This Pennsylvania hockey team scored a lot more than just one point during their game—they also scored thousands of teddy bears for charity.
Earlier this week, the Hershey Bears celebrated their annual Teddy Bear Toss holiday tradition to collect toys for children in need.
For the event, fans are encouraged to hurl teddy bears onto the ice whenever the home team scores their first goal of the game—and this years event set a new world record with 45,650 bears.
The exuberant downpour of teddies took place just eight minutes into the game against the Binghamton Devils at the Giant Center earlier this week.
The event ended up delaying the game by about 40 minutes, but the players were more than happy to celebrate the occasion by diving into the mountain of teddies.
The teddies, which broke last years record by more than 10,000 stuffed animals, will now be distributed amongst 40 different charities for the holiday season.
This may look like an ordinary vending machine, but it is actually designed to give so much more than just a snack or soda.
This “Giving Machine” allows users to donate essential items to local and international charities with just a swipe of their card. Instead of dispensing candy bars, the machine has a variety of charitable options, such as donating a dozen meals to a local homeless shelter; supplying an underprivileged school with textbooks; and even gifting a pair of chickens to a family on the other side of the world.
There are only ten of these machines currently functioning in the world. This one in particular was unveiled in Denver, Colorado last week.
The machine will be stationed in Writer’s Square downtown until January 1st.
The machines were launched by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as a part of their #LightTheWorld campaign to encourage people to give during the holiday season. The other machines have been stationed everywhere from Hawaii and Salt Lake City to London and the Philippines.
“These Giving Machines are an example of the big things that can happen when many people give just a little,” said Sister Bonnie H. Cordon from the organization. “That is what it means to ‘Light the World’ one by one—when we each give what we can offer, our little light adds to a brightness of hope.”
This is the third year for the Giving Machines, which raised more than $2.3 million in 2018 for local and global charities. Total donations for 2019 will be continuously updated throughout the season and will be available on the Light the World website.
(WATCH the video below)
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Quote of the Day: “All of us are living with dogmas that we accept as truths. When one of these is overturned, there’s an initial gasp, soon followed by a rush of exhilaration.” – Deepak Chopra
Photo: by Raul Pop, CC license on Flickr–cropped
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MIT engineers used human ureteral smooth muscle cells grown in a lab dish to identify drugs that would help to relax the muscle cells — Photo by Christopher Lee and Michael Cima / MIT News
New treatment could ease the passage of kidney stones Muscle relaxants delivered to the ureter can reduce contractions that cause pain when passing a stone.
Written by Anne Trafton MIT News
Every year, more than half a million Americans visit the emergency room for kidney stone problems. In most cases, the stones eventually pass out of the body on their own, but the process can be excruciatingly painful.
Researchers at MIT and Massachusetts General Hospital have now devised a potential treatment that could make passing kidney stones faster and less painful. They have identified a combination of two drugs that relax the walls of the ureter—the tube that connects the kidneys to the bladder—and can be delivered directly to the ureter with a catheter-like instrument.
Relaxing the ureter could help stones move through the tube more easily, the researchers say.
“We think this could significantly impact kidney stone disease, which affects millions of people,” says Michael Cima, the David H. Koch Professor of Engineering in MIT’s Department of Materials Science and Engineering, and the senior author of the study.
This kind of treatment could also make it easier and less painful to insert stents into the ureter, which is sometimes done after a kidney stone is passed, to prevent the tube from becoming blocked or collapsing.
Christopher Lee, a recent PhD recipient in the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, is the lead author of the study, which appears today in Nature Biomedical Engineering.
Local drug delivery
Kidney stones are made from hard crystals that accumulate in the kidneys when there is too much solid waste in the urine and not enough liquid to wash it out. It is estimated that about one in 10 people will have a kidney stone at some point in their lives.
Several years ago, Cima and Brian Eisner, who co-directs the Kidney Stone Program at MGH and is also an author of the paper, began thinking about ways to improve the treatment of kidney stones. While some larger stones require surgery, the usual treatment plan is simply to wait for the stones to pass, which takes an average of 10 days. Patients are given painkillers as well as an oral medication that is meant to help relax the ureter, but studies have offered conflicting evidence on whether this drug actually helps. (There are no FDA-approved oral therapies for kidney stones and ureteral dilation.)
