A boy has finally found his “forever dad,” a single man that is the kind of person who would take in a stranger during their time of greatest need.
Tony Mutabazi’s childhood hasn’t been easy. After his birth parents gave him up for adoption, he spent a few years in the foster care system before being adopted at age 4. But those parents left him in a Charlotte, North Carolina hospital when he was 11, and never returned.
A few days later, Peter Mutabazi received a call from foster care worker Jessica Ward requesting that he take Tony for the weekend. Peter, who had already been a foster parent for three years, knew he had to do more after hearing Tony’s story.
“By that time, I was crying,” Peter told Good Morning America. “I thought, ‘Who would do that?’”
“Once I knew the parents’ rights were signed off and he had nowhere to go, I [knew] I had to take him. . . I had the room, the resources, so I had no reason to let him go.”
Peter has been cheering up Tony ever since—watching movies, playing board games, reading and taking him cycling. In November, 2019, he made it official, adopting the young teen to become his dad.
“From day one, he’s always called me ‘dad.’ He truly meant it and he looks up to me. He’s proud to show me at school and say, ‘Hey, he’s my dad.’ That’s something that I love about him.”
The story of the fun-loving father and son went viral this year, and 72,000 followers are now fans of the dynamic duo on dad’s Instagram account—and they are just so adorable together.
Peter’s urge to be there for Tony and for other kids in the foster care system dates back to his own childhood experiences. Growing up in Uganda, he ran away from his abusive home at age 10.
Thankfully, a parental figure in the area took Peter under his wing and made sure he finished school. Now, he sees his adoption of Tony as a way of paying it forward, to honor the person who saved his own young life.
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83 millionaires have signed an open letter to their governments demanding increased tax rates on their own fortunes in order to raise capital to benefit society, in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns and resulting economic hardships.
The signers include two Disney heirs, Ben and Jerry’s ice cream co-founder Jerry Greenfield and citizens of a dozen different countries like Spain, the UK, the U.S., Holland, Russia, and others.
“Unlike tens of millions of people around the world, we do not have to worry about losing our jobs, our homes, or our ability to support our families,” reads the letter. “We are not fighting on the frontlines of this emergency and we are much less likely to be its victims.”
Together the signers formed the Millionaires for Humanity project, which has the backing of the mega charity Oxfam, as well as the Patriotic Millionaires and Tax Justice UK, among others.
They have called on governments to create an “immediate, substantial, permanent,” increase to tax rates on “people like us.”
“Government leaders must take the responsibility for raising the funds we need and spending them fairly. We can ensure we adequately fund our health systems, schools, and security through a permanent tax increase on the wealthiest people on the planet,” reads the letter.
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Quote of the Day: “Oh, the world needs those standing on the Bridge, For they know how Eternity reaches to earth. Only they can blow the dust from the seeing eyes Of those who are blind.” – Jane Goodall (began her work with chimps 60 years ago today)
Image: by Johannes Plenio
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These grandmas deserve a Grammy for their photo remakes of classic rock albums.
After so many months in lock-down with no family visiting their senior care home in north London, their activities co-ordinator came up with a gem of an idea.
Robert Speker, charged with keeping them entertained during the COVID crisis, decided to use his photography skills to recreate album covers.
“As this situation is on-going it could be months before the situation changes for them and the need to keep them happy, entertained, and full of spirit has never been more crucial,” said the activities director at Sydmar Lodge Care in Edgware. “It’s been my job and privilege.”
The photo shoots nailed iconic covers like Adele’s 21, The Clash’s London Calling, and David Bowie’s Aladdin Sane—which featured Roma Cohen recreating David Bowie’s iconic ‘Ziggy Stardust’ character.
Julia Davey, manager of the nursing home, told The Independent that Mr Speker is “well-known locally” for organizing activities that are “outside of the box”.
The shoot has gone viral after Speker shared it to Twitter, with fans clamoring to buy a calendar.
The photography project was originally intended to raise funds, so Speker set up a GoFundMe campaign which has raised £1,000. Check out the amazing models and donate to help Speker fund future projects…
93-year-old Vera stood in for Adele, on her LP 21.
Shelia Solomons paid homage to The Clash album, smashing her walking stick like a guitar on the floor.
