

The video’s author, Leslie Dart, doesn’t have a career in forestry, and rather recently entered the workforce in aerospace manufacturing, a field in which she recently graduated at Durham College in Ontario.

The tree-planting is simply a popular summer job for university students that can nevertheless absorb some people with its deeply-meaningful monotony.

For sometimes 15 hours a day, Leslie slams a spade into the ground, levers out the dirt, drops in a seedling, tamps it down with her boot, and moves on to the next one.

This kind of tree planting is mandated by certain provincial laws to be done in conjunction with logging. Pretty much every tree that’s logged for Canada’s prosperous timber industry is replanted by paid volunteers like Leslie, who makes between 17 and 44 cents per seedling planted, and has planted 372,290 trees over the past three summers.

Sometimes the work is on the desolate remains of an area scorched by wildfires, other times it’s in humid logged forest on uneven ground, filled with overgrowth of spikey Devil’s Club, and swarming with mosquitoes. Wherever her spade takes her though, she says it’s deeply rewarding work which becomes such a part of one’s life that they come back year after year to volunteer.

MORE GOOD FOREST NEWS: Planting Trees in a City 30 Years Ago May Have Lowered the Risk of Deaths From Diseases

“I think every parent in Canada should be sending their kid out tree planting because it will take your child and it’ll turn them into a worker,” Kenny Chaplin, a veteran planter of 35 summers and works in the film industry, as well as a substitute teacher, told the Terrace Standard.

“They’ll learn how to work, they’ll have responsibility. They’ll have money in their pockets.”

@lesliedart Another day, another 3,500 trees in the ground. 🌲 It’s kind of fun to think of every work day like planting a tiny forest :) #treeplanting #forestry #replant #planttrees #greenplanet #afforestation #treeplantingbc #planttreesgetdegrees #womeninforestry #helicopter #heliwork #treeplantertok #treeplantingtok #treeplanting2022 #treeplanter ♬ AIN'T GONNA STOP - Carol Kay

Another tree planter who spoke with the Terrace Standard was photographer and filmmaker Rita Leistner, who worked as a war reporter during Iraq War II.

OTHER MARATHON TREE PLANTERS: Turkey Will Declare a Holiday Dedicated to Planting Trees After Young Man’s Tweet Goes Viral

“When I worked in war zones, and people asked me: what prepared me for that work, I told them: tree planting in Canada,” she said.

Reforestation requirements for logging companies and following forest fires have seen 1.6 billion trees replanted in western Canadian provinces, and with devoted individuals like Chaplin and Dart, it’s easy to understand how.

WATCH her in action… 

@lesliedart I planted 4,545 trees today 🌲 Going to do it all again tomorrow, yeehaw! #treeplanting #forestry #replant #planttrees #greenplanet #afforestation #treeplantingbc #planttreesgetdegrees #womeninforestry #heliwork #treeplantertok #treeplantingtok #treeplanting2022 #treeplanter ♬ Get It Get It Get It - Kalin And Myles

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Another Wholesome Shaq Moment: NBA Star Makes Kids’ Day When They “Rescue” Him At Pool.

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Andy Corbley
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Shaq being rescued at the pool - credit Daniel Chavez - TikTok
Shaq being rescued at the pool – credit Daniel Chavez – TikTok

At a resort in Honolulu, sport’s ultimate softy Shaquille O’Neil decided to give a swarm of kids the absolute memory of a lifetime by pretending he was drowning and allowing him to ‘save’ him.

Although the water was less than waist height for the 7.1-foot-tall man, he flopped over on his side, floating listlessly as if he had a heart attack. The kids all pitched in, and 7 of them were needed to turn the giant over onto his back before swimming him to safety.

At that point, the man, the myth, the legend, stood up and thanked them for saving him.

The pair of videos obviously accumulated millions of views on TikTok.

Capturing this was Daniel Chavez, a self-identified Shaq fan, who nevertheless felt conflicted as to whether or not he should record the famous LA Lakers center-turned-sports analyst while on vacation.