Cima and Eisner thought that delivering a muscle relaxant directly to the ureter might offer a better alternative. Most of the pain from passing a kidney stone arises from cramps and inflammation in the ureter as the stones pass through the narrow tube, so relaxing the muscles surrounding the tube could help ease this passage.
Around this time, Lee, then a new student in MIT’s Health Sciences and Technology program, met with Cima to discuss possible thesis projects and became interested in pursuing a kidney stone treatment.
“If you look at how kidney stones are treated today, it hasn’t really changed since about 1980, and there’s a pretty substantial amount of evidence that the drugs given don’t work very well,” Lee says. “The volume of how many people this could potentially help is really exciting.”
The researchers first set out to identify drugs that might work well when delivered directly to the ureter. They selected 18 drugs used to treat conditions such as high blood pressure or glaucoma and exposed them to human ureteral cells grown in a lab dish, where they could measure how much the drugs relaxed the smooth muscle cells. They hypothesized that if they delivered such drugs directly to the ureter, they could get a much bigger relaxation effect than by delivering such drugs orally, while minimizing possible harm to the rest of the body.
“We found several drugs that had the effect that we expected, and in every case we found that the concentrations required to be effective were more than would be safe if given systemically,” Cima says.
MIT engineers used human ureteral smooth muscle cells grown in a lab dish to identify drugs that would help to relax the muscle cells — Photo by Christopher Lee and Michael Cima / MIT News
Next, the researchers used intensive computational processing to individually analyze the relaxation responses of nearly 1 billion cells after drug exposure. They identified two drugs that worked especially well, and found that they worked even better when given together. One of these is nifedipine, a calcium channel blocker used to treat high blood pressure, and the other is a type of drug known as a ROCK (rho kinase) inhibitor, which is used to treat glaucoma.
The researchers tested various doses of this combination of drugs in ureters removed from pigs, and showed that they could dramatically reduce the frequency and length of contractions of the ureter. Tests in live pigs also showed that the treatment nearly eliminated ureteral contractions.
For these experiments, the researchers delivered the drugs using a cystoscope, which is very similar to a catheter but has a small fiber optic channel that can connect to a camera or lens. They found that with this type of delivery, the drugs were not detectable in the animals’ bloodstream, suggesting that the drugs remained in the lining of the ureter and did not go elsewhere in the body, which would lessen the risk of potential side effects.
Ureteral relaxation
More studies are needed to determine how long the muscle relaxing effect lasts and how much relaxation would be needed to expedite stone passage, the researchers say. They are now launching a startup company, Fluidity Medicine, to continue developing the technology for possible testing in human patients.
In addition to treating kidney stones, this approach could also be useful for relaxing the ureter to help doctors insert a ureteral stent. It could also help when placing any other kind of instrument, such as an endoscope, in the ureter.
“The platform pairs drug delivery to the ureter. We are eager to first target muscle relaxation, and as offshoots of that, we have kidney stones, ureteral stents, and endoscopic surgery,” Lee says. “We have a bunch of other urological indications that would go through different developmental pathways but can all be hit and all have meaningful patient populations.”
The research was funded by the MIT Institute of Medical Engineering and Science Broshy Fellowship, the MIT Deshpande Center for Technological Innovation, the Koch Institute Support (core) Grant from the National Cancer Institute, and the National Institutes of Health.
A relieved Massachusetts man has been reunited with his wedding ring thanks to some fellow hikers who decided to try their luck at finding it.
Looking for Bill Giguere’s lost golden wedding band was like searching for a needle in a haystack. He had lost it during a daytime hike along a 10-mile loop trail by Mount Hancock in New Hampshire. The only clue that he had to its location was that he believed it had fallen off after he had briefly removed his gloves at the mountain summit.
By the time he had returned to his car after the hike and noticed that his ring was missing, the daylight was already fading from the 4,000-foot mountain.
He then decided to take his chances by posting about his missing ring in a Facebook group for hiking enthusiasts. Luckily, the post was spotted by Tom Gately and his friend Brendan Cheevar.
“As I read the post, my heart had gone out to him because I’ve lost my wedding ring before and I was going to be on the mountain at the same time,” Gately told CBS reporters.
Gately didn’t believe there was any chance of finding the ring on a snowy 10-mile trail—but he decided to improve his odds by bringing along his metal detector.
