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California Becomes First State to Ban Fur Trapping, Saving Animals and Taxpayer Dollars

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Photo by Jacob Dawson, CC

California just became the first US state to ban the practice of fur trapping.

The state’s newly-approved Assembly Bill 273 prohibits the trapping of any fur-bearing mammal or non-game mammal for purposes of recreation or commerce in fur. It also bans the sale of raw fur and eliminate the licenses of fur dealers and agents.

The legislation, which was signed by Governor Gavin Newsom earlier this week, is expected to benefit thousands of native species, such as foxes, coyotes, beavers, badgers, and mink. It was approved by 30-9 in the Senate and 51-19 in the state Assembly.

Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez (D-San Diego) says that she penned the legislation because—in addition to being an inhumane practice—fur trapping was also shown to be a drain on taxpayer dollars in 2017.

RELATED: 700 Acres of Massive 1,000-Year-old Redwoods Are Being Turned into a Public Park

Historically, trapping for fur was a large industry in California, but the harmful effects of trapping on the wildlife population can be traced to the early 1800s when sea otter populations along the San Francisco Bay and North Coast were decimated. Fur trapping has also played a role in the decline of wolves, wolverines, fishers, martens, and beavers in California.

Fur trapping in California is currently done on an extremely small scale, but hundreds of fur-bearing animals have been trapped each year so their pelts can be sold for a profit overseas. In 2017, a total of 133 trapping licenses were sold to fur trappers in California, generating approximately $15,000 for the Department of Fish and Wildlife, which is just a fraction of the financial resources required to oversee the industry.

“Not only does the cruel fur trapping trade decimate our increasingly vulnerable wildlife populations, running this program doesn’t even make fiscal policy sense,” Gonzalez said in a statement. “Taxpayers are subsidizing this unnecessary commercial activity because the cost of managing this program isn’t even covered by the revenue from trapping license fees.”

Photo by Jacob Dawson, CC

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Anonymous Man Spent Almost $50,000 on Generators and Food for Hurricane Victims in the Bahamas

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An anonymous shopper is being praised for spending thousands of dollars on electrical generators to benefit Hurricane Dorian victims in the Bahamas.

The man was photographed by Alec Sprague earlier this week at a Costco store in Jacksonville, Florida.

Sprague had been buying a generator of his own when he learned that his fellow shopper was buying 100 generators for $450 apiece so he could send them to Bahamian communities affected by the devastating storm.

The man also bought a variety of different meals and foodstuffs that will be shipped to the islands along with the generators. In total, he spent $49,285.

RELATED: Woman Opens Her Home to 97 Rescue Dogs to Protect Them From Hurricane Dorian

“It’s important that we help each other out. It’s better than just sitting there,” the man told CNN. “You see a need and you fill it.”

The goods are set to be shipped by boat through the Errol Thurston Bahamas Hurricane Relief Fund.

Though the man asked news reporters to withhold his name, Sprague snapped a photo of the unidentified benefactor and published it to Facebook. In just 24 hours, the post has been shared more than 34,000 times.

“All I could do was shake his hand and thank him!” wrote Sprague. “There still are good people in the world!”

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More Than $21 Million Awarded to World’s Most Trailblazing Scientists to Further Their Research

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In an award ceremony that is considered to be the “Oscars of Science”, more than $21.6 million has been distributed to scientific trailblazers for their groundbreaking achievements in life sciences, fundamental physics, and mathematics.

Now in its eighth year, the Breakthrough Prize annually recognizes achievements in disciplines that ask the biggest questions and seek the deepest explanations. Considered to be the world’s most generous science prize, each Breakthrough Prize is $3 million.

The Breakthrough Prize Foundation and its founding sponsors—including Mark Zuckerberg and a number of other tech moguls—today announced the recipients of the 2020 Breakthrough Prize and 2020 New Horizons Prize.

This year’s winners are credited with discoveries that address important and compelling scientific questions—from “What does a black hole look like?” to “Why do chilis taste hot?” and “What are the causes of neurodegenerative disease?”

RELATED: Teen Awarded $50,000 Science Fair Prize for His Method of Removing Microplastics From Water

As a collective, this year’s Breakthrough Prize laureates probed the galaxies to capture the first image of a black hole; imagined gravity at the quantum level; laid the foundation for non-opioid analgesics to extinguish chronic pain; established the biological basis of how much we eat and weigh; and discovered common mechanisms underlying neurodegenerative disorders, including early-onset dementia.

This year’s prize for Fundamental Physics was awarded to the team of 347 scientists who managed to capture the first image of a supermassive black hole, taken by means of an Earth-sized alliance of telescopes.