“Part of me was like, hmm, should I film this?” he said. “Or, no. 2, should I just enjoy the moments? No. 3, I’m like, he’s relaxing, he’s on vacation, why am I gonna bother this guy’s privacy? But the journalist in me said, ‘No. No, this guy’s being real right now, he’s being such a cool guy. I’m sure people would love to see this side of him.’”

Later in the lobby, Daniel was able to meet Shaq in person, who was “so humble” and even agreed to have a photo with the TikToker.

GNN is always on the lookout for a Shaq attack of kindness, and has reported on his exploits of showering kids with Nintendo Switches and PS5s, tipping a waitress $4,000 because she asked, paying for a stranger’s engagement ring for a smile, converting a family home into one that’s wheelchair accessible for a young boy, and taking a young man with oversized feet to his personal cobbler to fit him with 10 pairs of size 18 kicks.

WATCH the ‘rescue’ below… 

@incatico Shaq is such a cool guy tho #shaq #hawaii ♬ PAW Patrol Opening Theme - PAW Patrol
@incatico The kids brought back Shaq! 😂 #shaq #hawaii ♬ Sound Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh (Remastered 2022) - Official Sound Studio

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Artist Creates Stunning Portraits Using Just Pebbles in Amazing Time Lapse Video

By
Andy Corbley
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Justin Bateman - SWNS
Justin Bateman – SWNS

An artist in Portsmouth is creating mosaic portraits of famous figures like Gandhi, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Queen Elizabeth II using pebbles.

47-year-old Englishman Justin Bateman first started making abstract art in 2018 using organic materials and came up with the idea of using stone after tracing the outline of his bicycle with pebbles.

Since then Justin has created over 100 pieces and laid over a million pebbles in total, despite each piece taking up to five weeks to complete.

“Sometimes the stones in a particular location suggest an appropriate subject,” said the full-time artist who finds locations and then marks them on Google Maps for later.

“At other times the location is selected according to criteria such as proximity, layout, stone composition, and urban or natural aesthetics. If a suitable location and stones present themselves I will try to make the work.

Justin’s art is physically demanding. He can spend hours at a time on the floor creating his portraits, and says that he can’t think of doing anything else with his time until it’s finished.

MORE LAND ART: Check Out the Winners of the Stone-Stacking Championship in Europe – LOOK

Each piece can take between three days and five weeks to create depending on the size and complexity.

Justin Bateman – SWNS

“The simplicity of the final outcome is deceptive because it takes a huge amount of time to conduct research, prepare color maps, collect stones, complete the work, and then photograph,” says Bateman.

MORE STORIES LIKE THIS: Artist Paints Charcoal Portraits on Giant Floating Blocks of Ice in Baltic Sea – LOOK

“Sometimes I will remake them countless times using different stones to find the right combination.”

Like a Tibetan sand mandala, he believes the greatest value in his work is its impermanence, and as such he first chose not to monetize it.

MORE UNIQUE PORTRAITURE: Artist Makes Spectacular Sand Art Portraits That Sell for Thousands After Quitting His Engineering Job–LOOK

“Sometimes I accept commissions or requests, if the timing is right or they align with my own intuition as something that should be made,” he said. “Not more than 10% of my work becomes permanent.”

In Europe, this style is known as “land art” and can be very popular at times. There’s even a land art festival in Scotland every year.

WATCH the masterpiece in timelapse below…

SHARE This Wild Art Form With Your Friends On Social Media… 

“Life consists not in holding good cards but in playing those you hold well.” – Josh Billings

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Good News Network
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Quote of the Day: “Life consists not in holding good cards but in playing those you hold well.” – Josh Billings

Photo: Alessandro Bogliari

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?

