Adrianna Edwards used to have to walk four and a half long hours in order to get to work every day.
Edwards, who works at a Denny’s restaurant in Galveston, Texas, had been scrimping and saving to buy herself a car so she would no longer have to make the 14-mile trek to and from her job.
Thankfully, the hardworking waitress now has a new car to call her own—but it’s not one that she bought with her own money.
An anonymous couple who Edwards had been serving at her restaurant earlier this week was spurred to buy a car for their hardworking waitress after they learned about her grueling commute.
Hours after they paid their bill, they returned to the restaurant with a 2011 Nissan Sentra and handed the keys to a dumbfounded Edwards. Their only condition for the gift was that Edwards simply pay the good deed forward.
Now that she is freed from having to buy a car, Edwards says that she will be able to put herself through college much sooner than she expected—and she is already planning on using her good fortune to help others.
“I still feel like I’m dreaming. Every two hours, I come look out my window to see if there’s still a car there,” Edwards told WSLS. “When I see somebody in need, I’ll probably be more likely to help them out (and) to do everything that I can to help them out.”
(WATCH the news coverage below)
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In what is being hailed as a world-first, a German steel plant has just succeeded in powering one of their blast furnaces entirely with hydrogen.
Up until Thyssenkrupp Steel announced their groundbreaking achievement earlier this month, steel had been made exclusively using coal-powered furnaces. Reports say that the steelmaking industry uses about 1 billion tons of coal every year, which contributes to about 7% of global carbon emissions.
According to the US Energy Information Administration, burning one ton of coal produces almost three tons of carbon dioxide. Using hydrogen, however, produces only water vapor.
Since Thyssenkrupp successfully managed to power their “Furnace 9” with hydrogen in place of coal, the company now plans on powering all three of their Duisburg-based steel furnaces with hydrogen by 2023.
The company—which is also known for being one of the world’s leading suppliers of carbon steel flat products—also plans to reduce their total emission output by at least 30% before 2030, and achieve carbon-neutrality by 2050.
“Today is a groundbreaking day for the steel industry,” said Premal Desai, Chairman of Thyssenkrupp Steel Europe. “We are doing pioneering work here. The use of hydrogen is the key lever for climate-neutral steel production. Today’s test is another step in the transformation of our production which will culminate in green steel. At the same time, we see what is possible when business and government work together towards a common goal.”
Despite how Germany has been a notorious consumer of coal, the government has actively been working to phase out coal. Since Germany is also known as Europe’s largest economy, conservationists were delighted to report in January that renewable energy sources had overtaken coal as the leading source of power in Germany for the first time in history.
In 2018, studies showed that wind, solar, biomass, and hydro power sources produced 4.3% more power than they did in 2017, accounting for 40% of the nation’s total energy output—a notable improvement from renewables producing only 19.1% of their power in 2010.
(WATCH the announcement video below)
On November 11th, we have launched a series of tests into the use of #hydrogen in a working blast furnace for the first time. It is another step in our transformation towards #climateneutral#steel production, explains Dr. Arnd Köfler, CTO of our steel division. #climatestrategypic.twitter.com/eGi8AZfuxq
A doting dad’s frantic text messages to his daughter about their missing hamster might be the most wholesome conversation to appear on the internet this week.
After Steph Veerman left for college, she charged her father Daniel with taking care of her beloved pet hamster Chester.
Since he began looking after Chester, Daniel formed quite an attachment to the little critter—which is why he was so distraught to discover that Chester had disappeared from his cage earlier this week.
In a panic, Daniel immediately texted his daughter to alert her to the situation.
“Oh my God, I’m so sorry honey, I’m so sorry, I’m looking everywhere,” he wrote. “This is the absolute worst ever. I’m never going to forgive myself if he doesn’t come back.”
As Steph did her best to try and soothe her father’s nerves over text messages, Daniel went about searching the house. He tactfully left out a few blobs of peanut butter in hopes of baiting Chester out of hiding. He set up flour traps so he would be able to track Chester’s footprints in the event that the escaped housepet scurried by.
my dad took over my hamster once i went back to college and ended up getting really attached and today he escaped and this goes to prove how truly pure my father is pic.twitter.com/JmTJl6jFBI
The devastated dad even promised to call out of work the following day if he was unable to find Chester. Steph simply texted back saying: “You shouldn’t skip work. You are a lawyer and he is a hamster.”
