20 years ago today, the Second World Congress of Imams and Rabbis for Peace took place with 150 Jewish Rabbis and Muslim Imams aiming for Islam and Judaism to become instruments of peace. The goals of the first meeting in 2005 included 1) condemning violence perpetrated in the name of religion 2) the creation of a dialogue and partnership between the two religions 3) facilitation of the development of peaceful solutions to conflict by influential religious leaders 4) a gathering of these leaders before the media to promote a message of peace. READ what happened on the second meeting… (2006)
Gene from High Altitude Yak Protected and Repaired Myelin Sheath in Early MS Study
A special gene that helps animals like the yak survive at high altitude could enable new treatments for multiple sclerosis after positive findings from a mouse model.
The genetic mutation that enables yaks to live in environments with much less oxygen, and may hold the key to repairing nerve damage in conditions such as multiple sclerosis (MS) and cerebral paralysis, which currently have no cures.
The myelin sheath is a protective tissue layer that surrounds nerve fibers in the brain and spinal cord, and protects them while they do their job of communicating through nerve signals with the rest of the body.
MS is a debilitating autoimmune disease in which the immune system mistakenly attacks and destroys the myelin sheath, causing slow paralysis. Additionally, insufficient oxygen during fetal brain development can damage the layer, leading to conditions such as cerebral paralysis in new-born babies.
Lastly, reduced blood flow to the brain, often associated with aging, can also damage myelin and contribute to conditions such as vascular dementia.
Now, a new study published in the journal Neuron has revealed a naturally existing pathway that promotes regeneration after nerve damage. The discovery could open up new ways for treating diseases such as MS by leveraging molecules that are already present in the human body, say the Chinese scientists behind the discovery.
“Evolution is a great gift from nature, providing a rich diversity of genes that help organisms adapt to different environments,” said study corresponding author Professor Liang Zhang from Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine.
“There is still so much to learn from naturally occurring genetic adaptations.”
According to the authors, previous research has found that animals living on the Tibetan Plateau, which has an average elevation of 14,700 feet above sea level, carry a mutation on a gene called Retsat.
Scientists suspected that the mutation helps animals such as yaks and Tibetan antelopes maintain healthy brain function despite chronically low oxygen levels.
Zhang and his team set out to investigate if the mutation could prevent myelin sheath damage, and started by exposing new-born mice to low-oxygen conditions equivalent to elevations above 13,000 feet for about a week.
“Mice carrying the Retsat mutation performed significantly better in learning, memory, and social behavior tests than those with the standard version of the gene,” he said. “Brain analyses also revealed that the high-altitude gene mice had higher levels of myelin surrounding their nerve fibers.”
The research team then examined whether the Retsat mutation could repair myelin sheath damage similar to that seen in MS, and found that in mice carrying the mutation, the myelin sheath regenerated “much faster and more completely” after injury.
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The injury sites also had more mature oligodendrocytes, a type of cell responsible for producing myelin.
“Further investigation showed that mice with the mutation produced higher levels of ATDR, a metabolite derived from vitamin A, in their brains,” said Professor Zhang.
“The Retsat mutation appeared to increase the enzymatic activity that converts vitamin A into its metabolites, which in turn promotes the production and maturation of myelin-producing oligodendrocytes.”
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When the team gave ATDR to mice with an MS-like disease, the severity decreased, and they showed improved motor function.
Zhang says that treatments for MS currently focus only on suppressing immune activity, and adds that Retsat and ATDR are already biologically produced and could be used to treat diseases related to myelin damage.
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Planned Expansion to Take Latin America’s Largest Solar Plant Beyond 1 Gigawatt Capacity
The state-owned energy utility Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) has announced an ambitious expansion of solar energy projects totaling 1.5 gigawatts of production and storage.
Armed with 30 billion Mexican pesos ($1.62 billion), CFE’s flagship project will be a 580 megawatt expansion of the Puerto Peñasco solar complex in the state of Sonora to 1 gigawatt of capacity, cementing its position as the largest solar farm in Latin America.
Sonora is one of Mexico’s sunniest states, receiving on average between 300 and 350 days of dawn-to-dusk sunshine a year.
The expansion will also include battery energy storage that will eventually amount to 30% of total capacity, and all phases of the expansion are slated for completion by the end of 2028.
“We are delivering on a strategic objective: ensuring the country’s energy sovereignty through orderly, clean and sufficient planning,” said Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum during the official presentation.
