Watch the Stunning Single-Shot Drone Video That is ‘Bowling’ Over Hollywood in 87 Seconds

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Mar 15, 2021

A breakneck-speed tour of a Minneapolis bowling alley has seen millions of people watching—and even Hollywood impressed by the slick skills of the pilot.

The 87-second video, produced by Sky Candy Studios, starts above Bryant Lake Bowl before speeding through the doorway, completing several turns around the lanes, and flying up behind the pin-setting machines before passing through the maintenance room and even between a bowler’s legs.

Several Hollywood A-list technicians praised the video as “jaw-dropping,” and the YouTube post quickly accumulated more than a million views.

Farrah Donovan, a bartender at Bryant Lake Bowl, told local news that “everyone is like doubting it. I can vouch that it’s 100% real. I was here.”

Director Anthony Jaska said it wasn’t a commercial shoot, but rather just a way to highlight the amazing capabilities of first-person view (FPV) drone footage.

The pilot was Jay Byrd Christiansen, who nailed 15 out of 15 takes, not crashing the drone a single time—even through tight spaces like between the legs of one person who was polishing a ball in a nod to John Turturro’s character in The Big Lebowski.

MORE: Watch 600 Drones Recreate Van Gogh’s Famous Paintings in Dazzling Starry Night Show

“We probably did 10 takes with the camera running,” Christensen told KARE11. “The first few, the timing was way off and we would get to a certain part and the bowler wouldn’t be there, or maybe the drone was a little out of position… “

The final shoot was completed in a single take, remained unedited, and used no CGI. The only alterations of any kind were dubbing in the bowling actors’ voices, again a nod to the most famous bowling film of all time when one bowler can he heard saying, “Mark it 8, dude.”

CHECK OUT: Giant Corn Crop Planted in the Shape of a Sea Turtle Was Created Using GPS –LOOK

Sky Candy Studios could now have some big money interest in the skills of its pilots and producers, as Guardians of the Galaxy Director James Gunn tweeted Tuesday: “Oh my God this drone shot is stupendous,” and later “I want them to come with us to London later this year when we shoot Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.”

We’ll be sure to let you know where the Sky Candy crew show up next.

(WATCH the impressive video below.)

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This is the Surprising Outcome When a California City Gave Struggling Folks Free Money for a Year

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Andy Corbley

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Mar 15, 2021

Stockton California CC license Wikimedia LPS.1 — LPS.1, CC license

In an encouraging flip of the narrative, an experiment demonstrated that basic income recipients in a California city displayed intelligence and ambition, not lethargy.

The randomized, controlled trial in the city of Stockton is being viewed by sociologists as a good jumping-off point for further research into the effects of a no-strings-attached cash payment to alleviate the difficulties of living with a lower-income.

The project called SEED (Stockton Economic Empowerment Demonstration), which ending in February 2021, distributed $500 every month for two years to 125 random people living at or below the city’s median household income—around $48,000. The results of what happened in the first year, ending Feb. 2020, may be surprising to some.

The most compelling fact was that people who received the cash managed to secure full-time jobs at more than twice the rate of people in a control group who did not receive the income. Full time employment spiked from 28 percent to 40 percent for folks who received the added cash cushion. In contrast, the control group saw only a 5 percent increase in full-time employment over the first year—from 32% to just 37% one year later.

Unlike unemployment benefits though, participants were not told that their injection of cash would hinge on their searching for a job. Instead they received their money on a debit card and were told to spend it on whatever they liked.

The vast majority of the spending was on things one might imagine it would go towards, such as food, utilities, rent, auto-maintenance, and so on.

Another significant finding was that it allowed participants a little more time in the day to enjoy life, spend time with their families, or study to potentially improve their skillsets.

“The $500 spilled into their extended networks in material and immaterial
ways that alleviated financial strain across fragile networks and generated more time for relationships,” the authors wrote.

One man had spent an entire year being eligible to receive a real estate license, but he never actually had time to begin the process. The $500 allowed him to take time off work to get his certificate and switch careers, resulting in a “360-degree” turnaround in his fortunes.

MORE: Canadian Researchers Gave Homeless People $7,500 Each and the Results Are So Uplifting

Lastly, despite the fact that every participant spent 100% of their monthly $500, 25% of the participants by trial’s end had managed to cover the $400 cost of an unexpected expense, suggesting that rather than going on spending sprees or committing the money immediately to rent, at least some were able to extend the life of the $500 and other sources of income much further, perhaps by saving more than normal—the most fundamentally important aspect of financial strength and growth.

CHECK OUT: Retiree Has Driven Over 64,000 Miles to Ensure Low-Income Students Can Get to Class

It’s an encouraging sign that a randomized placebo-controlled trial was able to find so many benefits.

A basic income may be a more flexible and effective alternative than other existing welfare programs that limit the scope of the handout to particular requirements and circumstances, because it allows the individual to maintain their own agency and manage their own affairs, and who—as the economists of centuries past recognized—are the only ones who can do so.

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Meet the Sea Slugs That Chop Off Their Heads and Then Grow New Bodies

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Andy Corbley

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Mar 15, 2021

slug autotomized released Sayaka Mitoh — Sayaka Mitoh

Since the days of BBC’s original Planet Earth, nature documentaries have brilliantly revealed the bizarreness of life. But, the behavior of a sea slug observed in a Japanese lab might be the one to steal the prize and leave you speechless.

As remarkable as dancing birds of paradise, as strange as bioluminescent sea life, as startling as young goslings diving off a cliff—nothing will make your jaw drop like this video of a sea slug decapitating itself before cruising around as if nothing had happened.