Luckily, Steph received a response from Daniel saying that he had indeed found Chester. Not only that, he had found Chester sitting innocently in his cage.
After Steph published screenshots of the conversation to Twitter, she made sure to tell her followers that she had also been concerned for Chester’s disappearance, although she had not wanted him to feel bad about it.
“[Chester is] the light of my life and not ‘just a hamster,’” wrote Steph. “However, my dad was having a panic attack so I tried to calm him down by saying that!!”
Steph says that the text conversation, which has already been shared by hundreds of thousands of people in a matter of days, is simply a perfect example of “how truly pure” her father is.
Quote of the Day: “Make compassion the cotton, contentment the thread, modesty the knot and truth the twist. This is the sacred thread of the soul”. – Guru Nanak (born 550 years ago today)
Photo: by AnnaKika, CC license on Flickr, cropped
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This diehard Liverpool Football Club fan is always making sure to cheer on his beloved team whenever they play—and thanks to a letter from his doting older brother, the team was recently able to return the favor.
Ian, a Liverpool City resident who hoped his hometown soccer team would do something special for his brother David, wrote a letter to the club about David’s condition.
Since David was starved of oxygen as an infant, he developed differently than other kids. Though David struggled academically, his enduring obsession with Liverpool FC never left him, and he is well-known in the community as being a great lad and a passionate fan.
David is a season ticket holder who tries to go see Liverpool play as many times as he can—but now thanks to Nivea Men, one of the members of the team went to go see David while he was at work.
Liverpool FC defender Virgil Van Dijk, who is considered to be the best defender and one of the best players in the world, visited David’s place of work to give him the surprise of a lifetime: a trip to Liverpool FC’s training ground to meet the team.
Not only that, Van Dijk presented David with tickets for all the remaining away games of the season to make sure they had his support from the stands for every one of the 25 remaining games this season.
(WATCH the sweet video below)
.@VirgilvDijk surprises a lifelong Red, who has had some challenges in his life. A day David will never, ever forget ❤️
People who play games—such as cards and board games—are more likely to stay mentally sharp in later life, a study suggests.
According to psychologists from the University of Edinburgh, people who regularly played non-digital games scored better on memory and thinking tests in their 70s.
They also found that a behavior change in later life could still make a difference; people who increased game-playing during their 70s were more likely to maintain certain thinking skills as they grew older. The results were published this week in The Journals of Gerontology.
The research team tested more than 1,000 people aged 70 for memory, problem-solving, thinking speed and general thinking ability. The participants then repeated the same thinking tests every three years until aged 79.
The group was also asked how often they played games like cards, chess, bingo, or crosswords at ages 70 and 76.
Researchers then used statistical models to analyze the relationship between a person’s level of game playing and their thinking skills. The team took into account lifestyle factors such as education, socio-economic status, and activity levels, as well as the results of an intelligence test that the participants completed when they were 11 years old.
People who increased game-playing in later years were found to have experienced less decline in thinking skills in their 70s, particularly in memory function and thinking speed.
Researchers say the findings help to better understand what kinds of lifestyles and behaviors might be associated with better outcomes for cognitive health in later life.
The study may also help people make decisions about how best to protect their thinking skills as they age.
“These latest findings add to evidence that being more engaged in activities during the life course might be associated with better thinking skills in later life,” said Dr. Drew Altschul of the University’s School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences “For those in their 70s or beyond, another message seems to be that playing non-digital games may be a positive behavior in terms of reducing cognitive decline.”
The participants were part of the Lothian Birth Cohort 1936 study, a group of individuals who were born in 1936 and took part in the Scottish Mental Survey of 1947.
Since 1999, researchers have been working with the Lothian Birth Cohorts to chart how a person’s thinking power changes over their lifetime. The follow-up times in the cohorts are among the longest in the world.
“In our Lothian sample, it’s not just general intellectual and social activity, it seems; it is something in this group of games that has this small but detectable association with better cognitive aging,” said Professor Ian Deary, Director of the University of Edinburgh’s Centre for Cognitive Aging and Cognitive Epidemiology. “It’d be good to find out if some of these games are more potent than others. We also point out that several other things are related to better cognitive aging, such as being physically fit and not smoking.”
Caroline Abrahams, Charity Director at Age UK, also added: “Even though some people’s thinking skills can decline as we get older, this research is further evidence that it doesn’t have to be inevitable. The connection between playing board games and other non-digital games later in life and sharper thinking and memory skills adds to what we know about steps we can take to protect our cognitive health, including not drinking excess alcohol, being active and eating a healthy diet.”
