When two young hospital patients were undergoing treatment in isolation, their friendly custodian took it upon himself to help them form a lasting friendship through their shared love of LEGOs.
Ki-Jana “KJ” Upshaw is responsible for regularly changing the linens in all 82 of the patient rooms in the Bone Marrow Transplant Unit at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital in Ohio.
Earlier this year, Upshaw befriended a 7-year-old patient named Cohen Bramlee who was always playing with LEGOs. Upshaw then noticed that there was another boy across the hall named Keagan Atkins who also spent his spare time building elaborate structures out of the toy bricks.
Upshaw believed that both of the boys were destined to be friends—but because of the hospital’s isolation rules, they were unable to visit each other’s rooms.
Upshaw then spent the following months helping the boys to forge a friendship by swapping messages and communicating between them about their LEGO creations.
Cohen’s mom Carrie Bramlee told the hospital: “It was kind of like a daily report on what the other child was building, and so he kind of enjoyed getting to hear about what someone else had in common with him while he was here, and just getting to talk to KJ, because, you know, our world is pretty small right now. We were in that room, and Cohen was in isolation, he couldn’t leave, and it was just a bright spot in the day when [KJ] would come in and just sit there and chat with Cohen for a second.”
The friendship helped both of the youngsters recover until they were finally able to meet each other in person; on the day that Keagan was well enough to go home from the hospital, Cohen was healthy enough to wear a mask and walk across the hall to Keagan’s door so he could give him a LEGO set as a farewell gift.
The boys’ mothers are already arranging a LEGO playdate for the boys once Cohen is out of the hospital—and it is all thanks to Upshaw.
(WATCH the heartwarming video below)
Cure Your Friends Of Negativity By Sharing This Sweet Story To Social Media…
These three Muslim schoolgirls may not seem like the typical members of a heavy metal band—but that’s exactly why they’re continuing to dominate stages across Indonesia.
Firdda Kurnia, Eusi Siti Aisyah, and Widi Rahmawati all grew up as the daughters of poor farmers in rural West Java, a conservative region of the country. Prior to attending a music class in 2014, the girls had never even heard of heavy metal music.
But that’s when their middle school teacher, Ahba Erza, played them “Toxicity” by System of a Down—and they immediately became hooked on heavy metal.
Erza, who is now their band manager, taught the girls how to play instruments. The youngsters formed a band the very same year and dubbed themselves Voice of Baceprot, which translates to “noise” in their traditional Sudanese language.
Despite having to endure harassment and criticism from the more conservative side of the Indonesia, the Voice of Baceprot has played across the nation’s most popular stages.
“They say my music is forbidden by my religion,” she recalled to NPR. “I’m a different musician because I’m a woman, and I play metal music, but I’m wearing hijab. Hijab is my identity, OK?”
Kurnia added that her own parents had originally forbade her from playing heavy metal. As Voice of Baceprot secretly became more and more locally famous, however, her parents became proud of her passion.
According to Assembly, the girls now play about three shows per month as they continue to become one of Indonesia’s most iconic counterculture musical groups.
Other metal musicians have praised the teens for depicting the more diverse side of the genre since Firdda, Eusi, and Widi—now aged 19, 19, and 17 respectively—play their shows wearing leather jackets and hijabs.
With Indonesia reportedly boasting a thriving underground heavy metal scene, Voice of Baceprot has become more and more popular across the nation. Their Instagram page alone has wracked up more than 32,000 followers.
The girls now hope that their music will help people to understand that Muslim girls can pursue their passions while still faithfully abiding by their religion. Not only that, they hope to show that metal music is for everyone—not matter their race or creed.
(LISTEN to the 2017 interview below)
For Those About To Rock, Be Sure And Share This Awesome Story With Your Friends On Social Media…
Rather than letting people’s Christmas trees go to a landfill, this Texas veteran is asking community members to donate their old fir trees so he can turn them into stylish canes for his fellow veterans.
After serving in the US Army for 8 years, Jamie Willis returned to Copperas Cove as a 100% disabled veteran who was completely unable to work.
In addition to being forced to use a cane, the Veteran Affairs provided Willis with a cane that was annoyingly ugly and unstable.
Shortly after he discovered the pitfalls of typical VA canes, he discovered Free Canes for Veterans, a Florida-based organization dedicated to giving away cool-looking handmade canes to veterans.
Willis then reached out Oscar Morris, the mastermind behind the organization, and asked if he could learn how to make his own cane—and Morris was happy to oblige.
After Willis made his first wooden walking stick, he worked with Morris to open up a branch of the organization in central Texas. Since opening up shop in 2016, he has crafted and donated more than 200 customized canes for veterans.
“I do this so I don’t sit home all day feeling sorry for myself,” the 50-year-old vet told CNN. “This is all out of kindness. I do everything out of pocket and from donations.”
