The mini-statue of a warrior rhino was birthed in a guessing game.
After graduating from Virginia Tech, Bryan Newton kept cultivating his school spirit and connections to campus by working for Rhino Sports and Entertainment Services. He provides security support for the company at Virginia Tech’s 1,274-seat performance hall.
He’s always enjoyed the diversity of events booked at the Center for Performing Arts, including music and dance at opposite ends of the spectrum—from an ear-splitting Metallica concert one night to an artsy ballet a few days later.
Mr. Newton has had a fun, creative side going back to college 25 years ago, when he was the manager for the school’s Marching Virginians band, he told a college news team.
About two years ago, a game originated among the Rhino staff to help enliven their shifts.
How many people are here tonight? The workers each had one guess and they played The Price is Right rules: try to get as close to the actual number of scanned tickets—without going over.
But every great game needs a prize.
The Rhino staff members started bringing in different prizes for each contest, but eventually, Newton had an even better idea. He owned a 3-D printer. He realized that a miniature rhino would make an ideal prize.
Combining his creative and school spirit, he produced a themed trophy for each event.
Courtesy of Bryan Newton
The warrior rhino was designed for a wrestling event. A dancing rhino was created for a contemporary Australian dance show. There have been rhinos with Halloween witch hats and Easter bunny ears, and rhinos wearing hoodies of Virginia Tech’s maroon and orange colors. (See more of his creations in the video below…)
Some statuettes are finished within a few hours, while others become a 12-hour labor of love.
“It brings joy. And it’s fun,” he said. “Going through the process and either picking or designing it, it’s a nice creative outreach for me.”
The rhinos often sit near the turnstiles as people enter into the evening’s performance. Regular patrons have learned to look for them on the night of the show.
The little creatures have become symbols of something much bigger than themselves: A school spirit that spreads a little further with every rhino horn pointing the way.
And one lucky winner gets to take home some of that warmth afterwards.
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Quote of the Day: “What matters is not what is done to us, but what we do with what has been done to us.” – Jean-Paul Sartre
Photo by: Getty Images For Unsplash+
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166 years ago today, Annie Oakley, who became the first American woman ‘superstar,’ was born in a cabin in rural Ohio. To support her five siblings and widowed mother, Phoebe Annie Mosey took up hunting and trapping at age eight. She sold so much game that, at age 15, her earnings eventually paid off the mortgage on her mother’s farm.
Annie used her skill to compete against a traveling show marksman, Frank Butler, who bet $100 that he could beat any local fancy shooter. He was shocked when a five-foot-tall girl beat him—and the two married a year later. WATCH a short bio below and learn more about their incredible lives… (1860)
Antiviral chewing gum – Credit: Kevin Monko / Penn Dental Medicine
Antiviral chewing gum – Credit: Kevin Monko / Penn Dental Medicine
Research from the University of Pennsylvania shows that antiviral and antibacterial chewing gums reduce the levels of three microbes known to be associated with oral cancer, paving the way for more effective and affordable therapies.
Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is a common cancer that develops in the lining of the mouth and throat. It can be aggressive and often has poor outcomes, especially when diagnosed at advanced stages.
Henry Daniell of Penn’s School of Dental Medicine says most new cancer drugs fail to significantly improve quality-of-life, or the five-year survival rates.
Building from their previous work, they used a chewing gum made from lablab beans, also known as hyacinth beans. The beans contain the naturally antiviral protein FRIL.
Daniell and colleagues examined oral swab samples from patients with HNSCC, looking for levels of three microbes linked to cancer—human papilloma virus, or HPV—and two species of bacteria, Porphyromonas gingivalis (Pg) and Fusobacterium nucleatum (Fn).
“The global increase in oropharyngeal cancer is linked to HPV infection,” Daniell told Penn News. “And Pg and Fn infections worsen survival rates of untreated recurrent or metastatic oral cancer, even after surgery and risk-adjusted adjuvant, or supplemental, therapies.”