Using eight sensitive radio telescopes strategically positioned around the world in Antarctica, Chile, Mexico, Hawaii, Arizona and Spain, a global collaboration of scientists at 60 institutions operating in 20 countries and regions captured an image of a black hole for the first time. By synchronizing each telescope using a network of atomic clocks, the team created a virtual telescope as large as the Earth, with a resolving power never before achieved from the surface of our planet. One of their first targets was the supermassive black hole at the center of the Messier 87 galaxy—its mass equivalent to 6.5 billion suns.

MORE: A Man Got the Nobel Prize for Her Discovery. Now, 44 Years Later, She’s Awarded Breakthrough Physics Prize and $3Mil

In the Life Sciences category, another $3 million prize was awarded to the researchers who discovered the biological machinery of how proteins can dramatically influence the development of neurodegenerative diseases.

As we age, this machinery might slow down and leave proteins messily clumping—“like the white of an egg congealing in a hot frying pan”—and setting the stage for cancer as well as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and Huntington’s disease.

Collaborating between Connecticut and Germany, the researchers Ulrich Hartl and Arthur Horwich are now investigating how to repair or support the cell’s folding machinery to inhibit protein clumping and preserve healthy functioning as we age.

CHECK OUT: ‘Eye-opening’ Dementia Breakthrough Announced Today by USC Researchers

Professor David Julius from the University of California, San Francisco was awarded for his pioneering research on the molecules, cells, and mechanisms underlying pain sensation.

Julius is hailed for discovering the cellular signaling mechanisms that produce pain sensation. Among other curiosities, he found that chili peppers and menthol trigger the same sensory receptors in the nervous system that ordinarily respond to heat and cold. While most pain functions as an early warning system, chronic pain is debilitating—but by identifying specific cellular targets for the chronic pain of IBS, arthritis, cancer, etc., his team is laying the foundation for a next generation of non-opioid, precision analgesics.

The new Breakthrough Prize laureates will be recognized at the eighth annual Breakthrough Prize gala awards ceremony on November 3rd at NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View, California, and broadcasted live on National Geographic.

(WATCH the summary video below) – Photo by the Breakthrough Prize Foundation

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These Adorable Pictures Capture the Moment an Awestruck Squirrel Stopped to Admire Some Flowers

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These adorable pictures capture the moment an inquisitive ground squirrel took some time out of its busy schedule to stop and smell the roses.

Well, they weren’t actually roses—but the curious creature was photographed admiring several wildflowers in Vienna, Austria.

 

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While it might look like its simply taking the time to appreciate the foliage, the squirrel was in fact on the hunt for the tastiest blossom of the bunch.

 

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34-year-old wildlife photographer Dick van Duijn—who is from Noordwijk, Netherlands—says that he spent roughly 2 hours photographing more than 200 different shots in order to capture these perfect moments.

 

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“I went to Austria especially to photograph the ground squirrels,” says Dick, who has been a photographer for the last seven years. “It was great to witness, and very satisfying.”

He even managed to capture the exact moment the squirrel began to hug a bright yellow flower.

 

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The critter can be seen bending the stem closer to its face before bringing the blooms to its face with a gentle tug. After sniffing the flower, the squirrel decides to then lean in for a bite.

“I was really happy after capturing a photo like this,” says Dick.

 

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“Free yourself… We’re just raindrops on a windshield.” – Jerry Seinfeld

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Quote of the Day: “Free yourself… We’re just raindrops on a windshield.” – Jerry Seinfeld

Photo: by Jeffry, 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?

 

As Wildfires Increase Across The Globe, U.S. Firefighters Will Be Prepared Thanks to $3 Billion in Funding

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Andy Corbley
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Reprinted with permission from World At Large, a news website of nature, science, health, politics, and travel.

Last month was the hottest July on record, and social media feeds have been awash with images and videos of devastating global wildfires, such as the one shrouding much of Russia.

“More than 21,000 square miles of forest have gone up in flames in Siberia this month, putting Russia on track for its worst year on record for wildfires,” reported Vox last week.

RELATED: National Suicide Prevention Hotline is Getting Its Own 3-Digit Number in the US

Thankfully, the recently-approved 2020 fiscal budget for the United States is set to increase funding for the National Forest Service by six times, including more than $3 billion specifically set aside for firefighting initiatives—and in order to prevent the scope of American wildfires from reaching the levels they did last year, Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt is taking advantage of the new budget by preparing America’s forests, particularly in the West, for fire season.

In 2018, $2.6 billion dollars—much of it pulled from non-fire related sources—was spent on fighting fires that scorched 8.8 million acres of National Forests.