Researcher Sayaka Mitoh discovered that among her university’s extensive collection of sacoglossan sea slugs—the largest in the world—one of the elysia marginata had mysteriously had its head separated from its body.

Oddly, its head was moving around on its own, seemingly without issue. Odder still, within hours it began eating—despite the fact that its kidneys, heart, sexual organs, and digestive equipment, were all absent.

Then, oddest of all, within weeks it had regenerated an entirely new body.

The findings of this extraordinary regenerative ability have been described by Ms. Mitoh in a paper titled Extreme autotomy and whole-body regeneration in photosynthetic sea slugs.

Autotomy is the scientific term for self-amputation, a not uncommon trait found most commonly in lizards such as newts and geckos, and also crustaceans like crabs and lobsters. Purposely dissolving the bonds between a lizard’s tail or a crab’s leg allows them to escape predators who manage to grab them by the appendage.

However, autotomy of the head, the ditching of the entire body, has never been observed in the animal kingdom.

Autotomy in sea slugs: by the numbers

Sayaka Mitoh and Yoichi Yusa, Current Biology

Five of 15 laboratory-bred individuals of E. marginata, and one wild caught individual, autotomized their head at some point during their lifetime. One even did so twice.

In all cases, all the major organs were left behind. In most cases the head moved immediately, began feeding on algae within a few hours, and the neck wound healed completely within one day.

Young individuals regenerated their entire body in an average of 20 days, while older individuals never regenerated and eventually died. Their discarded bodies reacted to tactile stimuli immediately, and continued to do so for months in some cases. Eventually though they would decompose, though the heart would continue to beat until moments before the highest stage of decomposition.

Ms. Mitoh recorded a video of the entire process here, featuring groovy music to make it less disturbing.

But… why?

Two theories categorized the study of this remarkable phenomenon. The first was the constant co-factor of internal parasites present in the body at the time of autotomy.

The purpose behind the ditching of the body is presumed to be a way to prevent parasites from destroying the organism completely, as in every case that members of another species E. atroviridis, autotomized their bodies, they were infected with internal parasites.

SHARE: Photographer Unites With Cuban Scientists to Save the World’s Most Beautiful Snail

It’s not a perfect hypothesis, as E. marginata never had any parasites in the cases when it autotomized. It’s unlikely, Ms. Mitoh states in her paper, to be related to predation, since “adult sacoglossans generally have few predators due to their cryptic coloration andani presence of toxic chemicals incorporated from their food”.

“Our experiments also showed that autotomy of E. marginata took several hours, which is not effective to avoid predation, and that imitated predator attacks did not induce autotomy,” writes Mithoh.

CHECK OUT: Giant Sharks That Glow in the Dark Discovered by Scientists Who Got Wise to Their Camouflage

As for how they survive and regenerate so quickly, the answer requires expanding your idea of what an animal is. The digestive gland in the slugs is actually a single organ spread across the majority of the surface of their bodies, including over their heads, which is lined by cells that actually commit theft of algal chloroplasts—cells that react to light.

The theft of the plant cells lead to the creation of a new kind of cell known as a kleptoplast, that allows them, once decapitated, to continue living on by generating energy like plants through photosynthesis, even when they have no heart, and there’s no physical way for them to digest food.

MORE: Being Around Birds Makes Us Much Happier Says New Science

The discovery must be one of the most striking sets of evolutionary equipment ever observed, and for Ms. Mitoh, her job watching slugs decapitate themselves, strangely represents the frontiers of biological science.

(WATCH the video of the autotomized sea slug below.)

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“The beauty you see in me is a reflection of you.” – Rumi

Quote of the Day

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Good News Network

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Mar 15, 2021

Quote of the Day: “The beauty you see in me is a reflection of you.” – Rumi

Photo by: freestocks (cropped)

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?

Grandson Finds Grandpa’s Lost WWII Army Band Recordings –The Only Known Live Music Recording Near a Battlefield

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Good News Network

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Mar 14, 2021

WWII air force band records and Richard Burt-submitted — Richard Burt

A World War II recording that had been lost for nearly a half-century was discovered in an attic—and it’s believed to be the only known recording by a frontline military band stationed with troops near a battlefield. The band was spontaneously celebrating the end of WWII by laying down a track of music—and now one of their grandsons has rediscovered it, and remastered the discs, with the hopes of winning a Grammy.

Jason Burt grew up hearing his grandfather playing classical and jazz music with his lifelong passion, the trumpet.

As a teen he grew even closer with his grandpa, bonding over a fascination that turned into Jason’s true passion—World War II history.

They spoke often about Richard Burt’s experience as a military musician during the war, where as a 19-year-old private with the 746th Far East Air Force Band in the South Pacific, he played music for front line troops, generals, and foreign dignitaries.

As the war came to an end, the 20-piece band decided to record themselves playing 10 chart-topping songs of the era, including Sentimental Journey. Upon completion of the recording session in a jungle tent, Jason’s grandpa brought the recordings home, where he pressed them into 78rpm records.

The only known album of a frontline band unit that was recorded where the war was taking place, Richard would keep the recordings safe for the next 75 years. In the 80s, he thought he had lost them—and after he passed away, the family had no idea that the records were hiding in the garage.

“In 2019, I came across my grandpa’s recordings, in his garage attic,” Jason told GNN. “The 75-year-old vinyl looked to be in great physical shape.”

