Quote of the Day: “When I first lit the Amnesty candle, I had in mind the old Chinese proverb: ‘Better light a candle than curse the darkness’.” – Peter Benenson (founded Amnesty International 60 years ago today)
Photo: by BBC Creative @bethbapchurch
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?
Being in the right place at the right time can mean the difference between life and death.
When a freak ice storm felled runners in a 100-kilometer cross-country race in China’s north-western Gansu province, a shepherd named Zhu Keming braved the elements to pull three men and three women to safety.
The day of the race began with mild temperatures. Zhu was tending his flock as usual. Then in the space of a few moments, everything changed.
As temperatures plummeted and freezing sleet and hail began to pound the terrain, Zhu took shelter in a small cave he’d been using for years to store emergency supplies.
It was from this vantage point Zhu noticed one of the runners in obvious distress. The man appeared immobilized, disoriented, and in pain.
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Zhu brought the man back to the cave to warm him up. After lighting a fire, Zhu returned to the mountainside, shepherding five additional runners to the cave. There’s little doubt he saved their lives.
Unprepared for the abrupt shift in the weather, most racers were outfitted in lightweight clothing that was no match for the frigid temperatures. The threat of hypothermia was all too real. (21 of the 172 athletes in the race succumbed to the storm.)
Shepherd hailed as hero in deadly China ultramarathon.
— AFP News Agency (@AFP) May 25, 2021
Zhu Keming braved freezing rain, high winds and hail to save six stricken runners during the race. 21 other competitors died https://t.co/prZT1rCSaf pic.twitter.com/fL2bFf1ta8
“I want to say how grateful I am to the man who saved me,” runner Zhang Xiaotao posted on the Chinese social media site Weibo. “Without him, I would have been left out there.”
While Zhu is being lauded as a hero in his homeland, the humble shepherd doesn’t see the reason for all the fuss. He says he’s “just an ordinary person who did a very ordinary thing.”
RELATED: He Saved a Stranger From Drowning in India, Now They’re Married in the Netherlands
The athletes whose lives he saved, their families—and pretty much everyone else who hears the story—likely disagree. Being in the right place at the right time and having the courage to do the right thing can be extraordinary indeed.
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In a greenhouse in Missouri, a tree listed as critically endangered produced a flower which had never been recorded before by science in the perfect metaphor for the species’ chances of survival.
The botanists caring for it believe there’s no question they can save the tree since collecting pollen from this flower, as they can now cross-pollinate its thirty-strong sapling neighbors to restore genetic diversity.
Karomia gigas is a member of the mint family, and is also related to oregano, rosemary, and thyme. It grows wild only in East-Central Africa, in Tanzania, and in the past in Kenya. It’s so unknown there’s no common name for it in English, Swahili, or any other African language.
The flower it produced consisted of five purple petals tugged down towards the stem, and four long pollen stamens protruding from the center.
Growing straight up to heights of 80 feet, it’s thought one reason there is no image of the flower in the scientific record is that an adult K. gigas doesn’t produce branches until halfway up the trunk, so the rapidly-wilting flowers simply emerge too high to be seen.
The un-minty nature of the flowers lead scientists to hypothesize it could be a self-pollinating tree, and they hope to find more flowers in the coming months that will allow them to strengthen the genetic diversity of the remaining trees.
They can clone individual trees from cuttings, but that doesn’t do anything to increase genetic diversity, which is key to ensuring the long-term survival of the species and its ability to resist disease.
As well as growing in a difficult-to-replicate kind of soil substrate consisting primarily of old corral and termite leavings, K. gigas is very susceptible to fungus, and its wood is similar to teak, and so is occasionally poached. All this pressure puts the tree among the most endangered of the 60,000-known tree species.
It was discovered in Kenya in 1977, then rediscovered in Tanzania in 1993 after all the Kenyan specimens died out.
Apart from the thirty saplings growing in the Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis, the Tanzanian Forest Service estimate there are two dozen or more others, but only in Mitundumbea Forest Reserve and Litipo Forest Reserve in Tanzania, both of which are protected areas characterized by flat woodlands that used to be the ocean floor.
“On one side of the coin it’s a little scary because very rare species like this are depending upon us and we can’t get it wrong,” writes Andrew Wyatt, Senior Vice President of Horticulture and Living Collections at the Missouri Botanic Gardens, the oldest continually operating gardens in the nation.
“Personally, and I know others on my staff feel this way too, it is actually amazing and exhilarating. It is such an honor to use one’s skill to save a species from extinction.”
