146 years ago today, Clyde Cessna was born. Founding the Cessna Aircraft Company in the 1920s, the company was one of the highest-volume and most diverse producers of general aviation aircraft in the world during the 20th century. Cessna’s interest in aviation began in 1910 after witnessing an aerial exhibition in his home state of Kansas. He moved to New York state to pursue a career in aviation, and built his first airplane at age 32. READ more about his innovations… (1879)
Quick Cancer Breath Test Hailed as Most Significant Step Toward a Lifesaving Breakthrough in 50 Years
A quick and easy breath test to detect the difficult-to-diagnose pancreatic cancer is being trialed nationally in the UK with huge expectations.
Pancreatic cancer has a high mortality rate among cancers because of the tendency to discover it at later stages.
There has never been a breath test authorized by a major regulatory body like the British NIH or US Food and Drug Administration, but the initiative has far bigger aspirations than simply setting milestones.
An analysis of pancreatic cancer across the UK found that over 60% of cases are detected at stage 4. At this point, there’s not much to be done, and indeed, the same analysis found only 22% of patients diagnosed at this stage survive even a month beyond it.
It’s difficult to diagnose in part because it manifests in vague symptoms like backpain and indigestion.
Imperial College London and Pancreatic Cancer UK are teaming up to launch a major trial of a new breath testing device in 40 different locations across the Scotland, Wales, and England, with a target for 6,000 patients. The breath test will detect volatile organic compounds, or VOCs that are linked with pancreatic cancer; even in early stages.
Thousands of these VOCs travel around the bloodstream and can be expelled in a single breath. An analysis of the entire collection can pinpoint to cancer from other potential infections.
CANCER TESTING IMPROVEMENTS:
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- New Cheap, Non-Invasive Test For Oral Cancer Tackles Difficult-to-Diagnose Disease–With Results in 30 Minutes
- Test That Can Spot 18 Early-Stage Cancer Signals Shows 84% Sensitivity in First Human Trial
“The breath test has the potential to revolutionize the early detection of pancreatic cancer. It is, undoubtedly, the most significant step toward a lifesaving breakthrough in 50 years,” said Diana Jupp, chief executive of Pancreatic Cancer UK which is funding the study.
“While more years of development are still needed before we can put this exciting new technology into the hands of GPs across the country, thousands of patients with an unknown diagnosis will now help refine it in the real-world.”
“This is the first pancreatic cancer breath test to ever reach a national clinical trial of this scale. That in itself makes this a moment of real, tangible hope.”
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Mosquitoes Can’t Resist Smell of Fungus That Lures Them to Their Death Inside Trap Patented by Researchers
There are dozens of ways to implement mosquito control, but none have proved a cure-all against the deadliest animal on Earth.
Now, researchers have genetically-engineered a natural enemy of the mosquito—with millions of years of evolution backing up its deadly design—to attract and kill the insects even when humans were also on the menu.
It’s called Metarhizium, and it’s a parasitic fungus that lures insects to their death with an odorous compound called longifolene. The fungus plays the olfactory role of a nectar-rich flower, attracting bugs like mosquitoes before infecting them with its spores that kill and eat the creature from the inside out.
The problem is that the fungus only creates longifolene after it kills a bug, which means a lot of waiting around to start; not a positive for a potential mosquito-control agent.
In a study published last week in Nature Microbiology, mycologist Raymond St. Leger at the Department of Entomology at the University of Maryland and his co-authors from China and Burkina Faso elaborated how they were able to genetically engineer Metarhizium to produce longifolene in huge amounts around the clock.
“The fungus is completely harmless to humans as longifolene is already commonly used in perfumes and has a long safety record,” Dr. St. Leger explained to his university press. “This makes it much safer than many chemical pesticides.
When grown on simple wheat or rice substrate in a patent-pending trap design that admits only mosquitoes and not beneficial insects, it successfully culled about half of all mosquitoes released into a room that included a human volunteer sleeping under a bug net over a period of 5 days, and nearly all followed a few days later.
Dr. St. Leger doesn’t believe his traps are a solution on their own, and his collaborators in China are experimenting with other methods of mosquito control to see if there’s an ideal complement.