As the only grandchild in a musical family that couldn’t read music or play an instrument, it wasn’t clear to Jason, who became a history teacher, what he should do with his grandpa’s most treasured musical items sitting in the closet.

“Six months later, as I sat alone in my house, I decided that it was time to listen to the records. When the needle pressed against the vinyl, I was transported back to 1945 for a private concert with my grandpa—and the sound of his trumpet filled me with joy.”

Watch these young musicians in the jungle in historical 8mm film, shot by band member Joe Milazzo, which was also found in the attic with the records.

“His skill and solos on the recordings were extraordinary for someone so young, and made it clear why he would graduate from Juilliard, after the war,” recalls Jason.

“When the last song on the album ended, it was clear what I needed to do.”

His grandfather had given up on his musical ambitions in order to raise a family, so Jason decided to publish the performances and try to win a Grammy Award on behalf of the 746th Army Air Force Band. (Buy or stream the music with links below)

Working tirelessly with two of the best sound engineers in the music industry, he produced the recordings into a full length album that features his grandpa telling the story of the band’s time in the Pacific, and 9 minutes of historical film of the band practicing in the Philippines.

Share this story to help Jason win a Grammy for his Grandpa

Jasons says they are “relentless” in their current pursuit to earn for the wartime band a Best Historical Album Grammy nomination in 2022.

And, to that end, they’ve partnered with the USO, to raise money for the iconic military charity, donating a portion of the earnings while hoping to sell a million albums.

“If you want to help my grandpa reach the pinnacle of today’s musicianship and raise money for the USO, you can own a piece of history by downloading a copy of the album on the 746th Band Website.”

If you stream on Spotify, please follow the artist page, and create playlists of their album, and stream it every day—until the Greatest Generation has a platinum album and a Grammy to go with it. Stream it on Apple Music, too, or purchase on iTunes.

“He’s told me all the stories of the band, and ever since I started the project, I always had the feeling that he was preparing me my whole life to do this for him and his bandmates,” Jason told GNN. “It’s the greatest feeling in the world to be doing this.”

WATCH some local TV news coverage and meet Jason…

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

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Good News Network

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Mar 14, 2021

humor obit for Eric pubdomain-Christin Noelle — Crowd shot by Christin Noelle

Laughing in the face of death is often ‘just what the doctor ordered’ because humor can be a powerful weapon against grief—and one widow’s wise-cracking obituary went viral because we all want that prescription.

The devoted wife in Omaha, Nebraska, chose to transform her despair into an affirmation of giggles in the epitaph she wrote for her “dead sexy husband”.

Crystal and Eric Sauser were married for 13 years until on February 26, Eric lost a two-year battle with cancer.

One of the things Crystal holds most dear about her husband Eric was his uniquely warm and quirky sense of humor. When it came time to write his obituary, the standard death notice templates just wouldn’t do. She needed something less-than-grave.

Deciding to depart from convention, Crystal penned an elegy that instead spoke to the exceptional kind of man Eric truly was. “His departure was just in time for him to make his spiritual appearance at every Red Sox spring game,” she observed. “If you knew Eric, you knew you were loved, and there is a good chance he told you that—probably sober, but maybe not.”

She also wryly listed her husband’s priorities: “Eric loved, in this order: his smoking hot wife, his brilliant kids and family, his many friends, the Boston Red Sox, the Kansas City Chiefs (before being a Chiefs fan was cool), the Huskers, Liverpool Futbol, QT iced tea, Adidas sneakers, fishing, backpacking, hiking, hunting, and any old Chevy he saw on the road.”

In terms of the memorial service being held March 4, she wrote: “Admission is free to all who attend this once in a lifetime show for the greatest man on earth. Following the Service, the family requests jamming out to Ozzy Osborne and raising a cold beer (preferably Busch Light) in celebration of Eric’s life.

“In lieu of flowers, please pray that the Huskers have a winning season..”

After the obituary was published online, Crystal was surprised to learn that the post had gone viral. While she thinks Eric might have been a bit embarrassed, he would have very much appreciated the way in which she’d captured his spirit.

“He would be happy that this story is generating inspiration and love,” she told Good Morning America. “If there’s anything Eric and I can do, it’s send some love out there.”

And there’s no better way to be remembered than that.

LOOK: School Bus Driver Who Transported Generations of Students Laid to Rest in Decorated Casket He Always Wanted

Canada Launches Satellite Technology That Identifies ‘Dark Vessels’ Illegally Catching Billions of Fish

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Good News Network

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Mar 14, 2021

vsatellite detection of illegal fishing-Dark Vessel Program-Fisheries and Oceans Canada-released

Canada’s new Dark Vessel Detection program is using cutting-edge satellite technology to find illegal fishing vessels that attempt to hide in plain sight stealing fish from waters around the world.

“Dark” vessels switch off their location transmitters to avoid detection so they can engage in illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, called IUU.

IUU fishing is a major contributor to the decline of fish stocks and marine habitat destruction, which undermines the livelihoods of legitimate fish harvesters.

Now, the government’s Fisheries and Oceans Canada, in partnership with the Department of National Defense and MDA (Canada’s largest space technology manufacturer which owns RADARSAT-2), has launched a new program that has already led to significant fines on five foreign vessels.

The $7 million Dark Vessel Detection program uses satellite technology to locate and track vessels whose location transmitting devices have been switched off, sometimes in an attempt to evade monitoring, control and surveillance.