“As far as survival, we’ve got this one,” says Wyatt, this time to National Geographic. “We can actually make sure it does not go extinct. The idea of actually preserving the species is entirely possible. It’s protected in Tanzania. We have collections in the botanical garden. Once we’ve got enough seed, we hope we can store it [in a freezer] and create a buffer between loss.”
It’s good he and his staff are so confident. Based on how many houseplants this reporter has killed, he can only imagine the pressure they’re under.
MORE: ‘Huge Surprise’ as Giant River Otter Thought to be Extinct Pops Up in River in Argentina
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Paying it forward is something that’s in Jaden Smith’s genes. He played an instrumental role in the JUSTwater campaign, helping provide clean drinking water to the residents of Flint, Michigan.
Then, to commemorate his 21st birthday two years ago, the rapper/actor launched the I Love You Restaurant, a vegan food truck initiative to combat food insecurity for Los Angeles’ homeless.
“Our mission is to spread love to communities experiencing food and/or housing insecurity by offering water along with fresh, high-quality, and delicious sustainable meal options,” his food website explains.
Smith’s vegan meals found their way to 8,000 of L.A.’s Skid Row residents. Eventually, I Love You’s efforts were expanded to serve at-risk residents in Harlem, New York City.
“[We were] not able to actually get our food truck down to Skid Row and physically hand it out to people for obvious reasons,” he told COMPLEX. “You’re thinking about everything happening with COVID-19 and people having to stay home and all this stuff. Well, if you’re homeless, you can’t stay home… So we’ve been donating… everything that we can… vegan food, masks, clothes, hand sanitizer, and all different types of things.”
Although normal is still a way off, Smith is pivoting his I Love You concept yet again. With plans for a more permanent, non-rolling version of his restaurant on the table, Smith is parlaying the success of his past efforts into the next phase.
The “pay as you can” philosophy on which the new endeavor is based takes a page from the venerable drive-through feel-good tradition of paying not only for your own eats but for those of the occupant in the following car as well—only Smith is taking the feel-good one step further.
MORE: Robert Downey Jr. is Creating a Foundation That Will Use Robots to Clean Up the Environment
While anyone will be welcome to partake of the yet-to-be-announced location’s fare, those who can afford the suggested menu prices will be in effect subsidizing meals for those who can’t.
“It’s for homeless people to get free food,” Smith told Variety. “But if you’re not homeless, not only do you have to pay, but you have to pay for more than the food’s worth so that you can pay for the person behind you.”
It sure sounds like a great way to serve up some good karma to us, but we were just wondering… Can we get vegan fries with that?
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While looking for ways to make homes and offices more efficient, building managers have realized that something as seemingly insignificant as the water droplets from the underside of air conditioning units have the potential to quench the thirst of thousands.
While the drips don’t seem like much, they really add up. Microsoft reports that their 46,000 square meter offices in Herzliya, Israel, collect 3 million liters of condensate from air conditioners annually, which it uses to irrigate the campus flora and cool the building.
This equates to the entire annual indoor and outdoor water needs of at least two family homes.
In the U.S., a campus building at Rice University, Houston, has an A/C unit that generates 15 gallons of condensate per minute, and they believe their entire campus could supply 12 million gallons annually.
Grasping this potential, municipal governments and eco-conscious offices around the United States are experimenting with different ways of utilizing a resource which for many years has served only to drip down the walls of buildings, giving them a dirty run-down appearance.
It’s not the hardest challenge, since condensation is a process that’s quite easy to control and predict. For example, if the surface on which condensation is taking place is uneven, the water will always run to the narrowest point before gathering enough mass to fall. Positioning a cistern or channel under that point is essentially the only major step required, or adding a water pump if one needs to send the water uphill.
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Furthermore, many A/C units come with rubber condensate disposal piping which drains the moisture into a specific location such as a yard.
In Austin, Texas, a place that is both parched and forward-thinking, the city council approved an incentive program that will offer large building managers money if they can reuse their air-conditioning condensate, graywater, or rainwater for onsite non-potable needs.
Bloomberg reports that between two buildings, the 56-story Austonian residential skyscraper, and the Austin Central Library, their water recycling methods save the city 362,800 gallons of water per year.
Systems that go farther—that save one million gallons of potable water—are eligible to receive $250,000 in funding, doubling to $500,000 if the systems can save the city three million gallons.
Another hot and arid city, Tucson, is demonstrating the use of these water-conserving systems. The College of Architecture, Planning, and Landscape Architecture at the University of Arizona uses 100% recycled water in their Sonoran Landscape Laboratory.
Situated on what used to be 1.2 acres of parking lot, this miniature piece of the Sonoran Desert uses 95,000 gallons of water—all collected from air conditioning condensate for the irrigation of desert gardens and in continuously topping up a pond where local wildlife can drink.