MOSQUITO BITES:
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The fungus is easily produced in a variety of settings, including in rural communities where it can be grown on common feedstock like rice. Unlike synthetic chemicals that coat mosquito nets, some of which the insects are now resistant to, Metarhizium has millions of years of evolution behind it, meaning it’s unlikely the bugs will be able to withstand these traps anytime soon.
“If mosquitoes evolve to avoid longifolene, that could mean they’ll stop responding to flowers,” St. Leger said.
“But they need flowers as a food source to survive, so it would be very interesting to see how they could possibly avoid the fungus yet still be attracted to the flowers they need. It’ll be very difficult for them to overcome that hurdle, and we have the option of engineering the fungus to produce additional floral odors if they evolve to specifically avoid longifolene.”
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100 Years After Vultures Disappeared from These Mts, Their Return Completes ‘Europe’s Yellowstone’
Young griffon vultures are set to be reintroduced to the Carpathian Mountains in Romania, around 100 years after they went extinct there.
The reintroduction is part of a grand vision for “Europe’s Yellowstone,” a national park based in the Carpathians that would boast robust populations of wildlife unrivalled by any ecosystem on the continent.
It began in 2009, when Foundation Conservation Carpathia (FCC), an organization that has been restoring landscapes in the southern Carpathians called the Făgăraș, targeted three major species reintroductions to restore the chains of food and function chains that still include Europe’s three largest predators: the Eurasian lynx, the wolf, and the brown bear.
With the bison, beaver, and vulture, the Făgăraș would then also have its three largest custodians, as the beaver’s effect on rivers, the bison’s effect on the underbrush, and the vulture’s effect on carcasses, are essential for a perfectly functioning ecosystem.
But all four native European vulture species have been extirpated in the Carpathians for a century; victims of persecution, habitat loss, and lead poisoning.
Together with the Vulture Conservation Foundation, the FCC aims to reintroduce griffon vultures to the mountains by releasing young birds into large aviaries in-situ to acclimatize to their new surroundings.
“If they are released immediately, they would just fly off and go somewhere else,” said Christoph Promberger, co-founder of FCC.
“The vultures are the last keystone species missing from the Romanian Carpathians. They’re nature’s sanitary police. They’ve been gone for 100 years, it’s time to bring them back.”
Vultures are wide-ranging scavengers, capable of traveling long distances while barely flapping their wings. In 1986, in neighboring Bulgaria to the southeast, there were only 3 pairs of griffon vultures remaining in the wild, but by 2016 they’d made a triumphant return.
Cinereous vultures from Bulgaria have even been recorded flying into the Făgăraș Mountains, and it’s hoped those in Romania will travel just as freely. FCC plans to begin with griffon vultures, and follow-up with cinereous and bearded vultures.
ROMANIAN NEWS: Romania Hits 94% Recycling After Launching Largest Return Plan in the World
While all three species are scavengers by trade, bearded vultures have some of the most acidic stomachs in the animal kingdom, and can swallow animal bones whole to support their diet of marrow. They and the other vultures play a crucial role by cleaning up dead animals and preventing the spread of diseases, while quickly recycling nutrients into the soil through a combination of their messy eating and nutrient rich droppings.
In 2016, the Romanian government adopted a non-binding memorandum for supporting the creation of a Făgăraș Mountains National Park, which they labeled a “European Yellowstone.” Stretching 2,000 square kilometers across the southern end of the Carpathian range, they include the highest mountain peak in Romania, Moldoveanu.
MORE STORIES LIKE THIS: Bison Ranchers Return Thousands of Animals to Native Lands and Witness Total Rejuvenation of Ecosystem
Only about 1.5% of Romania’s land area is protected within its system of 13 national parks. Support for the park is reportedly mixed between locals that are involved in ecotourism, skiing businesses, and logging interests. Bird Guides Europe reports that many now recognize the strong potential for tourism to improve rural livelihoods with small carve outs for sustainable rural economies.
“It’s the local communities who will decide whether they want the park, and many are now saying yes,” said Promberger.
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TikToker Crowdfunds $1.5 Million for 88-yo Army Veteran After Viral Supermarket Moment
In time for the holidays comes the incredible story of a stranger using GoFundMe to change a live.
Encountering 88-year-old Army Veteran Ed Bambas working at a local grocery store in Detroit, Australian content creator and TikToker Samuel Weidenhofer decided to try and raise some money to allow the man to retire.