Two additional locations in the state of Coahuila will see another 556 megawatts of solar power loaded onto the national grid: in Rio Escondido with 180MW and Carbón II with 376MW. Each will include 30% battery storage capacity.
Three more renewable energy projects are also being explored for the states of Durango, Quintana Roo, and Guanajuato.
“We are working through tripartite technical committees to review the technical characteristics and the status of prior permitting for each project. This is a binding planning exercise that will allow for an orderly start to development,” explained Emilia Calleja, CEO of CFE at the presentation.
CFE will be working alongside the Ministry of Energy (SENER) and National Infrastructure Fund (FONADIN).
MORE SMART SOLAR STORIES: First Solar Power Plant in Kyrgyzstan Will Save 120,000 Tons of Carbon Emissions Every Year
America and Israel’s renewed war on Iran and the resulting closure of the Strait of Hormuz have driven energy prices up substantially in the last 17 days. The conflict is showing no signs of de-escalation, which will likely lead to sunny states like Mexico seeing the tragedy as the ideal moment to up the ante on an energy transition.
Mexico’s population is expected to climb from 132 million to a peak of 150 million by 2050, at which point some 97% are expected to live in urban areas according to various population trend data.
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A rapidly growing middle-class—now a larger share of the population than the poor—will be demanding ever increasing amounts of energy, and with so much sunshine year ’round and the honor of being the world’s largest producer of silver—a key metal in the production of photovoltaic panels—solar energy presents as an obvious solution to energy needs in times of high oil prices.
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Someone Used This Coin as Bus Fare and Worker Discovers it was Minted by the Phoenicians 2,000 Years Ago
Struck 2,100 years ago on the coast of Spain by mariners from the Fertile Crescent, a coin bizarrely made its way to the English city of Leeds where someone successfully attempted to use it as bus fare.
It’s an incredible story that reminds us how history—even ancient history—can be found all around us, popping up when we least expect it.
The story was shared by Leeds Museum and Galleries, after they received the coin as a donation from a local.
It first came into the hands of James Edwards, former chief cashier with Leeds City Transport, who gathered fares from bus and tram drivers and counted them at the end of each day.
Part of this job involved plucking out any ineligible, fake, or foreign coins used by dishonest commuters, which Edwards would then take them home as gifts to his young grandson Peter, who kept the precious mementos in a small wooden chest for more than 70 years.
“My grandfather would come across coins which were not British and put them to one side, and when I went to his house, he would hand me a few,” said Peter Edwards, who donated the ancient coin.
“It was not long after the war, so I imagine soldiers returned with coins from countries they had been sent to. Neither of us were coin collectors but we were fascinated by their origin and imagery—to me they were treasure.”
Coin collector or not, Peter and James would have doubtless noticed the antiquity inherent in the 2,100-year-old coin, and it long tickled Peter’s curiosity. His diligent research eventually revealed that his grandfather’s gift came from what was once a Carthaginian settlement on the Spanish coast called Gadir, today’s Cadiz.
Famous enemies of early Rome, Carthage was a city-state with shared cultural origins in a seafaring people known as the Phoenicians. These outcasts from Tyre, modern-day Lebanon, settled in various parts of the Mediterranean coastline, including Carthage, in modern-day Tunisia, and the city that would be called Cadiz, in Spain.
Out of these strongholds they built a trading empire on the back of the first purple pigment in the Western world, which they used to make coveted textiles.
One side of the coin bears the face of their god Melqart, resembling the Greek hero Herakles and wearing his famed lionskin headdress. At that time, some Phoenician coins carried Greek imagery to make them more appealing to traders.
Realizing the coin’s remarkable age and significance, Peter contacted Leeds Museums and Galleries and kindly donated it to the impressive collection of ancient currency held there.
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The coin will now be part of the collection based at Leeds Discovery Center, which includes coins and currency from cultures around the world spanning thousands of years of history.
“It’s incredible to imagine how this tiny piece of history created by an ancient civilization thousands of years ago has somehow made its way to Leeds,” said Salma Arif, a Leeds city councilwoman.
MORE PHOENICIAN FINDS: Divers Recover Ancient Shipwreck Amazingly Preserved for 2,600 Years Beneath Spanish Waters
“Museums like ours are not just about preserving objects, they’re also about telling stories like this one and inspiring visitors to think about the history that’s all around us, sometimes in the most unlikely of places.”
