Quote of the Day: “What seems nasty, painful, and evil, can become a source of beauty, joy, and strength, if faced with an open mind.” – Henry Miller
Photo: by Roberta Sorge
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A new ‘smart’ form of packaging could eradicate food poisoning, according to a new study.
Scientists say it kills harmful bugs—such as E.coli, Salmonella, and listeria—keeping meat, fish, fruit, and veg fresh for longer.
The waterproof wrapping may also help save the planet by reducing waste, according to the research team. It looks just like plastic—but is biodegradable.
Project co-leader Professor Mary Chan, of Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, said, “This invention would serve as a better option in the food industry.
“It has demonstrated superior antimicrobial qualities in combating a myriad of food-related bacteria and fungi that could be harmful to humans.
“The smart release of antimicrobials only occurs when bacteria or high humidity is present.
“It provides protection when needed—thus minimizing the use of chemicals and preserving the natural composition of foods packaged.”
The transparent material is made from starch, a type of corn protein called zein, and other naturally derived biopolymers.
It’s also infused with a cocktail of anti-microbial compounds found in plants.
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They include oil from thyme, a common herb used in cooking, and citric acid found in oranges and grapefruits.
In experiments tiny amounts were only released when exposed to humidity or enzymes from bacteria and fungi that contaminate food.
This ensures the packaging can endure several exposures—and last for months.
The chemicals destroy any bacteria that grow on the surface—as well as on the product itself.
Strawberries stayed fresh for seven days before developing mould—three days more than counterparts in mainstream plastic boxes.
Co-project leader Prof Philip Demokritou, of Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, Boston, said, “Food safety and waste have become a major societal challenge of our times with immense public health and economic impact which compromises food security.
“One of the most efficient ways to enhance food safety and reduce spoilage and waste is to develop efficient biodegradable non-toxic food packaging materials.
“In this study, we used nature-derived compounds including biopolymers, non-toxic solvents and nature-inspired antimicrobials and develop scalable systems to synthesize smart antimicrobial materials.
“They can be used not only to enhance food safety and quality but also to eliminate the harm to the environment and health and reduce the use of non-biodegradable plastics at global level and promote sustainable agri-food systems.”
The packaging industry is the larges consumer of synthetic plastics derived from fossil fuels.
It accounts for the bulk of plastic waste that is polluting the environment.
Peter Barber, CEO of ComCrop, a Singapore company that pioneered urban rooftop farming, said, “The NTU-Harvard Chan School food packaging material would serve as a sustainable solution for companies like us who want to cut down on the usage of plastic and embrace greener alternatives.
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“As ComCrop looks to ramp up product to boost Singapore’s food production capabilities, the volume of packaging we need will increase in sync, and switching to a material such as this would help us have double the impact.
“The wrapping’s antimicrobial properties, which could potentially extend the shelf life of our vegetables, would serve us well.
“The packaging material holds promise to the industry, and we look forward to learning more about the wrapping and possibly adopting it for our usage someday.”
Prof Chan said it has enormous implications—serving as an environmentally friendly alternative.
The aim is to replace conventional plastic packaging with the new material that will also double the shelf life of produce.
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Prof Chan said, “Vegetables are a source of wastage because even if they are refrigerated, they will continue to respire, leading to spoilage after a week or two.
“With the anti-microbial packaging, there is a chance to extend their shelf life – and also make the vegetables and fruits look fresh with time.”
The team hope to scale up the technology with an industrial partner—with the aim of commercialization within a few years.
The findings were published in the journal ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces.
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A senior has been reunited with his long lost brother and sister after more than 20 years—thanks to the publicity he received because his dog picks up litter.
80-year-old Alfie Kitson and his five-year-old Spanish Podenco were featured in a video just before Christmas with the pup tidying up rubbish and putting it into the bin.
Kitson and Millie have become a familiar sight on the streets of Hereford. It was after the filming of one of these regular rounds that Alfie was spotted by his sister’s husband as Millie was helping clean up the streets.
The family was then able to track down Alfie to the village of Ulingswick, where he lives with his wife Judy.
Delighted, Alfie has reunited with brother Dave, who’s 84, and 71-year-old sister Anne for the first time in more than two decades.
The grandad-of-seven had drifted apart from his siblings after moving to Coin in Málaga two decades ago.
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Retired plumber Alfie said, “My brother moved to London years back and my sister went elsewhere too—we just drifted apart.
“I was living in Spain and we were just living our own lives. We only returned 18 months ago because my wife became ill.
“I had a call recently from my granddaughter to say my sister Anne was trying to find me, I was only eight miles away.
“I came back home one day and lo and behold there was my sister. She then got in touch with my brother Dave.