 

Mythical City of Underground Labyrinths Found Beneath Altar of 15th Century Church in Mexico

By
Andy Corbley
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Mitla Church - Marco Vigato and the ARX Project - released
Mitla Church – Marco Vigato and the ARX Project – released

Is there anything in science more exciting than when an ancient legend is confirmed by modern research?

Archaeologists in Mexico were able to experience this exact triumph when they found evidence that a mythical underground city lies undisturbed beneath the altar of a church—exactly where a Spanish legend stated it would.

In the time of Babylon, there emerged from Mexico’s Oaxaca Valley a culture known as the Zapotec which could create monumental stone architecture, sophisticated crafts and artwork, as well as a written and spoken language that predated Mayan, Mixtec, and Aztec. They were among Mesoamerica’s first great civilizations, and existed longer than perhaps any other, from 700 BCE to the time of Spanish conquests when they were part of the Aztec Empire.

Legend has it that the Zapotec built a great labyrinthine city called “Lyobaa,” or “place of rest,” centered around a large cavity found in the earth which they believed was the gateway to the underworld.

Later, venturing Spanish missionaries were so repulsed and frightened to explore more than a few yards into the tunnel network that they “ordered [the] infernal gate to be thoroughly closed with masonry,” wrote a Dominican chronicler named Francisco Burgoa.

Now, a collaboration between the Mexican National Institute of History and Anthropology (INAH), the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), and the Association for Archaeological Research and Exploration called the “ARX Project Lyobaa” has discovered a “vast underground labyrinth” underneath the 15th-century Church of San Pablo, all but confirming the Zapotec legend.

The collaboration began at the archaeological site of the Zapotec city called Mitla, where murals, mosaics, and a monument stone palace are still seen above ground today.

The researchers created a 3D model of Mitla’s subterranean passageways using a combination of three geophysical scanning technologies—ground penetrating radar, electrical resistivity tomography, and seismic noise tomography—all of which left the archaeological site above undisturbed.

MORE MESOAMERICAN DISCOVERIES: Ancient Mayan City Hidden for Over 1,000 Years Discovered by LiDAR

The model shows a very large hollow void underneath the precise location of the altar inside the church that was built on the Mitla site. Additionally, the void appears to be connected with another significant geophysical anomaly located immediately to the north of the church.

“Burgoa’s account speaks of a vast subterranean temple consisting of four interconnected chambers, containing the tombs of the high priests and the kings of Teozapotlán,” reads a press release on the truly epic discovery.

Palace in Mitla, Mexico, with original paint on the walls – CC 2.0. Bobak

“From the last subterranean chamber, a stone door led into a deep cavern extending thirty leagues below ground. This cavern was intersected by other passages like streets, its roof supported by pillars.”

The electrical tomography confirmed the existence of two passageways between 18 and 26 feet below the ground. They enter the void from the east. Their scanning also revealed what could be the barricaded entranceway Burgoa spoke of.

MORE ARCHAEOLOGY NEWS: 300 Epic Ancient Murals ‘Unique in the World’ Depict Creation Myths on Texas Rock: ‘Oldest Books in North America’

The size and scope of the passageways surprised the researchers, who conclude that more work is needed before we can truly comprehend what has been found.

“Additionally, the study has revealed evidence of an earlier construction stage of the Palace of the Columns, Mitla’s most important and best-preserved ancient monument, as well as several other geophysical anomalies that may be interpreted as tombs or buried archaeological structures,” the press release reads. “These findings will help rewrite the history of the origins of Mitla and its development as an ancient site.”

Further studies of this kind are already scheduled for this September, meaning that the true scope of the mythical Lyobaa could be illuminated before the year is out.

CELEBRATE This Incredible Story Of The Past Coming Alive On Social Media…

Dance Away Your Tears With This ‘Grief Disco Kiosk’

By
Andy Corbley
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Photo credit: Joe Clark
Photo credit: Joe Clark

Moved by a desire to help people deal with grief and angst caused by COVID-19, Brexit, and the climate crisis, artist Annie Nicholson wanted to create a space where the public can shake out grief and unravel their climate angst.