The veteran, who lost his wife some years ago, works 8 hours a day 5 days a week having not received the pension he should have as a veteran.
But Americans being one of the giv-iest breeds on the planet, the GoFundMe exploded with interest, such that, despite the moonshot goal being set at $1 million, a life-changing $1.5 million has been donated in just a few days.
A Mr. William Ackman donated $10,000 to this veteran who he never met, but it’s reflective of the overall response, both in the donations and the words of support section, where between veterans and active duty servicemembers, and the general public at large, the message was clear: we’ve got your six.
“Every dollar we raise will go directly to supporting him: helping with living expenses, medical care, and the small joys that make life meaningful,” Weidenhofer wrote.
“Ed fought for his country, he worked his whole life, and now it’s our turn to fight for him. If you’ve ever been moved by someone’s courage, if you believe our elders and veterans deserve dignity, please consider contributing. Even sharing this story can help us reach more people who want to make a difference.”
MORE STORIES LIKE THIS: Stroke of Luck as GoFundMe Raises $100k for Baby’s Brain Surgery and Family Wins Appeal for Insurance to Cover
Having met the fundraising goal and how, Weidenhofer is working around the clock to set up a bank account and trust in Bambas’ name where the money can be deposited safely and securely.
In a December 2nd update, Weidenhofer said that there is a planned surprise event for Bambas, who doesn’t know he will be able to retire with dignity after a life of hard work.
WATCH Weidenhofer’s first meeting with Bambas below that went viral…
@itssozer 88 year old veteran still working.. 😭❤️ (donate in B1O) #love #kind #veteran ♬ original sound - Samuel Weidenhofer
SHARE This Touching Story With Your Friends, And Stay Tuned For The Reveal…
“To live is like to love – all reason is against it, and all healthy instinct for it.” – Samuel Butler
Quote of the Day: “To live is like to love – all reason is against it, and all healthy instinct for it.” – Samuel Butler
Image by: A. C. for Unsplash+
With a new inspirational quote every day, atop the perfect photo—collected and archived on our Quote of the Day page—why not bookmark GNN.org for a daily uplift?
Good News in History, December 4
130 years ago today, Feng Youlan was born. This Chinese academic and philosopher was instrumental in reintroducing the Chinese classics of philosophy to the world. Critically for this form of Intangible World Heritage, as UNESCO describes it, he did so during a time of enormous upheavel, stretching from the fall of the imperial Qing Dynasty to after the Cultural Revolution, when the fervor for tearing down the old to build the new was at a fever pitch. READ more about what he accomplished… (1895)
3 Rebel Nuns Escape Senior Home to Return to Their Abbey – Prompting a Win in Showdown with Church
From Austria comes the story of 3 ‘rebel’ nuns who left an elderly care home and broke into the historic abbey where they had lived their entire adult lives.
While doing so they made headlines worldwide, amassed a captivated and supportive following on social media of over 100,000 people who cheered them on as they attempted against the will of their spiritual superiors to return to the life they loved.
Sisters Rita, 82, Regina, 86, and Bernadette, 88, had spent a life of spiritual discipline and seclusion in the Goldenstein Castle Abbey near Salzburg, until the head of the religious order under which their nunnery was controlled determined they were no longer physically and medically fit to live alone in the historic, multi-story stone building.
But watching the videos on social media shows the dynamic trio are anything but helpless.
In September, supporters of the sisters, which included a locksmith, helped them move back into Goldenstein Castle. Former pupils have helped them settle back into their old lives, including by bringing them food, bedding and other supplies. Supporters even installed of an expensive chairlift to the convent’s third-floor living quarters.
Their cheerleaders also include legal counsel offering help with ongoing litigation between them and the religious authorities headed by Provost Markus Grasl from Reichersberg Abbey, who initially made the decision to move the sisters into a nursing home.
“We had the right to stay here until the end of our lives and that was broken. I have been obedient all my life, but it was too much,” Sister Bernadette said, according to the Female Quotient. Sister Rita added, “I was always homesick at the care home. I am so happy and thankful to be back.”