“We all grew up in Hereford, and now we have all been reunited,” Alfie says. “It has been amazing.
“And to think it’s all down to teaching Millie how to put litter in the bin is just incredible really.
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“We met for a walk with Millie last week and it has been emotional. We are planning to meet up again soon in the new year.”
Millie the dog was just eight months old when she was found abandoned in a rubbish bag tied to a tree branch and was rescued by Alfie and Judy.
Alfie said, “We rescued her because our house felt empty without an animal. Dogs and cats are a big part of anyone’s life that loves animals.
As for her trick, he says, “All I have to say is ‘put that litter in the bin’ and she will pick it up and do it. Passers-by seem to love it and she always gets a little round of applause.
“She isn’t just part of the family, she is the family and we are glad we can show her off to others as she really is an amazing dog.”
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Rogue planets are elusive cosmic objects that have masses comparable to those of the planets in our Solar System but do not orbit a star, instead roaming freely on their own.
Not many were known until now, but a team of astronomers, using data from several European Southern Observatory (ESO) telescopes and other facilities, have just discovered at least 70 new rogue planets in our galaxy. This is the largest group of rogue planets ever discovered, an important step towards understanding the origins and features of these mysterious galactic nomads.
“We did not know how many to expect and are excited to have found so many,” says Núria Miret-Roig, an astronomer at the Laboratoire d’Astrophysique de Bordeaux, France and the University of Vienna, Austria, and the first author of the new study.
Rogue planets, lurking far away from any star illuminating them, would normally be impossible to image. However, Miret-Roig and her team took advantage of the fact that, in the few million years after their formation, these planets are still hot enough to glow, making them directly detectable by sensitive cameras on large telescopes.
They found at least 70 new rogue planets with masses comparable to Jupiter’s in a star-forming region close to our Sun, in the Upper Scorpius and Ophiuchus constellations.
To spot so many rogue planets, the team used data spanning about 20 years from a number of telescopes on the ground and in space. “We measured the tiny motions, the colours and luminosities of tens of millions of sources in a large area of the sky,” explains Miret-Roig. “These measurements allowed us to securely identify the faintest objects in this region, the rogue planets.”
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The team used observations from ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT), the Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy (VISTA), the VLT Survey Telescope (VST) and the MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope located in Chile, along with other facilities. “The vast majority of our data come from ESO observatories, which were absolutely critical for this study. Their wide field of view and unique sensitivity were keys to our success,” explains Hervé Bouy, an astronomer at the Laboratoire d’Astrophysique de Bordeaux, France, and project leader of the new research. “We used tens of thousands of wide-field images from ESO facilities, corresponding to hundreds of hours of observations, and literally tens of terabytes of data.”
The team also used data from the European Space Agency’s Gaia satellite, marking a huge success for the collaboration of ground- and space-based telescopes in the exploration and understanding of our Universe.
The study, published in Nature Astronomy, suggests there could be many more of these elusive, starless planets that we have yet to discover. “There could be several billions of these free-floating giant planets roaming freely in the Milky Way without a host star,” Bouy explains.
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By studying the newly found rogue planets, astronomers may find clues to how these mysterious objects form. Some scientists believe rogue planets can form from the collapse of a gas cloud that is too small to lead to the formation of a star, or that they could have been kicked out from their parent system. But which mechanism is more likely remains unknown.
Further advances in technology will be key to unlocking the mystery of these nomadic planets. The team hopes to continue to study them in greater detail with ESO’s forthcoming Extremely Large Telescope (ELT), currently under construction in the Chilean Atacama Desert and due to start observations later this decade. “These objects are extremely faint and little can be done to study them with current facilities,” says Bouy. “The ELT will be absolutely crucial to gathering more information about most of the rogue planets we have found.”
Source: ESO
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Quote of the Day: “The grass is not, in fact, always greener on the other side of the fence. It is greenest where it is watered.” – Robert Fulghum
Photo: by visnu deva
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All the royal mummies found in the 19th and 20th centuries have long since been opened for study. With one exception: Egyptologists have never been bold enough to open the mummy of Pharaoh Amenhotep I. Not because of any mythical curse, but because it is perfectly wrapped, beautifully decorated with flower garlands, and with face and neck covered by an exquisite lifelike facemask inset with colorful stones. But now for the first time, scientists from Egypt have used three-dimensional CT (computed tomography) scanning to ‘digitally unwrap’ this royal mummy and study its contents.
This was the first time in three millennia that Amenhotep’s mummy has been opened. The previous time was in the 11th century BCE, more than four centuries after his original mummification and burial.
Hieroglyphics have described how during the later 21st dynasty, priests restored and reburied royal mummies from more ancient dynasties, to repair the damage done by grave robbers.