They found that bean gum extracts had reduced HPV levels by 93% in saliva samples and by 80% in oral rinse samples.
When they bioengineered the bean gum to also contain protegrin, an antimicrobial peptide that can kill harmful bacteria, they found that a single dose reduced the levels of Pg and Fn to almost zero without affecting the beneficial bacteria normally found in the mouth.
(This contrasts with radiation therapy, which both reduces beneficial bacteria and increases the disease-causing yeast, Candida albicans).
“Lip and oral cavity cancer was the seventh leading cancer type in cancer incidence and mortality rate worldwide in adolescents, young adults, and middle-aged adults in 2022,” says Daniell.
“Our findings, published in Scientific Reports, support the value of advancing these therapies to clinical trials as adjuvants with current treatments or as prophylaxis to prevent infection and transmission.”
Ancient Pre-Colombian irrigation system Credit: ICANH / SWNS
Ancient Pre-Colombian irrigation system Credit: ICANH / SWNS
Early farmers achieved an “engineering wonder of the world” by building a giant irrigation system in South America thousands of years ago.
Communities living in what is now Colombia created the remarkable network based on cooperation among family groups—without top-down government—according to a new study.
The researchers believe modern policymakers could adopt a similar strategy to solve the country’s current water management crisis.
These pre-Hispanic watering systems of La Mojana in northern Colombia are so vast you can see them from an aircraft at high altitude.
Their canals and raised fields—in use from the first centuries BC until the 11th Century AD—cover an astonishing 1,930 square-miles (500,000 hectares), three times the size of London today, according to a University of Cambridge media release.
It has traditionally been assumed that powerful rulers must have ordered and managed such an ambitious infrastructure project because of its complexity and the amount of work thought to be involved.
But the new study, led by University archaeologists, suggests that the work was most likely locally-led, cooperative, and much faster than previously assumed.
The team said their findings, published in the journal Communications Sustainability, are important historically but also offer hope to Colombians today who are suffering from a water management crisis linked to climate change.
“These field systems are so impressive that people have assumed they were achieved by hierarchical chiefdoms,” said study lead author Dr. Jasmine Vieri, from Cambridge.
“Our findings indicate that local communities were capable of building these systems and organizing themselves.”
Archaeologists from the Colombian Institute of Anthropology and History (ICANH) examining an excavated section – SWNS
She says the societies responsible for the hydraulic systems in La Mojana were contemporary with the Maya, and with the broader Mesoamerican and Andean state-level societies, which culminated in the Aztec and Inca empires a few centuries later.
They occupied an area where there is no evidence of state-level societies, despite evidence of elaborate gold work and ceramics, and the new findings support the idea that the people, choosing to organize themselves far more horizontally, were able to achieve great things.
Their raised field system managed huge quantities of water during heavy rains, gradually redirected it in drier months, buffering against both drought and floods.
The network of canals redistributed water from permanent bodies of water around raised areas of housing.
The system provided more fertile soils for cultivation in dry seasons and may have helped locals to trap fish.
Using satellite imagery, the researchers mapped a 500-hectare portion (around 700 football pitches) of Pre-Hispanic field systems in the municipality of San Macros, Sucre.
They studied the infrastructure at an unprecedented level of detail, recording the dimensions and volume of 1,600 ridges and 63 housing platforms.
The team worked out that, when first constructed, the formations were around 1.4 meters (4.6 ft) high from the top of the ridge to the lowest point of the canal.
The researchers then developed a new method to quantify the labor needed to construct the system and factored-in volumes of moved earth, as well as information about local geology, indigenous working practices, population density and available technology.
Starting from an estimated population of 1,600 people in the study area, they based their calculations on a workforce of 800 people, given evidence that men, women and probably children traditionally engage in subsistence farming.
Soils in the Colombian Caribbean are heavy clay which would have made the work harder and there were no metal shovels in the region at the time.