Within minutes of Gately and his friends reaching the summit, his metal detector started beeping. He then brushed away some snow only to find the missing wedding ring.
“Everybody just started clapping,” Cheever told WCVB. “You couldn’t believe it.”
After Giguere received a Facebook message about how they had found the ring, the grateful man drove 60 miles to Gately’s house so he could pick up the previous token and thank the New Hampshire man for his efforts.
(WATCH the news coverage below OR our international viewers can watch the footage on the CBS website) — Feature photo by Brendan Cheevar
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Rather than sending thousands of pieces of disposable plastic tableware to the landfill, this South African-based entrepreneur has come up with an edible bowl that you can eat along with your meal.
Munch Bowls are vegan, biodegradable, wheat-based bowls that can hold hot soup for up to five hours and maintain a shelf life of 15 months. Not only that, its shallow design allows it to function as a plate as well.
Artist and innovator Georgina de Kock says that she was inspired to launch the startup after she spent time working in various food markets around Cape Town. Upon witnessing how many plastic and polystyrene bowls ended up in the trash in the food business, she began hand-crafting the Munch Bowls out of all natural ingredients.
According to CNN, her business has since worked with hotel chains and corporate events across South Africa, Belgium, Singapore, and Dubai.
Since demand for the bowls has increased, the company has recruited a machine to mass-manufacture the bowls at a rate of 500 per hour.
Munch Bowls is now partnering with other international collaborators to start making spoons, coffee cups, and other food containers out of their wheat-based recipe.
“If you take a taco, if you take a wrap, anything like that, you can eat it, it adds value to your food. Plastic you can’t eat. It does not add anything but pollution,” de Kock told CNN. “It’s no use saving the world, then you give people food that is not good for them.”
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(Left to right) Sandra King (Chief Philanthropy Officer at the Community Foundation), Helen Goddard (Advisor to the Fund) and Professor Nicola Curtin. Photo by Newcastle University.
A 65-year-old professor responsible for helping to develop a new ovarian cancer treatment has donated all of her profits to charity.
Professor Nicola Curtin is just one of the researchers from Newcastle University who has spent the last 30 years developing the Rubraca drug, which has been approved for use by the NHS in the UK.
The drug, which is classed as a PARP inhibitor, works by exploiting a defect common in ovarian cancer. The drug impairs the cancer cells’ ability to repair normal wear and tear to its DNA so that it kills tumor cells without harming healthy cells.
Since Newcastle University sold royalties for the drug £31 million, Curtin used her £865,000 ($1.2 million) share to launch The Curtin PARP (Passionate About Realizing Your Potential) Fund at the Community Foundation.
The fund will support a range of activities to help people to develop the skills, talents and confidence to overcome barriers to employment or education. Priority will be given to carers, black and minority ethnic people, disabled people, homeless people and people who are experiencing disadvantage that prevents them from realizing their potential.
Though the first round of applications for the Curtin PARP Fund at the Community Foundation closed earlier this week, it will reopen again in mid-January for the 2020 round and receive applications at any point throughout the year.
(Left to right) Sandra King (Chief Philanthropy Officer at the Community Foundation), Helen Goddard (Advisor to the Fund) and Professor Nicola Curtin. Photo by Newcastle University.
“This journey has made me reflect on my own life, and it seems wrong for me to benefit from this financially,” said Professor Curtain. “I’m proud that this research will change lives, and I have everything that I need in life—a good job, a loving family, a nice house, but in society there are many who do not have this.
“I know first-hand that people are capable of amazing things, but society sometimes doesn’t always allow people to reach their full potential. So, through the Curtin PARP Fund at the Community Foundation, I want to leave a lasting legacy that will change lives for the better.”
When asked by The Times why she opted to donate all her profits on the drug, she compared her work to winning the lottery.
“I don’t think any scientist is driven by monetary considerations,” said Curtain. “What we’re driven by, largely, is finding things out. And the fact that we’ve hit gold with this drug is largely down to luck. There’s been a lot of hard work by a lot of people, but that’s true of many projects that don’t reach fruition in the same way. I could easily have been one of these people.”
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It has been 64 years to the day since civil rights activist Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to sit at the back of a bus in Montgomery, Alabama.
Now, city officials have unveiled a new Rosa Parks memorial statue as a means of celebrating the second annual Rosa Parks Day celebration on December 1st.