“This fact that Amenhotep I’s mummy had never been unwrapped in modern times gave us a unique opportunity: not just to study how he had originally been mummified and buried, but also how he had been treated and reburied twice, centuries after his death, by High Priests of Amun,” said Dr Sahar Saleem, professor of radiology at the Faculty of Medicine at Cairo University and the radiologist of the Egyptian Mummy Project, the study’s first author.
“By digitally unwrapping of the mummy and ‘peeling off’ its virtual layers—the facemask, the bandages, and the mummy itself—we could study this well-preserved pharaoh in unprecedented detail,” said Saleem.
“We show that Amenhotep I was approximately 35 years old when he died. He was approximately 169cm tall, circumcized, and had good teeth. Within his wrappings, he wore 30 amulets and a unique golden girdle with gold beads.”
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“Amenhotep I seems to have physically resembled his father: He had a narrow chin, a small narrow nose, curly hair, and mildly protruding upper teeth.”
Saleem continued, “We couldn’t find any wounds or disfigurement due to disease to justify the cause of death, except numerous mutiliations post mortem, presumably by grave robbers after his first burial. His entrails had been removed by the first mummifiers, but not his brain or heart.”
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The mummy of Amenhotep I (whose name means ‘Amun is satisfied’) was discovered in 1881—among other reburied royal mummies—at the archeological site Deir el Bahari in southern Egypt.
The second pharaoh of Egypt’s 18th dynasty (after his father Ahmose I, who had expelled the invading Hyksos and reunited Egypt), Amenhotep ruled from approximately 1525 to 1504 BCE. His was a kind of golden age: Egypt was prosperous and safe, while the pharaoh ordered a religious building spree and led successful military expeditions to Libya and northern Sudan. After his death, he and his mother Ahmose-Nefertari were worshipped as gods.
Sahar Saleem and her co-author egyptologist Dr Zahi Hawass, had previously speculated that the main intention of the restorers from the 11th century was to reuse royal burial equipment for later pharaohs. But here they disprove their own theory–as evinced in their study, published in Frontiers in Medicine.
“We show that at least for Amenhotep I, the priests of the 21st dynasty lovingly repaired the injuries inflicted by the tomb robbers, restored his mummy to its former glory, and preserved the magnificent jewelry and amulets in place,” said Saleem.
Hawass and Saleem studied more than 40 royal mummies of the New Kingdom in the Egyptian Antiquity Ministry Project that was launched since 2005. Twenty-two royal mummies, including that of Amenhotep I, were transferred in April 2021 to a new museum in Cairo. The face of the mummy of Amenhotep I with its mask was the icon of the spectactular ‘Royal Golden Mummy Parade’ on March 3rd, 2021 in Cairo.
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“We show that CT imaging can be profitably used in anthropological and archeological studies on mummies, including those from other civilizations, for example Peru,” concluded Saleem and Hawass.
Source: Cairo University
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With new major spending packages investing billions of dollars in electric vehicles in the U.S., some analysts have raised concerns over how green the electric vehicle industry actually is, focusing particularly on indirect emissions caused within the supply chains of the vehicle components and the fuels used to power electricity that charges the vehicles.
But a recent study from the Yale School of the Environment found that the total indirect emissions from electric vehicles pale in comparison to the indirect emissions from fossil fuel-powered vehicles.
This is in addition to the direct emissions from combusting fossil fuels—either at the tailpipe for conventional vehicles or at the power plant smokestack for electricity generation—showing electric vehicles have a clear advantage emissions-wise over conventional vehicles.
“The surprising element was how much lower the emissions of electric vehicles were,” says postdoctoral associate Stephanie Weber. “The supply chain for combustion vehicles is just so dirty that electric vehicles can’t surpass them, even when you factor in indirect emissions.”
Weber was part of the study led by Paul Wolfram ’21 PhD—now a postdoc with the Joint Global Change Research Institute at the University of Maryland—and that included YSE economics professor Ken Gillingham and Edgar Hertwich, an industrial ecologist from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology and a former YSE faculty member.
The research team combined concepts from energy economics and industrial ecology—carbon pricing, life cycle assessment, and modeling energy systems—to find if carbon emissions were still reduced when indirect emissions from the electric vehicle supply chain were factored in.
“A major concern about electric vehicles is that the supply chain, including the mining and processing of raw materials and the manufacturing of batteries, is far from clean,” says Gillingham. “So, if we priced the carbon embodied in these processes, the expectation is electric vehicles would be exorbitantly expensive. It turns out that’s not the case; if you level the playing field by also pricing the carbon in the fossil fuel vehicle supply chain, electric vehicle sales would actually increase.”