Nicholson is collaborating with The Loss Project, K67 Berlin, and Street Soundsystem to realize this ambitious public art project.

The kiosk is a refurbished K67 kiosk, a modernist design gem associated with ad hoc post-Soviet spaces, chip stalls, newspaper stands, student cafes, and shelters, which evokes a legacy of European unity and collaboration.

As well as DJ sets, there’ll be meditation and yoga workshops, dance classes, and “grief raves” where clubbers can request tracks that remind them of absent or lost loved ones. It will be located in London’s Canary Wharf before eventually touring Europe and the UK.

Nicholson got the idea in the debilitating aftermath of the deaths of her mother, sister, sister’s partner in a helicopter crash, and her father of cancer a few years later year.

During times of grief or anxiety, it can be difficult to find joy. Dancefloors bring people together in powerful ways, and allow people to process complex feelings in a physical way.

“The dance floor has been a space of silence and safety as I have navigated the many great losses and painful grief in my life throughout the past decade, and having successfully installed public realm projects around grief and mental health over the past two years, we have noticed a distinct change in how people wish to connect and come together. There is an overwhelming need to shake out your grief physically right now,” said Nicholson.

OTHER WAYS OF GRIEVING: Wife’s Humorous Obituary For Late Husband Goes Viral – ‘Cause of death: Being dead sexy’

She further points out that dance is used in funerary rituals around the world, but particularly among indigenous nations, such as in Māori, Yoruba, and Jamaican cultures, Unsurprisingly however, this expression is not common in grieving periods on the British Isles.

“Improvised dance – where you just move to show how you feel – improves divergent thinking and the ability to solve problems,” Nicholson told the Guardian. “But we generally don’t consider ordinary dancers who aren’t particularly good to be valuable even though the dancefloor can be a site of solidarity, repair and even healing.”

SHARE This Wild And Crazy Idea With Your Friends Experiencing Loss…

‘Rolling Bridge’ Designed So Anyone Can Use Hand Crank to Lift Multi-Ton Footpath for Boats

By
Andy Corbley
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Cody Dock Rolling Bridge by Thomas Randall-Page. Copyright Jim Stephenson 2022
Cody Dock Rolling Bridge by Thomas Randall-Page. Copyright Jim Stephenson 2022

The crown jewel in a recent revitalization project of a London industrial area is a “rolling bridge” made of squares powered by a hand crank.

The bizarre spectacle of two large squares gradually inverting the deck of the pedestrian footpath to allow boats to pass underneath a canal lends the new Cody Docks community in London a touch of Victorian-era chic tinged with steampunk madness.

Architect Thomas Randall-Page freely admits it’s not possible to justify everything about the square rolling bridge. It could have been cheaper, it could have been powered by hydraulics or electricity, or it could have been a much simpler design.

But its childish fun, its imaginative function nestled perfectly within its surroundings leaves Randall-Page believing it to be exactly what Cody Docks needs as it transitions from an old 19th-century industrial wharf where the Thames meets the tidal River Lea to a creative community.

Reopening the dock to the Lea’s waters required the removal of a dam and the introduction of a footbridge over a canal where barges would pass into a refurbished mooring.

“To move it from one position to another takes about 20 minutes,” says Randall-Page calmly. “It was important to have that manual aspect, partly because it’s a very low-energy solution in terms of you’re not relying on external power solutions, and partly because there’s a way in which that simplifies things; there’s a whole lot less that can go wrong.”

“If something does begin to go wrong you notice it, you literally feel it getting harder to move. So it’s kind of a haptic check-in process,” he said in a micro-doc about his bridge.

MORE BIZARRE ENGINEERING PROJECTS: Girl Surprised With Pet Dragon After Surviving Cancer and Making-a-Wish – ‘It’s a Marvel of Engineering’

For someone wondering how the square portals of the bridge roll, it’s because they’re mounted on rails built into the sides of the canal wall which undulate up and down like hills on the horizon. This symmetry allows the whole bridge structure to smoothly roll through 180 degrees to a fully inverted position facilitating the movement of boats from the river to the dock.