Fisheries and Oceans Canada launched the pilot program this year to track dark vessels and is working with the Canadian Space Agency and NGOs to detect dark vessels in the Bahamas and Costa Rica. Its law enforcement partners include the Forum Fisheries Agency, which represents 15 fishing island nations in the Pacific, and the Ecuadorian Maritime Authority—home to the Galapagos Islands – a UNESCO World Heritage site.

The program provides state-of-the-art satellite data and analysis from MDA to small island nations and coastal states around the world where IUU fishing has a major impact on local economies and the health of fish stocks.

Identifying “dark” vessels from space will now allow these small island nations to focus their investigations and maximize their enforcement effort to protect their fish stocks.

MORE: For the First Time in 17 Years, No Whales Will Be Harpooned in Icelandic Waters

“Illegal fishing threatens the health of our fish stocks and takes resources away from hard-working, law-abiding fishers, said Bernadette Jordan, the Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard. “We’re investing in one of the leading, most innovative systems on the planet to ensure our fish stocks are protected, our fisheries remain lucrative, and the law is upheld at sea.”

“This state-of-the-art system will help Ecuador and small island nations in the Pacific region respond to illegal fishing impacting the Galapagos Islands and the food and economic security of its people,” added Marc Garneau, Canada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs.

ALSO: Canada Passed Most Progressive Fishery Act Yet, Requiring the Rebuilding of Fish Populations

It is estimated that IUU fishing accounts for about 30 percent of all fishing activity worldwide, representing up to 26 million tons of fish caught annually at a cost to the global economy of more than $23 billion a year. Illegal fishing occurs both on the high seas and within the 200 mile limits of coastal states, which has an especially negative impact on coastal rural populations in vulnerable areas.

(Source: Fisheries and Oceans Canada)

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This Week’s Inspiring Horoscopes From Rob Brezsny’s ‘Free Will Astrology’

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Good News Network

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Mar 14, 2021

Our friend 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 March 12, 2021
Copyright by Rob Brezsny, FreeWillAstrology.com

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20):
The bad news is that the narrow buffer zone between North Korea and South Korea is laced with landmines. Anyone who walks there is at risk for getting blown up. The good news is that because people avoid the place, it has become an unprecedented nature preserve—a wildlife refuge where endangered species like the red-crowned crane and Korean fox can thrive. In the coming weeks and months, I’d love to see you engage in a comparable project, Pisces: finding a benevolent use for a previously taboo or wasted part of your life.

ARIES (March 21-April 19):
Artist Richard Kehl tells this traditional Jewish story: God said to Abraham, “But for me, you would not be here.” Abraham answered, “I know that Lord, but were I not here there would be no one to think about you”… I’m bringing this tale to your attention, dear Aries, because I think the coming weeks will be a favorable time to summon a comparable cheekiness with authorities, including even the Divine Wow Herself. So I invite you to consider the possibility of being sassy, saucy, and bold. Risk being an articulate maverick with a point of view that the honchos and experts should entertain.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20):
Spiritual author Ernest Holmes wrote, “True imagination is not fanciful daydreaming; it is fire from heaven.” Unfortunately, however, many people do indeed regard imagination as mostly just a source of fanciful daydreaming. And it is also true that when our imaginations are lazy and out of control, when they conjure delusional fears and worries, they can be debilitating. I bring this to your attention, Taurus, because I believe the coming weeks will be a favorable time for you to harness the highest powers of your imagination—to channel the fire from heaven—as you visualize all the wonderful and interesting things you want to do with your life in the next nine months.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20):
“I’m always waiting for a door to open in a wall without doors,” wrote Gemini author Fernando Pessoa. Huh? Pessoa was consistently eccentric in his many writings, and I find this particular statement especially odd. I’m going to alter it so it makes more sense and fits your current needs. Here’s your motto for the coming weeks: “I’m always ready to figure out how to make a new door in a wall without doors, and call on all necessary help to make it.”

CANCER (June 21-July 22):
You can’t drive to the Kamchatka Peninsula. It’s a 104,000-square-mile area with a sub-Arctic climate in the far east of Russia. No roads connect it to the rest of the world. Its major city, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, is surrounded by volcanoes. If you want to travel there, you must arrive by plane or ship. And yet Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky has long had a thriving tourist industry. More so before the pandemic, but even now, outsiders have come to paraglide, hunt for bears, and marvel at the scenery. In this horoscope, I am making an outlandish metaphorical comparison of you to the Kamchatka Peninsula. Like that land, people sometimes find it a challenge to reach you. And yet when they do, you can be quite welcoming. Is this a problem? Maybe, maybe not. What do you think? Now is a good time to re-evaluate.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22):
Biting midges, also known as no-see-ums, are blood-sucking flies that spread various diseases. Yuck, right? Wouldn’t the world be a better place if we used science to kill off all biting midges everywhere? Well, there would be a disappointing trade-off if we did. The creepy bugs are the primary pollinators for several crops grown in the topics, including cacao. So if we got rid of the no-see-ums, there’d probably be no more chocolate. I’m guessing that you may be dealing with a comparable dilemma, Leo: an influence that has both a downside and an upside. The central question is: Can you be all you want to be without it in your life? Or not? Now is a good time to ponder the best way to shape your future relationship.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22):
According to my analysis of your imminent astrological potentials, you already are or will soon be floating and whirling and churning along on an ocean of emotion. In other words, you will be experiencing more feelings and stronger feelings than you have in quite some time. This doesn’t have to be a problem as long as you do the following: 1. Be proud and appreciative about being able to feel so much. 2. Since only a small percentage of your feelings need to be translated into practical actions, don’t take them too seriously. 3. Enjoy the ride!