The study also considered future technological change, such as decarbonization of the electricity supply, and found this strengthened the result that electric vehicles dominate when indirect supply chain emissions are accounted for.
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The research team gathered data using a National Energy Modeling System (NEMS) created by the Energy Information Administration, which models the entire U.S. energy system using detailed information from the current domestic energy system and a forecast of the future of the electric system.
Wolfram completed a life cycle assessment that provided outputs of indirect emissions, which were then plugged into the NEMS model to see how a carbon tax on these indirect emissions would change the behavior of consumers and manufacturers. Weber assisted in modifying the NEMS code.
According to Wolfram, the study, published in Nature Communications, shows that “the elephant in the room is the supply chain of fossil fuel-powered vehicles, not that of electric vehicles.” He notes that the faster we switch to electric vehicles, the better—at least in countries with a sufficiently decarbonized electricity supply, like the U.S.
Gillingham, whose research has focused extensively on alternative energy adoption in transportation, says this research provides a better understanding of how comprehensive carbon pricing—which includes the full supply chain—can shift consumers toward electric vehicles.
Source: Yale School of the Environment
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A Chinese agronomist has helped Canadian greenhouse technology move forward, curiously by moving backward.
Dong Jianyi uses only materials and the laws of thermodynamics to grow cucumbers, peppers, lettuce, tomatoes, and more—even in the frigid Alberta winter—all without using a single watt.
A geologist who abandoned the oil industry due to crashing oil prices, Dong Jianyi’s Fresh Pal Farms is believed to be the largest “passive greenhouse” in Canada.
Growing vegetables in China’s cold north necessitates innovation, and passive greenhouses which don’t use electricity are common in that part of the country.
“In north China, it also gets really cold and pretty dark in winter, but people can grow year-round,” Dong told CBC. “Where I lived in China, there were so many passive solar greenhouses. But in Canada, I didn’t see any on the commercial scale,” he said.
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The 300-foot long, 30-foot wide greenhouse is constructed out of a steel frame with two polyolefin plastic roofs. An electric motor allows operators to extend and retract an insulating blanket to trap heat absorbed during the day. This keeps the 10,000-square foot interior space at 82°F (28°C) compared to outside December temperatures of 20°F (-7°C).
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On the north side lies a 24-inch thick clay wall, which captures light more easily from a south-lying sun. At night the clay radiates heat into the space, further ensuring the plants can survive winter temperature that in Olds, Alberta can fall to -31°F (-35°C).
Last year Dong grew 29,000 pounds of tomatoes alone last year while saving $30,000 in energy and heating costs.
The passive solar greenhouses have a high upfront cost, Dong admits, but they pay back the investment in subsequent years through energy savings, as greenhouses tend to be powered by natural gas.
(WATCH the CBC video for this story below.)
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Reprinted with permission from World at Large, an independent news outlet covering travel, conflict journalism, science, conservation, and health news.
Light is shining once again on many lost works of art that were recovered in 2021. From Titian to Picasso, it seems incredible to think that sometimes 400 years after a famous artist’s death, we could be still finding their paintings, drawings, and sculptures, lying in attics, hidden behind walls, or buried underground
In March, art historian Ronald Moore was approached by the All Saints Church at Ledbury, England about the possibility of restoring a massive depiction of the Last Supper. Moore believed it could be a work by Venetian master Titian.
He and his assistant spent 11,000 hours attempting to link the painting, which Moore described as “always [having] a feel of Titian about it,” to the artist. After the striking comparison of a Titian self portrait to one of the apostles in the painting, and an ultralight breakthrough revealing the artist’s signature in the corner, there seems to be little doubt in the art world that one of the master’s canvases has returned to us.
One month later, another revelation. During refurbishments at the world renowned Uffizi Gallery in Florence, renovators moving piles of debris in the understory stumbled across two Renaissance-era frescoes. They also found skeletons from a church cemetery that had originally been united into the building, and the remains of a 16th century stable which was commissioned along with the gallery.
The frescoes depict Cosimo Di Medici I, head of the famous banking dynasty that filled the Uffizi with beautiful sculptures and paintings, built the Duomo, and generally turned the city into one of the economic and cultural powerhouse of Europe. The Cosimo fresco is stunningly preserved on a previously buried Medieval-period wall.
Sometimes one doesn’t have to dig in the earth or comb thrift stores to find great art.
In May of 2021, a white marble sculpture sitting in the reserves of the Dresden State Art Collection, which was “unattributed,” was confirmed to be crafted by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, and commissioned by Pope Alexander VII. Bernini often worked for the Papacy, and carved the Sant Angelo Bridge angels, as well as many parts of St. Peter’s Basilica. He is considered one of the finest wielders of the hammer and chisel in history.