Other non-potable water integration features like roof runoff, drinking fountain graywater, and back wash from a sand filter, along with the HVAC condensate will save an estimated 230,000 gallons of potable water there per year.
There are several online guides for how to build your own recycling system, or the basic principles of harvesting your own A/C condensate ,if you live in an dry climate and want to take advantage of this techno-blessing.
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If you think of TikTok as a place where tweens and members of Gen Z perform unfathomable dance moves and viral sea shanties for their peers, you might be surprised to find that it’s also an online platform where gardening tips are shared.
According to some of the most popular green-thumbed TikTokers, with a little ingenuity and, say, a few old plastic bottles, there’s pretty much nothing you can’t do to get your indoor and outdoor plants looking great.
From ‘wine bottle watering globes’ to getting rid of pests using orange peels, check out these hacks.
Watering globes that go into soil can cost quite a few dollars, but a wine bottle you have hanging around in your recycling bin? That costs nothing. Check out @brightly.eco‘s TikTok to learn how to create your own free watering globe.
@brightly.eco Our favorite #hack for keeping your garden happy when you go out of town! #PlantLover #gardening101 #gardeninghacks #gardeningtips #upcycling
♬ Quite Cool - Trees and Lucy
Neither overwatering and under-watering your plants is optimal, so @chelseaaabri says to place your pots in a plate full of water. That way, they’ll soak up just the right amount.
@chelseaaabri How I keep my plants alive #planttoktips #planttok #plantcaretips #learnedontiktok #fyp #plantmom
♬ Pure Imagination cover by Angelo Javier - LEUG
Here’s @geainthejungle‘s trick for finding out when your plants need watering: Mark the depth of dryness a particular plant likes on a pencil; stick the pencil in the soil to that exact depth, and if the nib comes out a little damp? You know you don’t need to water it quite yet.
@geainthejungle Plant hack! #plants #planttips #houseplants #plantparent
♬ original sound - Gea
How to fertilize your potted plants? Well you could buy some fancy plant food, or you could just dilute your leftover coffee with water and pour that in the soil, says @_forthehome.
@_forthehome Plant parent #lifehack. You probably drink your fertilizer every day 🤣🌿💚 #plantparents #plantlover #plantmom #houseplants
♬ Level Up - Ciara
RELATED: These Groundhogs Came Out – Then Shared a Tomato Feast at a Tiny Picnic Table (Watch)
You love your plants, but so do the bugs in your house. What to do? Simply place orange peels around your greens, says @ghibligreenhouse.
@ghibligreenhouse Plant parenthood budget tips! #planttok #planttoktips
♬ Steven Universe - L.Dre
Over on Instagram, @plasticfreeally has shared a green way of making a tiny greenhouse from discarded plastic bottles. First up, cut those bottles in half, then watch your green things sprout.
Here’s a new one from @creative_explained: Take a used tea bag, pop a hole in it with a pair of scissors, put your chosen seed inside, place the whole thing in a Ziploc bag, then watch that little seed sprout.
@creative_explained Tea Bag Magic 🤩🌱 #garden #trick #tips #plants #planttips #foryou #learnfromme #alwayslearning #tea #magic #diy #gardening #gardening101 #wow #hack
♬ Background Hip Hop Beat - Oleg Fedak
So you want to grow some strawberries? According to @growithjessie, pretty much all you need is a knife, a pot, some water, some soil—and of course, some sun—and then you’re all set. Do let us know if you give this, or any these other online hacks, a go?
@officialscaryclip You learn something new every day! Tag a friend, it may just save their life! 👌🏼 #learnontiktok #learntok #safety #interestingfacts #fyp #foryoupage
♬ The Purge - Demetrius X
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Quote of the Day: “I can’t give you a sure-fire formula for success, but I can give you a formula for failure: try to please everybody all the time.” – Herbert Bayard Swope
Photo: by Илья Мельниченко
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?
After a year in lockdown, growing fruits and vegetables at home has officially taken root—with more than half of adults cultivating their own produce during the past 12 months.
The trend is particularly popular among younger adults, with six in ten 18-to-34 year-olds growing their own—and now a former Beatle and his family are spearheading an effort to increase the number even more, on behalf of the late Linda McCartney.
Saving money (32 percent), helping the environment (23 percent), being more sustainable (28 percent), and eating more fruit and veg (15 percent) are some of the reasons people are picking up trowels.
The poll, by Linda McCartney Foods, found 70 percent of adults want to grow even more produce at home but are unable to do so.
The biggest barrier is lack of space said 27 percent of those surveyed, with half of adults—including 66 percent of 18-to-34 year-olds—wishing they had a bigger garden area.