Now that the holiday season is over, Willis is asking homeowners to donate their old Christmas trees for him to recycle into canes. It typically takes Willis a day’s worth of work to turn one Christmas tree into a cane. After that, he packages it up and ships it off to the recipient.
Although Willis usually crafts his canes for fellow ex-service members, he is also happy to make his canes for anyone with a disability.
This is the second year that Willis has called for tree donations, although he has already been flooded with support since Home Depot donated 400 trees and community members donated an additional 100. If you want to help Willis pay for the organization’s shipping and handling costs, you can donate to his GoFundMe campaign.
Quote of the Day: “I heard a bird sing in the dark of December. A magical thing. And sweet to remember.” – Oliver Herford
Photo: by Bernd Thaller, CC license via Flickr – cropped, edited
With a new inspirational quote every day, atop the perfect photo—collected and archived on our Quotes page—why not bookmark GNN.org for a daily uplift?
According to Plastic Oceans International (POI), we produce over 300 million tons of plastic each year around the world, half of which is for single-use purposes. If production remains unchecked, the planet and its ecosystems will be overrun. Fortunately, awareness of this issue is growing thanks to activists young and old.
Governmental action on the local, state, and national level is also forcing many companies to re-examine their manufacturing processes, their supply chains, and distribution networks regarding both products and packaging.
IKEA
One leader is Ikea, which recently committed to transition much of its plastic packaging to a mushroom-based renewable alternative that can grow in a controlled environment, and, like plastic, be easily formed into shapes.
If kept dry, this “MycoComposite” can be used over and over. It can also decompose fully in just 30 days. Producing the material uses only 12 percent of the energy required to make the same amount of plastic, and with 90 percent lower carbon emissions.
They are also ditching the use of plastic bags. Starting in 2020, the company’s 363 outlets worldwide will be eliminating everything from single-use plastic plates, drink stirrers, cups, tableware and straws to freezer bags, garbage bags, and packaging.
Another step in the right direction is Mattel’s recent commitment to use 100 percent recycled, recyclable or bio-based plastics materials in both its products and packaging by 2030. Early in 2020 the company will debut its first product aligned with this new goal, the Fisher-Price Rock-a-Stack, made from sugarcane-based plastics and packaged in 100 percent recycled or sustainably sourced material.
WALMART
Walmart announced in February that it seeks to achieve 100 percent recyclable, reusable or compostable packaging for its private brand packaging by 2025 and will encourage other brands that it sells to set similar goals. The retailing behemoth is also working with suppliers to eliminate non-recyclable PVC plastic in general merchandise packaging altogether by 2020.
The company that runs the Holiday Inn and Crowne Plaza hotel chains announced this week that all of its 843,000 guest rooms will provide shampoo and other bathroom amenities from bulk-sized containers, eliminating millions of plastic bottles from landfills. InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG), one of the world’s leading hotel companies, will be implementing the phase-out across all 5,600 of their properties worldwide with the transition to be completed within two years.
SAINSBURY’S
A huge chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom has committed to cutting a further 1,284 tons of plastic from their supply chain over the course of the next year, including plastic cutlery, bags, lids, and trays. Sainsbury’s will start by removing 489 tonnes’ worth of plastic bags, which are currently used for loose fruit, vegetables and bakery items. Customers buying loose fruit and vegetables will either be able to bring their own bags or buy a re-usable bag made from recycled materials. Paper bags will be available to customers for loose bakery items.
Kroger, America’s largest supermarket chain, announced that it will be phasing out all of its single-use plastic bags in favor of reusable alternatives. When fully implemented, the waste generated by bags in their 2,800 stores, which include Harris Teeter, Fred Meyer, Fry’s, and Ralphs, will drop by 123 million pounds per year.
BEER MAKERS
Heineken, Corona, Carlsburg, and Guinness have all announced in 2019 that they are eliminating plastic from their packaging, replacing them by next year with biodegradable 6-pack rings, or glue.
(With contributions from the 501(c)3 nonprofit EarthTalk EarthTalk® See more at Emagazine.com.) – Featured image by Swansea University, released
Help Consumers Be Smarter by Sharing This on Social Media…
The Microsoft founder has participated in a ‘Secret Santa’ online gift exchange annually since 2013, but this year he really put Santa to shame with his extraordinary kindness toward a young Michigan woman who’d just lost her mother this year.
Shelby herself has been generous in the online gift exchange—although her bank account is never as happy as the strangers she mails packages to—preparing 95 different personalized Christmas gifts over the years, thoughtfully sending them to people she doesn’t even know.
On December 17 she spied an email alert informing her that a Secret Santa package had been shipped through RedditGifts—the program offered by the global online discussion group—and it was being overnighted (an expensive shipping option) from Washington state. She immediately joked to her husband that maybe it was from Bill Gates, who was well-known as an avid RedditGifts player.