CHECK OUT: In Landslide Bipartisan Victory, US House of Representatives Approves Bill to Stop Illegal Robocalls for Good

Under the recently-approved Congressional budget, funding for firefighting activities has risen to $3.3 billion dollars, and the budget also reauthorized money to cover deferred maintenance projects on America’s public lands and parks.

Armed with the new and improved firefighting budget, Sec. Bernhardt is carrying out the preventative methods as follows:

  • Alaska, Colorado, Arizona, Florida, Virginia, Minnesota, and Utah have all conducted prescribed burnings to clear out deadwood and litter that could become fuel for possible fires in the future.
  • Legislators in Idaho, Oregon, Washington, California, Nevada, and Utah are working on a large-scale collaboration to add 11,000 miles worth of bare stretches known as “fuel breaks”. Similar to tank traps in World War II, fuel breaks are swaths of strategically designated landscape that have been cleared to prevent fires from spreading.
  • In order to allow for greater mobility and fire suppression, firefighting teams across these states will also have access to dozens more planes and helicopters.

“As stewards of one-fifth of the country’s public lands, primarily in the West, we know that our ability to be prepared for wildfires and reduce their severity is paramount to protecting communities and saving lives,” Bernhardt said in a statement.

“In collaboration with local, state, and other federal partners, we are using everything in our arsenal to prepare for wildfires this year, treating more than one million acres”.

MORE: Senate Passes Biggest Public Lands Package of the Decade With Sweeping Bipartisan Approval

Fortunately for Americans, a cool, wet spring has led planners to believe this season will not come close to the challenges experienced in 2018.

The Department of the Interior is taking the threat of fires as seriously as ever before, and Sec. Bernhardt, who took over the position in the President Trump Administration in April, has tackled few Interior issues in his short tenure as determinedly as this season’s wildfires.

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Listen to Police Captain’s Amusing Conversation With Phone Scammers Threatening to Arrest Her

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McKinley Corbley
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Many people have been subjected to calls from phone scammers pushing various schemes and stories—but this one particular scammer made the mistake of calling a North Carolina police officer.

In a video that was uploaded by the Apex Police Department last week, Captain Ann Stephens can be heard talking on the phone with a man pretending to be a law enforcement officer threatening her with arrest.

At the start of the video, one of her fellow officers says that the department has recently been receiving an influx of scam calls—so Stephens decided to have a little fun with one of the scammers and turn it into a learning opportunity for the department’s social media followers.

After trying unsuccessfully to get Stephens to give him her personal information, the scammer threatens to cancel all of her bank accounts and send a sheriff’s deputy to arrest her.

RELATED: Guy Transforms Man He Thought Was Online Scammer into Village Saint by Sending Him $30 Camera

Stephens, meanwhile, can be seen casually doodling cartoons on a sticky note as the caller explains how she is being faced with 25 different charges of fraud, money laundering, and drug trafficking.

She eventually asks to speak to the man’s “commanding officer” for further information. A second man then picks up the line and continues his legal threats against her—but the call didn’t last for very long.

At the end of the video, Stephens makes sure to remind viewers to never trust dubious inquiries about their personal information.

LOOK: Woman Deceived On the Internet by Older Man Finds Love With Model Whose Photos Lured Her In

“Folks, these are scam calls. Don’t ever give out your information, don’t ever verify information even if they have it. That information can be found on the web about anywhere, so don’t ever verify it … they’re all scammers, so just hang up on them or have a little fun,” she concluded with a smile.

Since the video was uploaded to Facebook last week, it has racked up more than one million views.

(WATCH the amusing video below)

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Dad Develops New Treatment for Peanut Allergies With Almost No Side Effects After Son Suffers Severe Reaction

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People who are allergic to peanuts may have a new way to protect themselves from severe allergic reactions thanks to an exciting new treatment

It’s called sublingual immunotherapy—or SLIT—and it involves putting minuscule amounts of liquefied peanut protein under the tongue, where it is absorbed immediately into the blood stream to desensitize the immune system to larger amounts of peanut protein.

The research, which was published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology this week, was led by first author Edwin Kim, assistant professor of medicine at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine.

Kim was inspired to develop the treatment after his own son suffered a severe allergic reaction when he was just 9 months old. Now, his research shows that SLIT could offer people a safe and effective way to protect themselves from severe allergic reactions—and even anaphylaxis—after patients were able to tolerate 10 to 20 times more peanut protein than it would take for them to get sick.

RELATED: Researchers Used Natural Gut Bacteria to Prevent—and Reverse—Food Allergies in Pre-clinical Trials

“As a parent of two children with nut allergies, I know the fear parents face and the need for better treatments,” said Kim, member of the UNC Children’s Research Institute. “We now have the first long-term data showing that sublingual immunotherapy is safe and tolerable, while offering a strong amount of protection.”