The work is a life size and totally-realistic human skull, and went on display as part of a series called “Bernini, the Pope, and Death,” detailing the effects of the plague on Rome in the late 1600s.
More great art was discovered tucked into a home’s attic. GNN reported in July that a sketch by Pablo Picasso was found that way in Maine. The brilliant work was uncovered by next of kin after the death of a Europe-trekking art enthusiast.
The 16×16 image on paper is believed to be a preliminary mock-up for the curtain that would act as the backdrop to the Ballet Russe production of Le Tricorne, which debuted at the Alhambra Theater in London after World War I.
Speaking of deceased great-grandparents, two works from one of Ireland’s most celebrated landscape painters, Paul Henry, were discovered in a storage unit and sold at an auction in Cincinnati for $217,000.
They were found by Irish immigrant Sir Patrick McGovern’s great-grandson, who believed them to be prints, and therefore worth “nothing”. They had been framed under glass by an expert New York City framing guild at the time, and have remained totally pristine.
In September a college professor specializing in Baroque Italian religious art wandered into a church for a moment of quiet reflection and happened to glimpse the noteworthy excellence of Cesare Dandini’s Holy Family with the Infant St. John. The 1630 painting had been in the church, unaccounted for, for 60 years, and no one knows how it got there.
It was part of a four-painting set called Charity. Two of the works are hanging in world renowned museums—the Met in NYC and the Hermitage in Russia. The fourth has never been seen.
In 2016, a man walked into an estate sale and bought “a wonderfully rendered piece of old art.” Despite the fact that it carried the watermark of Albrecht Dürer, a German Renaissance master, neither the buyer nor seller believed it to be genuine.
Now art historians are calling it an original worth $50 million, and it is believed to be the first ever recorded preparatory drawing in the painter’s career.
Quote of the Day: “It is not your business to determine how good (your passion) is, nor how valuable it is. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly.” – Martha Graham
Photo: by Gift Habeshaw
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A devoted fan got the experience of a lifetime when he had an up close-and-personal encounter with The Wolverine.
We just saw this video yesterday and it was too good not to share, even though it happened 24 months ago.
At a concert performing material from his Broadway production “The Greatest Showman,” Hugh Jackman showered a front row fan with high fives and monstrous Wolverine poses before giving him a big bear hug.
Caught on camera by another fan behind him, it was a reminder that seemingly-aloof Hollywood actors can have rich humanities too.
In terms of career success, staring as a comic book superhero is about as good as it gets in cinema these days, but by all accounts Hugh Jackman hasn’t let it go to his head, and despite having the fortune of portraying Wolverine 7 times, fans and colleagues alike have no bad words to say about Jackman.
Jackman is one of Hollywood/Broadway’s notable philanthropists. He supports fair trade coffee growers in Ethiopia with a not-for-profit coffee shop franchise, has raised more than a million dollars for HIV/AIDS research, is a patron for the Bone Marrow Institute and supporter of Nobel Laureate Muhammed Yunus’s microcredit program that offers small loans to entrepreneurs in impoverished countries.
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The video, shared on Reddit this week, was upvoted more than 60,000 times—maybe because its title was, “Imagine if he didn’t start the recording.”
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From finding a $20 bill in an old jacket to finally finishing a TV series on the watchlist, the average person has four small wins a day, or 1,460 every year, according to a new survey.
A poll of 2,004 Americans delved into the impact of life’s little successes and found that four in five have become more conscious of their small wins since the start of the pandemic.
87% find these wins to be crucial for powering through the day, according to the survey conducted by OnePoll for TGI Fridays. So much so, 67% have made a conscious effort to recognize and celebrate them more, compared to before the pandemic.
Baby boomers said completing chores, decorating for the season, and other home-related goals, are the most satisfying types of small wins to achieve.
When it comes to self-care, 92% of all respondents have been exploring different methods of maintaining personal wellness—and 87% said recognizing any small wins each day is a crucial form of self-care.
Respondents also listed things such as paying off a bill or hitting a savings goal (56%), and sweet surprises like getting a free cup of coffee or finding a great parking spot (53%) as other small wins worth celebrating.
No matter the achievement, however, 82% said there’s no such thing as a win being “too small” to celebrate.
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Nine in 10 said these small wins have a positive impact on their mental health and 82% agree they are the key to having a good day.
Fifty-four percent said telling friends and family about small successes is the best way to savor it.
Half said treating yourself to a special dinner or a cocktail is another great way to celebrate.