12-year-old Jonathan Jones was filmed trying on colorblind-corrective glasses for the first time in his life during his high school science class last week—and his reaction is now helping to distribute those glasses to other colorblind students just like him.
Jonathan is just one of Principal Scott Hanson’s students at Lakeview High School in Cottonwood, Minnesota, but they do share the same problem of being unable to see color. Prior to trying on the glasses, Jonathan had never been able to differentiate between the periodic table color groupings.
The specially-designed EnChroma glasses belonged to Hanson. Since he had been given the glasses as a Christmas gift several years ago, he has always made sure to bring them to school as an educational tool for genetics lessons in science class.
Upon learning that one of his students shared the same condition, Hanson brought the glasses into his class so Jonathan could try them on—and the youngster’s reaction was priceless.
“I’ve been in education for 25 years, and to see that reaction on his face, and that pure joy and overwhelming happiness and sadness, all those emotions at once, was just an awesome experience,” Hanson told The Washington Post.
Jonathan’s parents—who were present for his monumental classroom experience—immediately launched a GoFundMe page so they could try to raise enough money to buy Jonathan his own pair of glasses, which typically cost upwards of $270.
Luckily, Jonathan’s brother uploaded a video of the boy’s reaction to Twitter where it has since been viewed thousands of times.
Their GoFundMe campaign has now raised more than $29,000, and Jonathan’s family is working with EnChroma to use the money as a means of distributing free glasses to other colorblind students who may not be able to afford their own pair.
Furthermore, the company is donating a pair of glasses for every set that is purchased through the fundraiser.
(WATCH the emotional video below)
My little brother is severely colorblind and so is his principle at school. While they were learning about colorblindness in class, his principle brought in some glasses that let him see color for the first time, and he was very emotional. Check it out: pic.twitter.com/LQhAND9RJq
Israeli scientists have succeeded in editing the genes of microorganisms so that they stop eating all of their normal solid foods and switch to a strict diet of only eating carbon dioxide (CO2) from their environment.
This means that the bacteria were able to build all of their biomass from air. This feat, which involved nearly a decade of rational design, genetic engineering and a sped-up version of evolution in the lab, point to an exciting new means of developing carbon-neutral fuels.
The research, which was conducted in the laboratory of Professor Ron Milo of the Weizmann Institute of Science, was reported this week in Cell.
The study began by identifying crucial genes for the process of carbon fixation—the way plants take carbon from CO2 for the purpose of turning it into such biological molecules as protein and DNA. After adding and rewiring the needed genes, the researchers found that many of the “parts” for the machinery that were already present in the bacterial genome could be used as is.
They also inserted a gene that allowed the bacteria to get energy from a readily available substance called formate that can be produced directly from electricity and air and which is apt to “give up” electrons to the bacteria.
As it turns out, simply giving the bacteria the “means of production” was not enough for them to make the switch. The team still needed another trick to get the bacteria to use this machinery properly, and this involved a delicate balancing act.
Together with several other members of Milo’s team in the Institute’s Plant and Environmental Sciences Department, the researchers used lab evolution, as the technique is known; in essence, the bacteria were gradually weaned off the sugar they were used to eating.
At each stage, cultured bacteria were given just enough sugar to keep them from complete starvation, as well as plenty of CO2 and formate. As some “learned” to develop a taste for CO2 (giving them an evolutionary edge over those that stuck to sugar), their descendants were given less and less sugar until after about a year of adapting to the new diet some of them eventually made the complete switch, living and multiplying in an environment that served up pure CO2.
To check whether the bacteria were not somehow “snacking” on other nutrients, some of the evolved E. coli were fed CO2 containing a heavy isotope: C13. Then the bacterial body parts were weighed, and the weight they had gained checked against the mass that would be added from eating the heavier version of carbon. The analysis showed the carbon atoms in the body of the bacteria were all extracted directly from CO2 alone.
The researchers believe that the bacteria’s new “health kick” could ultimately be healthy for the planet. Milo points out that today, biotech companies use cell cultures to produce commodity chemicals. Such cells—yeast or bacteria—could be induced to live on a diet of CO2 and renewable electricity, and thus be weaned from the large amounts of corn syrup they live on today.