Randall-Page said his design was inspired by a visit to a friend’s boat. At times, he had to help his friend pass through canal locks, and the architect took an immediate liking to the low-tech yet smart and hands-on Victorian design of the lock mechanism.

JUST LIKE THIS: The World’s First Boat Elevator Helped Turn Scottish Canals Into Green Veins of Joy

“There’s something very nice about being able to look at the thing even if it’s stationary, and kind of be able to read something about how it works,” he said. Everything’s on show, the winches are on show, the tracks are on show, and if you’ve got your head screwed on you can follow the logic of how this thing works.”

WATCH the mini-doc below… 

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Stunned Researchers Discover that Metals Can Heal Themselves ‘Without Human Intervention’

By
Andy Corbley
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Illustration of nanoscale self-healing (in green) – Sandia National Laboratories / Dan Thompson
Illustration of nanoscale self-healing (in green) – Sandia National Laboratories / Dan Thompson

Scientists for the first time have witnessed pieces of metal crack, then fuse back together without any human intervention, overturning fundamental scientific theories in the process.

If the newly discovered phenomenon can be harnessed, it could usher in an engineering revolution—one in which self-healing engines, bridges, and airplanes could reverse damage caused by wear and tear, making them safer and longer-lasting.

The research team from Sandia National Laboratories and Texas A&M University described their findings today in the journal Nature.

“This was absolutely stunning to watch first-hand,” said Sandia materials scientist Brad Boyce.

“What we have confirmed is that metals have their own intrinsic, natural ability to heal themselves, at least in the case of fatigue damage at the nanoscale,” he told the Laboratory’s press.

Repeated stress or motion causes microscopic cracks to form in machines’ metal components. Over time, these cracks grow and spread until the whole device breaks, or in the scientific lingo, it fails.

The fissure Boyce and his team saw disappear was one of these tiny but consequential fractures—measured in nanometers.

“From solder joints in our electronic devices to our vehicle’s engines to the bridges that we drive over, these structures often fail unpredictably due to cyclic loading that leads to crack initiation and eventual fracture,” Boyce said. “When they do fail, we have to contend with replacement costs, lost time and, in some cases, even injuries or loss of life. The economic impact of these failures is measured in hundreds of billions of dollars every year for the U.S.”

Self-healing, as much as it sounds like something from science-fiction, is actually thousands of years old. The Romans realized that making concrete with certain ingredients like lime clasts allowed it to heal itself over time.

More recently, engineers at the University of Illinois have found how to make self-healing lithium-ion batteries out of a polymer-based electrolyte that doesn’t form harmful lithium dendrites that can cause shorting and explosions.

MORE MATERIALS SCIENCE: All Kinds of Trash is Turned into Valuable Graphene That Can Cut Environmental Impact of Concrete by a Third

Khalid Hattar, now an associate professor at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and Chris Barr, who now works for the Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy, were running the experiment at Sandia when the discovery was made. They only meant to evaluate how cracks formed and spread through a nanoscale piece of platinum using a specialized electron microscope technique they had developed to repeatedly pull on the ends of the metal 200 times per second.

Surprisingly, about 40 minutes into the experiment, the damage reversed course. One end of the crack fused back together as if it was retracing its steps, leaving no trace of the former injury. Over time, the crack regrew along a different direction.

Hattar called it an “unprecedented insight.”

MORE MATERIALS SCIENCE: Engineers Make Clear Tape 60x Stronger, Yet Still Removable, Inspired by Ancient Japanese Paper-Cutting Art

A lot remains unknown about the self-healing process, including whether it will become a practical tool in a manufacturing setting.

“The extent to which these findings are generalizable will likely become a subject of extensive research,” Boyce said. “We show this happening in nanocrystalline metals in vacuum. But we don’t know if this can also be induced in conventional metals in air.”