Martin Steinberg starred in a British recreation of Springsteen’s Born in the USA.
98-year-old RC is lovely in lilac, in her tribute to Taylor Swift’s 1989.
Toba David with her walker is simply Bad in this Michael Jackson remake.
With a butterfly tattoo, one senior posed as the covergirl for Blink-182’s punk classic Enema of the State.
JolieSumo pretty much summed up everyone’s feelings, tweeting, “These are so moving. Reminds me of my 97 year old grandmother telling me that on the inside she was still 18.”
Reprinted with permission from World at Large, an online journal focused on travel, foreign affairs, health and fitness, and the environment.
After 2016, when the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) signed a peace agreement with the Colombian government, scientists realized that it was suddenly safe to explore the rainforests, mountains, and savannas from which FARC waged a 50-year guerrilla war—and these areas are counted among the most biodiverse and least-explored places on earth.
A few biologists who longed to journey to the heart of these places also seized the opportunity as the perfect way to bring 14,000 former guerrillas back into society in a meaningful way that could benefit not only them, but the country’s stunning biodiversity.
Colombia is often referred to as the world’s most biodiverse country. Although this is a hard thing to designate, since many species around the world of all kinds remain undiscovered, she does lay claim to the most bird species anywhere on earth—both endemic and migratory.
Who better to help protect Colombia’s wild spaces than those who know them best, pondered Jaime Góngora, a wildlife geneticist at the University of Sydney who is originally from Colombia.
Góngora now leads a group of researchers from the United Kingdom, Australia, and 10 different Colombian scientific institutions in a program that trains ex‑guerrillas to study Colombia’s native plants and animals—a program which to date has uncovered nearly 100 previously-unknown species.
Peace with Nature now unites scientists with guerillas to help protect Colombia’s biodiversity and aid in the post-conflict situation for thousands of people, 84% of whom, according to Góngora, are interested in pursuing, of all things, river habitat restoration as their post-conflict career path.
Góngora and his colleagues are only too happy to help, and Peace with Nature began hosting citizen scientist workshops to help train eager folks to find, identify, catalogue, and study wild plants, insects, birds, amphibians, and more.
The preparation work was long and hard – between 15 and 18 months according to Góngora.
“We did the first regional workshop last March in a remote ex-combatant village named Charras in the province of Guaviare at the interface of three major ecosystems in Colombia: Andes, Orinoquia, and Amazon,” says Góngora, in an interview with Science Magazine.
“There, we did a more comprehensive workshop and inventory of an ecotourism trail identifying more than 120 plant and animal species, which were uploaded to iNaturalist”.
iNaturalist is an app used by citizen scientists around the globe, that allows naturalists to document their country’s biodiversity inventories and to inform and highlight potential ecotourists of attractions in their communities.
“In some of the workshops, we have the presence of the police and military forces along with the ex-combatants,” explains Góngora. “I think what has surprised me most is the opportunity that biodiversity offers for reconciliation and healing after an armed conflict. These workshops have been spaces for a respectful dialogue about biodiversity and nature”.
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How long do you keep things in the family? According to new research, 42% of Americans have a generational heirlooms that’s over 50 years old.
The survey asked 2,000 Americans about their family history and their most valued possessions that have been passed down from generation to generation.
75 percent of those surveyed said they loved learning about their family’s history while they were growing up, and some of their most cherished childhood memories were looking through old family photo albums—so it’s no surprise that 65% cited their family photos as their most cherished items.
Conducted by OnePoll on behalf of Shinola, the survey found nearly half of those polled cited a family heirloom as one of their most prized possessions today.
On average, people were 24-years-old when they started to inquire about items they hoped could be passed down to them one day.
Aside from the family’s engagement rings and wedding rings, 26% of respondents shared they’re hoping to inherit a watch one day.
“Being given a family heirloom is so much more than just receiving a physical gift – it’s something that has lived a life already, and now it’s going to make more memories with a new owner,” said Shannon Washburn, Shinola’s CEO.
“Getting dad’s old watch, or mom’s leather journal, for example—there are stories engrained in those goods that are special to that piece only. It’s like being handed a piece of your own family’s history that you’re lucky enough to carry on.”