Another 13 percent simply wish they had a garden.
In order to help people like these, the vegetarian food company has announced its ‘Grow Your Own with Linda’s’ initiative.
The initiative is building ‘growing spaces’ in urban areas throughout Britain, the company told SWNS news, while a Grow Your Own Guide will soon be available on their website.
The wife of Beatle Paul McCartney for 29 years, until her death from cancer, Linda was a vegetarian and started Linda McCartney Foods almost three decades ago.
Paul said, “We’re so pleased to bring this initiative to people across the UK and continue the legacy of kindness that Linda set out with for her veggie food company 30 years ago.
“Linda aimed to show that being kind didn’t mean having to compromise on eating delicious food.
RELATED: Gardening Just Twice a Week Improves Wellbeing and Prunes Your Stress, Says New Study
“Through this project, we hope we can empower more people across the UK to try growing, and eating their own. Dig in and have fun.”
Two thirds of survey participants enjoy growing so much that they would happily live off their own home-grown foods if they could.
Home growers already enjoy an average of three meals a week containing produce they’ve cultivated themselves.
It also emerged 72 percent believe growing your own food produce is good for mental health, and 68 percent agree it also encourages you to have a better diet.
Other benefits to home-grown food include giving you a reason to get outside (52 percent) and being more ethical than some mass-produced foods (29 percent).
MORE: 5 Alternatives to Toxic Herbicides to Get Rid of Your Summer Weeds Without Killing Bees
And notably, 48 percent think home-grown tastes better than items purchased from shops.
However, the survey, carried out through OnePoll, found two thirds (66 percent) would like to have greater knowledge about growing the crops—with those aged 18 to 34 especially keen (77 percent).
Grower and gardener, Diarmuid Gavin, who is offering his expertise on the project, said, “This has been such a great initiative to be involved with especially at a moment when the outdoors and nature has become even more precious in lockdown.
“I hope the Grow Your Own Guide can be an inspiration for people in flats, tower blocks, and without much outdoor space to see just how much they can grow with their own hands and a few recycled containers.”
TOP 10 MOST POPULAR FOOD PRODUCE GROWN AT HOME
1. Tomatoes
2. Herbs
3. Strawberries
4. Carrots
5. Runner beans
6. Onions
7. Apples
8. Green beans
9. Raspberries
10. Cucumbers
WATCH their video teasing their new initiative…
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If you rose early this morning to see the first lunar eclipse in more than two years, yet all you have to show for your experience is an image of a tiny, glowing red smudge in a dark sky—that’s not necessarily a sign of poor photography skills, just a lack of a telephoto lens.
Long-focus lenses can be used to make the moon appear much closer than it is—creating some truly spectacular photos.
RELATED: Giant Storms on Jupiter Captured By Incredible NASA Images Sent From Juno Spacecraft
A few hours ago, in many parts of the globe, the eclipsing of the sun’s light by Earth shadowed our lunar neighbor, turning it a deep, impressive red—hence the name Blood Moon. Or even Super Flower Blood Moon.
Check out the images these photographers captured and shared on Instagram, and do let us know if you got a great shot too.
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Many have daydreamed of winning the lottery—but how about unwittingly having a $1 million win in your hands, then accidentally tossing it out?
That waking nightmare happened to Massachusetts’ Lea Rose Fiega. Luckily, the kind store owners where she bought the ticket let her know her mistake.
It was back in March that Fiega spent $30 on a scratch-off Diamond Millions ticket from Lucky Stop in Southwick.
“I was in a hurry, on lunch break, and just scratched it real quick, and looked at it, and it didn’t look like a winner, so I handed it over to them to throw away,” she told Associated Press.
For 10 days, the ticket simply lay there behind the counter.
“One evening, I was going through the tickets from the trash and found out that she didn’t scratch the number,” Abhi Shah, the son of the store’s owners told WWLP-TV. “I scratched the number and it was $1 million underneath the ticket.”
MORE: Celebrity Chef David Chang Won $1 Million – And He’s Giving It All to Restaurant Workers
“We had mixed emotions,” Shah told the Washington Post. “We didn’t sleep for two nights, but I don’t know what happened. My inner soul told me: ‘That’s not right. You know who that person is. You should give that ticket back to them.’ And that’s exactly what I did.”
Fiega works near the convenience store where she got her ticket—so Shah went over there. He told her his mom and dad would like to see her, so she went over to the store. When she got the news she couldn’t believe what she was hearing. She cried. And then she hugged the entire family.
For Fiega, who nearly died of COVID-19 in January, winning the lottery has truly been the (very rich) icing on the cake of what’s been a difficult year.