Bacteria could also be further adapted so that rather than taking their energy from a substance such as formate, they might be able to get it straight up—say electrons from a solar collector—and then store that energy for later use as fuel in the form of carbon fixed in their cells. Such fuel would be carbon-neutral if the source of its carbon was atmospheric CO2.
“Our lab was the first to pursue the idea of changing the diet of a normal heterotroph (one that eats organic substances) to convert it to autotrophism (‘living on air’),” says Milo. “It sounded impossible at first, but it has taught us numerous lessons along the way, and in the end we showed it indeed can be done. Our findings are a significant milestone toward our goal of efficient, green scientific applications.”
It has been several years since the world fell in love with this 20-year-old man and his “grandma”—and their fans can be happy to know that their friendship is still going strong.
Back in 2016, Jamal Hinton received a text message from Wanda Dench inviting him to her Thanksgiving dinner. The message had been intended for Dench’s grandson—but upon realizing her mistake, Dench invited him to dinner anyways, saying “that’s what grandmas do… feed everyone.”
Despite how Hinton lives in Phoenix—which is an hour and a half from where Dench lives in Mesa—he did indeed stop by for dinner and their serendipitous holiday mixup went viral.
Hinton has been to every single one of Dench’s Thanksgiving dinners since the mixup. Not only that, they make sure to regularly text each other and maintain contact throughout the year. In addition to meeting for dinner every few months, the two recently also went pumpkin-picking with Dench’s husband and Hinton’s longtime girlfriend Mikaela.
“We are both really passionate and love talking about our story and how many people have reached out to us and told us how it affects them,” Hinton told The New York Post. “I love when people tell me it restores their faith in humanity which I get A LOT. It makes me feel good knowing something I was a part of affected so many people in a good way.”
“We are both very happy and grateful that we could be the centerpiece to such an amazing story and bring joy and faith in so many different people.”
Quote of the Day: “Gratitude can transform common days into Thanksgivings, turn routine into joy, and change ordinary opportunities into blessings.” – William Arthur Ward
Photo: by Faith Goble, CC license on Flickr
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The Queen Victoria Inn on the Mendip Hills in Somerset, England has been transformed into “The Gingerbread Inn” with 60,000 fairy lights and a 22-foot (6.7-meter) snowman made of beer bottles.
It took four days for a team of four people to cover the exterior walls of the pub in gingerbread men, sweets, candy canes, and thousands of bulbs requiring 3 miles (5 kilometers) of wiring.
SWNS
The stunning display is hooked up to its own circuit board separate from the pub’s main electricity supply.
52-year-old landlord Mark Walton started the tradition four years ago in aid of the Children’s Hospice South West charity—and he managed to raise nearly $6,400 (£5,000) last year alone.
This year, however, he added a giant snowman made out of 2,500 empty beer bottles to the grounds of the pub. Outside the pub, he has placed two large buckets for people to leave donations so he can achieve his goal of raising $7,700 (£6,000) during this year’s celebration.
“When people see it, they just say ‘wow’,” said Walton, who is also a father-of-three and a grandfather-of-one. “People come from all over the world to visit us at Christmas. It’s good for business and the charity does very well out of it.
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“When we did the switch-on, it was great to see if all lit up for the first time. I was taken back because it was so awesome.
“Seeing the photos is one thing, but it’s hard to comprehend the size of it until you’re actually here,” he added. “It’s quite a sight and it’s worth all of the hard work.”
In fact, Walton’s pub gets so busy in December, he no longer accepts bookings for the whole month—so people will travel for hours to see his lights.
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“Traditionally we are a country pub in the middle of nowhere and people do travel a long way to see us,” said Walton. “It is amazing to look at. I’ve known people travel up from Southampton and down from the midlands.
“We have covered every inch of the pub—and at this time of the year, it does become the centerpiece of the village.”
This year’s lights—which were officially turned on for the 2019 festive period on the evening of November 24th—will remain illuminated until early January.
SWNS
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This image shows the Patellar tendon 30 days after an injury. The red marks newly discovered tendon stem cells that have self-renewed and are layered over green marked, original tendon cells. During regeneration, some tendon stem cells differentiate to make newly regenerated tendon cells—a process during which they transition into a yellow-orange color. The blue indicates cellular nuclei.
(Photo by Tyler Harvey / Carnegie Institution for Science)
Debilitating tendon injuries may soon be a thing of the past now that researchers have discovered the existence of “tendon stem cells” for the first time.