25% of respondents hoped to inherit a wedding dress. Other clothing, too, made the Top Ten list of keenly admired items. (Remember, if you hope to pass down a wedding dress, make sure you get it cleaned promptly after the wedding, and store it in the proper materials to prevent deterioration.)
WHAT ARE THE TOP 10 ITEMS AMERICANS HOPE TO INHERIT: Survey Says…
Engagement ring – 32%
Piece of jewelry – 29%
Wedding ring – 26%
Watch – 26%
Wedding dress – 25%
Wedding veil – 19%
Family home – 18%
Kitchen item – 17%
Suit – 16%
Item of clothing – 14%
Even outside of their families, respondents say they put the same amount of effort and love into making or purchasing gifts.
In fact, 77% of respondents said it was important to them that they give a gift that will be around for years and even potentially become a family heirloom later in life. Check out the most valued items in peoples’ current lives.
WHAT ARE YOUR MOST PRIZED POSSESSIONS? Survey Says…
Family photos – 65%
Wedding ring – 56%
Piece of jewelry – 54%
Engagement ring – 50%
Family heirloom – 49%
Computer laptop – 49%
Car – 44%
Wedding dress – 41%
Child’s memory box – 39%
TV – 38%
Item of clothing – 37%
Favorite book – 37%
Piece of art – 36%
Camera – 36%
Video game console – 36%
Musical instrument – 35%
Scrapbook – 33%
Two nanobodies—small, stable immune cells similar to various antibodies and derived from llamas—have been found in tests to neutralize COVID-19 by blocking its interaction with the human receptor that it binds to.
The nanobodies block the attachment of the COVID-19 spike protein by targeting a region of the protein immediately adjacent to and slightly overlapping with the region of the cell where COVID-19 binds and enters. Both llama nanobodies were shown to neutralize live COVID-19, and showed particularly high potency and increased neutralization potential when combined with a human antibody. The findings were published in Nature Structural & Molecular Biology paper.
The development of immunizations for coronaviruses is a well-established process. The virus possesses a protein which binds to a receptor on the exterior of the cells of an infected individual.
Like a boat docking at a wharf, the virus needs a place to ‘dock’ its spike protein, otherwise it cannot enter the cell. Therefore the first path for researchers and drug developers is to see how they can prevent the binding of the spike protein with the cell receptor.
“Although there is currently no ‘cure’ or vaccine for the disease,” writes James Naismith at the The Rosalind Franklin Institute, Didcot, UK, “passive immunotherapy by transfusing critically ill COVID-19 patients with serum from [recovered] COVID-19… individuals has been shown to improve clinical outcomes.”
“This would suggest that neutralization of the virus, even at a relatively late stage in the disease, may be a useful COVID-19 therapy.”
The two nanobodies—H11-H4 and H11-D4—can be “deployed to produce a highly neutralizing agent against an emerging viral threat in real time,” to provide “passive immunization of severely ill COVID-19 patients.” say the authors.
The research was funded by the Rosalind Franklin Institute, a medical research centre supported by the UK Government, which has filed a patent on the nanobodies.
Quote of the Day: “Study nature, love nature, stay close to nature. It will never fail you.” – Frank Lloyd Wright
Photo: by Casey Horner
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Female Grizzly Eating Grass – Terry Tollefsbol / NPS
The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of protecting grizzly bears last week restoring their status under the Endangered Species Act in the wake of hunts planned in Idaho and Wyoming.
Conservationists and tribes that see the bears as sacred called it a “tremendous victory.” The decision spares the grizzlies from previous plans for controlled hunts in Wyoming and Idaho on land that is within the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, which includes 34,000 square miles.
The judge said that the decision in 2017 to delist the grizzly bear violated the Endangered Species Act because it was “the result of political pressure by the states rather than having been based on the best scientific and commercial data.”
The Fish and Wildlife Service decision to remove the grizzly bear from its bearanimalslist of endangered or threatened species prompted a lawsuit. The delisting was then overturned in Federal District Court a year later, which forced Wyoming and Idaho to cancel the hunts planned for lands outside of Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons parks, which would have allowed for up to 23 bears to be killed.