Yet for all the unknowns, the discovery remains a leap forward at the frontier of materials science.

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“Love does not dominate; it cultivates.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

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Good News Network
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Quote of the Day: “Love does not dominate; it cultivates.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Photo: Sdf Rahbar

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Fossil Preserves Dinosaur Being Attacked and Eaten by Mammal as Mudslide Entombs them Both

By
Andy Corbley
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Entangled skeletons of Psittacosaurus and Repenomamus preserved in fossil - SWNS
Entangled skeletons of Psittacosaurus and Repenomamus preserved in fossil – SWNS

An extraordinary fossil of a dinosaur being attacked and eaten by a mammal has been unearthed by paleontologists.

It features the entangled skeletons of a beaked and horned herbivore and the smaller, meat-eating Repenomamus at a prehistoric animal graveyard in China’s Liaoning Province dubbed ‘Dinosaur Pompeii,’ for the number of pristine fossils uncovered there.

The amazing scene was frozen in time when a mudslide entombed them both and contains some of the first evidence to show actual predatory behavior by a mammal on a dinosaur.

“The two animals are locked in mortal combat—intimately intertwined,” said co-author of the English language paper of its discovery, Dr. Jordan Mallon from Ottawa’s Museum of Nature. “The weight of the evidence suggests that an active attack was underway.”

Close examination shows the dinosaur is lying prone with its hindlimbs folded on either side of its body. Psittacosaurus was about the size of a large dog.

The weasel-like Repenomamus, the largest mammal of the Cretaceous, coils to the right and sits atop—gripping the jaw of its prey while biting into some of the ribs. Its back foot is holding onto Psittacosaurus‘ hind leg.

The international team ruled out scavenging as the bones of the dinosaur bear no tooth marks. It’s also unlikely the two would have become so entangled. Furthermore, Repenomamus was known to have preyed on Psittacosaurus because of fossilized baby bones of the herbivorous dino found in the mammal’s stomach.

FROM AROUND THE SAME PERIOD: Bizarre Creature From China Had a Dinosaur Head on Bird’s Body – a Missing Link From 120 Million Years Ago

The elevated position of Repenomamus also suggests it was the aggressor.

Lone wolves are known to hunt larger animals, including caribou and domestic sheep, in the modern world, and the Mustelids, like stoats, weasels, and martins, routinely prey on much larger rabbits and other mammals.

MORE AMAZING FOSSILS: Paleontologists in India Have Hit on an Epic Find: Hundreds of Bowling Ball-Sized Titanosaur Eggs

There were also small mammals, lizards, and amphibians buried suddenly en masse by mudslides and debris following volcanic eruptions nearby.

Dr. Mallon said in his paper that he is sure the fossil beds at Lu Jia Tun will continue to yield new evidence of interactions among species otherwise unknown to the fossil record.

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Veterinary Conference Turns into Free Clinic to Care for the Pets of Denver’s Homeless

By
Andy Corbley
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credit - AVMA
credit – The Street Dog Coalition

This year’s annual convention for the American Veterinary Medical Association has been turned into a medical care drive for the companion animals of the homeless in the Denver area.

In partnership with the Street Dog Coalition and a number of corporate sponsors, the event held over last weekend allowed anyone to bring in an animal to receive a free health check, vaccinations, and essential supplies to take home with them.

Social isolation is as deadly to human beings as smoking 15 cigarettes a day, and a companion animal can almost entirely alleviate those maleffects.

For people experiencing homelessness, that emotional support can be even more important.

“I think there’s a big judgment and stigma out there about, ‘gosh you need to be able to afford everything or you shouldn’t have a pet,’ and I really struggle with that,” says Dr. Ashley Ackley, one of the volunteer veterinarians who offered up their time during the convention.

Each pet owner was given a referral for spaying, neutering, or follow-up vaccinations depending on what was required within the Denver area.