As for James, he believed his grandfather would be proud.
“My grandfather would be proud to know, as I am, that the coin is coming back to Leeds. However, how it got there will always be a mystery.”
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Waste Plastic Turned into Parkinson’s Drug Thanks to Helpful Bacteria
A drug to treat Parkinson’s disease can be made from waste plastic bottles using a pioneering method, a new study shows.
The approach harnesses the power of bacteria to transform post-consumer plastic into L-DOPA, a frontline medication for the neurological disorder.
It’s the first time a biological process has achieved this, and the scientists behind the breakthrough said it would be a more sustainable method of making pharmaceuticals, which normally rely on the use of finite fossil fuels.
The story comes from the University of Edinburgh, where the team led by Dr. Stephen Wallace engineered E. coli bacteria to turn a type of plastic used widely in food and drink packaging—polyethylene terephthalate, or PET—into L-DOPA.
Some 50 million metric tons of PET are produced annually, and the process involves first breaking the plastic down into chemical building blocks of terephthalic acid. Molecules of terephthalic acid are then transformed into L-DOPA by the engineered bacteria through a series of biological reactions.
“This feels like just the beginning,” said Wallace, who works as a professor at the University’s School of Biological Sciences.
“If we can create medicines for neurological disease from a waste plastic bottle, it’s exciting to imagine what else this technology could achieve. Plastic waste is often seen as an environmental problem, but it also represents a vast, untapped source of carbon.”
There is an urgent need for new methods to recycle PET, the team says. Existing recycling processes are not completely efficient and still contribute to plastic pollution worldwide.
L-DOPA is the precursor to the neurotransmitters dopamine, norepinephrine, and epinephrine, and in addition to Parkinson’s, is sold over the counter as a supplement and for treatment of Restless Leg Syndrome.
“By engineering biology to transform plastic into an essential medicine, we show how waste materials can be reimagined as valuable resources that support human health,” said Wallace.
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Having now demonstrated the production and isolation of L-DOPA at preparative scale, the team will next focus on advancing the technology towards industrial application which will involve further optimizing the process, improving its scalability, and further assessing its environmental and economic performance, the team says.
“This research shows the huge potential of engineering biology to tackle some of society’s most pressing challenges,” said Professor Charlotte Deane, holder of the Executive Chair at UK Research and Innovation, who wasn’t involved in the study.
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“By converting discarded plastic into a treatment for Parkinson’s disease, the University of Edinburgh team has demonstrated how carbon that would otherwise be lost to landfill or pollution can be turned into high value products that improve lives.”
The research was carried out at a pioneering new hub that aims to help transform UK manufacturing by converting industrial waste into valuable, sustainable chemicals and materials known as the Carbon-Loop Sustainable Biomanufacturing Hub, which has received £14 million in grants from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), part of UKRI.
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“The glory of art is that it can not only survive change, it can lead it.” – Robert Redford
Quote of the Day: “The glory of art is that it can not only survive change, it can lead it.” – Robert Redford
Photo by: GNN mashup, Andrej Lišakov for Unsplash+ (and statue by Martti Salmi)
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Good News in History, March 18
250 years ago today, Great Britain repealed the Stamp Act of 1765 which the American colonists so vehemently disagreed with. It imposed a direct tax on the colonists and required that many printed materials in the colonies be produced on stamped paper from London which included an embossed revenue stamp. A majority considered it a violation of their rights as Englishmen to be taxed without their consent—consent that only the colonial legislatures could grant. Their slogan was “No taxation without representation.” READ how they fought the bill and got it repealed… (1776)
Tunisian Solar-Powered Cars Leverage African Sunshine to Charge 30 Miles for Free Everyday
An ambitious motoring rollout is taking place in Tunisia, where a company is trying to make a splash in the market with a pair of solar-powered EVs.
Including a small delivery vehicle and a passenger car, Bako Motors is already manufacturing their models and selling them in the sun-washed continent’s showrooms.
CNN, which was first in America to cover Bako Motors, wrote that the market for EVs in Africa, where many countries import most of their vehicles, is predicted to reach several billion dollars by the end of the decade.
Fewer moving parts make EVs a smart solution to Africa’s rugged roads, but totally-absent charging infrastructure limits their deployment. Though lacking changing points, there is quite a lot of sunshine, and with solar panels on their roof, a Bako model can get 31 miles (50 km) of charge per day for free, substantially improving dependability.