There are three main immunotherapeutic ways clinician scientists have developed to treat nut allergies, and all of them attempt to help patients avoid severe allergic reactions by desensitizing the immune system to nut proteins. According to Kim, about 100 milligrams of peanut protein can trigger a severe allergic reaction. That’s the sort of trace amount that people fear can show up in food that has been “manufactured in a facility that processes peanuts.” For reference, one peanut kernel contains about 300 milligrams.

“The main idea beyond immunotherapy is not for kids to be able to eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches,” Kim said. “It’s to keep them safe from the small hidden exposures that could occur with packaged foods, at restaurants, and with other food exposures.”

CHECK OUT: Bedridden for 11 Years, Man Proves the Experts Wrong By Inventing a Surgery to Cure Himself

One immunotherapy method involves a patch on the skin that releases a small amount of peanut protein through the skin to desensitize the immune system. This approach has been proven safe in clinical research, but perhaps not as effective as researchers had hoped. It could become an FDA-approved treatment.

A second approach is called oral immunotherapy (OIT), which is currently under FDA review and a decision is expected this year. OIT requires patients to ingest a small portion of peanut protein daily, and over the course of time, this can desensitize the immune system to accidental exposures. In a large phase 3 OIT clinical trial, patients initially ingested 0.5 mg of peanut and increased the amount to 300 mg over the course of many weeks and then maintained that 300 mg daily intake for the remainder of the year. This trial showed substantial effectiveness in protecting patients, but some patients suffered serious side effects. A subsequent meta-analysis of OIT clinical trial data published in The Lancet in April suggested that more clinical research on OIT was needed due to the risk of serious side effects.

A third approach is SLIT. Instead of having patients ingest peanut protein, doctors place a small amount of peanut protein under patients’ tongues, where it is immediately absorbed. Because the peanut protein avoids digestion, patients are given much less peanut protein—about 0.0002 mg initially. This amount then increases over the course of months to just 2 mg.

MORE: Drinking Baking Soda Could Be Cheap, Safe Way to Combat Autoimmune Disease, Says Scientists

In 2011, Kim and colleagues—including Wesley Burks, dean of the UNC School of Medicine—conducted a small study of 18 patients to show that SLIT was safe and effective over the course of one year. Since then, Kim and colleagues followed 48 patients in the SLIT protocol of 2 mg daily for five years in Phase-2 clinical trials. In the JACI paper, the researchers showed that 67% of these patients were able to tolerate at least 750 mg of peanut protein without serious side effects. About 25% could tolerate 5,000 mg.

Kim’s data shows SLIT was about as effective as OIT, though the SLIT study was much smaller. And SLIT posed much less risk of serious side effects. The most common side effect was itchiness around the mouth that lasted about 15 minutes and did not need treatment. No one left the multi-year study because of side effects.

“SLIT participants tolerated between 10 and 20 times more peanut protein than it would take for someone to get sick,” Kim said. “We think this provides a good cushion of protection—maybe not quite as good as OIT—but with an easier mechanism (sublingually) and, as far as we can tell right now, a better safety signal.”

LOOK: Girl Makes Teddy Bears That Hide IV Bags for Young Hospital Patients—And She’ll Soon Give Them Away for Free

Kim says that the treatment is currently pending FDA-approval and it could be available to patients by the end of the year. His lab recently finished a separate SLIT study of 4 mg daily for 55 patients over the course of four years. He hopes to publish results later this year. “With sublingual immunotherapy, we hope we can maintain our safety profile while seeing an even stronger benefit for patients,” Kim said.

Kim and colleagues are also studying SLIT in a subset of children ages 1 to 4 because separate OIT data indicated these youngest patients have a stronger, more lasting benefit to immunotherapy.

“We focus on the idea there is no one perfect drug for food allergy,” Kim said. “There will have to be a lot of shared decisions between physicians, patients, and parents about what method of treatment is best for each patient. We think SLIT could be a good option for a subset of patients.”

Reprinted from the University of North Carolina School of Medicine

(WATCH the video below)

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When Farmer Saw His Community Needed a New Road, He Picked Up His Tools and Built One Himself

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McKinley Corbley
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When this 44-year-old farmer saw people in his village struggling to maneuver their long and winding roads, he took it upon himself to make a shortcut.

Nicholas Muchemi is a coffee and tea farmer in the Kenyan village of Kaganda who used his own tools to carve out a new quarter-mile stretch of road in the area.

Prior to Muchemi embarking on his labor of love, villagers were forced to take a much longer route around the steep hills—now, children use the newly-dubbed “Muchemi Road” to get to school; mothers travel shorter distances to get to the nearby market; and neighbors can easily hike to the church at the top of hill.