MOST SATISFYING SMALL WINS
hearing new music for the first time
completing self-care activity
finishing watching a TV series
paying a bill off
achieving a savings goal
completing chores
decorating for the season
finding money in old clothes
getting the best parking spot
trying a new food for the first time
achieving a fitness goal
reading a book
learning to cook a new dish
arriving just in time
fixing a typo before hitting send
getting off work early
HOW AMERICANS HAVE PRACTICED SELF-CARE SINCE START OF PANDEMIC
Spending quality time with loved ones – 48%
Not taking anything for granted – 42%
Writing down goals, small wins big successes in a journal – 42%
Exercising/doing yoga – 42%
Spending more time outdoors – 40%
Having more celebrations, even for small things – 40%
Unplugging from social media – 32%
More than two dozen people gave up many hours of warm festivities at their homes on Christmas Eve to rescue six elk that were trapped in the ice.
Most of a large herd of elk had made it across the river safely, but 12 had fallen through the ice on the Kettle River near Barstow, Washington.
Rylee Stuart’s husband grabbed a kayak and rallied friends to go back to the scene where he first saw the animals struggling that morning.
“When we got up there, there was a group of people,” Stuart told KXLY-TV Channel 4 News in Spokane.
“They had one [elk] on the way to the shore and they one to the shore already. There were still 10 left.”
Someone had reportedly called the Washington Fish and Game commission for assistance and were told the agency would just ‘let nature take its course’.
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These hunters and their families, however, dragged one of the giant animals to shore by hand, then utilized the help of a winch, a 4×4 truck, and plenty of rope, to rescue others.
Half of the 12 animals died but six were saved. One calf was ‘holding on’ after being cradled in blankets by one of the men alongside the river.
“All the women there laid with this last calf…and cried with it, and it kept showing a little bit of improvement,” Stuart said, “until it finally was able to walk.”
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She said spending Christmas Eve on the frigid river rescue with her family was unforgettable.
“I would do it again in a heart beat,” she vowed.
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Quote of the Day: “Positive thinking is a valuable tool that can help you overcome obstacles, deal with pain, and reach new goals.” – Amy Morin
Photo: by Hybrid
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These cats got to experience snow for the first time—and no one was sure of what they would do.
It turns out the pair ventured into the white fluff, but with shy caution and some shock.
Named Shorty and Kodi, they displayed plenty of paw shaking and wide-eyed awe.
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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 beginning January 1, 2021
Copyright by Rob Brezsny, FreeWillAstrology.com
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19):
Microbiologist Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin in 1928. It was later described as “the single greatest victory ever achieved over disease”—an antidote to dangerous infections caused by bacteria. But there’s more to the story. Fleming’s strain of penicillin could only be produced in tiny amounts—not nearly enough to become a widespread medicine. It wasn’t until 1943 that a different strain of penicillin was found—one that could be mass-produced. The genius who made this possible was Mary Hunt, a humble researcher without a college degree. By 1944, the new drug was saving thousands of lives. I mention Hunt because she’s a good role model for you in 2022. I believe you’ll have chances to improve on the work of others, generating excellent results. You may also improve on work you’ve done in the past.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18):
Catherine Pugh wrote a series of children’s books collectively known as Healthy Holly. Later, when she became mayor of the city of Baltimore, she carried out a scheme to sell 100,000 copies to hospitals and schools that did business with the city. I’d love for you to be aggressive and imaginative in promoting yourself in 2022. I’d love for you to make money from doing what you do best, but always with high integrity and impeccability.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20):
Piscean Vaslav Nijinsky is regarded by many as the 20th century’s most brilliant dancer. He had a robust relationship with beauty, and I want you to know about it. Hopefully, this will inspire you to enjoy prolonged periods of Beauty Worship in 2022. To do so will be good for your health. Memorize this passage from Nijinsky: “Beauty is God. God is beauty with feeling. Beauty is in feeling. I love beauty because I feel it and therefore understand it. I flaunt my beauty. I feel love for beauty.”
ARIES (March 21-April 19):
Historians disagree about the legacy of Jimmy Carter, who was President of the United States from 1977 to 1981. Was he effective or not? Opinions differ. But there’s no ambiguity about a project he pursued after his presidency. He led a global effort to eliminate a pernicious disease caused by the guinea worm parasite. When Carter began his work, 3.5 million people per year suffered from the parasite’s debilitating effects. Today, there are close to zero victims. Will 2022 bring an equivalent boon to your life, Aries? The banishment of an old bugaboo? A monumental healing? I suspect so.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20):
In 2022, I hope you will express more praise than ever before. I hope you’ll be a beacon of support and inspiration for the people you care for. The astrological omens suggest this could be a record-breaking year for the blessings you bestow. Don’t underestimate your power to heal and instigate beneficial transformations. Yes, of course, it’s a kind and generous strategy for you to carry out. But it will also lead to unforeseen rewards that will support and inspire and heal you.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20):
If you search Google, you’ll be told that the longest biography ever written is the 24-volume set about British political leader Winston Churchill. But my research shows there’s an even more extensive biography: about Japan’s Emperor Hirohito, who lived from 1901 to 1989. His story consists of 61 volumes. In the spirit of these expansive tales, and in accordance with 2022’s astrological aspects, I encourage you to create an abundance of noteworthy events that will deserve inclusion in your biography. Make this the year that warrants the longest and most interesting chapter in that masterpiece.