“The solar cells provide us with more than 50% of our needs,” Boubaker Siala, founder and CEO of Bako Motors, told CNN.
“For example, the B-Van, for commercial use, you can have free energy for about 50 kilometers per day… 17,000 kilometers (10,563 miles) per year. It’s huge.”
Some 40% of the material that goes into each vehicle is sourced from the continent, including the lithium-iron-phosphate batteries and steel.
The B-Van costs around 25,000 Tunisian dinar, or $8,500, while the Bee, a small, two-seater city car, prices at $6,200. Neither vehicle is particularly fast, with the Bee scooting along at a top speed that’s less than what most of the continent’s petrol-powered mopeds can do, but a day in the sun can charge more than two-thirds of the vehicle’s battery, providing what could be a substantial savings in fuel and electricity.
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The B-Van can hold 800 pounds of cargo in the hold, has up to 162 miles of range, and is designed for last-mile delivery and artisanal market businesses which flourish—for example—along the whitewashed streets of Sidi Bou Said, near historic Carthage, where the car’s publicity video was shot.
For Bako Motors, the hard part—design and construction of the manufacturing facilities—are done. All that’s left is to get the Saudi Arabian and Tunisian plants running at nameplate capacity to churn out 8,000 of these cars for the continent’s cities, and eventual export to European centers.
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“The addressable market in Africa is about 1 million vehicles per year. We have to prepare ourselves for this transition (and) offer affordable and good products for the African citizen,” says Siala. “We are targeting maybe 5 to 10% of this market.”
WATCH the story below…
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3 New Lizard Species Discovered in Australia–Including Stunning Orange-Headed Rock Monitor
These days, when scientists announce they’ve discovered a new species of animal, it’s usually some miniature frog or deep sea isopod.
But check out this Varanus umbra, a never-before-described species of rock monitor, and he’s a real lookah’
Dr. Stephen Zozaya, a research fellow at the Australian National University, described the shock he and his colleagues experienced when seeing the animal for the first time to ABC News AU.
“I was like, ‘What is that?'” Dr. Zozaya said. “I had no idea these things existed, and it turns out a few photos had showed up online from nature enthusiasts.”
The orange-headed rock monitor is just one of a trio of newly-described monitor lizards that Dr. Zozaya and his colleagues identified on an expedition into the savannahs of north Queensland state.
The discoveries also include the Varanus phosphorus, or the yellow-headed rock monitor, and the rainbow rock monitor Varanus iridis. It’s hugely unlikely that such large and charismatic reptile species could remain unknown to humans, and in fact, they were already known to local wildlife enthusiasts.
“They hadn’t really attracted the attention of researchers who work on monitor lizards,” evolutionary biologist Zozaya, who specializes in reptiles, told ABC.
“Levels of genetic divergence between these three populations was much greater than many of the other species we already recognize.”
Indeed anyone who had given it some thought assumed the three lizards were simply local colorations of existing species. But genetic samples taken from the animals proved otherwise.
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Encouragingly, these three lizards were all documented by Zozaya and his team in areas considered unsuitable for cattle grazing, and overly treacherous for all but the most robust vehicles and determined drivers.
The scientists told ABC that there was already evidence that the yellow-headed rock monitor had been poached for exotic pet trading, an unscrupulous practice putting dozens of reptile species at risk worldwide.
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Non-involved experts speaking with ABC said that the discovery highlights how understudied Queensland’s dry savannahs are when compared with the state’s rainforests, and that new species, even as large as a monitor lizard, are waiting to be discovered.
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19 Cities Including London, San Francisco, Hong Kong Achieve ‘Remarkable Reductions’ in Air Pollution
In a report that examined the air quality of 100 global cities, 19 were found to have substantially improved since 2010.
9 of the 19 were in China and Hong Kong, while the rest were located in Europe, and include both large and small cities.
In the US, San Francisco managed to reduce both health-harming fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and airway aggravating nitrogen dioxide (NO2).
There is no minimum safe level of PM2.5, which refers to the particulate’s diameter of 2.5 micrometers, and it’s been linked to many different diseases, from asthma to Alzheimer’s, all throughout a human life.
“This report shows that cities can achieve what was once thought impossible: cutting toxic air pollution by 20-45% in a little over a decade,” said Cecilia Vaca Jones, recently-appointed executive director of Breathe Cities, one of the organizations behind the report.