Litigation outside of court has gone on since the nuns broke into Goldenstein in September, but came to something of a tentative conclusion on Friday when Abbot Grasl agreed that the nuns could remain in the convent, and offered to furnish them with a full-time caregiver, an on-call doctor, and a priest to offer regular mass, per the New York Times.
But he demanded that the trio return to the discipline demanded by their religious vows, give up their popular social media activity, and stop letting laypeople onto the convent grounds.
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The dispute is ongoing, with the sisters’ legal counsel arguing that the agreement lacks legally-binding authority.
Their Instagram feed continues, and features clips like Rita, in her black and white shift, running a morning 3 kilometers after breakfast.
“These sisters are the most positive message the Catholic Church has! Commitment, dedication and character!” said one commenter on Rita’s video.
Whatever happens next in their wild journey, their physical capacities seem well maintained, and they’re a sterling example of how it’s never to late to take control of your life and stand up for yourself.
SHARE This Wild Story Of Reclaiming One’s Home Against Odds And Age…
Wildlife Poachers to Be Targeted Using State of the Art AI Listening Technology
Wildlife poachers can now be located and arrested across the central African forests thanks to state-of-the-art AI listening technology.
A network of microphones has been deployed across the rainforests to detect gunshots from illegal poaching of elephants and other animals, and American scientists are using AI to ensure the network can distinguish gunshots over the din of the jungle environment.
The web of acoustic sensors was deployed in Gabon, Congo, and Cameroon, creating the possibility of real-time alerts to the sounds of gun-based poaching.
But the belly of the rainforest is loud, and scientists say sorting through a constant influx of sound data is computationally demanding. Detectors can distinguish a loud bang from the whistles, chirps, and rasps of birds and bugs, but they often confuse the sounds of branches cracking or trees falling with gunshot noises, resulting in a high percentage of false positives.
Project leader Naveen Dhar at Center for Conservation Bioacoustics at Cornell University aimed to develop a lightweight gunshot detection neural network that can accompany sensors and process signals in real-time to minimize false positives.
He worked alongside colleagues at the Elephant Listening Project to create a model that will work through autonomous recording units (ARUs), which are power-efficient microphones that capture continuous, long-term soundscapes.
“The proposed system utilizes a web of ARUs deployed across the forest, each performing real-time detection, with a central hub that handles more complex processing.”
An initial scan filters all audio for “gunshot likely” signals and sends them to the ARU’s microprocessor, where the lightweight gunshot detection model lives.
If confirmed as a gunshot by the microprocessor, the ARU passes the information to the central hub, initiating data collection from other devices in the web.
By determining if other sensors also hear a “gunshot likely” noise, the central hub then decides whether the event was a true gunshot or a potential false positive.
If it determines a true positive, the central hub collates audio files from each sensor, allowing it to pinpoint the location of the gunshot and alert rangers on the ground with coordinates for immediate poaching intervention.
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“Down the road, the device can be used as a tool for rangers and conservation managers, providing accurate and verifiable alerts for on-the-ground intervention along with low-latency data on the spatiotemporal trends of poachers,” Dhar said.
He plans to expand the model to detect the type of gun that fires each gunshot and other human activities, such as chainsaws or trucks, before field-testing the system, which is currently under development.
GREAT AI USES: Rather Than Taking Jobs in Tech, 2 Young Software Engineers Use Talents to Crush Poaching in India
“I hope the device can coalesce with Internet of Things infrastructure innovations and cost reduction of materials to produce a low-cost, open-source framework for real-time detection usable in any part of the globe.”
He is due to present his findings at a joint meeting of the Acoustical Society of America and Acoustical Society of Japan, in Honolulu, Hawaii.
SHARE This Very Positive Use Of AI With Your Friends Who Fear It…
Daddy-Daughter Dance in Notorious Prison Turns ‘Worst of the Worst’ into Loving Fathers Again
In a Louisiana state penitentiary, incarcerated men were able to dance with their daughters for one special night: many of whom had not seen each other for years.
The tear-jerking occasion was organized by the brilliant God Behind Bars, a nonprofit that partners with churches and ministries on behalf of jailed men and women, in Angola Louisiana.
“When I turned around and saw my baby in that dress and she busted out crying… I sobbed, man, and I ain’t no crier,” said Leslie, an incarcerated father in Angola, who participated in the dance.