On top of that, the next day she saw that the package weighed 81 pounds, and got the feeling that it was going to be “something truly special.”
When she arrived at the FedEx office, her wildest dreams were coming true. The employees were all excited, exclaiming, “You’re the BILL GATES package! We’ve been waiting for you all day.” They were even happier because the box was so big it wouldn’t fit into her car. It meant she had to open it in the store.
Photos courtesy of Shelby on RedditGifts
The carton was emblazoned with a big red #95 on the sides—a tribute to Shelby’s 95th RedditGifts exchange, a fact that was mentioned on her gift profile page. That page is where Gates and his team got most of the information to personalize each gift item. And there were tons of presents geared toward her interest in books, Star Wars, Harry Potter, the Zelda game, Twin Peaks, cats, and outdoor leisure.
There was one special fact the Gates team discovered on their own, though—and it was the gift that meant the most. Shelby’s mom had died unexpectedly in March, just ten days before Shelby’s wedding, and Gates made a donation to the American Heart Association in her mother’s name, a request her family had made public in their obituary.
“I open the box and am immediately struck by a package that is literally lit up with a strand of fairy lights. Wow! I see the infamous Bill Gates letter placard and photo (showing him signing the card) and my stomach flips.”
Each gift was impressively wrapped (and “indicative of the contents”), so she took them home and made a couple videos. Thoughtful as always, Shelby made sure to carefully open them so she could reuse the paper on gifts in future exchanges.
Inside, she found a hard-bound copy of the original manuscript of “The Great Gatsby,” with Fitzgerald’s handwriting, which is her favorite book; a Harry Potter Santa hat; a pair of elaborate adult-level Lego building sets, including a giant Hogwarts castle and R2D2; eight more books; toys for her cat; Zelda earrings and a gorgeous heavy handmade Zelda quilt; a hammock with mosquito net; a Twin Peaks jacket worn by someone on the crew, and 5 scripts from season 2; and eight packages of assorted Oreos.
“Bill Gates, you are a blessing. I still cannot believe how lucky/cool/honored I am to have had someone craft such a special and personal set of gifts just for little ol’ me,” she wrote on Reddit. “And your donation to The American Heart Association in my mom’s memory is the most special gift of all. It means more to me than I can express.”
Quote of the Day: “May the tears you cried in 2019 water the seeds you’re planting for 2020.” – yesimadiva.com
Photo: by the yes man, CC license via Flickr – cropped
With a new inspirational quote every day, atop the perfect photo—collected and archived on our Quotes page—why not bookmark GNN.org for a daily uplift?
If there is one thing that we’re grateful for as we head into the new decade, it’s that scientists from all over the world have been tirelessly continuing to solve some of the most fascinating mysteries of the universe and toughest problems on Earth.
Not only have researchers made historic strides in uncovering the cosmic nature of black holes, scientists have come up with incredible solutions and strategies for combatting the climate crisis and protecting our own planet.
So without further ado, here are the top ten most fascinating and innovative stories of science from 2019.
This unique origami-inspired solar panel has the potential to turn windows into a source of electricity for any apartment dweller.
For urban residences and buildings, implementing renewable sources of energy can be difficult. Researchers have tried building solar panels out of various materials so they can be placed in front of windows, but this generally leads to a large decrease in natural lighting in exchange for limited energy generation.
Soligami, on the other hand, is a solar panel system that works similarly to shutter blinds so that light can still be allowed to pass through a window. (Read more)
It’s already challenging enough for environmentalists to keep beaches clear of washed up trash and plastic debris—but the most difficult problem lies in cleaning up all of the millions of tiny microplastics that are impossible to pick up and separate from the sand.
Fortunately, a group of Canadian engineering students succeeded in developing a massive new vacuum cleaner called the Hoopla One that can collect microplastics without removing any of the sand from the beach. (Read more)
Photo by College of Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University
Back in June, researchers accomplished a groundbreaking new technological feat by developing the first-ever successful mind-controlled robotic arm exhibiting the ability to continuously track and follow a computer cursor controlled by one’s thoughts.
Being able to non-invasively control robotic devices using only thoughts will have broad applications, in particular benefiting the lives of paralyzed patients and those with movement disorders. (Read more)
H2Pro researchers – Photo by Chen Galili / Technion
In September, researchers at the Technion-Israel Institute for Technology published a paper in Nature detailing their success in creating a safe, clean, inexpensive, and ultra-efficient new method of splitting water molecules into oxygen and hydrogen fuel.
The team’s system, which uses their specialized E-TAC technology (electrochemical thermally activated chemical), splits water 30% faster than the traditional method of electrolysis, but doesn’t require rare, expensive earth minerals—and it can be manufactured at a 50% reduced cost. (Read more)
The particular seaweed species, called Asparagopsis, grows prolifically off the Queensland Coast, and was the only seaweed found to have the effect. Even a small amount of the puffy pink seaweed in a cow’s diet was shown to reduce the animal’s gases by 99%.