The buildup of scar tissue makes recovery from torn rotator cuffs, jumper’s knee, and other tendon injuries a painful, challenging process, often leading to secondary tendon ruptures.
New research led by Carnegie’s Chen-Ming Fan and published in Nature Cell Biology reveals the existence of tendon stem cells that could potentially be harnessed to improve tendon healing and even to avoid surgery.
“Tendons are connective tissue that tether our muscles to our bones,” Fan explained. “They improve our stability and facilitate the transfer of force that allows us to move. But they are also particularly susceptible to injury and damage.”
Unfortunately, once tendons are injured, they rarely fully recover, which can result in limited mobility and require long-term pain management or even surgery. The culprit is fibrous scars, which disrupt the tissue structure of the tendon.
Working with Carnegie’s Tyler Harvey and Sara Flamenco, Fan revealed all of the cell types present in the Patellar tendon, found below the kneecap, including previously undefined tendon stem cells.
This image shows the Patellar tendon 30 days after an injury. The red marks newly discovered tendon stem cells that have self-renewed and are layered over green marked, original tendon cells. During regeneration, some tendon stem cells differentiate to make newly regenerated tendon cells—a process during which they transition into a yellow-orange color. The blue indicates cellular nuclei. (Photo by Tyler Harvey / Carnegie Institution for Science)
“Because tendon injuries rarely heal completely, it was thought that tendon stem cells might not exist,” said lead author Harvey. “Many searched for them to no avail, but our work defined them for the first time.”
Stem cells are “blank” cells associated with nearly every type of tissue, which have not fully differentiated into a specific functionality. They can also self-renew, creating a pool from which newly differentiated cell types can form to support a specific tissue’s function. For example, muscle stem cells can differentiate into muscle cells. But until now, stem cells for the tendon were unknown.
Surprisingly, the team’s research showed that both fibrous scar tissue cells and tendon stem cells originate in the same space—the protective cells that surround a tendon. What’s more, these tendon stem cells are part of a competitive system with precursors of fibrous scars, which explains why tendon healing is such a challenge.
The team demonstrated that both tendon stem cells and scar tissue precursor cells are stimulated into action by a protein called platelet-derived growth factor-A. When tendon stem cells are altered so that they don’t respond to this growth factor, then only scar tissue and no new tendon cells form after an injury.
“Tendon stem cells exist, but they must outcompete the scar tissue precursors in order to prevent the formation of difficult, fibrous scars,” Fan explained. “Finding a therapeutic way to block the scar-forming cells and enhance the tendon stem cells could be a game-changer when it comes to treating tendon injuries.”
When asked how his team would be continuing their work, Dr. Fan told Good News Network: “As to the next stage of our research, we are tackling two areas. First, we want to find out the fundamental differences between tendon stem cells versus fibrotic scar cells, so we can find ways to enhance the former and eliminate the latter and make healing tendon ‘scar-less’. Second, we want to be able to grow tendon stem cells for transplantation, so we can speed up the healing process after tendon injuries.”
This photo captures the tender moment that 87-year-old Norbert Schemm was able to fulfill his dying wish of having one last beer with his son, wife, and three grandsons.
The picture isn’t just meaningful to the Schemm family, either; since Norbert’s grandson Adam shared it to Twitter last week, it has been shared more than 300,000 times—and many people are using it as a way to talk about their own meaningful experiences with late family members.
Norbert, who was from Appleton, Wisconsin, had been suffering from stage IV colon cancer when doctors knew that he would not survive the night. He then asked his wife to rally his immediate family members so they could share one last drink.
They spent the evening laughing, chatting, and reminiscing about times past. Norbert then passed away the following day.
Adam had been hesitant to share the photo because of its context, but he later told BBC that posting the picture to Twitter has helped his family to recover.
“It’s actually helped us with our grief,” said Adam. “It’s comforting to see that my grandparents and their children were all together in his final moments.”
“It seems to have tapped into a sense of community and clearly is a moment lots of people relate to. The comments have been so kind and we’ve seen pictures of people toasting bottles of beer in his honor. I thought people I knew might want to see it and respond but had no idea just how many people it seems to have helped.”
If you walk into your average art museum, chances are the majority of the works hanging on the walls are by male artists.
As a means of balancing their gender representation, however, the Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA) will only be purchasing artworks by female artists for the next year.
Out of the museum’s 95,000 collected works, only 4% are credited to female artists.
Their 2020 Vision initiative—which will not apply to artworks gifted to the museum—will encompass 13 solo exhibitions and seven thematic shows, with additional presentations still being planned.