The disagreement highlights the varying opinions on the health of the grizzly population, which rebounded after a hard-fought recovery from near-extinction last century, when only 136 animals remained in North America—out of the 50,000 that once roamed.
Supporters of the latest decision say genetic diversity is at stake, with the bears on the outer fringes of the parks being essential to lasting species heath.
Female Grizzly Eating Grass – Terry Tollefsbol / NPS
“Not a single (scientific) paper has said they are OK in the long term,” Matthew Bishop of the Western Environmental Law Center told the Star Tribune.
In ruling that Yellowstone grizzly bears must remain protected under the Endangered Species Act, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals pointed to the lack of “concrete, enforceable mechanisms” to “ensure long-term genetic health of the Yellowstone grizzly.” The ruling explains that a “commitment to increase population size” is “required to ensure long-term viability.”
Government and ranchers continue to claim that bear numbers are at capacity—but plenty has been written that raises serious doubts that grizzlies have gained that strong of a paw-hold species-wide.
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An adorable 7-year-old boy created a word-search puzzle and sent it to the Queen to keep her entertained during lockdown—and he was delighted to receive a letter back from royal staff.
SWNS
Little Timothy Madders, from Billericay, Essex, was worried that the Queen may be bored or sad during lockdown—so he created a happiness-themed puzzle to keep her busy.
In his best handwriting, the youngster had hidden words such as “happiness”, “love”, “family”, and “sunshine” throughout his royal puzzle.
He was amazed when he got a letter back from one of Her Majesty’s ladies-in-waiting, thanking him for his kind and thoughtful puzzle.
“It made me feel special and happy,” the boy said, of the reply from Windsor Castle. “I wanted the Queen to be happy, I was trying to think of what to do to cheer her up.”
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European bison in Germany – Michael Gäbler, CC license
A relative of the iconic beast that roams the American Great Plains is going to be released in an ancient forest in Kent, England—where they haven’t resided for 6,000 years.
But the four animals won’t be arriving by way of South Dakota or Wyoming because Europe has their own subspecies—the European wood bison.
The project is slated to begin in Spring of 2022, when a single male Bison bonasus and three females arriving from Poland and the Netherlands will be allowed to roam and reproduce naturally in the remaining wilds of Britain—and it is hoped that their presence will ignite a chain reaction throughout the forest.
Bison have the power to change a forest in dramatic ways; ways that humans don’t have the time or manpower for, and they are being considered as a possible solution to species loss in Great Britain.
The project called Wilder Blean, named for the reintroduction site, West Blean Woods, was organized by the Kent Wildlife Trust (KWT). The experiment isn’t just about bringing the bison back for the sake of something to look at, it’s part of a controlled trial to see if the large herbivore can reinvigorate forest ecosystems more productively than conservationists.
“European bison are being used in this project because they are ecosystem engineers, meaning that they are able to change their environment through their natural behaviors,” explains the KWT on their website. “Bison can change woodlands in a way that no other animal can.”
Once ranging across the continent since the last Ice Age, European bison were hunted to extinction in the wild, but have since been reintroduced from captivity into several countries—mostly the forests of Poland, with smaller populations spread out across eastern and southern Europe.
European bison in Germany – Michael Gäbler, CC license
Known as a keystone species, similar to krill in the ocean, tigers in India, or bees in a meadow, bison provide services that allow the ecosystems they live in to operate at a much higher capacity in terms of ecosystem activity. In conservation terms, a keystone species is one that plays a role in the preservation of other species, and the ecology as a whole.
Bison are the forestry experts
Bison kill weak or dead trees by eating their bark or rubbing against them to remove their thick winter fur. This turns the tree into food and habitat for insects, which in turn provide food for birds. The resulting pocket of sunlight allows new plants to grow, replenishing the woodland.
In an unexpected way, the attempted restoration of bison in the English ecosystem is more about halting England’s current species loss than it is about restoring some kind of Stone Age ecology to the island, and while the KWT anticipate a keystone species like Bison bringing additional eyes upon the value of conservation and the health benefits of interacting with great nature, the purpose of the project is to create healthier English forests that can support larger numbers of animals.
“Using missing keystone species like bison to restore natural processes to habitats is the key to creating bio-abundance in our landscape,” said Paul Hadaway from the KWT.