“Pre-Hispanic societies were inventive and cooperative, they worked with nature rather than trying to obstruct it,” said study senior author Professor Marcos Martinon-Torres.
He said evidence for the use of raised field systems in the region ends before the Spanish arrived in the 16th Century. It isn’t clear why they stopped being used, but it has been suggested there was population movement from the lowlands towards mountainous areas.
The researchers say that such sustainable solutions to water management can be adopted today by local populations without the need for state intervention.
“Policymakers have shown interest in these ancient systems, but lacked data,” said study co-author Dr. Fernando Montejo Gaitán, from the Colombian Institute of Anthropology and History (ICANH),
“Our study is the first to show that these solutions can be organized locally. People may need resources from the state but not necessarily state intervention.”
Tori and her husband, Justin Cannarelli, who own a garden center, volunteered to adopt Louie the Duck after he hatched at a Long Island elementary school.
It was supposed to be temporary. And the Cannarellis, who live in the Long Island suburb Brookhaven, figured Louie might provide a little extra excitement at the family business.
As it turned out, Louie was a much better fit at the family’s home than at its store—and, Barley is 100% down with that decision.
About two years ago, the family’s 7-year-old golden retriever Barley began having seizures. Vets diagnosed her with epilepsy and prescribed medicine to stop the seizures, which fortunately worked.
But the medicine also had side effects that sapped Barley’s energy and darkened her sunny personality with clouds.
“We thought, ‘Oh man, this is medication we have to give her for the rest of her life… So this is how she’s going to be?”
“She lost her goldenness, her fun, her spunk,” Tori told the Washington Post. “She was always sleeping or mopey. It was heartbreaking.”
But all that changed once Louie waddled into their lives.
Courtesy @DuckAndaDog on IG
The duck and the dog formed an immediate bond. Barley started visiting Louie’s pen every morning, a clear enclosure that was protected from the wind and even had a swimming pool. They began wrestling playfully and occasionally stealing bites of each other’s food. The odd couple overcame their obvious animal barriers and found friendship on the other side. (WATCH the video below...)
“They fell in love with each other instantly,” said Tori, who jokes that Louie is Barley’s emotional support duck (and you can follow Louie and Barley’s escapades on Instagram).
Louie’s arrival seemed to fix whatever was broken in Barley.
“She started smiling again,” Tori told Steve Hartman. She started wagging her tail. She started having personality again.”
The new duck had delivered an almost endless supply of silliness—and so much joy was filling up the Cannarelli house that Barley was destined to change, too.
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Manatee with baby Credit- U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Southeast Region - Gaylen Rathburn (CC BY 2.0 license)
File photo of Manatee with baby Credit- U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Southeast Region Gaylen Rathburn (CC BY 2.0 license)
A manatee is swimming free again thanks to a fishing guide who reported the animal tangled in crab trap lines, and the Georgia and Florida wildlife experts who raced to the scene.
The drama played out over two days last week on the Mackay and Hampton rivers off St. Simons Island.
Though often unnoticed in turbid coastal waters, Florida manatees are 1,000-pound-plus, federally protected marine mammals that migrate from Florida into Georgia and the Carolinas each spring—into early fall—to feed on abundant marsh plants and algae.
On July 29, Capt. Davis Galland got the call about an entangled manatee in Georgia, and described it as “the first time” such a thing has ever been reported in the state.
An adult female was wrapped tightly in the line and buoy from a commercial crab pot, reports wildlife biologist Jessica Thompson, who leads the Georgia Department of Natural Resources’ Marine Mammal Program.
A three-boat, multi-state team set out to the site and completely freed the manatee, cutting away the anchoring crab trap before a storm “chased” them off the water.
“It wasn’t easy,” according to the Georgia DNR.The plan was to pull the manatee onto Florida FWC’s manatee rescue boat using a specialized net so she could be assessed and all gear removed—but two smaller manatees remained too close for this approach.