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22):
Poet Wendell Berry says “it’s the immemorial feelings” he likes best: “hunger and thirst and their satisfaction; work-weariness and earned rest; the falling again from loneliness to love.” Notice that he doesn’t merely love the gratification that comes from quenching his hunger and thirst. The hunger and thirst are themselves essential components of his joy. Work-weariness and loneliness are not simply inconvenient discomforts that he’d rather live without. He celebrates them, as well. I think his way of thinking is especially worthy of your imitation in the next three weeks.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21):
Famous and influential science fiction novelist Philip K. Dick relied on amphetamines to fuel his first 43 novels. Beginning with A Scanner Darkly, his 44th, he did without his favorite drug. It wasn’t his best book, but it was far from his worst. It sold well and was made into a movie featuring Keanu Reeves, Robert Downey Jr., and two other celebrity actors. Inspired by Dick’s success without relying on his dependency—and in accordance with current astrological omens—I’m inviting you to try doing without one of your addictions or compulsions or obsessions as you work on your labor of love.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21):
Ninety percent of all apples in the world are descended from a forest of apple trees in southeast Kazakhstan. Most of us have tasted just a few types of apples, but there’s a much wider assortment of flavors in that natural wonderland. You know how wine is described as having taste notes and aromas? The apple flavor of Kazakhstan’s apples may be tinged with hints of roses, strawberries, anise, pineapples, coconuts, lemon peels, pears, potatoes, or popcorn. Can you imagine traveling to that forest and exploring a far more complex and nuanced relationship with a commonplace food? During the coming weeks, I invite you to experiment with arousing metaphorically similar experiences. In what old familiar persons, places, or things could you find a surprising wealth of previously unexplored depth and variety?

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19):
Author Andrew Tilin testified that he sometimes had the feeling that his life was in pieces—but then realized that most of the pieces were good and interesting. So his sense of being a mess of unassembled puzzle parts gave way to a deeper contentment—an understanding that the jumble was just fine the way it was. I recommend you cultivate and enjoy an experience like that in the coming weeks, Capricorn.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18):
Indian poet Meena Alexander (1951–2018) was bon under the sign of Aquarius. She became famous after she moved to the US at age 29, but was raised in India and the Sudan. In her poem “Where Do You Come From?,” she wrote, “Mama beat me when I was a child for stealing honey from a honey pot.” I’m sorry to hear she was treated so badly for enjoying herself. She wasn’t committing a crime! The honey belonged to her family, and her family had plenty of money to buy more honey. This vignette is my way of advising you, in accordance with astrological omens, to carry out your personal version of “stealing the honey from the honeypot,” dear Aquarius. Take what’s rightfully yours.

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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“True imagination is not fanciful daydreaming; it is fire from heaven.” – Ernest Holmes

Quote of the Day

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Good News Network

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Mar 14, 2021

Quote of the Day: “True imagination is not fanciful daydreaming; it is fire from heaven.” – Ernest Holmes

Photo by: Jan Canty

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?

George Floyd Family to Receive $27 Million From City of Minneapolis

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Good News Network

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Mar 13, 2021

George Floyd artwork memorial at Chicago Ave in Minneapolis-pubdomain Jéan Béller — Chicago Avenue memorial artwork - Jéan Béller

The Minneapolis City Council voted unanimously to approve a pre-trial settlement with the family of a 46-year-old whose homicide by one of its police officers was caught on camera and outraged the nation, sparking protests worldwide.

Chicago Avenue memorial artwork – Jéan Béller

The $27 million award to the family of George Floyd comes as jury selection continues for officer Derek Chauvin’s murder trial.

Attorney Ben Crump, who has represented the family, filing suit last June, announced that $500,000 from the settlement will go towards helping neighborhood businesses around 38th and Chicago Avenue in Minneapolis, where George was killed, and to tend the memorial that sprung up there.

“This historic agreement, the largest pre-trial settlement in a civil rights wrongful death case in U.S. history, makes a statement that George Floyd’s life mattered and by extension that Black lives matter,” said Crump.

George’s sister, Bridgett Floyd, said, “While our hearts are broken, we are comforted in knowing that even in death, George Floyd showed the world how to live.”

The family’s attorney argued that the city had been negligent for failing to properly train police and not firing officers like Chauvin, who had dozens of complaints previously been filed against him during his 19-year tenure.

CHECK OUT: Instead of Charging Women With Shoplifting Groceries, Police Officer Buys $250 Worth of Food For Family in Need

The other three officers who were on the scene with Chauvin in May 2020, are due to go on trial later this year on charges of aiding and abetting the reckless cop in Floyd’s death.

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GoodRx Launches $40 Million Charitable Initiative to Provide Free Prescriptions for Many Americans Who Need It Most

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Mar 13, 2021

health Pharmacist w black woman senior medicine-prescription-drugs aging pubdomain-National Cancer Institute — – National Cancer Institute

GoodRx is a website and mobile app that compares medication prices to help Americans get the best deal on drugs—but his month they launched a philanthropic initiative that provides medications for free to low-income patients who need more than a bargain.

In its first phase, GoodRx Help has partnered with the National Association of Free and Charitable Clinics (NAFC) to fully subsidize the cost of nearly 1,000 medications at 23 clinics in 16 states, including California, Texas, Florida, and New York.

To fund the initiative, following the company’s initial public offering, GoodRx has contributed more than 1 million shares, valued at over $40 million (as of December 18).

The charity characterized its promise in a press release, calling it a multi-year commitment which is expected to provide over $5 million worth of medications in 2021, its first year.