Every day for several long summer weeks, Muchemi would finish his daily farm work and spend each of his evenings forging the road.

LOOK: When Young Man Sees Broken Stop Sign, He Spends His Lunch Break Holding it Up in the Heat

Once it was finished, Muchemi says that he was not expecting to receive anything in return—but the neighbors were quick to shower him with gratitude. Not only that, the local government thanked the intrepid farmer by giving him a new cow and a roof for his house. They have also promised to gravel and maintain the road in his honor.

When asked about why he did it, Muchemi simply told USA Today: “I was born with the ability to do this. I also love what I do and I like helping my community. I’m an adult and I had to do something to help people and solve their problems.

“I feel overjoyed that I did work that makes everyone happy,” he concluded with a smile.

(WATCH the video below) – Feature photo by Ndagìtarì Kìnyùngū Mìcheke Jnr

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Flight Crew and Passengers in First Class All Welcome Boy With Autism During Mid-Flight Meltdown

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McKinley Corbley
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When a 4-year-old boy with autism began having a meltdown on a United Airlines flight last month, his mother was astonished by the kindness shown to them by the passengers and crew.

Lori Gabriel says that her son Braysen usually loves to fly—but on this particular flight from San Diego to Houston, the boy was having a hard time.

As the flight attendants were preparing for takeoff, Braysen refused to sit in his seat.

“It was impossible to restrain him. He was fighting both me and his father,” Gabriel told CNN. “It took the both of us to try to get him back to his chair and get his seat belt back on. He started kicking, screaming and hitting.

RELATED: Mom Overwhelmed With Gratitude When Hotel Manager Befriends Autistic Boy Wanting to Show Off His Card Tricks

“That’s when a flight attendant came over and told us the flight couldn’t take off until he was seated. I told her the boy has autism, we’re trying, give us a minute.”

Gabriel and her husband were still struggling to restrain their son when the flight attendant suddenly returned with two other crew members and earnestly asked how they could help.

For starters, the flight attendants allowed Braysen to sit on Gabriel’s lap for takeoff. Once the seatbelt sign turned off, the boy began kicking and screaming again because he wanted to sit on the floor.

LOOK: When Boy With Autism Was Overwhelmed By First Day of School, Kind Classmate Soothed Him

According to his mother, this is because the vibrations of the plane help to soothe him when he is overstimulated—so the crew members invited him to sit on the floor next to their seats.

Braysen eventually moved to sit on the floor in first class where he began kicking a man’s seat.

“Braysen seemed happy there, so we didn’t want to move him,” Gabriel continued telling CNN. “So I told the man ‘I’m sorry,’ but he said he didn’t mind, he introduced himself to Braysen and gave him high fives. He said, ‘He can kick my chair, I don’t care.’”

The first class passengers and flight attendants then spent the rest of the flight chatting with Braysen, showing him pictures, and encouraging him to sit wherever he wanted.

CHECK OUT: Mom Rains Praise On Airplane Passenger for Showing Compassion Towards Her Autistic Son Flying Solo

Not only that, an off-duty United Airlines flight attendant who had been a passenger on the flight hugged Gabriel after the plane landed and gave her handwritten note of appreciation.

The note read: “Do not ever let anyone make you feel as though you are an inconvenience or a burden. He is a blessing. God bless your patience, your love, your support, and your strength. Continue to be superwoman and know that you and your family are loved and supported.”

Overwhelmed with gratitude for the passengers and attendants, Gabriel made a Facebook post praising everyone for their compassion—and it ended up being shared more than 1,000 times.

“I’m just overwhelmed from all this kindness, it makes me want to cry,” she told CNN. “For the first time, people have been very understanding and helpful about Braysen’s autism … It gives me a lot of hope for the future.”

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“A healthy attitude is contagious but don’t wait to catch it from others. Be a carrier.” –Tom Stoppard

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Quote of the Day: “A healthy attitude is contagious but don’t wait to catch it from others. Be a carrier.” – Tom Stoppard

Photo: by Jackie Finn-Irwin, 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?

 

‘I’m in heaven’: Homeless Man Reunited With Family After 24 Years of Separation, Thanks to Transit Police

By
McKinley Corbley
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It had been 24 years since this homeless man had seen his two daughters—but thanks to some compassionate police officers, he was finally reunited with his family last week.

61-year-old José Lopez lost contact with his family after he moved to Miami, Florida and suffered a series of strokes which left him homeless.

Earlier this month, he spent all of the money in his social security account so he could finally travel to New Jersey to try and find his family.

Upon arriving at Secaucus Junction, however, Lopez’s mental health issues left him unable to recall very much information about the whereabouts of his daughters; he only knew that their location involved Bradley Beach.