Mayor Steven Reed, who only recently became the city’s first African-American mayor after he was elected in October, helped to present the new statue on Sunday, saying: “Today, on the second official Rosa Parks Day, we honor a seamstress and a servant, one whose courage ran counter to her physical stature.
“She was a consummate contributor to equality and did so with a quiet humility that is an example for all of us,” he added.
Parks became a civil rights icon after she refused to give up her bus seat for a white man on December 1st, 1955. Her arrest later spurred African-American activists to boycott the city public bus system for more than a year.
Before Parks passed away in 2005 at the age of 92, she was presented with the Congressional Gold Medal for her hand in helping to end segregation.
(WATCH the unveiling below)
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Quote of the Day: “If the ocean can calm itself, so can you. We are both salt water mixed with air.” – Nayyirah Waheed
Photo: by gail, CC license on Flickr–cropped
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Beyond the evocative Victoria Falls, also known as Mosi-oa-Tunya (the smoke that thunders)—the largest single waterfall in the world—the Zambezi River flows through one of the most pristine areas of wilderness in Africa.
Now, a government that makes headlines more for its corruption than its laurels, has a few officials stepping forward to resolve not to allow any mining activities in the Lower Zambezi National Park.
The reported decision by the Ministry of Mining in Zambia to cancel a dozen mining permits comes after the Chinese-owned mining company Mwembeshi Resources reportedly received authorization from the Zambian high court to continue plans for a copper mine within the National Park.
The first president of Zambia, Kenneth Kaunda, who served from 1964 to 1991, has repeatedly appealed to leave the park untouched, calling the Kangaluwi copper mining project “the biggest threat in history to the wildlife and pristine wilderness that has survived so many centuries of challenges.”
Local officials and environmental authorities stand in firm opposition to the mining project, and were optimistic upon hearing the words from a joint news conference.
WWF Zambia commended the Government for “taking a stand in the interim to disallow mining activities in the lower Zambezi National Park,” and called the river and its tributaries critical water resources that “mitigate the impacts of droughts for our local people.”
Zambian Tourism and Arts Minister Ronald Chitotela, who joined the Minister of Mining in the press conference, said that the government is committed to the fight against climate change, and that a report detailing the environmental risks of all currently proposed mining permits within the region is being prepared by the proper authorities.
The last such report expired in 2017, and it was the lack of any report on the impact of mining on water quality that caused the Ministry of Mining to revoke the permits after it was determined that without authorization from the Environmental Management Agency of Zambia, no permits were legally allowed to continue.
Besides being a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Zambia’s Lower Zambezi National Park is 1,500 square miles of classic African bush (about half the size of Yellowstone). Linked without fences to Mana Pools National Park, and two other wildlife sanctuaries, it creates a giant swath of unspoiled Africa that is recognized as one of the most important bastions of biodiversity in Southern Africa.
An art therapist since 1989, Sue Etheridge uses the simplest tools—markers, glue, and construction paper—to tap into the humanity of the criminal justice system’s most hardened felons. And this year, she’s taking their creations to a place they’ve never before been: a Christmas tree in the Governor’s Mansion.
The weighty gate at Central Prison in Raleigh, NC slams with a cold, metallic clank behind Etheridge.
“A sobering sound,” notes the 73-year-old—but from there, she gazes up at the hulking buildings of the maximum security facility, home to convicted murderers and felons of all kinds, and suddenly, without fail, her spirits soar.
“Every time I see it, I think about how privileged I am to work here, with these people,” she beams. “I get to bring beauty to this place.”
Each holiday season, in the state capital, the Governor’s staff arranges for decorations to adorn the various trees at the Mansion. In a typical burst of inspiration, Etheridge officially requested that a small tree in a side room be devoted to prisoner-made decorations. Instead, state staff granted her the very first tree visitors see when they enter the Mansion during a public holiday open house, Dec. 12-15.
Etheridge and the inmates heard the good news in May. “They couldn’t believe it,” she smiles. “Christmas is hard for inmates. They’re away from their families. Some are indigent, and cannot afford a stamp to send a letter. They’ve been in the news for awful reasons.”
Now, in their minds, they’re accomplishing something good.
With that initial rush of excitement, they went to work. Their raw materials included straws, toilet paper rolls, colored envelopes and the small sort of milk cartons inmates get with their breakfasts.