Highlights include a large-scale transformative commission by Mickalene Thomas, a major monographic survey of Joan Mitchell’s career, an exploration of Candice Breitz’s recent video works, and the reinstallation of several of the museum’s galleries to emphasize the depth and diversity of women’s artistry through time. These presentations will be supported by a wide range of public and scholarly programs that will foster dialogue on women’s contributions to art history and the development of many of the artistic institutions that we know today.
The initiative builds on the BMA’s efforts over the last several years to expand its presentations of women artists and artists of color to more accurately reflect the community in which it lives; to address race and gender diversity gaps within the museum field; and to represent more fully and deeply the spectrum of individuals that have shaped the trajectory of art.
It also coincides with the 100th anniversary of the passing of the 19th Amendment, ratified on August 18th, 1920, which guaranteed women in the U.S. the right to vote.
“The BMA’s 2020 Vision initiative serves to recognize the voices, narratives, and creative innovations of a range of extraordinarily talented women artists,” said Christopher Bedford, BMA Dorothy Wagner Wallis Director. “The goal for this effort is to rebalance the scales and to acknowledge the ways in which women’s contributions still do not receive the scholarly examination, dialogue, and public acclaim that they deserve. This vision and goal are especially appropriate, given the central role women have played in shaping this museum throughout its history.”
Painting by Amélie Beaury-Saurel
The BMA will begin implementing 2020 Vision this season with a series of thematic exhibitions and a major commission. By Their Creative Force: American Women Modernists will feature works by Elizabeth Catlett, Maria Martinez, Georgia O’Keeffe, and others who contributed to major art movements of the 20th century from Cubism to Abstract Expressionism. Several of these artists—including Simone Brangier Boas, Grace Hartigan, and Amalie Rothschild—were based in Baltimore during their careers. This is followed by the November 24th opening of a large-scale installation by internationally-acclaimed artist Mickalene Thomas.
The BMA has nearly 3,800 works of art by 1,050 women artists and designers. The first painting by a woman artist to enter the museum’s collection was a portrait by Sarah Miriam Peale, considered the first American woman to succeed as a professional artist. It was given to the BMA in 1916, two years after the museum was founded.
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A man from Oregon has just been reunited with his cat Sasha after she was discovered wandering the streets 1,400 miles away from home.
It has been five years since Sasha vanished from Viktor Usov’s house in Portland. The 31-year-old medical student said that he had simply let her outside one night only to have her disappear entirely.
Last week, however, she was taken in as a healthy stray in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Upon scanning her microchip, the staffers at the Santa Fe Animal Shelter were shocked to find that her owner lived so far away—but after they managed to get in contact with Usov, he confirmed that the wily 6-year-old feline was indeed his missing cat.
“When I got the call, I was ecstatic,” Usov told the Santa Fe New Mexican, “but I was not that surprised. This cat loves adventure.”
When reporters asked Usov what he believes Sasha has been up to the last five years, he simply said that she was probably just on her own “great American adventure.”
Nevertheless, Usov was delighted to be reunited with his beloved cat in Portland just days after she was found wandering the Southwest.
Murad Kirdar, who manages public relations for the animal shelter, was able to escort Sasha home courtesy of American Airlines.
American Airlines spokesperson Curtis Blessing told the shelter: “At American Airlines, our business is about caring for people on life’s journey and connecting them with their loved ones. When we heard Sasha had been found so far from home, we were honored to be in a position to get her back to her family.”
Kirdar now hopes that Sasha’s story will spur other pet owners to get their pets microchipped so their furry friends can always make their way home—no matter how far they have wandered from home.
“If it wasn’t for the cat’s microchip, we would have never been able to reunite them,” said Kirdar. “To learn more about microchips, please contact your veterinarian.”
(WATCH the reunion video below) – Photo by Santa Fe Animal Shelter
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Quote of the Day: “Gratitude is the healthiest of all human emotions. The more you express gratitude for what you have, the more likely you will have even more to express gratitude for.” – Zig Ziglar
Photo: by Irudayam – CC license on Flickr, cropped
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Glennwood Little was saved from his burning car earlier this month with very few injuries thanks to a heroic driver who pulled him from the blazing vehicle.
Little had been on his way home from getting more fuel for his generators when one of the gas cans spilled in his backseat. Since Little had been smoking a cigarette at the time, the fuel suddenly ignited and caused an explosion of flame inside of his car.