“We know there are times when discounts aren’t enough,” said GoodRx co-founder Doug Hirsch. “With GoodRx Helps, we hope to assist more patients who feel they’ve run out of options, especially in underserved communities that disproportionately face greater challenges when seeking affordable care.”

GoodRx, which was launched in 2011, estimates that increased unemployment resulted in 56 million fewer prescriptions filled during the first six months of the pandemic.

How it works

Medical providers simply enroll patients into the program, and GoodRx then sends the medication for free to the clinic for the patient’s use. The clinics selected for the program primarily serve communities with low income patients.

“Medication affordability is one of the top issues facing patients at Free and Charitable Clinics and Pharmacies throughout the country,” said Nicole Lamoureux, NAFC President and CEO. “We are thrilled that GoodRx recognizes this need and has chosen to partner with the NAFC on this important program to help patients receive medications that they need at no cost.”

GoodRx partnered with the NAFC because of the association’s extensive knowledge and expertise in working with nonprofit clinics and underserved patients.

A participating clinic in Katy, Texas is already praising the program.

“The additional financial assistance GoodRx Helps has brought to many of our patients’ lives is incomparable,” said Janeth Arteaga Castilleja, Medication Coordinator at Christ Clinic. “This program allows our patients to have one less thing to worry about when it comes to their healthcare. GoodRx Helps has been a blessing in the middle of chaos.”

The charity says it hopes to add more locations soon. See the list of clinics involved, so far.

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Penguin Leaps Into a Tour Boat to Avoid Being Eaten By Killer Whales – WATCH

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Mar 13, 2021

A dinghy full of tourists saw the nature film of a lifetime, right in front of their eyes.

A gentoo penguin that was being chased by a pod of orcas made a desperation leap for safety into their boat.

The successful jump happened only after a first attempt had failed, when the small animal flung itself headfirst into the side of the boat and bounced back into the perilous water.

Travel blogger Matt Karsten and his wife Anna were taking a tour through the icebergs of the Gerlache Strait in Antarctica, when they saw the incredible chase unfold.

In the video below, the life-saving leap happens at 2:00, ending the long chase scene…

This is not the first time humans have been at the right place at the right time to help out. An otter in Halibut Cove was in similar trouble, and swam frantically toward safety as the orca followed.

WATCH: Jaw-Dropping Footage of Northern Lights Pulsing Across Entire Canadian Sky–With Southern Lights, Too

It reached John Dornellas’ boat and climbed onto the stern just as the orca closed in. He returned to the deck of the boat three times until the coast was clear.

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52% of Americans Surveyed Say They Volunteered for the First Time During the Pandemic

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Good News Network

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Mar 13, 2021

volunteer loads face masks into van-pubdomain-Alex Mecl — By Alex Mecl

Sixty-five percent of Americans said the pandemic has provided them with a “wake-up call” to reach out to their communities.

And a new survey of 2,000 Americans revealed more than half are doing just that by volunteering.

In fact, 52% reported volunteering in their communities for the very first time as a result of the circumstances brought on by the pandemic.

Delivering food to essential workers (35%), volunteering to help the elderly or incapacitated maintain their homes (23%) and volunteering at a food pantry (20%) were among the most common ways respondents had volunteered since the start of the pandemic.

Yet seven out of 10 respondents reported that, while the effects of COVID-19 on their community made them more eager to volunteer, they’ve hesitated due to safety concerns.

The survey also examined the safety precautions that would make them feel more confident lending a helping hand in their communities.

Among those who agreed that they had hesitated to volunteer due to safety concerns, 56% reported concern about the availability of hand-washing and hand sanitizing stations, making this the most common worry.

Other common concerns among this group included whether or not mask-wearing would be required at the site (50%) and whether or not social distancing would be mandated (44%).

Check Out: Instead of Staying Home, American Youth Are Answering the Call to Serve With AmeriCorps

“To avoid anxiety about supplies at job sites, be sure to bring your own bottle of hand sanitizer to help you and others stay safe,” said Tara Merkle, of Muse Health Hand Sanitizer, which sponsored the poll.

For over a third of respondents, the motivation to volunteer came from close to home. 35% reported that their primary reason for stepping up was knowing about friends and neighbors in need, which made them want to contribute.

And 17% said their friends and neighbors who were helping out inspired them to do the same.

The uptick in volunteering may well continue post-pandemic, too, according to the survey, conducted by OnePoll.

WATCH: This UPS Driver Being Moved to Tears by Neighborhood ‘Thank You’

73% agreed that while donating money or items to help the community is great, using their hands to get out there and do the work is more fulfilling.

Best of all, nearly seven in 10 reported that, as more people become vaccinated, they hope to increase their time spent volunteering.

MOST COMMON VOLUNTEER ACTIVITIES SINCE THE START OF THE PANDEMIC
Delivering food to essential workers (35%)
Volunteering to help elderly or incapacitated neighbors maintain their homes (23%)
Collecting items for food pantries (21%)
Volunteering at a food pantry (20%)
Donating blood (19%)

“It’s commendable, and heartening, to see so many Americans stepping up to lend a helping hand in their communities during this challenging time,” added Tara, whose company is celebrating the selfless individuals who are giving back.

Need more positive stories and updates coming out of the COVID-19 challenge? For more uplifting coverage, click here.

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“The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Quote of the Day

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Good News Network

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Mar 13, 2021

Quote of the Day: “The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Photo by: Vladislav Babienko

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?