“This isn’t just happening in one corner of the world; from Warsaw to Bangkok, cities are proving that we have the tools to solve this crisis right now.”
For each of the 19 city success stories, different combinations of measures were employed, such as replacing internal combustion engine vehicles with electric ones, adding more bike lanes in crowded European cities, and placing restrictions on woodburning stoves and fossil fuel power plants within city limits.
MORE STORIES LIKE THIS:
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Beijing and Warsaw reduced PM2.5 the most—by more than 45%, while Amsterdam and Rotterdam saw the greatest improvement in nitrogen dioxide, also above 40%. San Francisco reduced both by 20%.
PM2.5 was more often reduced in European cities, which have focused more on switching electricity sources to clean energy, while Chinese/Asian cities had greater reductions in NO2 because of the greater focus on replacing ICE cars with EVs.
Let Your Friends On SOCIAL Media Know They Can Breathe A Bit Easier…
Woman’s Viral Video of Elderly DoorDash Driver Channels $1 Million to Help Him Retire
A woman who had a DoorDash order brought to her house was shocked to see an old man on her doorbell camera.
Inspired to help, she set up a GoFundMe, which raised $940,000 to allow the man to retire.
It was just another weekday in Manchester, Tennessee, when Brittany Smith heard the doorbell ring.
Switching on her phone’s Ring doorbell camera app, she was surprised to see an elderly man she would later learn was named Richard, ascending to her porch in a red flannel shirt and khakis.
It could have been called a DoorDawdle order, as in his old age he could hardly ‘dash’ up the steps to her front door, and needed the handrailing for support.
“My daughter’s dad is a quadriplegic, so he often has things sent to the house because he can’t physically go get them,” Smith said, explaining why Richard arrived at their house that day. “This poor guy is struggling to get up my stairs to deliver my very capable daughter her Starbucks.”
Calling her daughter’s father, Smith asked to leave a bigger tip, but the father replied the opportunity through the DoorDash app to do so was gone. Meanwhile, she posted the video footage from the Ring camera on TikTok on other social media platforms, wondering if anyone in Manchester knew who the old man was.
A Facebook user recognized him as Richard and got in contact with Smith to reveal his identity and address. Driving over, Smith offered him a $200 tip, which would have made the story beautiful on its own, but it got even sweeter than the Starbucks Richard had delivered.
MORE STORIES JUST LIKE THIS: 81-year-old Waitress Couldn’t Retire, so a Stranger Raised Over $300K for Her
At his house, Richard explained that his wife lost her job and that the two of them quickly lost their savings paying for monthly expenses and a very costly medication she was taking. Richard took the DoorDash gig to try and supplement their income.
That’s when Smith set up the GoFundMe, with the aim of “helping Richard go back into retirement!”
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With the footage from the Ring camera going viral, the GoFundMe benefited tremendously, and raised almost $1 million from an incredible 32,000 donations.
“I had no idea that I was going to gain that much traction,” Smith told the UK’s Independent. “Richard said he’s not slept in two days because he can’t quit watching the GoFundMe.”
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“May your blessings outnumber the shamrocks that grow, and trouble avoid you wherever you go.” – Irish Proverb on St. Patrick’s Day
Quote of the Day: “May your blessings outnumber the shamrocks that grow, and may trouble avoid you wherever you go.” – Irish Proverb on St. Patrick’s Day!
Photo by: Boudhayan Bardhan
With a new inspirational quote every day, atop the perfect photo—collected and archived on our Quote of the Day page—why not bookmark GNN.org for a daily uplift?
Good News in History, March 17
126 years ago today, Isadora Duncan, the first modern dancer, made her debut as a solo interpretive dancer in London to crowds who marveled at her daring. Here, writes the Daily Telegraph at the turn of the millennium, was a very young woman, barefoot and underdressed, performing alone and without scenery—not some romantic fairy-tale of virtuous suffering, but a disconcertingly direct and spontaneous expression of her feelings about the music she was dancing to. She used Chopin’s piano preludes and Mendelssohn’s “Spring Song.” Her movements were extremely simple, improvisatory, and while the first instinct was to find it hyper erotic, almost everyone knew it was more than that. READ about the unexpected history of dance following this landmark performance… (1900)
660-Square Miles of Critical Biodiverse Forest Now Protected in Bolivia
An American conservation NGO has helped propose and fund the creation of a vast new nature reserve along a critical corridor of biodiversity high in the Bolivian Andes.