During weeks of small-group sessions, Etheridge and her 70 artists collaborated on creating over 200 geometric stars, paper garlands and miniature buildings, including a church, a pawn shop and a pool hall.
Etheridge’s style with her clients is both upbeat and laid back. She generally places art materials in the middle of the room, inviting the inmates to determine how to distribute and share them. These are the type of engaged, productive moments inmates cherish.
“The worst thing about prison is the boredom. You can just stew in resentment,” Etheridge explains. “We try to do away with that boredom. Most inmates eventually are released. I want them to be in better shape when they hit the streets. To know how to express themselves constructively, how to work with materials, how to be social.”
Indeed, studies show that art therapy can cut down on participants’ disciplinary issues and reduce recidivism. Recently, detention center administrators in Saudi Arabia reported early but hopeful signs that art therapy could help turn captive jihadists away from their previous commitment to terrorism.
With eyes twinkling under her salt-and-pepper mop-top, Etheridge vividly recalls a few of their large scale projects: a mobile hung in a public lobby and a multi-denominational mural created for a prison chapel. And now, the humble, home-made ornaments that will festoon the 12-foot-tall Christmas tree tomorrow in the Governor’s Mansion.
Etheridge hopes they will inspire visitors to pause and spare a good thought for those locked in cells this holiday season.
Though they have been convicted of terrible crimes, Etheridge says, “They are people, like we are people. In their ordinary moments, there’s not a dime of difference between us.”
Billy Warden is a marketing exec at GBW Strategies, writer and public speaker based in Raleigh. His pioneering alt-glam band, The Floating Children, continues to record and perform.
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Thailand is set to begin phasing out all plastics that degrade into fragments by the end of this year. Not only that, the nation is also banning plastic bags, styrofoam, cups, and straws by 2022
In an effort to do their part to combat global plastic pollution, Thailand has put forward a bold plan for reducing the production of plastic. 43 large firms have come aboard a partnership of 33 state and municipal departments and ministries to produce Thailand’s Roadmap on Plastic Waste Management 2018-30.
Microbeads, cap seals, and oxo-degradable plastics are just three of the proposed reductions, and the bans on these objects are slated for implementation before the year’s end.
By 2021, a major ban on single-use plastic bags will go into effect, with government spokesmen urging the public to prepare for the change.
“We will be collaborating with 43 private companies in crafting out plastic ban guidelines,” said Natural Resources and Environment Minister Varawut Silpa-archa, “so I would like to tell all Thais to prepare paper or cloth bags before Thailand imposes its ban on single-use plastic bags in 2021.”
By 2022, the roadmap seeks to have established bans for lightweight plastic bags less than 36 microns thick, polystyrene food containers, plastic cups, and plastic straws.
The bans aim to reduce plastic waste in its most harmful manifestations—namely styrofoam and small plastic objects that degrade into particulates.
Airborne microplastic particles were found in a study to be flying over a remote mountain top in the Pyrenees to the tune of 400 particles per minute, while polystyrene foam has the longest half-life of any commonly used plastic.
Supant Mongkolsuthree, chairman of the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI) which is part of the private-public plastic ban partnership, has encouraged the government to invest more in recycling technology, specifically in regards to waste-generated electricity.
“So far, we have relied mostly on landfill as it is the cheapest way to manage waste,” Supont told Bangkok Post. “But waste-to-energy technologies have become better and cheaper as well. Their effectiveness in managing waste is high and can be expanded in many areas.”
He reminded his readers that while government and industry play a big role in waste management, they as consumers carry a big responsibility of making sure their children grow up in a plastic waste-free Thailand.
“Consumers have to play their part in taking care of the environment,” the FTI chairman said. “For small vendors, plastic bags and containers are still the most cost-efficient choice. Consumers have to say no to them so that these businesses realize they have no choice but to adapt themselves.”
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Retired Army Sergeant Theresa Vereline just completed the New York City Marathon without use of her legs, or a wheelchair. Instead, Vereline became not just the first ever paralyzed American to finish the famous NYC event, but the first veteran in the world to complete it with an exoskeleton.
“Words cannot express the feelings I had crossing the finish line,” Vereline said in a press release. “This has been a dream of mine, and I hope I can serve as an inspiration to others that you too can achieve what seems like the impossible — especially all of the disabled children I meet across the country”.