Meteorite That Could Hold Secrets of Solar System Hits Family’s Driveway–They Thought it was Charcoal From Grill

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Good News Network

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Mar 12, 2021

An English family has been astounded to find themselves at the center of a major scientific discovery that’s had scientists weak at the knees—as their driveway has been hit by the most valuable space rock ever to fall on Britain.

In late February, in the home she shares with her mom and dad, Hannah Wilcock heard a dull, thumping noise outside her window.

She looked out to see where the sounds were coming from, but because it was dark she couldn’t see what it was.

Her first guess? Someone in the Cotswolds must be driving around, and throwing lumps of coal in people’s driveways for some reason.

She went and spoke to her mom Cathryn. Given the recent mild weather, they decided maybe a disposable charcoal grill had been dumped?

That might explain the strange sounds.

Of course, it was neither of those things.

What was hitting their Gloucestershire home was, in fact, carbonaceous chondrite—a dark, stony material that retains unaltered chemistry from the formation of our Solar System 4.6 billion years ago.

MORE: Struggling Thai Fisherman Finds Rare Melo Pearl Worth $320,000 While Walking on Beach

When Open University planetary scientist Richard Greenwood looked at the Wilcocks’ picture of what had landed outside their front door, he was blown away, and was soon despatched to take a look.

“It was one of those moments when your legs start going wobbly,” he told the BBC. “I saw this thing; it was like a splat across [the] drive; and it had all these rays coming off it; and I just thought—that is a meteorite. It was instantaneous.”

CHECK OUT: Rare Archeological Treasures Discovered Beneath Attic Floorboards of English Tudor Mansion

Such a rare find could fetch high prices from a collector, but the Wilcock family would rather the fortuitous ‘coal lumps’ in their backyard go to science rather than onto a collector’s shelves.

After all, these meteors could give scientists real, fresh insights into how our very planet came into being.

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Yale Scientists Successfully Repair Injured Spinal Cords Using Patients’ Own Stem Cells

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Mar 12, 2021

Intravenous injection of bone marrow derived stem cells in patients with spinal cord injuries led to significant improvement in motor functions, researchers from Yale University and Japan have reported.

For more than half of the patients studied, substantial improvements in key functions—such as ability to walk, or to use their hands—were observed within weeks of stem cell injection, the researchers report. No substantial side effects were reported.

The patients had sustained non-penetrating spinal cord injuries, in many cases from falls or minor trauma, several weeks prior to implantation of the stem cells. Their symptoms involved loss of motor function and coordination, sensory loss, as well as bowel and bladder dysfunction.

The stem cells were prepared from the patients’ own bone marrow, via a culture protocol that took a few weeks in a specialized cell processing center. The cells were injected intravenously in this series, with each patient serving as their own control. Results were not blinded and there were no placebo controls.

Yale scientists Jeffery D. Kocsis and Stephen G. Waxman were senior authors of the study—which was carried out with investigators at Sapporo Medical University in Japan—with the results published last month in the Journal of Clinical Neurology and Neurosurgery.

MORE: Goal of Plentiful Organ Transplants Moves Closer to Reality as Scientists Grow Tiny Working Livers from Skin Cells

Kocsis and Waxman stress that additional studies will be needed to confirm the results of this preliminary, unblinded trial. They also stress that this could take years. Despite the challenges, they remain optimistic.

“Similar results with stem cells in patients with stroke increases our confidence that this approach may be clinically useful,” noted Kocsis. “This clinical study is the culmination of extensive preclinical laboratory work using MSCs between Yale and Sapporo colleagues over many years.”

“The idea that we may be able to restore function after injury to the brain and spinal cord using the patient’s own stem cells has intrigued us for years,” Waxman said. “Now we have a hint, in humans, that it may be possible.”

Source: YaleNews

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Being Around Birds Makes Us Much Happier Says New Science

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Andy Corbley

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Mar 12, 2021

We see them nearly everywhere we go, we hear them every day, they live in every environment, and now, two new studies have shown their mere presence makes us happier.

German research has even found that being surrounding by a wide variety of birds can offer increasing life satisfaction equivalent to $150 per week of added income.

On the surprising benefits of species diversity

The German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research took data from the 2012 European quality of Life Survey to measure how species diversity in birds affected 26,000 people in 26 European countries.

“According to our findings, the happiest Europeans are those who can experience numerous different bird species in their daily life, or who live in near-natural surroundings that are home to many species,” explains the study’s lead author, Joel Methorst a professor at Goethe University in Frankfurt, in a press release.

MORE: Photographer Uses Lockdown to Snap Photos of Amazing Wild Birds in Garden –All From the Kitchen Window

“We also examined the socio-economic data of the people that were surveyed, and, much to our surprise, we found that avian diversity is as important for their life satisfaction as is their income,” explains Prof. Dr. Katrin Böhning-Gaese, also at Goethe University.

On bird song and well-being

In the second study of note, California Polytechnic University covertly subjected Colorado hikers to a test that measured their sense of well-being by placing speakers that played a variety of bird song along certain sections of a popular hiking trial network—then interviewing the hikers about their experience.

“While the bigger picture of nature’s restorative properties is likely to involve multiple senses, our study is the first to experimentally manipulate a single one (sound) in the field and demonstrate its importance to human experiences in nature,” said Danielle Ferraro, to the university press.

Indeed, hikers on the trials that perceived both more sounds and more varied sounds said they felt better about life, and about their experience hiking, than those who heard both fewer sounds, and less sound altogether.