It’s potentially fair to say that the United States prison system and its population have been the victim of an overly-intense focus on punitive justice rather than restorative justice. While every society will have people that must be taken out of it for the good of the community, the focus of any prison system has to be the point at which the inmate reenters society.
To that end, and pursuant to the best of Christian values that all men are created in the image of the Lord, God Behind Bars went above and beyond to put on an unforgettable night in one of the most notorious of all Louisiana’s prisons.
37 daughters attended the dance, aged between 5 and 20, with 29 fathers, each one of whom wore a suit donated by Amor Suits.
Other donations included the time and expertise of hair and makeup estheticians, a beauty product bag courtesy of T3 Micro, and decorations and floral arrangements by God Behind Bars.
A Thanksgiving dinner was prepared before the dance, which included pieces choreographed by the fathers.
“We’re supposed to be the worst of the worst and the hardest of the hardest… and we walk around like that sometimes,” said one of the inmates, named Kevin. “Seeing all of us together with our kids, the loves of our lives, with no masks… that was cool.”
MORE GOOD PRISON NEWS:
- Former Inmate Who Received Contraband Book While in Solitary Has Now Built Hundreds of Prison Libraries
- In Prisons Across Ohio, Inmates Find Meaning by Saving Orphaned and Injured Animals
- Formerly-Incarcerated Artisans Craft Tables Designed by Women in Prison, to Benefit Them When They Get Out
“It’s hard to put into words what took place at the first ever Daddy Daughter Dance inside Angola prison,” said Jake Bodine, founder of God Behind Bars, in a statement sent to Newsweek.
“I watched a group of men stand with pride and dignity, shedding every label the world had ever put on them. For one night they were not inmates. They were Dad. And the empty places in every heart were filled with joy, laughter, and a love only God can author.”
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Restless Legs Syndrome Linked to Parkinson’s Risk–Making it a Perfect Case for Early Treatment
South Korean scientists recently determined that patients with restless legs syndrome (RLS) showed approximately double the Parkinson’s disease incidence.
If that doesn’t sound like good news, it’s because you haven’t heard what they found next.
Researchers from Korea University Ansan Hospital and collaborators then found that among those RLS patients, those who were treated with a recently-developed dopamine agonist treatment experienced a protective buffer against Parkinson’s disease onset.
The findings were gathered from a nationwide cohort of nearly 20,000 people, involved Ansan Hospital, Pohang Stroke and Spine Hospital, and National Health Insurance Service Ilsan Hospital, and were published online in the journal JAMA Network Open on October 6th, 2025.
Restless legs syndrome (RLS) is a common neurological sleep disorder characterized by an uncontrollable urge to move the legs, often worsening at night. Parkinson’s disease, a progressive neurodegenerative disorder, is marked by tremor, rigidity, and slowed movement. Both conditions are associated with dysfunction in the brain’s dopaminergic system, but their causal relationship has remained unclear.
This retrospective cohort study, led by Professor Jong Hun Kim from the Department of Neurology, Ansan Hospital, analyzed data from the Korean National Health Insurance Service Sample Cohort (2002–2019). The researchers identified 9,919 individuals with RLS and compared them with an equal number of matched controls without the condition.
Over a median follow-up of 15 years, Parkinson’s developed in 1.6% of RLS patients compared with 1.0% of controls, confirming a heightened risk. When analyzed by treatment status, the results revealed a striking divergence.
Patients with untreated RLS showed the highest Parkinson’s incidence (2.1%) and an earlier onset of the disease, whereas patients given a dopamine agonist treatment showed a markedly lower Parkinson’s incidence (0.5%) and a delayed onset compared with controls.
“These findings indicate the existence of ‘heterogeneity within RLS’ which allows for multiple interpretations,” Professor Kim explained. “One of the interpretations is that restless legs syndrome may serve as an early clinical marker for Parkinson’s disease, particularly among untreated individuals.”
SOUTH KOREAN STORIES:
“Our results also indicate that dopamine therapy, used for symptom control, may confer protective benefits to the brain’s motor pathways.”
To strengthen the validity of their conclusions, the team employed target-trial emulation methods, an advanced analytical approach that reduces bias in observational research. This methodological rigor reinforces the biological plausibility of a link between RLS and PD rather than a mere overlap in symptoms.