RELATED: Preschool Teacher Who Was Laid Off After 20 Years Wins $250,000 Lottery Prize
The Diamond Millions store will get $10,000 from the Massachusetts State Lottery commission for selling the winning ticket—and Fiega happily gave the family an additional reward. The rest, she says she’ll save for her retirement.
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Recently in Argentina, a giant river otter popped out of the water right next to the canoe containing, of all people, the director of conservation at Rewilding Argentina.
A good omen, one would think, as not only had the charismatic Pteronura brasiliensis not been seen in Argentina since the 1980s, but the river upon which Sebastián Di Martino was floating sat within a park his organization helped create.
“It reared up, so its white chest was visible, which I recognized as the giant river otter,” Di Martino told the Guardian. “At this point, your legs go weak and your heart starts beating faster.”
Di Martino was kayaking on the Bermejo River in Impenetrable National Park—the legacy of one of the world’s great conservationists, Douglas Tompkins, founder of The North Face and Esprit outdoor suppliers, who transferred one of the largest land fortunes on Earth to the governments of Chile and Argentina upon his death.
The otters hadn’t been seen on the Bermejo River in over a century, but the waterway is connected to the Paraguayan Pantanal so the simplest explanation is that it swam there, even though it would be a journey of over 1,000 kilometers (600 miles).
MORE: Lonely Otter at Sanctuary Finds Love Through Online Dating Site Built Just For Him
Di Martino thinks that since otters live in family groups, the one he saw was simply part of a remnant population that has since gone undetected. It’s not a crazy hypothesis, since Impenetrable National Park is 128,000 hectares, or 500 square miles of rivers and woods within Gran Choco Forest, an extremely biodiverse region.
Giant river otters are known as “Wolves of the River,” and like the wolf, they are top predators. Their hunting exerts a regulatory influence on the rest of the ecosystem, keeping the links in the riverine world in order. They’re also extremely charismatic, trusting, and curious, and can grow 4.5-feet long and weigh more than 60 lbs.
The coincidence of the magical meeting between the riverine mammal and Di Martino is that his organization, Rewilding Argentina, is currently working on a conservation plan to reintroduce giant river otters to the country; to the very park in which he spotted one. The plan also includes reintroductions for the collared peccary, Pampas deer, red and green macaws, and even jaguars.
RELATED: Baby Otter Learns How to be an Otter From Expert Humans
It’s all part of the late Doug Tompkins and his widow Kris’s incredible dedication to the wilds of South America, who through the money from their companies created 13 national parks containing over 5.9 million hectares of pristine land in Chile and Argentina.
The sighting of the otter on a river known for illegal fishing activities is a smashing sign that there is plenty still worth saving in the world right now.
(WATCH the Guardian video of the exciting ‘pop up’ moment below.)
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The high hopes of scientists who found a 100-year old female giant tortoise on Fernandina Island in the Galápagos have been confirmed: genetic tests have proven it is a member of the species thought to have gone extinct more than a century ago.
Presumed to be lost for 112 years, the Galápagos Conservancy and the Galápagos National Park Directorate will urgently launch expeditions to find a mate for the female Chelonoidis phantasticus and save the species.
GNN reported on the discovery of the tortoise, called “Fern” in 2019, while Yale University began conducting genetic analysis to determine the creature’s exact species. Researchers had strong suspicions that it was a Fernandina, so launched expeditions on the island to look for more members of her species.
Soon afterward, park rangers reported sighting scat and tracks on the volcanic slopes, suggesting there could be more turtles around. If found, any remaining individuals will immediately be transported to the breeding center on Santa Cruz Island, where several species of the giant tortoises have been successfully bred back to stable population levels.
“One of the greatest mysteries in Galápagos has been the Fernandina Island Giant Tortoise. Rediscovering this lost species may have occurred just in the nick of time to save it. We now urgently need to complete the search of the island to find other tortoises,” said Dr. James Gibbs, Vice President of Science and Conservation for the Galápagos Conservancy and a tortoise expert at the State University of New York.
“We desperately want to avoid the fate of Lonesome George,” said Danny Rueda Córdova, Director of the Galápagos National Park Directorate in a press release. “My team from the Park and Galápagos Conservancy are planning a series of major expeditions to return to Fernandina Island to search for additional tortoises beginning this September.”
While one might think “what are you waiting until September for?” the landscape of Fernandina is dominated by an active volcano and a hard volcanic landscape, making long-term exploration difficult.
In fact, a January 2020 eruption delayed the first planned expedition to the island in the aftermath of Fern’s discovery.
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Meanwhile, the Galápagos Conservancy have set up a fundraiser for three separate expeditions to the island, equipped with tortoise veterinarians and helicopters to scout from the air, and transport any tortoises they find back to the breeding center.