Containing over 1,300 native species, including 13 found only in Bolivia, the Serranías y Cuencas de Palos Blancos Municipal Protected Area isn’t far from the capital of La Paz, but this proximity belies the ecological value found there.
The area sits along a transitionary zone of high-altitude Andean cloud forest into more Amazon-type rainforest. Here, 86% of the forests contained in the new protected area have never seen human disturbance.
On December 30th, 2025, the local government of Palos Blancos enthusiastically moved forward with recommendations from the Andes-Amazon Fund to protect around 340 square-miles of this habitat.
Abutting two indigenous reserves, the new protected area greatly increases connectivity between existing wild landscapes which animals like the black spider monkey and the jaguar will need to flourish.
Conservation International Bolivia and the Rainforest Trust assisted in the funding and organization of the project, which in addition to the animals and plant life, will protect the headwaters of the nearby Alto Beni River which thousands depend on for water resources.
A province to the north of Palos Blancos also recently created a new, 320-square-mile protected area along this transitionary zone between cloud forest and Amazon.
The two protected areas connect with Cotapata and Madidi national parks, and along with the indigenous reserves already mentioned, help form the Gran Paitití de Mapiri Biodiversity Corridor.
MORE JUNGLE PROTECTIONS:
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- Colombia Bans All New Oil and Mining Projects in its Amazon–an Area the Size of Sweden
- A Nation That’s 90% Rainforest Announces New Protections for Over 25 Million Acres
“By protecting this zone, Bolivia strengthens an entire conservation mosaic that extends from the cloud forests of La Paz to the lower Amazon, ensuring that species like the jaguar and the Andean bear can move freely through their habitats,” noted Eduardo Forno, Vice President of Conservation International Bolivia, in October of last year, when the protected area was created.
Protected acreage of the new “mosaic” exceeds 1 million acres, making it larger than America’s Big Bend National Park, in Texas.
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Japan’s Yogurt Delivery Ladies Serve as a Support Net for Country’s Aging Population
The best travel stories are often those most subtle; things that only a genuinely attentive person could pick out in the strange society they pass through.
Such a story comes now from Japan via the BBC, where reporter Giulia Crouch put together the tale of a unique profession of smiling “watchers,” who consider themselves to have the double duty of watching over the country’s aging population while, of all things, delivering probiotic yogurt door-to-door.
For the average tourist in Japan, there perhaps to see the cherry blossoms, Shibuya crossing, or Kyoto’s temples, a woman passing by in a smart navy jacket and skirt, lined in plaid trim, ribboned with a name tag and a matching sun hat might merely appear part of the scenery. But for BBC reporters, it was a loose thread of a story to pull on.
The result was this story of the Yakult yogurt company and their delivery ladies, called “Yakult Ladies.”
In the early 20th century, Yakult was trying to sell probiotic yogurt drinks at a time when bacteria was something that made you sick. Realizing it needed a competent salesforce to explain the difference, the company first employed men to go door-to-door, Crouch writes, until a labor shortage saw more and more women enter the workforce, and Yakult come to reason that since women took care of the groceries, they’d be more likely to heed the advice of other women.
Thenceforth, the Yakult Lady, in her iconic uniform, was born. The strategy was a hit, and the company grew. As the decades passed, Japan became the world’s fastest aging population, with some 30% of citizens above the age of 65. Social isolation and loneliness among seniors have become nationally-relevant challenges.
At the same time, it wasn’t unusual for the only familiar face an elderly Japanese person might see come to their house was the Yakult delivery lady. This situation created the Yakult Lady as social guardian of sorts, a “watcher,” who may be the only person who knows whether an elder is experiencing failing health, or, on the flip slide, who knows they just took up yoga, or planned a trip to China.
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“Yakult Ladies are not just people who sell products,” 47-year-old Yakult Lady Asuka Mochida, told the BBC. “We are watchers in a sense, people who look out for others. We notice small changes in health or lifestyle.”
A Yakult Lady might work 4 days a week, visiting between 30 and 50 houses, stopping at times to chat and inquire after a person’s wellbeing. Other Yakult Ladies told the BBC that sometimes they’ll chat with customers about the weather, gardening, family, or current affairs.
For the customers of Yakult products, the visit gives them something to look forward to.