MORE STORIES LIKE THIS: This Crew of Street Veterinarians Treat the Pets of L.A.’s Homeless Residents of Skid Row

“People experiencing homelessness have incredibly strong bonds with their pets who provide companionship, purpose, and unconditional love. By providing free compassionate care to both ends of the leash, we hope to help preserve, protect, and strengthen those bonds,” said Katrina Weschler, Executive Director of The Street Dog Coalition.

WATCH the story below from NBC 9 news…

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Man and His Dog Survive 2 Months at Sea Drinking Rainwater and Eating Raw Fish: ‘So Grateful’

By
Andy Corbley
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credit 9news - fair use
credit 9news – fair use

From the Pacific Ocean comes a harrowing and inspiring tale of survival, as sailor Timothy Shaddock, 51, and his dog were rescued after 3 months adrift at sea.

Now being treated by the ship’s doctor onboard a tuna trawler that rescued him, Australian news reports that he has sustained no major or serious injuries.

“I’m just needing rest and good food because I have been alone at sea a long time,” Shaddock said after being rescued. “Otherwise I’m in very good health.”

Nevertheless, his appearance was one of a man on the ragged edge, with a diminshed physique, and hair grown out in such a way that the ship doctor compared him to Tom Hanks’ character in Castaway.

Shaddock departed from Sydney in May in a catamaran en route to French Polynesia, but bad weather knocked out all his electronics, and he was soon lost in the great blue nothing.

MORE SURVIVAL STORIES: Woman Lost 8 Days in the Australian Bush Survives to See Her 4 Children Again ‘It is miraculous’

Shaddock kept himself protected from sunburn by hiding under a canopy, and the heroic, persevering sailor managed to catch enough fish with the gear he had onboard for him and his dog Bella to survive over 2 months of isolation.

Rainwater kept them alive while they hoped for rescue, which came in July in the form of the tuna trawler’s helicopter. He’s being brought back to Mexico where he will receive proper medical attention.

WATCH the story below from Channel 9 News, Australia… 

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Watch Mesmerizing Migration of 57,000 Beluga Whales in Hudson Bay Live Streaming on This Beluga Cam

By
Andy Corbley
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Madison Stevens - taken from Beluga Cam via Polar Bears International
Madison Stevens – taken from Beluga Cam via Polar Bears International

Perhaps you’ve watched nest cam footage from organizations like the Fish and Wildlife Service that monitors bird nests, and if you’re a fan of that then you’ll surely leap like a humpback at the chance to watch Polar Bears International’s “Beluga Cams.”

During the ice-free months of summertime, about two-thirds of the world’s beluga whales—about 57,000 animals, migrate to the waters around Churchill Valley and Hudson Bay in Canada.

From the deck of their Beluga Boat, PBI scientists maintain underwater microphones that allow you to listen in on the constant whistling, chattering, and singing of these incredible creatures.

The cameras were set up over the last weekend, which PBI has designated as Arctic Sea Ice Day, (July 15th) to raise awareness about polar bears, and sea ice loss.

“Arctic sea ice regulates our planet’s climate, and is essential for polar bears and humans alike,” says Krista Wright, executive director of Polar Bears International, adding, “On Arctic Sea Ice Day, we bring the Arctic to people around the world through outreach like the beloved Beluga Whale Live Cam.”

“As we expand our operations across the Arctic, we believe it’s more important than ever to work together to slow global warming and preserve Arctic sea ice along with the creatures that depend on it.”

MORE ARCTIC ANIMAL NEWS: Fin Whales Are Feeding In Huge Numbers in Antarctica for First Time in 45 Years – WATCH

The Beluga Cams are also the focus of a big citizen science project. PBI asked viewers to collect individual screenshots from the livestream footage and register them to gather data on the individual animals below the waves. In total more than 22,000 photographs have been taken by Beluga Cam viewers.