Thankfully, he was soon discovered by a crisis outreach staffer and brought to the NJ Transit Police Department for help.

RELATED: Frantic Trucker Miraculously Reunited With Cat Co-pilot After Posting Photo to Obscure Online Forum

After Lopez explained his predicament, NJ Transit Officer Sean Pfeifer took it upon himself to track down the man’s family.

Pfeifer called more than two dozen different phone numbers in the Bradley Beach area until, as fate would have it, he ended up leaving a voicemail on the answering machine of Lopez’s daughter. She later returned Pfeifer’s call and arranged for her and her sister to reunite with their long-lost father.

Pfeifer then paid for Lopez to get a shave, haircut, and new clothes before he was finally brought face-to-face with his family—and the reunion was definitely a happy one.

 

Not only did Lopez get to see his daughters again, he also got to meet the grandkids he never knew he had.

“I’m thinking I’m in heaven,” he later told reporters. “I got my two best girls [back].”

Lopez is now being cared for by his doting daughters until they can find him permanent housing close to their home. Additionally, police officers have helped to enroll him in a mental health program for extra support.

(WATCH the emotional interview below—OR for viewers outside the USA, click here to see the video on the CBS website)

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Blind Man Develops Smart Cane That Uses Google Maps and Sensors to Identify One’s Surroundings

By
McKinley Corbley
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Photo by WeWalk

This electronic walking stick is revolutionizing the way that blind people can navigate the world.

As a means of protecting people from low-hanging objects and obstacles above chest level, the WeWalk smart cane uses ultrasonic sensors to warn the user of nearby hindrances through vibrations in the handle.

The cane can be paired with a smartphone’s Bluetooth system for easy control. Since it is also integrated with Voice Assistant and Google Maps software, it can use built-in speakers to inform the user of nearby stores and infrastructural details that they may not be able to see.

WeWalk CEO and co-founder Kursat Ceylan, who is also blind, told CNN that he helped to develop the cane out of a desire to use modern technology as a tool for the visually impaired.

WATCH: Hundreds of People Are Being Cured of Blindness Every Day With Cheap, Minutes-Long Surgery

“In these days we are talking about flying cars, but these people have been using just a plain stick,” he told the news outlet.

“As a blind person, when I am at the Metro station I don’t know which is my exit … I don’t know which bus is approaching … [or] which stores are around me. That kind of information can be provided with the WeWalk.”

The WeWalk is currently being sold for $500 a pop. As the Turkish tech startup gains more traction, the developers hope to eventually pair it with ridesharing apps and transportation services to further improve its navigational abilities.

(WATCH the news coverage below)

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Woman Opens Her Home to 97 Rescue Dogs to Protect Them From Hurricane Dorian

By
McKinley Corbley
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With Hurricane Dorian wrecking havoc on the Bahamas, dozens of dogs have been given food, safety, and shelter thanks to one compassionate woman.

Chella Phillips has taken 97 homeless and abandoned dogs into her Nassau home since the storm hit the island this week.

According to a series of Facebook posts, Phillips says that 79 of these dogs are staying in the massive master bedroom of her home—but as long as the pups are kept safe from the elements, she doesn’t mind sharing her living quarters.

RELATED: Man Bought School Bus to Rescue Shelter Pets During Hurricanes, Saving 64 During Florence

“It has been insane since last night, pooping and peeing non-stop, but at least they are respecting my bed and nobody has dared to jump in,” wrote Phillips.

Though the island was subjected to flooding and Phillips has been working around the clock to keep the house dry, she says the dogs are safe.

Additionally, since Phillips launched a crowdfunding campaign to help finance her animal refuge, it has raised $73,000—which is more than three times her original goal.

 

This is not the first time that Phillips has shown compassion towards Bahamian canines. Over the course of the last 15 years, she has helped more than 1,000 homeless dogs on the islands and found homes for 200 dogs in the United States.

She now hopes that—as her story is shared across news outlets and social media—her posts will help get the rescued pups into loving forever homes.

LOOK: Cyclist Carries Injured Stray Dog to Safety On His Back, Then Bumps into a Stranger Who Instantly Adopts it

“Watching a movie with cuddles on the couch is impossible when there are so many chores to be done,” she wrote on the crowdfunding page. “Each and every one should get their personal time to savor the feeling of being cherished. They all want nothing more than to love, and be loved; to feel safe and secure, with their basic needs met.

“I need you all for financial support to continue helping this island’s homeless, [but] just as importantly, I need your help to find forever homes for my babies.”