Happy-footed Vereline completed the first 10 mile stretch of the marathon which runs through each of the 5 boroughs of New York City, over the course of three days under the supervision of the New York Road Runners, the organizers of the marathon.
Walking 10 miles of the 26.2 on Nov. 1st, and another 10 miles on the 2nd, she knocked out the last 6.2 on the day of the actual marathon. She crossed the finish line on November 3rd at 6:35 PM.
The ReWalk 5.0 exoskeleton suit is designed to help paraplegics move around with the help of crutches for balance, and they couldn’t have asked for a better spokesperson than Vereline.
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs established a national procurement policy for retired service members who are eligible to receive one of the life-changing devices. 65-year-old Vereline, who became paralyzed in 2011 was the first veteran to receive a device following FDA clearance. She has traveled the world to speak about the impact the exoskeleton has had on her life and health.
“We are incredibly proud of her. Her achievement at the marathon and her efforts to help others with disability are inspirations to us all,” Andy Dolan, ReWalk’s vice president of marketing, told CNET in an email exchange.
Therapeutic exoskeletons are beginning to attract a lot of research dollars, with robotics companies like ReWalk, Ekso Bionics, Rex Bionics, and SuitX all offering models to help people with spinal cord injuries get moving again.
Patients with spinal cord injuries often require far more routine care than others. They suffer from increased risk of cardiovascular disease, urinary tract infections, bone-density loss, chronic pain, and pressure ulcers. Just being able to stand up and walk around, however unsteady, increases blood circulation and oxygen intake, normalizes and improves ventricular function, and can fortify cardiovascular health.
Quote of the Day: “December has the clarity, the simplicity, and the silence you need for the best FRESH START of your life.” – Vivian Swift (When Wanderers Cease to Roam: A Traveler’s Journal of Staying Put)
Photo: by McKinley Claire, copyright 2016
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A deep connection to their wild untamed steppe lands has influenced many central Asian governments to launch successful rewilding projects since the fall of the Soviet Union.
In a bid to reestablish tigers in the area, five Bukhara deer have stepped foot onto the shores of Lake Balkhash in central Kazakhstan, where they have been entirely absent for 100 years. WWF Russia and the Ministry of Ecology, Geology, and Natural Resources of Kazakhstan are planning to release several hundred deer over 5-6 years.
This recent effort in the Ili-Balkhash Nature Reserve is just one of several deer reintroductions taking place here, and in Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
These three nations in particular have so far brought the population of Bukhara deer back from the brink, and they now number close to 1,400 individuals across multiple countries.
But that’s not the only goal for which these hoof tracks are paving the way. The main purpose of the deer project is to aid in the reintroduction of a tiger species back into Kazakhstan and other central Asian countries, where they once roamed.
Photo by Sarefo, CC license
If successful, Kazakhstan would be the first country to reintroduce tigers of any subspecies into an area where they have been extirpated—and conservation of big cats has already been successful here in recent years.
The last decade and a half has seen the work of the Global Snow Leopard Forum, an international conservation organization founded in Kyrgyzstan, lift the snow leopard off the endangered list of the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
“It is a great honor for us to be the first country that implements such an important and large-scale project that returns the tiger to its lands. It is just as important for us that during the program the ecosystem of the unique Ili-Balkhash region will be fully restored,” said the Kazakhstani Minister of Agriculture Askar Myrzakhmetov.
“Our successful cooperation in creating new reserves and restoring rare species such as the Bukhara deer and kulan gives us every reason to believe that a tiger will return to the Balkhash tugai in a few years,” said Igor Chestin, director of WWF Russia.
Since the subspecies that once roamed the area by Lake Balkhash, the Caspian Tiger, sadly became extinct in the 1970s, the reintroduction efforts would involve Amur tigers, also known as the Siberian tiger – a species that according to WWF Chair in Conservation Genetics, Carlos Driscoll, is actually so similar to the extinct Caspian tiger as to not even qualify as being two different subspecies.
Whenever scientists embark on a species reintroduction plan, the first step is to find a population that can spare individuals. In this case, Russia would be the most likely donor of endangered Amur tigers.
However one of the benefits of establishing separate populations, even if it means reducing numbers in one particular area, is reducing the chance of extinction due to a localized catastrophe such as disease outbreaks.