Manatee with baby Credit in Georgia- U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Southeast Region / Gaylen Rathburn (C BY 2.0)
By early afternoon, the team manually removed the buoy and remaining line, which was beginning to cut into the manatee’s skin.
Jessica said the successful effort involved skills learned in disentangling dolphins and North Atlantic right whales from commercial fishing gear.
Georgia DNR rescues manatee with Florida and USFW Service near Mackay River July 30, 2026 – Credit- GaDNR
The group, which included the DNR, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and two other rescue groups, also managed to attach a satellite tracking tag on the manatee.
“Because of this impressive team response, this female manatee and what appeared to be a dependent calf, have a chance to thrive and contribute to the wild population for years to come,” said Terri Calleson, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Florida Manatee Recovery Lead.
“This successful outcome reflects what can be accomplished when organizations come together with a shared commitment to protecting marine wildlife,” said Monica Ross, director of Manatee Research and Conservation at Clearwater Marine Aquarium Research Institute.
“Manatee rescues truly ‘take a village’ whether rendering emergency aid or working collaboratively toward species recovery,” said Calleson (see video).
“Each partner contributed something essential, and USFWS was proud to lend our knowledge and support to the collective effort.”
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Quote of the Day: “People like to say that the conflict is between good and evil. The real conflict is between truth and lies.” – Don Miguel Ruiz
Photo by: Don Raridon
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45 years ago today, the first IBM PC, one of the early personal computers, was released.
The development team broke all the rules within IBM and went to outside vendors for most of the parts and software, acting as an independent business unit. Praise was directed at IBM’s decision to use ‘open source’ software and hardware to encourage third-party development—to personalize every unit and end up with a lower price tag. (1981)
Justin Dunn teaching ESL English – Credit: Lynda Curtis for Brown University
Justin Dunn teaching ESL English – Credit: Lynda Curtis for Brown University
For a group of teenagers learning English in Providence, Rhode Island, summer school this year looked a little different.
There were vocabulary games and journal entries, but also trips into the community where students could put their new language skills to work—whether speaking with a cashier at a local market or learning how to describe their experience on a résumé.
Teaching the 4-week class was Brown University student Justin Dunn, who spent the summer leading intermediate English courses for teens at the city’s public library.
“We’re helping these students, but I’m learning and gaining just as much,” said Justin. “I’ve learned so much about Providence and the amazing people here.”
The rising sophomore found the library opportunity through the university’s SPRINT-iProv fellowship, which places undergraduates in full-time summer positions with nonprofit groups throughout this capital city—including helping to create and teach a 4-week English-language curriculum.
Above all, Justin wanted to teach the teens English sentences they could actually use.
“Most of my lessons focus on real-life skills.”
Taking English Out of the Classroom
When the class studied food and shopping, for example, Dunn didn’t stop with vocabulary exercises. He took his students to a nearby Maruichi market, where they could practice speaking English with a cashier.
Justin Dunn – Credit: Lynda Curtis for Brown University
The teenagers also began building their own résumés, learning the English words and phrases needed to describe their education, activities, work experience, and abilities.
“For teens who may soon be looking for jobs, becoming comfortable with that language can be really helpful,” Dunn said.
Other lessons explored subjects ranging from art and employment to food and outer space, while games helped students build vocabulary and journal writing encouraged them to express themselves in English.
The approach reflects a simple idea: learning the correct words on a worksheet is useful, but having the confidence to use those words in the real world can change what a young person is able to do with them.
A conversation at a grocery store can become a language lesson. A résumé can become an English assignment. And a summer class can potentially give a teenager more confidence when applying for a first job, navigating school or simply talking with someone new.
Justin discovered that some of the workers alongside him at the library had once arrived there for exactly the kind of help his students are receiving today.
“Many of my co-workers are immigrants, and some first came to the library through its English-language programs before later working there,” he said.
“There’s a real sense of community here, and I love that I get to be part of it.”
A poignant reminder that someone can walk through a library’s doors needing help with English—and years later walk through those same doors as an employee helping the next person.