Associate Professor Nick Paul, who is the leader of the Seaweed Research Group at the University of the Sunshine Coast (USC), said that if Australia could grow enough of the seaweed for every cow in the nation, the country could cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 10%—which is why it is now being primed for mass farming. (Read more)
Lithium-carbon dioxide batteries are attractive energy storage systems because they have a specific energy density that is more than seven times greater than commonly used lithium-ion batteries. Until now, however, scientists have not been able to develop a fully rechargeable prototype, despite their potential to store more energy.
Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago were the first to show that lithium-carbon dioxide batteries can be designed to operate in a fully rechargeable manner, and they have successfully tested a lithium-carbon dioxide battery prototype running up to 500 consecutive cycles of charge/recharge processes. (Read more)
Photo by Dan Hixson/University of Utah College of Engineering
Back in July, researchers from the University of Utah developed a way for the “LUKE Arm” to mimic the way that a human hand feels objects by sending the appropriate signals to the brain.
That means an amputee wearing the prosthetic arm can sense the touch of something soft or hard, accurately understand how to pick it up, and perform delicate tasks that would otherwise be impossible with a standard prosthetic with metal hooks or claws for hands. (Read more)
A team of researchers from Washington State University spent several hours hiking through the Heart Lake Geyser Basin area so they could leave a few electrodes inside of several hot water pools.
One month later later, the team returned to the hot springs to collect the submerged electrodes only to find that they had succeeded in capturing their prey: heat-loving bacteria that “breathe” electricity through the solid carbon surface of the electrodes. (Read more)
Back in June, Australian researchers developed an exciting new technique for making concrete out of non-recyclable glass that had been turned back into sand.
More specifically, the team found that ground-up glass could be to make polymer concrete, a material that uses polymers—typically resins—to replace lime-type cement as a binder for roads. Since polymer is a particularly high-strength, water-resistant material, it is also suited for areas with heavy traffic such as service stations and airports.
Now that the team has successfully used the waste as a replacement for the industrial flooring, they believe that the process could open a whole new world for recycling glass that could not be remade into newer glass. (Read more)
1) Not Only Did Scientists Capture First Ever Image of Black Hole, They Also Detected Tone Pattern in Ringing of Newborn Black Hole, Proving Einstein Right Again
Photo by NASA / CXC / Villanova University
There are a lot of clichés that get thrown around when talking about big scientific discoveries. Words like “breakthrough” or “game changing” are often used. They grab people’s attention, but it’s fairly rare that they apply.
Only months later in September, scientists confirmed Albert Einstein’s theory of general relativity after they studied the ringing of an infant black hole, and found that the pattern of this ringing does, in fact, predict the black hole’s mass and spin.
Be Sure And Share This Inspiring Collection Of Stories With Your Fellow Scientists On Social Media…
These two Oregon coffee shops have always maintained their competition for business—but that didn’t stop one of them from offering a friendly hand when financial difficulties arose for the other.
It has been one year since Dave and Tina McAdams opened up The Local Coffee Company in Oak Grove, Portland.
Unfortunately, Dave was forced to celebrate the milestone while he was in hospice care.
This is the third time that Dave has been diagnosed with cancer, although this most recent bout has been declared inoperable—and terminal.
Rather than let the McAdams couple cope with the diagnosis and medical bills on their own, Pixie Adams of the Moonlight Coffee café on the other side of town stepped in to help.
Adams has been volunteering her time to the family by working at The Local for free. Not only have her actions helped to generate additional income to pay for the McAdams’ medical bills, it has also helped to guarantee that The Local will stay open even after Dave is gone.
“It’s supposed to be friendship over business, community over competition,” Pixie Adams told KATU. “I am here supporting them, trying to generate attention for their business to help make sure that after Dave is gone, they still have the ability to keep the coffee place open.”
(WATCH the news coverage below) – Photo by KATU
Be Sure And Give A Cup Of Kindness With Your Friends By Sharing This Sweet Story To Social Media…
This week, Rolls-Royce unveiled its first all-electric plane—and they are aiming for it to be the fastest sustainable aircraft in the world.
After the iconic automotive company presented the machine at Gloucestershire Airport in Staverton, England, they will now begin work on integrating the groundbreaking electrical propulsion system to enable the zero-emissions plane to make a run for the record books.
The plane will be targeting a speed of more than 300 miles per hour (480 kilometers per hour) in order to break the record when it deploys in the spring.
The aircraft, which is part of an initiative called Accelerating the Electrification of Flight (ACCEL), is a key part of the company’s new strategy to champion electrification.