Maintaining two geographically-separated populations of any animal has been shown many different times, for instance when the United States was bringing the California condor back, to increase the overall species robustness.
The pristine wilderness of Lake Balkhash would provide the perfect home for the Amur tigers and the deer species it once hunted. If Kazakhstan can continue to provide the will, nature may just find a way.
Hat-Tip to World At Large, the news website of nature, science, health, politics, and travel.
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A new survey of 2,000 Americans found that the holiday spirit transcends the physical realm, as half of those polled said they wished they could give somebody in their life something intangible this year.
Of that half, 70% wish they could give somebody good health, while another 43% wish they could gift somebody with patience.
With one in three Americans wishing they could gift somebody “less stress” this holiday season, the perfect gift is probably not hiding in a department store after all.
In fact, the study, conducted by OnePoll on behalf of Slumber Cloud, found that 60% wished they could gift somebody in their life with peace of mind.
Another 42% wished they could give somebody rest and 47% said they wish they could give the gift of time.
While giving somebody an intangible gift would be great, most of us must settle for spending money on something physical.
Excluding gifts for their partner, the average American plans to spend $170 this year on gifts for their loved ones—and that money will be spread across an average of eight people.
However, if money were no object, what would Americans splurge on?
WHAT AMERICANS WOULD GET SOMEBODY IF MONEY WEREN’T AN ISSUE…
“A new car for my mom.”
“A ticket to the Philippines for my mom to visit her family.”
“A home for my mom.”
“A happier life and peace of mind for my mom.”
“A more comfortable motorized wheelchair for my husband.”
“A paid college tuition for my friend.”
“A small retirement home for my husband and I so he would be under less stress.”
“A trip to Italy for my dad.”
“A secluded island for my mom to relax.”
“A front row meet and greet Neil Diamond ticket for my mom.”
If you find yourself in a last-minute situation—and you can’t find a way to gift them patience—another OnePoll survey suggested that the majority of Americans preferred to receive a heartfelt present rather than something from a store.
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Dying coral might be revived by playing the sounds of healthy reefs via underwater loudspeakers to attract young fish, suggests a new study.
Experts say the “acoustic enrichment” could be a valuable tool in helping to restore damaged coral reefs.
Working on Australia’s recently devastated Great Barrier Reef, the international research team from the Universities of Exeter and Bristol, Australia’s James Cook University, and the Australian Institute of Marine Science, placed loudspeakers underwater playing healthy reef recordings in patches of dead coral.
They found that twice as many fish arrived—and stayed—at the reefs compared to equivalent patches where no sound was played.
“Fish are crucial for coral reefs to function as healthy ecosystems,” said study lead author Tim Gordon, a PhD student at Exeter University. “Boosting fish populations in this way could help to kick-start natural recovery processes, counteracting the damage we’re seeing on many coral reefs around the world.”
The new technique works by regenerating the sounds that are lost when reefs are quietened by degradation, according to the findings published in Nature Communications.
Senior author Professor Steve Simpson, also of Exeter University, explained: “Healthy coral reefs are remarkably noisy places—the crackle of snapping shrimp and the whoops and grunts of fish combine to form a dazzling biological soundscape.
“Juvenile fish home in on these sounds when they’re looking for a place to settle. Reefs become ghostly quiet when they are degraded, as the shrimps and fish disappear, but by using loudspeakers to restore this lost soundscape, we can attract young fish back again.”
Photo by Harry Harding / University of Bristol
Fish biologist Dr Mark Meekan, of the Australian Institute of Marine Science added: “Of course, attracting fish to a dead reef won’t bring it back to life automatically, but recovery is underpinned by fish that clean the reef and create space for corals to regrow.”
The study found that broadcasting healthy reef sound doubled the total number of fish arriving onto experimental patches of reef habitat, as well as increasing the number of species present by 50%.
The researchers said that the diversity included species from all sections of the food web: herbivores, detritivores, planktivores, and predatory piscivores.
Different groups of fish provide different functions on coral reefs, meaning an abundant and diverse fish population is an important factor in maintaining a healthy ecosystem.
Study co-author Professor Andy Radford, of Bristol University, said: “Acoustic enrichment is a promising technique for management on a local basis. If combined with habitat restoration and other conservation measures, rebuilding fish communities in this manner might accelerate ecosystem recovery.