European bison with calves – Pryndak Vasyl, CC license
Funded by the People’s Postcode Lottery Dream Fund, which donated £1.1 million, Wilder Blean will cover 500 hectares (1,236 acres) of the largest area of ancient forest in the UK. Once the bison are established within a 150 hectare parcel, the KWT hopes to reintroduce “iron age pigs” and free-roaming longhorn cattle, in order to make West Blean Wood as near to the original product as possible.
Thousands of years ago, auroch—an enormous species of wild cattle, extinct as recently as the 1600s—would also have roamed the English countryside, and the longhorn cattle are ideal for attempting to replicate the unique effects that the aurochs no doubt had upon the landscape.
In fact, European bison are likely hybrids of both the extinct subspecies called steppe bison and the auroch, because scientists have analyzed their DNA and found that the animals possess up to 10% of the genetic code of the auroch.
“The partners in the Kent project have long dreamed of restoring the true wild woodlands that have been missing from England for too long,” said Paul Whitfield, of Wildwood Trust, a conservation charity that will monitor the health and welfare of the bison.
“People will be able to experience nature in a way they haven’t before, connecting them back to the natural world around them in a deeper way.”
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Quote of the Day: “Each person deserves a day away, in which no problems are confronted, no solutions searched for. Each of us needs to withdraw from the cares which will not withdraw from us.” – Maya Angelou
Photo: by Haley Phelps
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Todd Burkemper has worked hard since graduating college in 2011—and luck has followed him throughout his career as an app designer and senior software developer at Buildium. But while golden job opportunities propelled him forward, he never stopped looking back, watching over his younger brother.
Todd had a home built in Wentzville, Missouri, two years after graduation and though finances were tight for awhile with a house and car payment and student loan debt, he was determined to succeed.
Although six years apart in age, Todd and Alex have always been the best of friends. When Alex graduated from college in 2017, Todd invited him to live at with him, 30 miles outside of St. Louis, instead of moving back home with mom and dad.
After allowing Alex to live rent-free for six months, Todd decided it was time to start charging rent. But, unbeknownst to Alex, Todd took his full rent payment every month and made a deposit into a savings account.
Todd even added some of his own money, and hoped that one day it would provide Alex with a down payment when he decided to buy a home of his own—and during the pandemic, Alex made decided to go for it.
On May 26, his offer on a home was accepted—and the boys’ parents, being privy to the secret over the years, excitedly gathered with their sons for the surprise. And their mom wanted everyone to hear the heartwarming story.
“Although Alex was puzzled when he saw me with my camera out, he was even more confused, then completely shocked, when Todd held up a screen shot of the savings account balance on his phone,” Barbara Burkemper, told GNN. “Then, he told Alex the money was his!”
Barbara Burkemper
Todd told his little brother that he didn’t want him to go through the same financial struggles that he had to deal with—and “there wasn’t a dry eye in the house!”
“After posting this story on my FaceBook page that evening, and reading all of the heartwarming responses, I felt compelled to share this story of brotherly love with a wider audience,” she wrote in an email.
“The generosity shown by Todd is just one of many amazing facets of his character. We are so very humbled by the awesome human being he has grown into.”
A little boy in Britain has raised over $1 million for the National Health Service hospital to thank them for saving his life when he was a baby.
For the fundraiser, 5-year-old Tony Hudgell propelled himself around the local park on his prosthetic legs using crutches. Originally meant to drum up a modest £500 ($550), thousands of generous strangers heard about his inspiring laps, and donated money for London Evelina Hospital.
Hobbling a total of 6 miles until the end of June, donations poured in—equaling about $100,000 for every kilometer—and every kilometer became easier for the boy whose artificial limbs were brand new.
At first, it took Tony about an hour just to walk 1/5 of a mile (300 meters). But with hard work in determination, soon he was covering the same distance in only 12 minutes.
“It is incredible to think that just a few weeks ago Tony could barely take a few steps. He is such a strong and determined boy and we are so proud,” his mother, Paula Hudgell, told the PA news.
Inspiration for his fundraiser came after Tony saw Captain Tom Moore, the 100-Year-old WWII veteran who recently became famous for raising $40 million for British hospitals fighting COVID-19. Tony thought that if the elderly man could do 100 laps in his backyard with his walker, surely he could do a walk of his own with his crutches.