Nesting season

The benefits of birding—hearing their song, noticing the species around us—is a good thing too. A recent report from the Audubon Society found that sales of bird feeders, bird food, and birding apps have all increased during the pandemic, while participations in the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s annual Global Big Day 2020 shattered all previous records.

During the Big Day, participants logged 2.1 million sightings of 6,500 species. An all-time high of 50,000 participants submitted more than 120,000 checklists, shattering the previous single-day checklist total by 30%.

CHECK OUT: Mesmerizing Photos Show the Patterns Created by Murmurations of Starlings

Nesting season is fast approaching, and with lockdowns continuing in many states and countries, there’s never been a better time to take up birdwatching—and, if you can, to make your property a positive habitat for avians.

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She Came to the US to Study With Only $300 in Her Pocket — Now She’s a NASA Director For the Mars Rover

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Judy Cole

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Mar 12, 2021

For a little girl growing up in Colombia in the 1980s, a science career with NASA may have seemed about as likely as setting foot on a faraway planet. These days, however, Diana Trujillo is an aerospace engineer.

In fact, she leads a 45-person team at the NASA laboratory that’s responsible for the robotic arm of the latest Mars rover.

NASA/JPL-Caltech, illustration of the Perseverance rover landing

How did Diana go from simply dreaming about the cosmos to actually exploring it? That’s a tale of perseverance that was, perhaps, written in the stars.

Born in 1983, even as a young girl Diana was certain of her passion for science. But she doubted how far she’d be able to rise in a male-dominated field. Fate stepped in when her dad—thinking having a second language might expand his daughter’s horizons—offered to send her to live with an aunt in Miami.

Only 17 years old at the time, she took him up on it.

With just $300 to her name, Trujillo took a series of housekeeping jobs to put herself through Miami Dade College. In addition to learning English, she studied aerospace engineering. It wasn’t easy. Sometimes she had to take six buses just to get to class. Other days she was cleaning bathrooms to help pay her way through her studies. But she didn’t complain.

“I saw everything coming my way as an opportunity,” Diana told CBS News. “I didn’t see it as: ‘I can’t believe I’m doing this job at night, or “I can’t believe that I’m cleaning a bathroom right now.’ It was just more like, ‘I’m glad that I have a job and I can buy food and have a house to sleep… ’”

Then came another life-changing moment for Trujillo. One of her professors casually mentioned they were actually acquainted with an astronaut. Realizing she was “just one person away from knowing an astronaut” was all it took to galvanize Diana’s career goals.

Trujillo continued with her studies. Becoming the first Hispanic woman to be admitted to the NASA Academy, she did so well she was one of only two students to receive a job offer from the prestigious institution.

A story of perseverance

While at the NASA Academy, she was introduced to robots expert Brian Roberts. Recognizing her potential, he invited Trujillo to join his NASA space robotics research team at the University of Maryland, where she went on to earn her Bachelor’s degree in Aerospace Engineering in 2007.

Later that year, she became a team member at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. Since then, Trujillo has worn many hats at America’s space agency, including as Mission Lead for the Curiosity Rover in 2014—for which she got the nod as one of the 20 most influential Latinos in the Technology Industry.

A voice for everyone

Diana hasn’t stopped there. This February, when the Perseverance rover landed on the surface of Mars, it was accompanied by commentary from Trujillo in what became NASA’s first-ever Spanish-language transmission.

MORE: The Inspiring and Playful Hidden Message in the Mars Perseverance Rover’s Parachute

She followed up that coup by hosting the agency’s first-ever Spanish language broadcast, Juntos perseveramos (Together we Persevere), which has since gone on to rake in more than 2.5 million hits on YouTube.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Trujillo has won numerous awards in her field, most recently, the Congress of Colombia’s order of merit Policarpa Salavarrieta.

Encouraging others to reach for the stars

Along with her ongoing scientific endeavors, Diana Trujillo continues her mission to lead by example, encouraging women from marginalized backgrounds to pursue careers in STEM fields.

If it takes a rocket to shatter the glass ceiling, so be it. Diana’s own story is proof that just beyond that barrier lies an entire universe of opportunities waiting for anyone willing to work hard enough to reach for the stars.

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Watch 600 Drones Recreate Van Gogh’s Famous Paintings in Dazzling Starry Night Show

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Good News Network

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Mar 12, 2021

The Starry Night by Vincent Van Gogh must be one of the most recognizable paintings in Western art.

The original—a rich and mysterious whirl of oil on canvas—is on display at MoMa in New York City. But the version that lit up the sky in China? Well, it’s like no rendition that’s ever been seen before.

A local drone production company partnered with Tianjin University to create the light show called A Tribute to Van Gogh.

To project the painting onto the night sky, 600 drones were deployed—successfully setting a Guinness World Record for the longest animation performed by unmanned aerial vehicles.

The dazzling show lasted 26 minutes and 19 seconds, with the impressive display requiring high-precision positioning technology that coordinated and synchronized the drones.

MORE: Amazing Bubble Wrap Artist Creates Masterpieces by Injecting Paint Into Each Bubble

Watch the video and you’ll see homages not just to The Starry Night, but also Van Gogh’s life-affirming Sunflowers, The Mulberry Tree in Autumn, and Wheat Field with Cypresses.

(PLAY the Guinness World Records video below.)

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“The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.” – Mark Twain

Quote of the Day

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Mar 12, 2021

bright light bulb idea in sunset solar-pubdomain-Ameen Fahmy — By Ameen Fahmy

Quote of the Day: “The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.” – Mark Twain

Photo by: Ameen Fahmy

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?