PARKINSON’S
The authors propose that beyond dopamine dysfunction, other factors—such as sleep disruption, iron deficiency, and immune or metabolic pathways—may mediate this association. The protective trend observed with dopamine therapy could reflect neuroprotective mechanisms or improved identification of genuine RLS cases that are distinct from early-stage Parkinson’s.
“This dual pattern underscores the importance of recognizing and managing restless legs syndrome early,” adds Professor Kim. “Monitoring and treating RLS may not only improve sleep quality but could also influence long-term neurological health.”
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“The ear is the avenue to the heart.” – Voltaire
Quote of the Day: “The ear is the avenue to the heart.” – Voltaire
Image by: Pedro Ribeiro Simões (CC license)
With a new inspirational quote every day, atop the perfect photo—collected and archived on our Quote of the Day page—why not bookmark GNN.org for a daily uplift?
Good News in History, December 3
60 years ago today, the sixth album by The Beatles was released—Rubber Soul. With the 14 new songs, the British band expanded their sound using a wide range of instruments. Influences included African-American soul music and the new folk-rock of Bob Dylan. George Harrison’s use of a sitar on “Norwegian Wood” sparked a craze for the Indian instrument that lasted beyond the 60s. WATCH The Making of Rubber Soul, and buy books or music about it here. (1965)
Tongue-Zapping Device Does More in 6 Months Than 4 Years of Normal Stroke Rehabilitation
A fall from a 10 foot ladder triggered a cascade of neurological problems that might have left an Ontario man paralyzed on his right side for life.
But working with a device that delivers an electrical shock through the tongue has allowed him to recover movement and speech, and even has him looking towards a future where he can return to work.
Combined with traditional speech and movement therapy, Mark Foster uses a portable neuro-modulation stimulator, or PoNS device, to deliver a very small electrical current through his tongue to the brain. The current, controlled via a collar worn around the neck, helps form new pathways for existing skills, and can help increase the efficacy of existing therapies.
Foster has been truly impressed, and made more progress in 6 months with the PoNS device than in 4 years of traditional therapy.
“I would say that it has helped an immense amount with confidence,” Foster told London Free Press. “It hasn’t been perfect, don’t get me wrong… but I’m having an easier time getting around.”
Foster, from London, Canada, was laying electrical wire on a build site in Paris (also in Canada), when he fell onto the cement below. He stood up, dusted himself off, and after a moment, concluded he was fine.
Then, at the urging of a coworker, he went to the hospital for a CT scan and MRI. They concluded he had extensive swelling, but also an unusual formation of cells in his brain called a cavernoma that would have pre-dated the fall. A week later, unable to sleep, Foster went for a warm shower, which increased his blood pressure and led to a stroke.
Interestingly enough, he was recovering well from the stroke itself, before his wife Sonia noticed him slurring his speech and having trouble with balance. They returned to the hospital and found the swelling in his brain’s cavernoma area so extreme that the determination was to perform brain surgery immediately, as he was bleeding and experiencing something like a mini-stroke.
It erased both the progress Foster had already made, and most of the hope he had left.
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“It took a long time to go from absolutely nothing,” Foster said. “It broke my heart, but at the same time, it gave me a reason to kind of push myself trying to get back into the swing of things.”
The PoNS device, built by Helius Medical Technology, was originally designed to assist in multiple sclerosis recovery, but also, recently and successfully underwent an FDA-overseen Phase 3 clinical trial for stroke rehabilitation.
Over 100 patients undergoing a double-blinded, placebo-controlled trial found significantly increased benefit from physical rehabilitation for both balance and gait when using the PoNS device.
BIOTECH NEWS: Conductor with Parkinson’s Gets Brain Stimulation Device to Stop Shakes so He Can Lead Orchestra Once Again
In June, CignaHealth became the fifth major payer to authorize a claim for the PoNS mouthpiece and controller at out-of-network adjusted negotiated list price of $19,161. The average in-network contracted payment rate is $18,350.
GNN has reported on these togue-zapping therapies before, with another such device being designed for use in the curing of tinnitus.
WATCH the company press release below…
SHARE This Man’s Incredible Results With An Intriguing Piece Of Medical Tech…
Syrian Refugee Learning English Brings Food for His Class Every Week–Bringing the Nation’s Legendary Hospitality Home
This screenshot maybe be blurry, but what isn’t blurred is this immigrant’s instincts of the legendary hospitality of Syria.