“However, we still need to tackle a host of other threats including climate change, overfishing and water pollution in order to protect these fragile ecosystems.”
Mr. Gordon added: “Whilst attracting more fish won’t save coral reefs on its own, new techniques like this give us more tools in the fight to save these precious and vulnerable ecosystems.
“From local management innovations to international political action, we need meaningful progress at all levels to paint a better future for reefs worldwide.”
(WATCH the university video below)
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The San Francisco 49ers may have earned a few new fans this week, but it’s not because of their most recent win on the football field—it’s because one of their players went out of his way to eliminate the cafeteria debt at a local middle school.
Richard Sherman, the 49ers cornerback player, paid off all $7,500 of the outstanding lunch debt at Cabrillo Middle School this week.
Cabrillo Principal Stan Garber had been working as a docent at the nearby 49ers museum when Sherman pulled him aside and handed him the check.
Garber later told ABC News that the donation will benefit more than 60 young students with unpaid lunch balances. “It’s the most generous thing to happen for these kids,” he told reporters. “It was the perfect way to give back and help them. It was the kindest, most generous gesture.”
The donation was made through the football player’s Richard Sherman Family Foundation, a charitable organization that “was formed in 2013 by Richard Sherman to provide students in low-income communities with school supplies and clothing so they can more adequately achieve their goals.”
According to KPIX, Sherman’s foundation later sent a letter to Cabrillo Middle’s Nutrition Services Department saying, “We have found that eliminating student lunch debt is one way to help assist students and their families in relieving some of the stress that comes with attending school on a daily basis.
“The last thing any child should have to worry about is being able to afford eating breakfast and lunch at school; we aim to do our part in eliminating that obstacle,” it concluded.
Richard Sherman and Principal Garber (Photo by Cabrillo Middle School)
This is not the first time that Sherman has paid off school lunch debt; last month, he wrote a check to pay off all $20,000 in lunch debt for the Tacoma Public School System.
Collectively over the course of the last month six years, the foundation has reportedly raised more than $1.5 million to benefit underserved schools, students, and communities.
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People from all over the world are rallying to help save one of the most iconic animals of Australia.
Since bushfires began sweeping through New South Wales and Queensland last month, dozens of koalas have been rescued from the fires and sent to animal hospitals for treatment.
Many of these rescued marsupials are now being treated for burns on their paws. As a means of protecting the critters’ paws from sustaining further injury, Australians have been encouraging crafty activists to send handmade mittens to their animal hospitals.
Not only that, rescuers have been accepting blankets, baskets, bat wraps, nests, and pouches for other animals injured by the fires.
A group of Dutch knitting enthusiasts from the Quilt Shop 100 in the Netherlands has already crafted more than 400 pairs of mittens for an Australian koala hospital.
The Animal Rescue Freecycle Craft Guild has also been publishing free sewing, crocheting, and knitting patterns to their Facebook group.
Photo by Quilt Shop 100
Since the collective has garnered international traction, they have received thousands of handcrafted donations from around the world. They recently asked their followers to hold off on sending any further donations until they have taken stock of all their shipments, although their are still accepting donations for emergency supplies such as food, water, and medicine.
“If you wanted to take a break from crafting for a week, now is the time. Send out what you have and give your hands a break for a week. We will have an updated inventory needed list over the coming days,” wrote the organization. “All 150 wildlife groups, 1,230 rescuers and hundreds of vets have been contacted and large supply loads are with them now or on the way. The hubs are starting to fill so we are being mindful not to waste anything and to ensure resources are working on the best outcomes!”
The Port Macquarie Koala Hospital has also been raising money for their koala treatments, as well as other Australian wildlife organizations. Since launching a GoFundMe campaign last month, they have surged past their original goal and raised almost $2 million for their rescue efforts.
“Initially, the hospital’s aim was to raise money to purchase and distribute automatic drinking stations which will be installed in the burnt areas to help in koala and wildlife survival,” reads the campaign. “The number of drinking stations being built has now been increased and they will be shared with other wildlife organizations in fire affected regions across New South Wales. Two are being built for dispatch to the northern rivers fire area next week.
“We are also purchasing a water carrying vehicle with fire fighting capabilities to replenish the drinking stations with water as needed.”
With koalas listed as a “vulnerable” species, the group also plans on using the funding to launch a breeding program for surviving koalas in a healthy habitat zone.
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