CANCER (June 21-July 22):
One of the 20th century’s most famous works of art was Fountain. It was scandalous when it appeared in 1917, since it consisted entirely of a white porcelain urinal. Marcel Duchamp, the artist who presented it, was a critic of the art market and loved mocking conventional thought. Years later, however, evidence emerged suggesting that Fountain may not have been Duchamp’s idea—that in fact he “borrowed” it from Cancerian artist and poet Baroness Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven. There’s still disagreement among art scholars about what the facts are. But if definitive proof ever arrives that von Freytag-Loringhoven was the originator, it will be in 2022. This will be the year many Cancerians finally get the credit they deserve.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22):
Author Carson McCullers wrote the novel The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter. Early in the story, the character named Mick Kelly has a crisis of yearning. McCullers describes it: “The feeling was a whole lot worse than being hungry for any dinner, yet it was like that. I want—I want—I want—was all that she could think about—but just what this real want was she did not know.” If you have ever had experiences resembling Mick’s, Leo, 2022 will be your year to fix that glitch in your passion. You will receive substantial assistance from life whenever you work on the intention to clarify and define the specific longings that are most essential to you.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22):
After careful research, I have concluded that one of your important missions in 2022 will be to embody a perspective articulated by poet Rand Howells: “If I could have but one wish granted, it would be to live in a universe like this one at a time like the present with friends like the ones I have now and be myself.” In other words, Virgo, I’m encouraging you to do whatever’s necessary to love your life exactly as it is—without comparing it unfavorably to anyone else’s life or to some imaginary life you don’t actually have.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22):
If your quest for spiritual enlightenment doesn’t enhance your ability to witness and heal the suffering of others, then it’s fake enlightenment. If your quest for enlightenment encourages you to imagine that expressing personal freedom exempts you from caring for the well-being of your fellow humans, it’s fake. This is equally true about your quest for personal success. If it doesn’t involve serving others, it’s meaningless. In this spirit, Libra, and in accordance with the astrological omens, I invite you to make 2022 the year you take your compassion and empathy to the highest level ever.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21):
Two mating rabbits could theoretically engender 11 million relatives within a year’s time. Although I suspect that in 2022 you will be as metaphorically fertile as those two hypothetical rabbits, I’m hoping you’ll aim more for quality than quantity. To get started, identify two projects you could pursue in the coming months that will elicit your most liberated creativity. Write a vow in which you state your intention to be intensely focused as you express your fecundity.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21):
A blogger named Soracities writes, “The more I read, the more I feel that a good mark of an intelligent book is simply that the author is having fun with it.” Sagittarian author George Saunders adds that at its best, “Literature is a form of fondness-for-life. It is love for life taking a verbal form.” I will expand these analyses to evaluate everything that humans make and do. In my opinion, the supreme sign of intelligence and value is whether the creators had fun and felt love in doing it. My proposal to you, Sagittarius, is to evaluate your experiences in that spirit. If you are doing things with meager amounts of fun and love, what can you do in 2022 to raise the fun and love quotient?
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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Beavers and their dams can positively impact essentially any environment they’re placed in, even the scorching heat of the Moab Desert in Utah. And that’s what a university researcher has achieved.
Looking for solutions to drought and wildfires, a Utah State University student began relocating problem beavers captured in other parts of the state into small, struggling waterways around the Price and San Rafael rivers.
Desert hydrology is delicate and fascinating. With far less rain than temperate ecosystems, many remain dry, or small trickles for large parts of the year before coming alive during short rainy periods. Decades of pollution and agricultural runoff means that many of Utah’s small delicate waterways are heavily degraded.
Studies have shown that beaver dams can vastly improve the quality of wetlands and streams leading to better animal life and improved river health. It was for this service that the “ecosystem engineer” was targeted by Emma Doden as a potential rescuer, even if the idea of beavers in the desert “raised a few eyebrows.”
Working by the Price and San Rafael rivers that run through some of eastern Utah’s driest areas, Doden specializes in passive river restoration, which means there is no help from homo sapiens.