After experiencing a wave of yellow light and heat, the dazed Connecticut driver says he tried to undo his seatbelt and escape the car—but to no avail.
Luckily, Edward Cyr was on his way to dinner with his wife when he saw the explosion from his own car across the street.
Stafford City Hall security footage then captured the moment that Cyr ran to Little’s vehicle and pulled him from the driver’s seat.
“I didn’t even see the guy come to the door, he opens it up and he reaches in and he gets my seatbelt off,” Little told WVIT. “My coat and my hat was in flames and he ripped the hat off and my coat and as he took me out I went right into the back of the ambulance.”
Since a random ambulance also happened to be passing the street at the same time, Little was quickly taken to the hospital for treatment.
Thanks to Cyr’s quick actions, Little escaped with relatively few burns—and the Stafford Fire Department was quick to credit Cyr for Little’s survival.
The fire department later presented Cyr with an award for his heroism with Little present for the ceremony.
“Without regard for his own safety, [Cyr] pulled the driver from a burning car which just exploded as he turned the corner,” wrote the department’s Facebook page. “Words can’t describe this act. It was captured on a security camera video off the Stafford Town Hall. Mr Cyr, you are a hero.”
The department also used the incredible story to remind people of the dangers of driving with open fuel containers in order to prevent any future accidents.
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Animal rights activists are rejoicing now that President Donald Trump has signed a piece of bipartisan legislation officially making animal cruelty a federal felony.
On November 25th, President Trump signed the Preventing Animal Cruelty and Torture (PACT) Act into effect. The bill had already been unanimously approved in the House on October 26th and in the Senate on November 6th.
The PACT Act was first introduced by Congressman Ted Deutch (FL-22) and Congressman Vern Buchanan (FL-16) back in January as a means of criminalizing “gruesome” acts of animal cruelty that were not included in the Animal Crush Video Prohibition Act, which Congress passed back in 2010.
The bill made the creation and distribution of animal crushing videos illegal. However, the underlying acts of cruelty against animals were not included. The PACT Act now closes this loophole by prohibiting any extreme cases of animal abuse that results in serious bodily injury or death, whether or not a video is created.
That being said, the newly-approved H.R. 724 bill contains exceptions for normal veterinary care, hunting, and other actions that are considered necessary to protecting life or property from a serious threat caused by an animal.
“Today’s vote is a significant milestone in the bipartisan quest to end animal abuse and protect our pets. This bill sends a clear message that our society does not accept cruelty against animals,” said Congressman Deutch in a statement about the House’s approval back in October.
“We’ve received support from so many Americans from across the country and across the political spectrum. Animal rights activists have stood up for living things that do not have a voice. Law enforcement officers have sought a federal overlay to help them stop animal abusers who are likely to commit acts of violence against people. And animal lovers everywhere know this is simply the right thing to do.
Kitty Block, who is the CEO of the Humane Society of the United States, also praised the legislation.
“PACT makes a statement about American values. Animals are deserving of protection at the highest level,” Block said in a statement. “The approval of this measure by the Congress and the president marks a new era in the codification of kindness to animals within federal law. For decades, a national anti-cruelty law was a dream for animal protectionists. Today, it is a reality.”
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Despite enduring a brutal fight against kidney failure and stage one breast cancer, Amy Pettenato has remained fiercely positive in the face of her health problems.
When it finally came time for her to shave her head, however, the mother-of-one couldn’t help but feel self-conscious. Thankfully, an “angel” in a restaurant swooped in to lift her spirits right when she needed it.
In addition to Pettenato undergoing dialysis and cancer treatments, she has also been working full-time at a credit union in Medford, New York—which is why she was so relieved to go out with her family for a lazy Sunday brunch at Metropolis Diner earlier this month.
As she was eating, Pettenato noticed that there were four little girls dining next to her with their parents. She later recalled the incident on Facebook, saying: “At times I noticed one of the daughters looking at me and then noticed the mom looking and smiling at me.”
Since it was Pettenato’s first time out in public with only her cancer survivor hat to hide her shaved head, she felt embarrassed and self-conscious.
The neighboring family eventually paid their check and got up from the table, but before they left, the mother sat down next to Pettenato and began sharing her own experience as a 13-year cancer survivor.
After encouraging Pettenato to stay positive, the woman left the restaurant. Not only that, Pettenato was later informed that the woman had secretly paid for their meal.