As a newborn, Tony ended up in the hospital due to child abuse, but his new adoptive parents showered him with love. And while doctors couldn’t save his legs, they saved his life.
Tony’s efforts have received effusive praise from British celebrities, including former Prime Minister David Cameron, soccer stars like Cesar Azpilicueta, and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge:
Solugen’s mission is to decarbonize the chemicals industry—and their secret weapon comes from nature’s own biology.
For several years now, the Houston-based chemical engineering startup has been making hydrogen peroxide out of a yeast enzyme, and have used this eco-friendly product to create cost-competitive replacements for heavy-duty chemicals used in treating oil-drilling wastewater, spas, pools, and plumbing.
Emerging on the Forbes magazine’s Next Billion-Dollar Startup list, the company has also retooled to make (and donate) hand sanitizer during COVID-19; and their fantastic natural cleaning wipes, an early product for them, was spun-off into a company that sold for millions.
While researching drug candidates for cancer, one of Solugen’s founders, Gaurab Chakrabatri, discovered that yeast he was observing in cancer cells contained an enzyme that produced hydrogen peroxide, one of the principle ingredients in most cleaning products.
Desiring to pursue his idea in the marketplace, he teamed up with a friend from school named Sean Hunt, a graduate student in chemical engineering, to launch Solugen. The value of their products is that the process to make them didn’t require the use of petroleum products at any stage of production, rendering the cleaning agent effectively “all-natural” and essentially carbon-neutral.
Solugentech.com
The enzymatic process Solugen used to create their bioperoxide also happened to instill organic acids that, when used to clean machinery, dissolved mineral scale buildup that clogs and degrades pipes—which expanded the potential uses considerably.
What Hunt and Chakrabatri now had in their hands was something that could be used in all kinds of intense cleaning jobs, including for oil and gas cleanups, but was, at its core, natural and created from living biology instead of artificial chemical engineering.
Cleaning up in the cleaner business
Suggesting that maybe the enzymes could be used to create hydrogen peroxide at scale, Chakrabatri and his partner Hunt submitted their idea to an MIT pitch competition and took a finalist prize of $10,000, which they quickly employed in funding the acquisition of PVC piping from Home Depot and water pumps from Ebay to begin creating 5-gallon jugs of their hydrogen peroxide cleaner.
Through Facebook they created a flourishing business selling their product PeroxyZen to spas for use as a pool, sauna, and hot tub cleaner, as it not only sanitized surfaces but dissolved mineral buildups in the plumbing. Since the product came by way of a natural process, spas were keen on using it in order to market themselves as “all natural”.
After conquering Texas spas, they moved into the cleaning wipes business, producing their bioperoxide and utilizing their marketing skills to build a company called Ode to Clean, supplying wipes made of plant fibers—another “all natural” marriage.
Solugentech.com
After selling their wipes brand, Ode to Clean to Diamond Wipes, and expanding into a new 5-acre production facility, Hunt and Chakrabatri entered the $5 billion market of wastewater cleanup.
Big business
The process of drilling for oil and natural gas is a dirty one. It generally yields massive amounts of wastewater contaminated with mineral scales. Regulators like the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency require these billions of gallons to be cleansed before they’re repurposed for industry or agriculture.
Phosphate-based chemicals like hydroxyethylidene diphosphonic acid, an often used wastewater cleaner, emit around 3 tons of CO2 for every 1 ton produced. Solugen’s treatment actually removes 1.35 tons of CO2 per ton produced, helping companies add carbon offsets to their drilling operations. When Solugen was tested in the oil fields of one company that was suffering from reduced production due to clogged pipes, production was restored to normal levels through the cleaned pipes, without the use of additional acid treatments, which returned around $29 million in revenue previously lost.
Next on the chopping block for Solugen and their innovative natural solutions are chemical fertilizers used in agriculture, a $175 billion market. Hunt and Chakrabatri think they have a product that will fertilize soil while replacing essential minerals lost in the process of harvest and topsoil erosion.
“We believe we have a cost-competitive replacement, which also biodegrades where many chemicals in agriculture do not,” Chakrabarti tells a featured piece in Forbes.