The previous president of the Galápagos Conservancy, Johannah Barry, last year admitted to GNN that the old female was thought to be a Fernandina tortoise just because she was found there, but doubts remained because sailors in the 19th and 20th centuries often moved tortoises around.
“I can understand why people are excited. It’s either going to be, ‘wow, it’s a Fernandina tortoise,’ or ‘wow, it’s not,’” she sighed.
Wow. It is.
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Quote of the Day: “It’s the possibility of having a dream come true that makes life interesting.” – Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist
Photo: by Jr Korpa
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?
Everyone has a COVID story now, and for those aged 16-18, the story likely has something to do with school and extra-curricular disruptions during a critical period of their lives.
We often like to say they were the best years of our lives, and noticing this—despite the fact that he didn’t even have a child on the podium—Graham Williams wanted to make sure that Denver Public Schools graduates from the ‘Class of COVID’ had something special to make them feel celebrated, as well as something to turn to if they ever needed advice.
As the CEO and founder of Impart, a unique gift-giving company, Williams put together a graduation book brimming with life lessons and advice from Colorado’s celebrities big and small.
After all, what could be more inspiring for a high school football player who hasn’t been able to play because of the lockdowns than a heartfelt message from Payton Manning?
“We’re big believers in the power of sharing life lessons, and we thought ‘Boy, we see a need in the community where these high schoolers have really had a tough time and shown their mettle, and we’ve got a platform where we can use the tools we have to put a gift in front of all of them,'” Williams told GNN.
“We wanted to say: ‘one, that the entire community is behind you and you’re not alone in this, and two, what a great job you’ve done in difficult times.'”
Featuring everyone from local news anchors to philanthropists, athletes, artists, and civil servants, the 21-page book—which you can download for free at home—poses a simple question to each person featured: If you could go back and tell your high school graduate self one thing, what would it be?
“Passion and love will take you further and fulfill you more than anything else will,” says Missy Franklin, a five-time Olympic gold medalist swimmer.
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“Question everything and never turn down an adventure,” says Colorado House Representative Jennifer Bacon.
“Live your life, not the life you think your parents, friends, or society want you to live,” says KBCO, 97.3 FM radio host DJ Keefer.
“What we wanted to do was gather a diverse and inspiring set of responses based on different experiences, and we wanted those responses to resonate with the students of Denver schools,” explains William.
“We didn’t know what was going to come back when we made the request, but we were really gratified at how the community really rallied around the students, wanted to show their support… and how genuine the respondents were.”
Hopefully with 21 pieces of wisdom, the students of Denver schools will feel a little more prepared for life beyond high school classrooms—and that their graduation was a special day after all.
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A gamer bullied as a youngster because they were born without a hand finally feels their disability isn’t a hindrance, now they’ve been fitted with a bionic arm inspired by a hugely popular video game.
21-year-old Laiken Olive, who identifies as nonbinary, was born with a congenital limb difference and said they used to hide their disability before receiving the $11,000 bionic arm.
The young gamer has become the first recipient in the U.S. of the ‘Venom Snake’ arm developed by British robotics company Open Bionics. The inspiration for its look and design? Metal Gear Solid, which is soon to become a blockbuster film starring Oscar Isaac.
In the video game, the character Venom Snake loses his arm in an explosion and wears an iconic red and black bionic limb complete with detachable missile functionality and gadgets to stun enemies.
MORE: This Veteran is Helping Fellow Vets Transition to Civilian Life Through Video Gaming
Although the Hero Arm isn’t equipped with weapons, it is custom built and uses myoelectric sensors to read electric outputs of the muscles to be converted into bionic hand movements.
Laiken said they felt empowered by the arm and finally saw their potential after years of being harassed in school. The South Louisianan explained, “I got bullied because of my arm, which led me to have a lack of confidence in myself. I doubted myself and just wanted to fit in with able-bodied people.
“I would wear this cosmetic prosthetic which looked like a hand and I would wear a jacket over that because of the bullying I experienced.
“I wanted to hide the fact I was different. It was a barrier or a shield so that people wouldn’t know… but with the Hero Arm I saw all the potential of what I could do with it and it wasn’t about hiding myself… This entire experience has been so beautiful for me.”
Laiken started their TikTok account around December 2020, and began cosplaying while proudly showing their prosthetic arm in different costumes.
CHECK OUT: Boys Who Play Video Games Linked With Lower Depression Risk, UK Shows Study
In less than six months they have already amassed more than a million views, and their videos have been seen by people all over the world.
Upper limb amputees who want to find out more about the Hero Arm and register their interest can find out more info here.