“We believed the system could support a lot more beavers,” Doden told the BBC, “and we wanted to supplement it with translocated beavers.”
The translocated beavers would have been euthanized, so the project also gives the animals a second chance after invading urban areas.
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“Beaver dams are gaining popularity as a low-tech, low-cost strategy to build climate resiliency at the landscape scale,” says one study investigating beaver dams effectiveness at protecting against wildfires. “They slow and store water that can be accessed by riparian vegetation during dry periods, effectively protecting riparian ecosystems from droughts.”
Another study found that the ponds which are created on the dammed side of the beaver lodges can store huge amounts of sediment, then distribute it more safely around the river ecosystem.
This is the case, the study found, both in entirely wild areas with no human alterations and those adjacent to intense agricultural regions, meaning that no matter the conditions of sedimentation, beaver dams can help keep waterways clearer.
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Sediment runoff from intense agriculture can result in heavily degraded waterways, and even degraded ocean ecosystems as the sediment reduces light, chokes coral, and causes toxic algae blooms.
Doden’s university has a program for catching problem beavers and relocating them to the desert, where they will build dams to provide these benefits.
“The ultimate goal is to get them to build dams,” she said. “The dams are what are going to increase habitat complexity and restore water.”
In the dam-building seasons of 2019, 2020, and 2021, Doden and her team released more than 50 beavers into the area, some of which moved off downstream sometimes as far as 12 miles to build their dams.
Bill Thomas Hamilton wrote about trapping in Utah in My Sixty Years on the Plains, and how the rivers were plentiful with beaver, such that it would take 8 months to “trap out” an area.
Currently, little research exists, Doden says, on dam-building and river restoration in desert environments. But if research in other biomes is any indication, the project should be a resounding success, as millions of beavers used to lodge on Utah’s rivers.
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When April Stringfield took the keys to her new 3 bedroom house in Virginia, a special bit of history was made.
The new home for April and her 13-year old son is the first one constructed by Habitat for Humanity on the East Coast using 3D printing.
With lumber prices high, Habitat for Humanity saved an estimated 15% per square foot compared to their normal building costs.
The 1,200 square-foot house featuring 2 full bathrooms uses concrete, which retains temperature better than wood, and will save on heating and cooling costs. It’s also more resistant to tornado and hurricane damage.
A concrete-constructed home is also the same type April fondly remembers that her great-grandmother owned—and she’s excited to carry on the tradition.
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Amazingly the entire skeleton was built in just 12 hours, shaving off around 4 weeks of building time, using the printer machinery of a Virginia company called Alquist.
There is even a miniature 3D printer that comes with the house that could reprint parts like light switch covers, if she needs a repair.
Many people think Habitat gives homes away, but they actually sell homes to families with low to moderate incomes, issuing a no-interest, 20 or 30-year mortgage that the new home-owners then pay off monthly.
The Habitat Homebuyer Program becomes available to people who volunteer more than 300 hours of service, and who make 45-80% of an area’s median income.
April, who has been employed full time for five years at a nearby hotel, logged her 300 sweat equity hours, and some were spent actually helping the crew on the construction site that would become her first home.
The addition of solar panels and a smart home system based on proprietary technology from Virginia Tech will ensure April and her son enjoy low energy costs while still maintaining comfort.
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“I can’t imagine a better Christmas gift,” she said at the ribbon cutting ceremony on the front porch. There was even a tree decorated in the living room.
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Quote of the Day: “Celebrate endings—for they precede new beginnings.” – Jonathan Lockwood Huie (Happy New Year!)
Photo: by Matt Popovich
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?
Imagine rising from your bed one frosty morning, opening the blinds, and seeing this out the window.
This is just the sight Michigan’s Tammy Shriver was struck with when she looked outside.
Water had been melting from the rooftop of the hemp farmer’s home onto the tree branches below. As a freeze-thaw-freeze sequence took place amid changing winter temperatures, a natural ice sculpture emerged.
“Oh my gosh,” she remembers saying, “That looks like a bird!’
“I grabbed my iPad and just started grabbing pictures on it,” says Tammy, “and then ran outside to get a better angle.”
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One problem? Like kids everywhere, her six-year-old granddaughter Kaylinn loves to eat icicles. But she was asked to leave this particular ice bird alone for everyone to enjoy, and, luckily, Kaylinn did just that.
Of course, no ice lasts forever. Sunshine melted the hummingbird into a slightly different shape. A chickadee, perhaps?
Though a sparkling formation is no longer ornamenting a branch outside Tammy’s home, she feels blessed just to have enjoyed the sight for a week. “My grandma liked hummingbirds,” she says, “maybe grandma sent me a hummingbird.”
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