They envision building “mini mills” that produce locally-desired chemicals for a small 200-mile radius, rather than relying on large-scale transportation services from their central plant in Houston.
The company’s revenue passed $12 million last year, and Hunt and Chakrabatri expect it to increase to over $27 million by 2021. However they are constantly reinvesting, and even borrowing, in order to expand and hire more employees.
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For eleven years, the search engine Ecosia has used most of the revenue from advertising on its website and app towards planting trees—and this month they planted their 100-millionth tree.
The German nonprofit, which became the first ‘B Corporation’ in that country because it was established for social good, has earned its founder Christian Kroll widespread praise—and one reason is that they claim to plant more native species than any other mass tree planting effort.
The phenomenon of mass tree planting began in the early 2000s when scientists began hypothesizing that the increase in CO2 emissions could be countered by replenishing the world’s forests.
Since then, projects like Africa’s Great Green Wall (and China’s Green Great Wall) or dozens of others in Asia, like this man who planted an entire mangrove ecosystem, have seen billions of trees planted over the last two decades—although many died due to improper planting or post-planting management efforts.
Ecosia often targets countries that are the most biodiverse, where tree loss directly corresponds with species loss. This has caused them to launch projects in Nicaragua and Peru, Burkina Faso and Malawi, and Indonesia and Australia.
In 2018, for example, they created a tree nursery for 200,000 trees in Madagascar, to help create a forest corridor leading from an isolated habitat to the ocean. In 2019 they created a forest agriculture project in Borneo, to prevent locals selling the land to oil palm development.
Ecosia Blog
Following the devastating fires in the Amazon, the number of people who had installed the Ecosia app doubled, allowing them to fund a 3 million tree-planting project in Brazil. In the wake of the Australian bushfires, Ecosia began restoring native forests there.
Just last year they celebrated their 50-million-tree milestone, having now doubled it in just one year’s time.
“100 million trees tackle the climate crisis by removing 1771 tonnes of CO2 every day, but it means so much more than that,” wrote Ecosia in their blog. “100 million trees means habitats for endangered animals. It means healthy rivers, more biodiversity, and fertile soil, and more fruits, nuts, and oils for local communities.”
Ecosia is a dream company for any environmentalist. Besides planting over 100 million trees, they have built their own solar power station—to energize 200% of all the power required to run their servers. They have also added little notes to their search results to let you see whether a company is tree/planet friendly, or whether they utilize a lot of fossil fuels.
They have also committed to never selling the company, so that no one will ever “become rich” from their efforts, except Mother Earth.
Quote of the Day: “Take a vacation from your stressful thoughts by changing your thoughts.” – Debasish Mridha
Photo: by Jakob Owens
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?
When it comes to broken bones, the children of generation Z may never have to deal with the itching that comes from wearing a cast—an all-too-familiar scenario for both kids and adults healing from accidents.
Instead, doctors may, in the near future, be able to repair broken bones by encasing the fracture in a field of electricity, which would be especially welcome for treating body parts, such as the scull, where casts don’t work.
A group of biomedical engineers from the University of Connecticut have invented a scaffold of non-toxic polymer that also generates a controllable electrical field to encourage bone growth. The researchers published a paper in Nano Energy after using their device to cure skull fractures in mice.
The scaffold mimics the natural electric field produced by our bodies, a characteristic called piezoelectric, meaning to generate electricity from vibrations, and can be affixed over the damaged bone without significant surgery.
The patient can wave an ultrasound wand over the area to stimulate the generation of electricity and, unlike similar existing machines that are bulky and require electricity from a power outlet or batteries, the device is lightweight and generates the field via ultrasound.
The polymer from which the device is made is non-toxic and gradually dissolves in the body over time, disappearing as the new bone grows.
Ritopa Das
“The electric field created by the piezoelectric PLLA scaffold seems to attract bone cells to the site of the fracture and promote stem cells to evolve into bone cells. This technology can possibly be combined with other factors to facilitate regeneration of other tissues, like cartilage, muscles or nerves,” says Ritopa Das, a graduate student at Nguyen Research Group and the first author of the published paper.