Attending an English-language and integration class run by volunteers in Ohio, Hazaa Alabdullah brings food to each class and feeds everyone there out of the goodness of his heart.
He’s now the subject of a viral TikTok video taken by Shea Kumar, who volunteers as one of the English teachers at the school.
“I teach refugees English and every week this students brings in food for the entire class,” wrote Kumar, adding in the caption to the video, “things like this make me love humanity.”
The comments were filled with teachers and volunteers who had previously or still worked with immigrant-related agencies, and they all could relate, or share a story of a similar gesture from a similar kind of man to Alabdullah.
Alabdullah immigrated to Ohio four years ago from Syria along with his wife, and four of his six children. He has already gone on to create some cherished memories of his new life here in America, including a visit to the Neil Armstrong Air and Space Museum in Ohio.
“Neil Armstrong stood on the Moon, you remember?” Alabdullah asks TODAY, who interviewed him briefly. He proceeded to tell the story of how he listened to the 1969 broadcast over a radio in his village.
It took him 6 months of searching newspaper stalls and magazine racks before he finally got to see a black and white photo of Armstrong on the Moon.
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“Now, I’m here in Ohio, I go visit his museum,” he said cheerily.
Kumar thinks the reason the video went to viral is because “it shows how good humanity can be,” she tells TODAY.com, adding that the students, from places like Eritrea, Somalia, and Lebanon, are uplifted by the gesture.
SHARE The Story Of This Brilliant Budding American And His Generosity…
Romania Hits 94% Recycling After Launching Largest Return Plan in the World
If you had to guess where in the EU you would find the most sophisticated and effective recycling system for beverage containers, how long before you’d say Romania?
Beating out Scandinavia, Belgium, Germany, and the Netherlands, the Romanian government’s private-public partnership with the logistics firm RetuRO, has led to an incredible 94% collection rate of plastic, glass, and metal containers in just two years.
The method is simple, but a RetuRO executive said that its secret to success comes from the fact that there was no existing recycling system already working that had to be overwritten: it was a fresh idea.
Fresh, but not new. Each retailer that sells products which come in recyclable containers are given a tax credit for the cost of installing return infrastructure like reverse vending machines and other installations. Then, the customer, when they buy each item, are charged a deposit that is returned with a few cents extra when they return the items.
With all the extras, one Transylvanian woman was able to buy food for her cats for the whole week.
“We are the largest fully integrated deposit return system globally,” said Gemma Webb, the chief executive of RetuRO, the company running the system in a public-private partnership.
Even though product return rates are as high as 94% in some months, those products as a proportion of the country’s total recyclable waste remains small; less than 15%. As far as that is from seeing the recyclability of all waste, it’s still awfully far from where the country has come.
RECYCLE THIS NEWS:
- Discarded Plastic Fishing Nets Are Turned into Filament for 3D Printers
- Female-Led Arab Team Turn Coffee and Plastic Waste into Activated Carbon, Capturing CO2 in the Atmosphere
- Engineering Student Turns Red Solo Cups into Stylish Sweaters That Don’t Shed Microplastics
Between 2011 and 2021, recycling rates for plastic, glass, and metal beverage containers hovered around 11-12%, and rarely changed. Only 1% of all materials recycled or thrown away eventually made it back into the economy, according to the Guardian.
Romanians returned some seven-and-a-half billion beverage containers between November 2023 and the end of September 2025, 4 billion of which were polyethylene terephthalate, the ubiquitous “PET” plastic that permeates world society. One study found that 90% of surveyed Romanians had used the system at least once.
The Guardian reported that the plastic contained in a single PET plastic beverage container can produce 25 more over the materials lifespan if properly recycled.
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A Pile of Puppies Treatment Cheers Up Seriously Ill Kids with Bundles of Cozy Joy
Even if cancer can survive chemotherapy, it’s no match, at least for a moment, for the smile that shines from underneath a pile of puppies.
Pile of Puppies is a Portland-based nonprofit that brings large litters of puppies to the homes of chronically or terminally-ill children.