“Knowing that someone will definitely come to see my face each week is a tremendous comfort,” one anonymous customer told Crouch and the BBC. “Even on days when I feel unwell, hearing her say, ‘How are you today?’ at my doorstep gives me strength.”
MORE ON THIS TOPIC: Japanese ‘Rental Grandmother’ Service Provides Much-Needed and Much-Loved Purpose for Older Women
Yakult isn’t just a Japanese brand: it’s expanded into Brazil and Mexico, Malaysia, Vietnam, the Philippines, Singapore, China, and Indonesia. There are 50,000 Yakult Ladies worldwide, sometimes translated into aunties or moms, but the concept is the same: a smiling face, a nutritious snack, something to look forward to.
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Elderly Father and Son Feast on Free Oysters After Cashing in on Decades-Old Restaurant Promise
From Alabama comes the story of two restaurant-regulars chowing down on a 54-year-old promise from their favorite oyster bar.
Jim and Jimmy Rush always wondered whether the sign behind the bar at Wintzell’s Oyster House in Mobile was “for real.” It promised a night of free oysters, as many as could be eaten, for any man 80 years of age accompanied by his father.
Hung by Wintzell’s eponymous original owner, a man fond of quirky and humorous signage, Jim and his son Jimmy made a pact to take the restaurant up on their offer, even if it meant waiting 54 years.
“We kept asking, ‘Was this sign for real?’ and they said yes,” Jimmy Rush, 80, told CBC News “As It Happens” host, Nil Köksal. “We said, ‘Has anybody ever done it?’ And they said no.”
The Rushs ate at Wintzell’s frequently, particularly in the days following Mardi Gras festivities, and they soon became as much a part of the furniture as the sign that always tickled their curiosity.
The years went by—the OPEC embargo, the fall of the Berlin Wall, the advent of the internet; the Great Financial Crisis; and every so often the Rushs would call the restaurant and double check if the deal was still valid.
Current owner Clay Omainsky said that Mr. Wintzell lived at a time when the only way an 80-year-old man could dine accompanied by his father was if he brought his ashes in an urn and slapped it down on the bar next to him.
But perhaps due to a diet rich in seafood, which Jim Sr. credits for his long life, he was able to walk into Wintzell’s last month, arm in arm with Jim Jr., sit down with over a dozen friends and family, and finally call in that long promised meal.
“Most people read that sign behind the bar and laugh,” read a February Facebook post on Wintzell’s Oyster House’s page. “But tonight, Jimmy Rush walked in on his 80th Birthday with his father, James Rush, 99, right beside him, and turned one of Wintzell’s rarest traditions into a real-life milestone.”
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“The Rush family has been part of this place for years, and they didn’t come alone. A full room of friends, shared memories—and yes, oysters on the house, true to our founder’s promise.”
The Rushs have already been back—oysters are on the house until Jimmy turns 81, but Jim has another son who will turn 80 next year, so he’s digging in his heels until that second year of free oysters.
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“I’ve only been sick twice in my life, once when I was five and once when I was 97,” said Jim, who will turn 100 this July. “I don’t see, but I hear fairly well, and that’s about it—and I don’t take any medications at all.”
When Omainsky heard that the clan is looking to be back in 2027, he told CBC that he’s looking forward to it almost as much as the Jims will be.
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Visionary Birding Route Now Links 5 African Nations Along Ancient River Migratory Map
The announcement of a new transboundary birding route has catapulted southern Africa to the forefront of international birdwatching travel.
Spanning Angola, Namibia, Botswana, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, the route contains an estimated 650 endemic and migratory species, and traverses the world’s largest conservation area—as big as Germany and France together.
Known as the Great Kavango Zambezi Birding Route, the course passes through 36 individual protected areas, encompassing 12 birding zones with ecosystems ranging from dry desert to lush forest and wetlands, and everything in between.
Birdwatchers will follow ancient migratory routes along 5 great rivers: the Zambezi, Chobe, Kwando, Kavango, and Kafue as they wind and carve their way across the landscape of southern Africa.
“No single country could offer what these five nations can achieve together,” said Dr. Nyambe Nyambe, Executive Director of the Kavango-Zambezi Secretariat. “This route is a living example of cross-border cooperation, combining diverse habitats and guiding expertise into a single coherent product that puts southern Africa on the global birding map.”
A hosted international press expedition documented 215 bird species across the region – including 43 species recorded for the first time by experienced international birders, a figure that speaks directly to the route’s credentials among serious avitourists.