The device’s proof of efficacy is a case of leaping before looking, as scientists aren’t exactly sure why electrical fields stimulate bone growth at all.
Bone itself is somewhat piezoelectric, generating a surface charge when the bone is stressed by everyday life activities. That surface charge encourages more bone to grow. But scientists don’t know whether it’s because it helps cells stick to the surface of the bone, or whether it makes the cells themselves more active.
BREAK a Leg to Share This Intriguing Study on Social Media..
Super powers like x-ray vision, the strength of a locomotive, or the ability to fly may be uplifting in a Marvel movie, but what better skill could uplift a victim in the real world than bringing smiles to children who are desperately ill?
That’s how one man in a Spiderman costume fulfills his mission at children’s hospitals all across America—and with his visits to Alaska and Hawaii last September, he has now played that role in all 50 states.
It’s all part of the fun for Yuri Williams and his Long Beach, California non-profit, A Future Super Hero and Friends, which not only counts hospitals as its turf, but any underserved community. Yuri has organized blood drives, toy drives, and movie nights—all while donning Superhero costumes, and a heart of gold.
“They don’t even call me by my real name anymore, it’s just Spidey or Spider-Man,” the man behind the mask told Hawaii News Now.
Yuri decided to conjure smiles for suffering children as a result of his own healing journey. The idea—to be a hero for those in the frightening grip of a serious illness—came about during his long bout of grief due to his mother’s battle with cancer.
He decided that the best way to deal with his sadness was service to others—and he has since touched the lives of tens of thousands of people.
His surprise visits give the patients, who are sometimes in a dark place emotionally, the ability to be happy again and let down their guard.
Yuri Williams – Facebook video
In addition to his inspiring work with children, Yuri also actively visits homeless camps to hand out food and clothing. He has started a fundraiser on Patreon, to serve even more people, by “providing art programs and other services for the houseless, disabled, elderly, ill, children, veterans, and anyone in need.”
In a powerful video on Facebook, Yuri described the life-changing emotions he experiences—no matter which costume he dons. “I live for this. When I have to do something the next day, I can’t sleep because I’m just excited to be helping people. It’s an adrenaline rush.”
And when this ‘caped crusader’ of hope sees the children perk up in those hospital beds, he knows he’s done a good day’s work. “I feel like a real superhero.”
WATCH the heartwarming video…
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Across the West, it’s pretty normal for people to find olympic and major sporting events available to both men and women—with some female competitions like the UFC Women’s divisions, the tennis “Grand Slams” or the FIFA Women’s World Cup attracting just as much interest as their male equivalent.
But for female cyclists, the most prestigious of all competitions—the Tour de France—has for 100 years been open only to male competitors, with the only female equivalent, the “course d’un jour” being a much more modest event.
This year, however, as the actual Tour de France begins in Nice, France, after having been delayed due to Covid-19, a virtual version that will allow female competitors to ride a stationary bike on a Virtual Reality route of the actual race, will have just concluded under shadows of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris.
The online virtual bike training platform Zwift, together with Tour organizers Amaury Sports Organization (ASO), have designed a course where the elite female riders will be spread across 40 teams to complete 6-hour-stages over the course of three weekends.
The race will feature world-class cyclists like Marianne Vos from the Netherlands, and the USA’s world time-trial champion Chloe Dygert. Cycling enthusiasts across 130 countries now have the opportunity to watch together online as the virtual avatars of the riders compete in the famous race, throughout the weeks with Stage 6 ending July 19. Stage 3 will be run tomorrow, July 11.
The ASO has already committed to a full, rubber-on-road, 3-week women’s Tour de France by 2022, and next year they plan to expand the virtual competition to consist of stages mirroring the entire real-world race.
Zwift CEO Eric Min told the Telegraph that “ASO has already made a commitment for a women’s race as early as 2022 and we see this [virtual race] as an opportunity to accelerate that journey.”
WATCH some highlights from the mountainous Stage 3 via Zwift…
SHARE the Opportunity With Your Mighty Cycling Friends on Social Media…
Super powers like x-ray vision, the strength of a locomotive, or the ability to fly may be uplifting in a Marvel movie, but what better skill could uplift a victim in the real world than bringing smiles to children who are desperately ill?