It was founded by Jennifer Trepanier, a woman who grew up with a chronic inflammatory condition and developed an autoimmune disorder while pregnant, who experienced the uncontainable joy of a puppy pile-on.
Her coworker had brought a litter of Swiss mountain dog puppies into work as a surprise, and the resulting exhilaration brought Pile of Puppies to life.
Managed through donations, fundraising activities, and grant money, the $55,000-a-year nonprofit works by identifying a child in need of the pick-me-up potential of a puppy patdown before sending a team of volunteers to set up a play pen and line it with absorbent pads.
The child is positioned inside, and the litter is released.
Pile of Puppies has organized 2,000 such visits, among which was a visit to Julia Stults’ house. The now-16 year old high school junior was in the depths of a struggle against ulcerative colitis, and didn’t have many reasons to smile. She remembers getting the puppy treatment as a bright spot in a childhood marred by pain and dulled by medication.
“It’s those little, tiny special things that are like, ‘Yeah, having (ulcerative colitis) sucks, but then I wouldn’t get all the puppies.’”
Her mother, Dina Stults, was so affected by the experience that she’s gone on to help Trepanier organize other events, and told the Oregonian that watching your child regain some of the joy lost to illness is an incomparable relief.
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“It’s about them as humans and how they interact with the puppies — which things they like and don’t like,” Stults said. “They just open up. They’re chatty, and they brighten up. It’s a very enriching experience for a volunteer.”
For a $100 donation, you can give a Pile of Puppies experience to a child in pain, while another $25.00 will memorialize the special day with a Pile of Puppies plush puppy to stay by their side when pain or fatigue begin to take their toll.
WATCH little Zinnia get a Pile of Puppies Experience…
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“Nature is never finished.” – Robert Smithson
Quote of the Day: “Nature is never finished.” – Robert Smithson
Image by: Kiya Golara
With a new inspirational quote every day, atop the perfect photo—collected and archived on our Quote of the Day page—why not bookmark GNN.org for a daily uplift?
Good News in History, December 2
Happy 42nd Birthday to Aaron Rodgers, the sensational NFL QB best known for his consistency, accuracy, and completions in the end zone. Playing almost his entire career with the Green Bay Packers, Rodgers led all NFL quarterbacks in touchdown-to-interception ratio with the lowest passing interception percentage for six seasons, and led four seasons in touchdown passing percentage. He is the first hurler to ever have a career passing rating of over 100. READ more… (1983)
Superman No.1 Comic Book Found in Mom’s Attic Bags $9.1 Million in Most Valuable Comic Auction Ever
Their mother often boasted to her three sons that she had very valuable comic books upstairs, but they never sought to verify or explore her claim.
Now, her Superman No.1 comic book has become the most valuable one ever auctioned, after hauling in $9.1 million on November 20th.
Found where treasures often are—in the attic of a deceased family member—it was kept in excellent condition by the cool San Francisco climate, maintaining its crisp corners, vivid colors, and sturdy spine.
Superman No.1 was released by Detective Comics Inc. in 1939. It followed the introduction of the Man of Steel in a previous comic series that existed as an anthology, with the first print running 500,000 copies.
A small topical in-page advertisement helped identify it as coming from the first print run.
When the brothers put her house up for sale following her death, they finally began to clean it out, and they found the comic book in a box along with other rare, and potentially valuable editions.
“It was just in an attic, sitting in a box—could have easily been thrown away, could’ve easily been destroyed in a thousand different ways,” said Lon Allen, vice-president of comics at Heritage Auctions, who handled the sale.
“A lot of people got excited, because it’s just every factor in collecting that you could possibly want, all rolled into one.”
As part of its journey to the auction block, the comic was brought to Certified Guaranty Company (CGC), where it was authenticated and graded CGC 9.0 out of 10 for quality of preservation, the highest rating ever for an issue at auction.
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Indeed, another edition of Superman No.1 sold in May 2024 for around $160,000 having been certified CGC 1.8 out of 10.
The previous record comic book sale was also a Superman No.1 with graded CGC 8.0, which sold privately in 2022 for $5.3 million. Action Comics No.1, the anthology that introduced Superman to the world, has also cracked the 7-figure threshold.
Superman’s first appearance in Action Comics was such a watershed moment in the popularity of the mythology-inspired character that Detective Comics decided to launch his own issue.
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