BIRDWATCHING STORIES:
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Dozens of partners in the endeavor have already got onboard, from BirdLife International’s local chapters who have overseen training courses for guides, to safari lodges and camps that have extensive experience ferrying visitors across the landscape, to conservation organizations who work in these various conservation districts to protect birds and mammals from poaching.
In total, 100 Birding Route Ambassadors have now registered to promote and operate experiences under the KAZA Birding Route brand.
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“I am still learning.” – Michelangelo (at 87 years old)
Quote of the Day: “I am still learning.” – Michelangelo (at 87 years old, he often said in Italian, ‘Ancora imparo’)
Photo by: Evgeny Matveev – Dome of St. Peter’s Basilica by Michelangelo (cropped)
With a new inspirational quote every day, atop the perfect photo—collected and archived on our Quote of the Day page—why not bookmark GNN.org for a daily uplift?
Good News in History, March 16
100 years ago today, Dr. Robert Goddard launched the world’s first liquid-fueled rocket, after building it himself. The New England physics professor, engineer, and inventor is credited with ushering in the era of space flight, but after he asserted in 1920 that rockets could be used to send payloads to the Moon, he was thought to be absurd and mocked by the press, which called him “Moon Man.” LEARN more… (1926)
He Made a Battery Pack Using Disposable Vapes to Power His Electric Car (WATCH)
A man has powered an electric car using a homemade battery pack built out of discarded vapes, on a quest to show that so many valuable resources are being cast off every day.
Last year, GNN reported that Chris Doel had stripped down the lithium batteries from 500 disposable vapes, power sources he describes as “fully rechargeable”, to create a power-bank big enough to run his home.
Not willing to stop there, the 27-year-old engineer then decided to reuse the battery pack to power a trip in an electric car.
He needed a vehicle with a small battery so bought a 2007 G-Wiz for £800—named the worst car that year by Top Gear—and spent five months working on the project. He finally took it out for a spin last month.
The young man from Warwickshire, England, who calls himself “the engineer equivalent of a mad scientist”, documented the process on his YouTube channel, which has 164,000 subscribers. (Watch his new car video below…)
He went to the local vape shop last May asking if they would donate their “returns” for his house-battery project. He walked away with bags containing 2,000 vapes.
It took him six months during his free time at home, outside Birmingham, to extract the rechargeable lithium batteries from the devices. He then used a 3D printed case to combine 500 cells wired in parallel into groups connected in series to make a massive battery pack.
The completed pack successfully powered his house for eight hours, before finally running out of juice. Immediately, he set his sights on his next project: the car.
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“I was speaking with a colleague about how I wanted to power a vehicle, but because EVs have such enormous batteries, I thought it was never going to be possible,” Chris told SWNS news agency.
“My colleague came up with the genius idea of using the G-Wiz. It’s pretty much the only car out there with a 48v battery, (meaning) the power-wall would work with it.
The micro-car only requires a battery with a voltage of 48v—well below Tesla’s 400v. It has a max speed of just 50 mph, yet seats two adults and two small children.
It ran for two hours, covering a distance of 18 miles—entirely powered by vape batteries.
What about the flammability?
Chris bought insurance to cover liability, and was happy to pay around $700 for one year, saying, “Given the fact they’re taking the risk of it being a battery pack literally made of vape cells, it was incredibly cheap in the grand scheme of things.”
He spent five hours a day after work on weekdays, and 12 hours a day on weekends, for five months rewiring the car and sorting out the legal paperwork before he was finally able to take it out for a spin.
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“I stripped it all back to re-do all the wiring, making sure it was proper sturdy. I made a big enclosure—worst-case scenario—in case it were to go up in flames. I would want it to be at least somewhat contained and not be rattling all over the place.”
Now, Chris has taken the vape batteries out of the car and replaced them with two Tesla battery modules, but runs it with “special software to fool them into thinking they’re installed in a Tesla Model 3.”
Today, the car is his daily transportation.
“As soon as I get an idea in my head, I’m determined to get it done.”
As an environmentalist who is outraged by the “planned obsolescence”of these disposable vapes, he urges everyone to stop buying the wasteful product which ends up in the landfill within days of purchasing.
Instead, he urges manufacturers to build rechargeable products with long lives that are recyclable to help create a circular economy.
—> CREATIVE ENERGY: ‘Sand Battery’ is Heating Small City, Storing Green Energy for Months at a Time
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