And Justin is one of 40 Brown undergraduates spending the summer working full-time with Providence nonprofits making the world a little brighter—literally.
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Diver surveying corals on the Great Barrier Reef – Courtesy of Australian Institute of Marine Science / SWNS
Diver surveying corals on the Great Barrier Reef – Courtesy of Australian Institute of Marine Science / SWNS
The world’s largest coral system, the Great Barrier Reef, suffered six mass ‘bleaching events’ between 2016 and 2025, due in part to warming oceans.
Before the 1990s, any bleaching events were “exceptionally rare” along the 1,400 miles of coastline in north-eastern Australia.
Now, earlier this year, a monsoon brought the Great Barrier Reef a reprieve from coral bleaching—an aid in its initial recovery from recent climate-induced effects.
The rainy season increased cloud cover and reduced sea temperatures, limiting the severity and extent of bleaching during the summer, said conservationists in a new annual report on the ecosystem by the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS).
The findings indicate limited impacts from 2025’s mass bleaching event, and the regional bleaching event in the Northern and Central regions recorded earlier in 2026.
It shows coral cover had grown across two of the three regions of the Reef levels had increased by 16.7% in the Northern Region and were up 10.2% in the Central region, compared to last year.
Coral cover in the third area decreased by 2% relative to 2025 levels in the Southern region, but cover levels in all three regions of the Reef continue to be above or just below the “long-term average”, according to the report.
Coral at Great Barrier Reef – Credit: Australian Institute of Marine Science / YouTube
AIMS Long-Term Monitoring Program (LTMP) leader Dr. Mike Emslie said it was “uncommon” for coral cover levels to have suffered substantial declines.
“We did not see a repeat of the 2024 and 2025 mass bleaching events, or a repeat of the significant impacts from the 2024 event.
“Bleaching events vary markedly and do not always result in coral mortality. It depends on the intensity and duration of the heat stress.”
A total of 121 coral reefs were surveyed for the 40th annual report.
Most of the reefs surveyed (106) had moderate to high coral cover—and only three had coral cover of less than 10%.
Dr. Emslie says while this year’s results provided evidence of “initial recovery” and that coral cover levels are higher than that of many coral reef ecosystems globally, the Great Barrier Reef remained a system under pressure.
“While the Reef is showing resilience, it is being pushed and its capacity to recover is limited.”
“We can help them survive the threats posed by climate change through reducing global emissions, good reef management, and developing evidence-based science interventions that support reef adaptation and recovery.”
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Almost eight decades after she last played baseball, Maybelle Blair returned to the diamond—in a wheelchair—to inaugurate the new women’s US baseball league.
It brought Blair’s uniquely American story full circle—and she wasn’t going to miss it for anything.
“I tell you, I broke four ribs recently,” the 99-year-old told a news crew from WICS. “But nothing was going to stop me from being here—even if I had to crawl.”
Maybelle played in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League that launched amid the backdrop of World War II and was memorably depicted in the 1992 movie A League of Their Own.
Last weekend, Maybelle, who pitched for the Peoria Redwings during the 1948 season, was on the field in Springfield, Illinois, to help celebrate the first game of the new Women’s Professional Baseball League.
The WPBL threw out the first pitch on August 1, seven decades after the old league was disbanded, with four city teams that will play all their games here in Springfield, which once had a franchise in the All-American League.
Maybelle, who’s an honorary member of the league’s advisory board, threw out the ceremonial first pitch before the inaugural game between the LA Queens and the NY Heights.
She also got to meet the league’s mascot Maybelle—perhaps the only time a person has been introduced to their mascot self. (See below…)
“It was a magical couple of days,” recalled Jamie Toole of the Springfield’s Robin Roberts Stadium. “The most emotional that I’ve ever been at a ballpark or a sporting event.”