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Before Dwight David Eisenhower became America’s 34th President, he commanded the country’s military. And at the Minnesota elementary school that bears Ike’s name, a mama duck who takes her marching orders seriously is doing him proud—continuing a 20-year tradition.
Two decades ago, a female mallard decided nesting in the school’s enclosed courtyard was a good idea—only she’d made one strategic error: there was no direct access to the pond nearby.
As it turned out, the only way to get her fledgeling offspring—old enough to float but not yet able to fly—where they needed to be was to go through the school.
Someone inside figured that out too and opened the door.
To everyone’s delight, Mama Duck quickly marshaled her feathered brigade and paraded the brood directly through the school corridors to an exit on the pond side of the building. And so an annual rite of passage was born.
With an office overlooking the courtyard, library media specialist Jeff Shepherd enthusiastically volunteers for guard duty as each new batch of baby ducks arrives.
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“And as soon as they’re born, ‘I’m like, okay, everyone stay away; everyone be careful; everyone look out,’” the aptly-named Shepherd told KARE 11 News.
This year, as awed students and teachers looked on from a respectful distance, Mama Duck led her 10 little troopers from the safety of the nest to the freedom of the big, wide world.
“It’s kind of bittersweet because we love watching them grow up, but this is where they belong,” Kindergarten teacher Betty Johnson told KARE.
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The passage of the ducks has become such a beloved ritual at Eisenhower, parents Brad and Laurie Gilmore created a children’s book to commemorate the annual event. Proceeds from their Ducks in a Row… Here We Go! will be used to keep the school courtyard in top shape for future generations of nestlings.
An eggcellent idea, don’t you think?
(Click below to watch the sweet video on the Youtube channel of KARE 11 …)
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At 23, Manchester United soccer star Marcus Rashford has already scored a lot of goals, but becoming the youngest person to top The Sunday Times Giving List—a metric of philanthropy among rich Brits—is an achievement that has the whole country cheering.
Donations he made, and those by people inspired in response to his efforts to combat food poverty, generated a total of $28 million (£20 million), giving him a “Giving Index” ranking of 125% of his personal net worth of $23m (£16m).
Over the past year, Rashford has become something of a hero to many Brits: Last year, as second waves of COVID-19 abounded, he faced down the UK government’s proposal to cut spending towards free school lunches.
Here’s how he managed it.
The striker, who has often been a shining light in difficult recent seasons at Manchester United, and a fixture on England’s national team, managed to shine some of the spotlight he receives on an issue close to his heart: having experienced hunger as a child himself, he knew that disadvantaged kids rely on school lunches for daily calorie requirements.
His insistent lobbying got Boris Johnson to U-turn on the Conservative government’s position—coaxing £170m ($240m) for the free food voucher program from last November through to the summer.
In response, Rashford won the Professional Footballers Merit Award, and was recommended by Johnson to receive an MBE (Member of the British Empire).
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“As a young Black man from Wythenshawe, never did I think I would be accepting an MBE, never mind an MBE at the age of 22,” he said to Sky Sports in response.
“What Marcus has done over the last 12 months is incredible,” said Liverpool team captain Jordan Henderson before a recent game between the two clubs. “He has battled against food poverty, given a voice to kids who otherwise wouldn’t have one, and used his own reputation for the benefit of others.”
Henderson, who has captained the second-most decorated English club for 7 years, came in sixth place on the Times’ Giving List, by raising £4 million ($6 million) from his fellow footballers to join his own contributions towards the UK National Health Service to help support its response to the pandemic.
Again, we come to a point in the story where non-football fans will be at a loss for understanding the gravity of Henderson’s words, as Liverpool and Manchester United are the bitterest of rivals. As the two most successful clubs in English football, their matches are among the most watched of any on Earth.
Rashford has continued his giving work, establishing the Child Food Poverty Task Force, linking up with many of the nation’s biggest supermarkets to help end childhood hunger.
“His own experience of relying on free school meals to eat brings authenticity and compassion to his campaigning, and his status as a Premier League footballer means people and politicians sit up and take notice,” said Lindsay Boswell in a statement. CEO of FareShare, a non-profit dedicated to fighting hunger and food waste in the UK, Boswell named Rashford as an ambassador.
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Major affiliates supplying supermarkets in Australia and New Zealand have come together and pledged to tackle Oceania’s plastic waste crisis.
Of the more than 60 companies signing on, major names include Woolworths, Coca-Cola, and Nestle, as well as several government departments.
The ANZPAC Plastics Pact (ANZPAC) is a collaborative solution that brings together key players behind a shared vision of a circular economy for plastic, where plastic never becomes waste or pollution. But far from lofty UN goals of 2030, 2045, or 2050, ANZPAC wants to achieve all its goals in just four years.