CHECK out the Beluga Cam below…

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“I had to live in the desert before I could understand the full value of grass in a green ditch.” – Ella Maillart

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Good News Network
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Quote of the Day: “I had to live in the desert before I could understand the full value of grass in a green ditch.” – Ella Maillart

Photo: Ries Bosch

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Farmer Saves Sickly Leopard by Carrying it to Forest Officials on His Motorbike

By
Andy Corbley
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Benoit Boudeville, CC license
A Persian leopard, part of the Asian leopard species. Benoit Boudeville, CC license

Last Friday, it was believed a young farmer had been caught in the act of leopard poaching in India—a crime that’s easy to believe based on the amount of animal-human contact in rural areas of the country.

In reality, the film of the 25-year-old man driving his motorbike with a leopard hog-tied over the rear wheel came out as evidence of him actually saving the leopard’s life.

The man, Venugopal aka Muttu, from the Hassan District of the Indian state of Karnataka, found the juvenile leopard lying unconscious in the corner of his field. After observing the feline for some time, Mr. Muttu concluded it was not well, and “summoning up his courage” he decided to intervene.

OTHER INDIAN STORIES: This Ultra-White Paint is Cooling the Homes Inside the Poorest of India’s Slums

Face to face with the big cat he realized it was too exhausted to move, so he brought it back to the village on his motorbike. Seeing their neighbor with the cat, the villagers immediately called the forest service who got to Muttu, learned of the situation, and sped the leopard off to veterinary care.

“The leopard is around nine-month-old and must have strayed into the village seeking food which led to dehydration,” said Ashish Reddy, an official from the Hassan DCF. “Our staff members have given him advice on what needs to be done about noticing wild creatures in the area.”

MORE INDIAN NEWS: Indian Man Quits Tech Job and Becomes Environmentalist–And Turns Infamous Dump into Green Oasis

When asked about the way Muttu tied the leopard to his bike, Reddy said the state was not intending to press charges as the leopard is in stable condition and there was no criminal intent behind Muttu’s actions.

Human-animal conflict, particularly involving charismatic animals like elephants, tigers, and leopards, is always a major challenge for Indian communities and states to try and manage, wanting to protect both people and property, and the animals that share the rural territory.

The story is a heartening reminder that some rural folks are not only willing to make room for wild predators, but give them a helping paw as well.

WATCH live video of the rescue… 

BREAK The Bad News Cycle With This Great Compassion For Wildlife…

Abandoned Supermarket Turned into An Indoor Skatepark for the Community

By
Andy Corbley
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Skater Lucy Adams at Pitt Street - SWNS
Skater Lucy Adams at Pitt Street – SWNS

Open to skateboarders, BMXers, scooter riders, and rollerbladers, an abandoned Sainsbury’s in the UK has become a community skatepark.

The Pitt Street skatepark in Portsmouth, about 75 miles southwest of London, is located in the city center, and is seen as a way to help “unlock long-term regeneration opportunities.”

“As a child, skateboarding was my outlet and I want to give others the opportunity to use it in a positive way,” said Founder and skater at Pitt Street, Jacob Skinner, who said he was inspired to support the project after skateboarding helped him as a youngster.

“We are really passionate about changing the view of skateboarding in the community, it’s also so important to remember that you are never too old to skate.”

“We want to bring the community together through this venue and encourage people of all ages to get involved.”

In an effort to be inclusive for the whole community, sessions such as the “silver surfers” and “teeny boppers” will allow those of all ages to get stuck in.

Local councilor Steve Pitt, no relation to the street, said he was happy to see the empty building transformed.

MORE SKATEBOARDING NEWS: How Tony Hawk Joined an Apache Pro Skater to Bring New Skate Park to Reservation

“Pitt Street Skatepark gives a real opportunity for people to come together and explore a new passion,” said Pitt.

“We know this area has huge potential to help transform the city centre and using empty spaces like this is a great way to start to unlock new community facilities and business opportunities while we develop long-term regeneration plans.”

Watch “A TOUR” of the skatepark…

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