Courtesy of WPBL
In the game, New York’s Denae Benites hit the league’s first home run and was a perfect 4-4 in the batter’s box, adding three stolen bases to her impressive stat line. But the Queens scored four runs in the final inning to cap a historic day with a dramatic flair.
“I feel incredibly grateful and happy that I can finally stand on the stage I once only dreamed about,” Japanese player Ayami Sato, who pitched three innings for the Queens, told the USA Today.
“I believe there are many players in this league who have carried the same dreams in their hearts, and I feel so fortunate and happy to be able to play alongside them.’’
Courtesy of WPBL
This first WPBL season will feature 30 games and runs through September. The league hopes to continue gaining support with an eye toward expanding to add more teams next year.
“What they’re doing is bigger than baseball,” said Jean Fruth, who created the documentary SEE HER, BE HER about women baseball players around the world.
“Their impact reaches far beyond the game. It’s about showing the next generation that there is a place for them in this sport and helping them believe that anything is possible.’’
One notable player in the WPBL is Mo’ne Davis, who played in the 2014 Little League World Series, where she became the first girl to throw a shutout.
But, all of the athletes are following in the trailblazing footsteps of Maybelle Blair—who inspired the character Mae Mordabito (nicknamed ‘All the Way Mae’), played by Madonna in the film starring Tom Hanks.
“Maybelle’s been sticking with us since the beginning of this journey,” Benites told NBC Sports. “She’s paved a path for us, and I’m so happy that she got to make it out here.”
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Greenhouse Horticulturist Alberto Trinco with agave at Birmingham Botanical Gardens by Anita Maric via SWNS
Horticulturist Alberto Trinco with the agave at Birmingham Botanical Gardens by Anita Maric via SWNS
A ten-year-old plant has finally burst into flower for the first time after a decade of care by professional horticulturists—and the stalk was so tall greenhouse had to remove the Roof.
Staff at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens even needed to open the roof after the towering flower spike shot up to more than 18 feet (5.5 meters) in only a few months.
The agave sisalana, which is native to the deserts of Mexico, is now beginning its spectacular final act, known as the ‘death bloom’, the last stage of its life cycle.
Gardeners installed a ‘bloom watch’ chalkboard so visitors could anticipate the one and only flowering event will culminate in the plant’s death.
The first buds have just opened in the stalk that now pokes through the 19th century greenhouse.
“It will only flower once in its lifetime which is why it’s also called the ‘death bloom’,” said senior horticulturist Alberto Trinco.
“All of the energy goes into the flowering and to produce loads of seeds— and then the plant will die.”
Anita Maric / SWNS
“But the legacy lives on with the new seeds which will be growing in our nursery.”
The agave had been growing in this British Botanical Garden’s glass house for over ten years—the amount of time it takes to get to maturity and flower.
It is native to Mexico so likes a hot, arid environment. Luckily, the summer across the UK has been a scorcher—given the fact that the succulent has breached the building.
“It is bitter sweet to see it blooming—because it is wonderful to see, but we also know we are going to lose this plant.
Staff at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens set up a ‘bloom watch’ chart for the Agave sisalana with its long ‘flower spike’ (diagonal near cactus) – Anita Maric via SWNSHorticulturist Alberto Trinco at Birmingham Botanical Gardens – by Anita Maric via SWNS
“It is such a spectacle for us to witness after growing this plant for a decade.”
While the hefty bloom marks the end for this green giant, staff are already looking ahead to the next generation—gathering the seeds being cast off as the plant ends its life.
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70 years ago today, Elvis Presley released his first double-sided mega-hit record. With Don’t Be Cruel on one side and Hound Dog on the other, the singles went to No.1 and No.2 on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart, where they stayed at the top for 11 weeks—and set a record that would not be broken for 36 years. LISTEN to the hits on the video below… (1956)
NASA engineers found a way to free up power aboard Voyager 2, helping the nearly 50-year-old spacecraft continue its scientific work.
The Jet Propulsion Laboratory team decided to simultaneously shut down certain powered components and replaced them with options that use less energy—while also making sure Voyager 2 stayed warm enough to function properly.