The ACCEL project plane will have the most power-dense battery pack ever assembled for an aircraft, providing enough energy to fuel 250 homes or fly 200 miles on a single charge. Its 6,000 cells are packaged to minimize weight and maximize thermal protection.
Furthermore, an advanced cooling system ensures optimum performance by directly cooling the battery cells during the high-power record runs.
SWNS
Rolls-Royce Electrical Director Rob Watson said: “Building the world’s fastest all-electric aircraft is nothing less than a revolutionary step change in aviation.
“This is not only an important step towards the world-record attempt but will also help to develop Rolls-Royce’s capabilities,” he added. “[It will] ensure that we are at the forefront of developing technology that can play a fundamental role in enabling the transition to a low carbon global economy.”
SWNS
Power Up With Positivity By Sharing The Exciting News With Your Friends On Social Media…
Desertification, also known as desert-creep or desert-spread, is a process that has caused much concern over the last decade—and it’s a major problem for the ancient land of Egypt, where 96% of the country’s landmass is desert.
So why is it that—if you drove a car 10 miles west of the Suez Canal—you would see bountiful forests of eucalyptus, teak, and mahogany trees limned against the orange sand and blue sky of the Sahara?
Serapium Forest is the most prosperous of Egypt’s 36 tracts of land that make up an ambitious program to combat desertification by creating sustainably managed commercial forests fed entirely by wastewater.
The 500-mile forest is only a short distance from the populous Egyptian city of Ismailia, inhabited by 400,000 people who produce millions of tons of sewage and sewage water every year.
Routed a dozen miles to the Serapium site, the sewage water arrives in massive microorganism-populated underground vats where oxygen is fed in to accelerate the bacterial purification process. A system of pipes then deposits the wastewater throughout the forest.
Since human wastewater is still rich in nitrogen and phosphorus even after being treated, it is effectively a MiracleGro formula provided free of charge by Ismailia’s citizens. (Watch the encouraging video below.)
An Ambitious Effort
Recent efforts by Egyptian scientists have produced plenty of research suggesting that the wastewater potential for afforestation in the country could turn 1.6 million acres of desert into commercial forests that are arable and economically viable.
The federal effort, called the National Program for the Safe Use of Treated Sewage Water for Afforestation is going a long way towards achieving the country’s commendable ambitions voiced in the 1992 UN Rio conference on climate change—because so many trees can soak up hundreds of tons of CO2.
The research was supported by Forest Finance, a German forest investment company that has already established near-natural forests in Panama and Vietnam to aid those countries in economic development, CO2 absorption, and wildlife conservation.
Forest Finance wants to increase the number of species grown in Serapium by including a plantation on the site. That way, the biodiversity of the commercial forest would be able to support a greater array of life and species, and hopefully increase the profitability as well.
Green Walls
Although desertification is sometimes thought of as the swallowing of lands adjacent to deserts, it is actually a process whereby land that was once fertile or semi-arable becomes desert as a result of things like unsustainable agricultural practices, or long-lasting drought.
Africa’s Great Green Wall project, a remarkable effort across more than 10 countries to build a giant patchwork wedge of vegetation to combat desertification in Africa’s Sahel region—the band of semi-arid yet arable land south of the great Sahara—swaps the word desertification for land degradation.
Africa’s Great Green Wall is a success that is also currently being matched by the Chinese, whose “Green Great Wall,” is made in a similar way to Egypt’s.
The African green wall has produced some staggeringly good figures along their stated goals of jobs created, carbon sequestered, land reclaimed, and food produced. It has established best practices for the combating of land degradation by ensuring that the “wall” is a mosaic of different families of plants and land use strategies, providing greater robustness and flexibility in the face of drought or fire.
Although the Serapium Forest suffers from the precarious circumstances derived from lack of funding and political stability, it’s still growing—a 500-acre green wall to join the others in the world in fending off the sands of the world’s deserts from spreading.
(WATCH the 2016 news coverage on Egypt’s miracle forest below)
Plant Some Positivity By Sharing The Good News With Your Friends On Social Media…
Quote of the Day: “Don’t aspire to make a living, aspire to make a difference.” – Denzel Washington (turns 65 today)
Photo: by Mount Rainier National Park, CC license – cropped
With a new inspirational quote every day, atop the perfect photo—collected and archived on our Quotes page—why not bookmark GNN.org for a daily uplift?
When the owner of a California donut shop was criticized for regularly welcoming a homeless man into his restaurant, he responded with compassion—and he is now being repaid with a flood of support towards him and his homeless customer.
LISTEN to the inspiring story told on the radio by our GNN founder (in the Good News Guru podcast below) or READ the full story after that…
Since Brad Keiller opened Nomad Donuts in San Diego five years ago, the café has become a popular little hotspot for locals, particularly 58-year-old Ray Taylor.
Taylor has been living on the streets since a series of unfortunate financial setbacks left him broke and without health insurance in 2011.