Their four goals, to be rapidly pursued over a four-year period, involve eliminating unnecessary plastic waste, making all of what remains recyclable, reusable, or compostable, increasing self-policed plastic packaging by 25%, and increasing use of recycled plastic in manufacturing by 25%.
Only around 18% of plastics are recycled in the ANZPAC region, meaning that hundreds of thousands of tons either end up in landfills or in the ecosystem.
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The ANZPAC Plastics Pact joins the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s global Plastics Pact Network, a strategically aligned response to plastic waste and pollution that enables vital knowledge sharing and coordinated action—and unites 550+ organizations across 11 Plastics Pacts around the world.
“What I’m hoping for is that this will also be a way of Australia and New Zealand being able to support the Pacific region, which has different but just as challenging issues with plastic,” said Jenni Downes, a research fellow at Monash University’s Sustainable Development Institute while talking to ABC Australia.
The Australian Packaging Covenant Organization (APCO) will lead the on the ground efforts of the ANZPAC members by offering reporting, governance, and admin frameworks, and efficacy research.
“What we’re really trying to address here is a systemic problem that says the plastics system is actually broken,” said Brooke Donnelly of APCO. “Our take, make and dispose approach means too much plastics waste is actually ending up in landfill.”
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Treasured for their beaches and natural beauty, New Zealand, Australia, and the Pacific Island nations are some of the most unfortunate casualties of the plastic pollution problem, and hopefully through their combined efforts, they can turn back the plastic tide.
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Quote of the Day: “May you never be the reason someone gave up on a part of themselves because you were demotivating, non-appreciative, hypercritical, or even worse, sarcastic about it.” – Mostafa Ibrahim, Unschoolers Collective
Photo: by Aaron Burden
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?
If your lawn is anything like the one tended by this author, it’s the time of year when weed killing on a wide-scale is warranted. Yet there are many common household items that are non-toxic and that work well for killing weeds and keeping them killed.
I don’t like to kill many weeds in the springtime, as they are often an early season food source for bees and other nectar feeders. Now though, most of the yellow, white, and purple flowers once dotting my lawn and garden are gone, leaving only unwanted leaves and the roots beneath them.
Looking onto the first chore of tomorrow morning, here are our options for a plan of attack, whether the weeds are poking up through the concrete, or peppering the garden.
Chemical herbicides and fungicides can contaminate the soil and water for miles around through runoff, and that many commercial weed killers contain probable carcinogens.
Some compounds we’ll look at later come with side effects, that while being harmless for the water supply, can disrupt the garden ecology. First, we’ll take a look at some elements that are simply safe.
Especially good for sidewalks, driveways, or patios, dihydrogen monoxide heated to 220 degrees or more is a perfect way to kill every part of the unwanted plant. If you can use a kettle, all the better, as it makes it easier and safer to pour, as well as gives your weed-killing a bit more precision.
Using a kitchen blowtorch or flame-weeder tool to apply heat directly to the leaves and stem of the weed is a fine way for getting rid of them, taking precautions not to burn the entire neighborhood down. Anywhere there is dried material should be flame-weeded with extra caution.
If there are areas of the yard you know for a fact harbor weeds, in early spring try spreading cornmeal around the area to stop weed seed germination. Note that this method isn’t possible for de-weeding, only pre-weeding.
Non-toxic in the sense they wont cause fish die-off or cancer, many household chemicals that are designed to clean things have to be made safe for human hands and skin. They are toxic in the sense that they can kill your favorite flowers, and thus demand a bit of respect. Nevertheless, these are much better than using popular herbicides using toxic chemicals like Glyphosate.
White vinegar of 5% acetic acid is perfectly fine for weed killing, especially when a pump or two of dish soap is added into the spray bottle. Some garden supply stores sell 20% acetic acid, or industrial strength vinegar, which is harmful to skin and eyes, but that’s likely overdoing it.
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Spray it directly on the leaves of the offending plant and be careful not to overspray. Consider waiting until any strong breeze has wound down, as a bit of wind can carry the chemicals onto other plants you’d like to keep. Also try to avoid soaking the soil, as it will make it harder for anything to grow there.
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Salt is a great weed-killer and can be added to vinegar or hot water sprays, but when it goes into the earth nothing can grow.
Add a dash of dish soap to help the salt stick to the leaves, and be careful where you aim. Spraying the soil will pretty much condemn it to barrenness, while hitting other plants you like may kill them too.
Concrete sidewalks and patios can become discolored, making the salt mixture not ideal for them. One website suggests covering the plants around the weeds in question with plastic sheeting to protect them.
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