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Mexican Scientist Makes Edible, Biodegradable New Form of Plastic Out of Cactus Leaves

By
McKinley Corbley
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Photo by University of Valle de Atemajac
Photo by Sandra Pascoe Ortiz

A Mexican scientist has developed a sustainable new form of biodegradable plastic out of cactus juice.

Professor Sandra Pascoe Ortiz concocted her brilliant formula at the University of Valle de Atemajac. By using a few leaves from the nopal cactus and some non-toxic additives, Ortiz made the plastic so that it begins to degrade after sitting in soil for just one month. When submerged in water, it degrades in a matter of days.

Her mixture is so eco-friendly, it can safely be digested by humans and animals alike—although she told BBC that it doesn’t taste very good.

This new formula is particularly exciting because—in contrast to corn-based plastic—cacti can grow in harsh, arid environments with little to no maintenance or excessive resources.

RELATED: Scientists Are Replacing Plastic With Algae, a Revolutionary Idea That Can Suck Carbon Out of the Air

Since there are more than 300 native species of nopal cactus in Mexico, Ortiz is now conducting further research to identify which cactus species are most effective for the mixture.

It currently takes Ortiz and her team about ten days to brew up a new batch of the eco-friendly plastic, but she believes the process can be sped up with the help of industrial production—which why she is now collaborating with several companies to implement the procedure on a larger scale and bring the plastic to a commercial market.

“I believe that it is never too late to start changing things,” Ortiz told Forbes. “Every day there is a new opportunity to do things better, so if we each do what we have to do, there is another opportunity to reverse all the damage we have done to the planet.”

(WATCH the news coverage below) – Feature photo by University of Valle de Atemajac

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After Bullied Boy Has Terrible First Day of School, Upperclassmen Take Him Under Their Wing

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McKinley Corbley
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Despite how Cale Wrenn had been having trouble during his first few days of high school, a couple of compassionate upperclassmen helped to turn it around.

The 14-year-old freshman had been struggling to make friends at Reidsville High School in North Carolina—and it didn’t help that some of the other students were picking on him for being short.

LOOK: When Boy With Autism Was Overwhelmed By First Day of School, Kind Classmate Soothed Him

Cale expressed his frustration to his older sister Leah Edwards, saying that he had been forced to eat lunch by himself because some kids thought he “was a loser”.

Leah was heartbroken by her brother’s predicament—so she took some screenshots of their text conversation and posted them to Twitter, asking her followers to send messages of reassurance to Cale.

 

Not only did the youngster receive a slew of encouragement from social media users, Leah’s post also caught the eye of a few high school seniors.

Demontez Canada, who is a member of the football and basketball teams, told WLKY: “We decided to catch [Cale] off guard at lunch and have lunch with him and show him around the school and make sure he was OK and give him new friends.”

True to his word, Demontez—along with several other members of the basketball team and the school’s Boys to Men Club—sat with Cale at lunch and took him under their wing.

 

Cale was stunned by the students’ kindness, but he says he is incredibly grateful for their intervention.

“It felt really nice to know that there are people who care,” he told the news outlet.

He now hopes that his story will help other bullied kids to keep their chin up and remember that things do get better.

 

After he and his new friends were interviewed by local reporters, he also made sure to thank his beloved sister for what turned out to be “probably the best experience” of his life.

(WATCH the news coverage below)

Be Sure And Share This Sweet Story Of Young Kindness With Your Friends On Social Media…

“I intend to live forever. So far, so good.” – Steven Wright

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Good News Network
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Quote of the Day: “I intend to live forever. So far, so good.” – Steven Wright

Photo: by Nithi Anand, 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?

 

Governor Intervened So Mom Could Keep Her Hilarious License Plate

By
McKinley Corbley
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Photo by Wendy Auger

For 15 years, Wendy Auger’s license plate has brought laughter and smiles to her fellow motorists—so when she received a warning letter about her tags being too inappropriate, she was flabbergasted.

Most families are familiar with the golden rule of road trips: always use the bathroom before you leave so your parents don’t have to pull over at a rest stop ten minutes into the journey.

That’s why Auger, who is a mother-of-four from New Hampshire, made her car’s vanity plate say “PB4WEGO”.

LOOK: Couple Fights Lawsuit Until Judge Rules They Can Keep Their “Starry Night” Home

“[People] think it’s funny,” she told TODAY. “I get thumbs-ups, honks on the highway, people yelling ‘Awesome plate!’ in drive-through lines. It brings a chuckle and a smile to the people who can figure it out.”

Despite the plate’s popularity, however, Auger received a letter from the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) in early August saying that her plate was being revoked for referring to “excretory acts”.

Auger was bewildered by the bureaucratic demand, but she wasted no time in appealing the recall.

Photo by Wendy Auger

Thankfully, she received an unexpected ally in her fight to keep her family’s beloved plate.