“It was a financial decision to be homeless, not a drug addiction or a moral breakdown,” Taylor told the San Diego Union-Tribune.
Despite enduring the difficulties of being homeless, Taylor doesn’t drink, do drugs, or panhandle for money. Thanks to his friendship with Keiller, however, he does spend many of his afternoons sitting outside of Nomad Donuts, enjoying the occasional conversation with the customers.
Taylor’s presence outside of the store is what prompted one of Keiller’s customers to leave a 1-star Yelp review of the shop back in November. The review, which has since been removed, said that Taylor’s regular appearances outside of the shop “really made them feel great about spending $5 on a jelly donut.”
Keiller spent several days contemplating how to respond to the review before he eventually opted to post a patient public response illustrating how Taylor—and others suffering from difficult circumstances—would always be welcome at the store.
“I understand how you feel, it’s not easy to look at,” wrote the 49-year-old restauranteur. “I know I probably lose some business, possibly yours, too, because of my choice not to chase him away, but I won’t. He’s not looking for handouts and he tries not to bother anyone. If you stop and talk to him, maybe you’ll come to like him, too.”
Since publishing the response, Keiller’s donut shop has become flooded with an influx of supportive customers. Additionally, Keiller started a GoFundMe campaign to help pay for some of Taylor’s daily necessities—and to Taylor’s surprise, it has raised almost $6,000 in donations from around the world.
“Thank you all for contributing to Ray’s GoFundMe!” wrote Keiller in a later crowdfunding update. “We’ve exceeded [our goal of $1,000], which is just overwhelming for Ray! He’s incredibly touched by all the love and good will.
“Know that you’ve made Ray’s day to day a lot less stressful and more comfortable. He thanks me and all of you daily!
“Yesterday, we withdrew $200 from the fund, which Ray used to buy a VISA gift card from the local Target. He treated himself to a hot meal from the Barons Market last night—and he now has a bus pass thanks to you!!”
(WATCH the news coverage below) – Feature photo by KGTV News
Do-not Forget To Share This Sweet Story Of Kindness With Your Friends On Social Media…
Lithium-ion batteries are notorious for developing internal electrical shorts that can ignite a battery’s liquid electrolytes, leading to explosions and fires.
Engineers at the University of Illinois, however, have developed a solid polymer-based electrolyte that can self-heal after damage—and the material can also be recycled without the use of harsh chemicals or high temperatures.
The new study, which could help manufacturers produce recyclable, self-healing commercial batteries, is published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.
As lithium-ion batteries go through multiple cycles of charge and discharge, they develop tiny, branchlike structures of solid lithium called dendrites, the researchers said.
These structures reduce battery life, cause hotspots and electrical shorts, and sometimes grow large enough to puncture the internal parts of the battery, causing explosive chemical reactions between the electrodes and electrolyte liquids.
There has been a push by chemists and engineers to replace the liquid electrolytes in lithium-ion batteries with solid materials such as ceramics or polymers, the researchers said. However, many of these materials are rigid and brittle resulting in poor electrolyte-to-electrode contact and reduced conductivity.
“Solid ion-conducting polymers are one option for developing non-liquid electrolytes,” said Brian Jing, a materials science and engineering graduate student and study co-author. “But the high-temperature conditions inside a battery can melt most polymers, again resulting in dendrites and failure.”
Past studies have produced solid electrolytes by using a network of polymer strands that are cross-linked to form a rubbery lithium conductor. This method delays the growth of dendrites; however, these materials are complex and cannot be recovered or healed after damage, Jing said.
To address this issue, the researchers developed a network polymer electrolyte in which the cross-link point can undergo exchange reactions and swap polymer strands. In contrast to linear polymers, these networks actually get stiffer upon heating, which can potentially minimize the dendrite problem, the researchers said. Additionally, they can be easily broken down and resolidified into a networked structure after damage, making them recyclable, and they restore conductivity after being damaged because they are self-healing.
Photo by L. Brian Stauffer / University of Illinois
“This new network polymer also shows the remarkable property that both conductivity and stiffness increase with heating, which is not seen in conventional polymer electrolytes,” Jing said.
“Most polymers require strong acids and high temperatures to break down,” said materials science and engineering professor and lead author Christopher Evans. “Our material dissolves in water at room temperature, making it a very energy-efficient and environmentally friendly process.”
Although the researchers acknowledge that more work is required before the material could be used in batteries that are comparable to what is in use today, the team probed the conductivity of the new material and found its potential as an effective battery electrolyte to be particularly promising.
This Star Wars mega-fan has celebrated the release of the latest sci-fi blockbuster by unveiling an ultra-realistic working replica of the iconic droid R2-D2.
Over the course of the last 12 months, 66-year-old Ricky Butler has spent countless hours toiling away in his garden shed to create the remarkable 3.5-foot-tall imitation.