Pettenato was so emotional over the heartfelt experience, she took to Facebook in hopes of tracking down the woman so she could thank her for her kindness.
“She was an angel and made my day,” wrote Pettenato. “Not because she paid the bill but because she wasn’t afraid to sit next to a total stranger and share her experience and wish me the best.”
Her Facebook post ended up being shared hundreds of times until the woman was finally identified as Kerry Holmes-Vallario.
When asked why she reached out to Pettenato, Kerry Holmes-Vallario told Patch: “When I saw her I knew exactly what she was feeling—I remember the day my husband shaved my head; it was the hardest day of my life. When I saw her sitting there I just wanted her to know that she isn’t alone in her fight and that ‘we’ as warriors are all here for each other.
“On my journey I had met so many women who became friends from this disease and I wanted a just reach out to [her] and let her know I was there for her,” she added.
Needless to say, the two cancer survivors are now firm friends—and they hope that their story will help inspire other readers to remain positive with their own health issues.
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A procedure that applies pulses of focused ultrasound to the brain has been proven to be safe and effective for reducing tremors and improving quality of life, according to a new study.
Tremors are rhythmic, involuntary muscle movements that cause shaking in one or more parts of the body, usually in the hands. They are characteristic of movement disorders like essential tremor (ET) or Parkinson’s disease (PD) tremor, two progressive conditions that affect millions of people worldwide.
Previous treatment options for reducing tremors in patients who have not responded to medical therapy include deep brain stimulation, a surgical procedure that involves implanting a small electrode in the brain connected to a pulse generator that is implanted in the chest like a pacemaker.
A more recently available option is magnetic resonance-guided focused ultrasound (MRgFUS) thalamotomy, an incisionless interventional radiology procedure in which focused beams of sound energy are used to heat and destroy a small part of a structure in the brain called the thalamus.
The procedure gives relief to the opposite side of the body, meaning that treatment to the right side of the brain would relieve tremors on the left side of the body, and vice versa.
As a minimally invasive approach, focused ultrasound has advantages over deep brain stimulation, including a reduced risk of complications from bleeding and infections, according to study lead author Federico Bruno, a radiologist at the University of L’Aquila in Italy.
“Another advantage is the immediate effect this treatment provides, unlike deep brain stimulation which requires a break-in period for the electrostimulation,” he said. “Additionally, treatment with MRgFUS requires shorter hospitalization and is a fairly well-tolerated procedure even by more fragile patients.”
For the new study—which will be presented next week at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America—Dr. Bruno and colleagues enrolled 39 patients, average age 64.5 years, with disabling tremors that had not responded to treatment. The people in the study group, including 18 with ET and 21 with PD, had experienced symptoms for an average of more than 10 years.
The researchers evaluated the patients for tremor severity and quality of life before MRgFUS thalamotomy, immediately after treatment and over the course of the ensuing year.
They found that 37 of 39 patients, or 95%, had substantial and immediate reduction of tremor. These reductions in tremor were sustained in follow-up evaluations. Quality of life evaluation showed substantial improvement in both the ET and PD groups.
“The study we present reports our experience of over a year in the treatment of tremor by thalamotomy with focused ultrasound,” Dr. Bruno said. “It is worth noting that we had a high number of patients with Parkinson’s disease in our series, compared to previously published data, where the procedure was used mainly in the treatment of essential tremor patients.”
This is a graph showing clinical scores for tremor (Fahn-Tolosa-Marin scale) in essential tremor and Parkinson’s disease patients. (Photo by Federico Bruno / RSNA)
Currently, MRgFUS thalamotomy is only available at a limited number of sites worldwide, Dr. Bruno said, but may become more widespread as research findings supporting its use are published. Improvements in neuroimaging techniques that allow for greater precision and detail in planning, implementation and monitoring over time of the treatment should also expand its availability.
“The clinical application of this technique for neurological diseases is an absolute novelty—the clinical use was approved by the FDA less than three years ago,” Dr. Bruno said. “Few patients know of this treatment option so far, and there are not many specialized centers equipped with the required technology.”
Future research in this area includes the possibility of treating both sides of the thalamus. MRgFUS is also being explored in areas beyond movement disorders, Dr. Bruno said. Several preclinical studies and clinical trials are looking at the technique for the treatment of other neurological conditions like neuropathic pain, epilepsy and obsessive-compulsive disorders, as well as for treatment of brain tumors.