A few days into Auger’s appeal, Governor Chris Sununu had been out grocery shopping when a friend told him about the kerfuffle—and he immediately contacted the DMV about letting the mom keep her plates.

“Upon this being brought to my attention, I reached out to the Division of Motor Vehicles and strongly urged them to allow Wendy to keep the license plate she has had for the last 15 years,” Sununu said in a statement. “I recently left a message on her phone to share the good news that her plate will not be recalled.”

RELATED: Dad Has Been Using His Town’s Roadside Message Board to Make Thousands of People Laugh

Needless to say, Auger was thankful for the intervention.

“I’m glad, now that there’s been a resolution,” she told TODAY. “It makes me happy, but I was still shocked … it’s just crazy.

“I mean, I could see if it was offensive in some manner, but clearly in 15 years I haven’t offended anybody with the plate,” she added.

A Little Common Sense For All: Be Sure And Share The Happy Ending With Your Friends On Social Media…

For the First Time Ever, Canadians Use Crowdfunding to Buy Up Land For New Protected Public Park

By
McKinley Corbley
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For the first time ever, a crowdfunding campaign has raised enough money to buy out a new swath of Canadian wilderness as a protected park.

More than $3 million was raised through individual donations to protect 2,000 acres (800 hectares) of the Princess Louisa Inlet on British Columbia’s Sunshine Coast.

The crowdfunding campaign was launched by the BC Parks Foundation, a nonprofit that works in collaboration with BC Parks to protect the province’s pristine landscapes. After several months of fundraising, the last chunk of donations needed to purchase the land from a private seller came in just before the campaign’s deadline last week.

MORE: First US National Park to Offer Heavy-Duty Wheelchairs for Disabled Visitors to Enjoy the Scenery

Once the sale is finalized, the land will be transferred to BC Parks for conversion into a Class A Provincial Park so it will be forever protected from logging and development.

BC Parks Foundation CEO Andrew Day wrote a letter to the campaign’s supporters thanking them for their “miraculous” success.

“We still have to finalize the sale with the vendor (now September 3rd), and there are more steps to come, but in donating the funds you have scaled a substantial peak on this amazing expedition,” wrote Day.

RELATED: Park Rangers Hailing Little Girl as a ‘Steward’ of Nature After She Returned a Rock With an Apology Note

“We know people want to keep B.C. beautiful, and we know our parks are the core of our identity. They are our cathedrals, our towers, our pyramids; the wonders of our world. But we couldn’t have predicted such a fabulous outpouring in such a short time from so many different people and places. We are in a state of awe and gratitude.

“We will keep you posted when the deal is finalized. Any funds that continue to come in will be put in our Parks Bank to protect more areas in Princess Louisa and British Columbia,” he concluded.

Save Your Friends From Negativity By Sharing The Sweet Story With Your Friends On Social Media…

When 16-Year-old Missed Jonas Brothers Concert for Chemo, They Surprise Her at the Hospital

By
McKinley Corbley
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Social media users are burning up with love for the Jonas Brothers after they took some time out of their busy concert schedule to surprise a 16-year-old fan undergoing chemotherapy.

Lily Jordan was supposed to be seeing the boy band perform in Hershey, Pennsylvania this week. Instead, she found herself stuck at the Penn State Children’s Hospital for cancer treatments.

Since she was heartbroken over missing the concert, she made an Instagram post to express her dismay and jokingly invite the Jo Bros to her hospital room.

RELATED: Woman Who Used Metallica Song to Scare Off a Hungry Cougar Gets Unexpected Call From Band’s Frontman

“I was supposed to be at your Hershey concert tomorrow but instead I’m across the street doing chemo,” wrote Lily. “If y’all wanted to pop in, I’ll give you my room number.”

To her surprise, the post was shared across social media until the Jonas Brothers’ media feed was filled with requests for them to visit Lily.

Even Pennsylvania Rep. Scott Perry made a Facebook post for the youngster, saying: “Our good friend Lily is fighting for her life in Hershey tonight, and so badly wanted to see the Jonas Brothers tomorrow night at Hershey Park, but can’t because of her urgent treatment. If there is anyway for them to visit her, we are lifting up her hopes and our prayers for help.”

 

In response to the social media posts, the Jonas Brothers then stopped by Lily’s hospital room to say hi before their show—and the youngster could barely contain her excitement.

Penn State later posted a video of the encounter to Facebook, and it has already been viewed thousands of times.

“Wow. The power of social media, you guys,” Lily wrote on Instagram. “YOU did this. YOU made my crappy chemo session into something incredibly special and unforgettable. Literally made my life.”

(WATCH the video below)

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