The droid, which is made from plywood, fiberglass, and aluminum, is fitted with a whopping 500 feet of wiring and blu-tooth speakers so it can light up, beep, and roll around just like the real thing.
“It’s a very long and often a very difficult process to build something like this, but I love the challenge because it keeps my mind active,” says Butler.
SWNS
“When I look at the finished thing now, I’m absolutely delighted—it’s come out brilliantly,” he added. “Sometimes I can’t believe that I actually did it.”
Butler, who also built an X-wing starfighter measuring in at 21 feet long, has been a fan of the Star Wars franchise ever since watching the first installment in 1977. However, the granddad-of-seven and semi-retired actor only began building Star Wars replicas as a hobby a couple of years ago when he took a step back from work.
“I’ve been a big fan of the series ever since queuing up to watch A New Hope in the cinema more than 40 years ago,” Butler said. “I’ve always liked making things and working with electronics so I thought, ‘why not combine that with Star Wars?’”
SWNS
Butler says he doesn’t know how many hours he has dedicated to building the droid—only that he would go into his back garden shed in Doncaster, England “at any opportunity” to work on it.
“At my age it’s important to keep your mind active—and doing this is a really good way to do that for me,” says Butler. “I have to think about what I’m doing and work out how to fix things.
“I rely on lots of knowledge I have picked up over the years, but every now and then there is something I get stuck with. When that happens I go on YouTube and watch a video to help me do it.”
SWNS
Over the years, Butler has worked as a disc jockey and an actor, including a stint as the body double for Sam Neil, who is famous for his role as Dr. Alan Grant in Jurassic Park.
Then in 2018, he built his “battlescorched” X-wing starfighter fitted with half-a-mile of cables, flashing lights, joy sticks, and the moving wings.
SWNS
Immediately after unveiling that particular creation, he began work on R2-D2 with the help of his 16-year-old son Prince, who wants to be a civil engineer.
His next creation will be a lifelike Dalek replica from Doctor Who, which he plans on starting in the new year so he can have it ready by Christmas 2020.
SWNS
You Don’t Need To Use The Force To Share This Awesome Story With Your Friends On Social Media…
For many people, the New Year is a time to adopt new habits as a renewed commitment to personal health; in addition to aspiring fitness buffs packing themselves into the gym, grocery stores are filled with shoppers eager to try out new diets.
However, do these diets have the scientific evidence to support their beneficial health claims? Johns Hopkins Medicine neuroscientist Dr. Mark Mattson concludes that intermittent fasting does.
Mattson, who has studied the health impact of intermittent fasting for 25 years, and adopted it himself about 20 years ago, writes that “intermittent fasting could be part of a healthy lifestyle.” Furthermore, he says his new article published in this week’s issue of The New England Journal of Medicine is intended to help clarify the science and clinical applications of intermittent fasting in ways that may help physicians guide patients who want to try it.
Intermittent fasting diets, he says, fall generally into two categories: daily time-restricted feeding, which narrows eating times to 6–8 hours per day, and so-called 5:2 intermittent fasting, in which people limit themselves to one moderate-sized meal two days each week.
An array of animal and some human studies have shown that alternating between times of fasting and eating supports cellular health, probably by triggering an age-old adaptation to periods of food scarcity called metabolic switching. Such a switch occurs when cells use up their stores of rapidly accessible, sugar-based fuel, and begin converting fat into energy in a slower metabolic process.
Mattson says studies have shown that this switch improves blood sugar regulation, increases resistance to stress and suppresses inflammation for various periods of time. Because most Americans eat three meals plus snacks each day, they do not experience the switch, or the suggested benefits.
Photo by Johns Hopkins Medicine
In the article, Mattson notes that four studies in both animals and people found intermittent fasting also decreased blood pressure, blood lipid levels and resting heart rates.
Evidence is also mounting that intermittent fasting can modify risk factors associated with obesity and diabetes, says Mattson. Two studies at the University Hospital of South Manchester NHS Foundation Trust of 100 overweight women showed that those on the 5:2 intermittent fasting diet lost the same amount of weight as women who restricted calories, but did better on measures of insulin sensitivity and reduced belly fat than those in the calorie-reduction group.
More recently, Mattson says, preliminary studies suggest that intermittent fasting could benefit brain health too. A multicenter clinical trial at the University of Toronto in April found that 220 healthy, non-obese adults who maintained a calorie restricted diet for two years showed signs of improved memory in a battery of cognitive tests.
While far more research needs to be done to prove any effects of intermittent fasting on learning and memory, Mattson says if that proof is found, the fasting—or a pharmaceutical equivalent that mimics it—may offer interventions that can stave off neurodegeneration and dementia.
“We are at a transition point where we could soon consider adding information about intermittent fasting to medical school curricula alongside standard advice about healthy diets and exercise,” he says.
Mattson acknowledges that researchers do “not fully understand the specific mechanisms of metabolic switching and that “some people are unable or unwilling to adhere” to the fasting regimens. But he argues that with guidance and some patience, most people can incorporate them into their lives.
Photo by Johns Hopkins Medicine
It takes some time for the body to adjust to intermittent fasting, and to get beyond initial hunger pangs and irritability that accompany it. “Patients should be advised that feeling hungry and irritable is common initially and usually passes after two weeks to a month as the body and brain become accustomed to the new habit,” Mattson says.
To manage this hurdle, Mattson suggests that physicians advise patients to gradually increase the duration and frequency of the fasting periods over the course of several months, instead of “going cold turkey.” As with all lifestyle changes, says Mattson, it’s important for physicians to know the science so they can communicate potential benefits, harms and challenges, and offer support.
In a heartening example of interfaith compassion, a New York church and mosque joined forces to feed low-income families and offer free health screenings for the holidays.
On Christmas Day, the Westbury United Methodist Church partnered with the Islamic Center of Long Island in order to provide a warm meal—and an even warmer welcome—to financially struggling families.
Although the church and mosque have been helping to facilitate these yuletide feasts for the last 5 years, this is the first event during which they have offered health consultations as well.
“We can give them the additional service of getting medically checked out since we have so many physicians in our community,” Islamic Center volunteer Mukheet Ahmed told WLNY.
The two religious establishments hope that their collaborative charity work will help inspire others to look past their differences during the year ahead.
“We don’t see religion as a border, we see it as something that’s there to help,” another volunteer told reporters. “I want to create a bond between all faiths. I think when it comes down to it, we are all human.”
(WATCH the news coverage below) – Photo by WLNY
Be Sure And Share This Sweet Story Of Interfaith Kindness With Your Friends On Social Media…
With a new inspirational quote every day, atop the perfect photo—collected and archived on our Quotes page—why not bookmark GNN.org for a daily uplift?
25-30 million Christmas trees are sold every year in North America, and many of them get tossed in the landfill when there is a myriad of great recycling ideas for fir trees that can have an important impact on local ecosystems and neighborhoods.
The month leading up to Christmas can be so busy as to make you dizzy, but the few days after the most wonderful day of the year can be just as hectic. There are leftovers to eat, boxes to deal with, presents to sort, and a great big chunk of foliage that is taking up space in your living room.
Last January down in Virginia Beach, locals began bringing their Christmas trees to Chicho’s, a local restaurant looking to utilize them as a way to protect their beachfront town from storm surges.
Volunteers drove around Virginia Beach neighborhoods picking up trees and wreaths that were placed along the curbs, and depositing them in the parking lot behind the restaurant. The trees act as perfect “sand fences” capturing wind-blown sand grains in their needles and branches and preventing the erosion of sand off the beaches.
It’s a simple and effective way of building the dunes back up after storms like Hurricane Florence, when high winds battered the beaches of Croatan and Outer Banks.
This season, Matt Potter, the owner of Chicho’s expects to collect double the amount of trees he managed last year when 500 were gathered up by community volunteers and brought to the beaches.
Chicho’s second annual tree drive runs from Dec. 26 to Jan. 16. Trees can be dropped off at the Oceanfront Chicho’s, at 2820 Pacific Ave. Anyone who drops off a tree can also get a large cheese pizza for $7.99. If you need your tree picked up, email [email protected].
Other ways of recycling trees
If you don’t live near Virginia Beach, there are plenty of other ways you can recycle your Christmas tree that can benefit the environment.
If you or a friend has a wood stove, a couple months of seasoning will turn your tree into a decent source of firewood. Pine wood burns fast, ignites quickly, and creates an intense heat as well as a lovely smell.
If you live near a pond or a lake, you can canoe out into the middle of the water and chuck the tree into the murky depths—trees provide great underwater habitat for fish.
Go on the internet and see if you have a landfill that creates community mulch. If you take your tree there it will be chipped up and turned into mulch for people’s gardens.
Next year, buy a living tree, if you have room in your yard, so you can replant it after Christmas and have a supply of Christmas trees in future years.
You also could try and find a place where you can leave your tree, and cover it in bird-friendly treats. It will encourage the birds to build a nest in the shelter of the boughs. Find a place lacking in tree cover and the birds will appreciate the chance to have a home.
If you’ve come up with a clever way to recycle your tree, tell us about it in the comments below!
Plant Some Positivity By Sharing These Ideas With Friends On Social Media — File photo by Dineshraj Goomany, CC
Nobody likes waiting in traffic—but as any dedicated pet lover knows, everything can be made better by dogs.
26-year-old Celina Romera had been waiting for traffic to move at an intersection in Tampa, Florida when she spotted the driver ahead of her getting out of his car.