Decaying plutonium aboard the Voyager 2 produces electricity from radioisotope thermoelectric generators, and as that plutonium supply steadily diminishes, each spacecraft loses about 4 watts of available power each year.
After nearly half a century in space, both Voyagers (1 and 2) now have extremely limited power to spare. To keep them operating, mission controllers have increasingly had to shut down systems and equipment that are no longer essential.
An Extra Year of Science
Voyager Project Manager Suzanne Dodd commented that the choice to toggle these deeply integrated systems was an inherently risky decision with “no do-overs”.
That led the team to adopt the term ‘Big Bang’ for their plan.
Without the power-saving effort, the Voyager team would have needed to turn off yet another instrument aboard Voyager 2 before the end of 2026.
Since 2024, the team has been forced to switch off two science instruments on each Voyager spacecraft (from among their 10 instruments).
The newly freed power is expected to keep the spacecraft’s three remaining instruments operating for at least one additional year. (Other instruments had been turned off previously as they were only used for planetary encounters.)
There is a bittersweet nature to managing these aging planetary probes, notes Dodd.
“Every watt saved now is a decision about what data humanity still gets to learn from out there.”
NASA says the team plans to carry out the same power-saving swap on Voyager 1, which is currently farther from Earth than Voyager 2, and the mission team expects to complete that work in the coming months.
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Rewilded elephants on Khamab Kalahari Reserve – Elephant Reintegration Trust of South Africa / SWNS
Rewilded elephants on Khamab Kalahari Reserve – Elephant Reintegration Trust of South Africa / SWNS
New research shows that elephants develop successful coping mechanisms when returning to the wild from human captivity.
In fact, the team found that “rewilded” elephants can fit quite well within wildlife systems and readapt—even after long-term captivity.
For the new study, a team from the Elephant Reintegration Trust of South Africa examined the behavioral and physiological responses of 11 formerly-captive elephants which had been released onto four different reserves.
For five years each elephant was observed for three weeks at a time at least once annually.
The team looked for indicators that the elephants might be uncomfortable in their wild surroundings and for behaviors that might be “hold-overs” from their time in captivity, such as conflict or confrontation.
The findings showed that, overall, rewilded elephants behaved “very similarly” to their wild neighbors.
Fecal samples collected to test for signs of metabolic stress showed levels within the normal range for wild elephants.
“What I found most fascinating was watching elephants that had spent decades in captivity adapt so successfully to life in the wild,” said co-author Tenisha Roos.
“Seeing them respond to their environment and function much like wild elephants was truly awe-inspiring and a powerful reminder of their remarkable resilience, adaptability, and behavioral flexibility.”
Credit – Glen Carrie / Unsplash
The differences may reflect their previous captive experiences, social circumstances, environmental conditions, and tourism or management pressures, according to the research team.
They say their findings, published in the journal PLOS One, show that rewilded elephants behave “very similarly” to their wild counterparts, despite some consistent differences—suggesting that they have adapted well to their return to wild habitats.
The research team also noted a high degree of variability in behavior between individual rewilded elephants, but that might be related to each animal’s personality.
Each elephant likely found their own unique ways to cope with their relocation.
The 11 animals in the study represent more than 50% of the rewilded elephant population across South Africa so far.
“While a few elephants showed slightly elevated stress biomarkers, all values remained within the normal range for wild populations, indicating successful adaptation—with no evidence of chronic stress.”
Andy Rouse captured antics of Kenyan family of elephants – SWNS
Co-author Tammy Eggeling said: “Although previously-captive elephants may carry the memories of confinement, our research has shown that, when given the opportunity, they can leave that past behind.
“They are able to learn new skills, adapt to unfamiliar environments, and ultimately thrive as wild elephants.”
Co-author Brett Mitchell added: “The data from this project show that when captive elephants are rewilded and given the opportunity, they can regain full autonomy and re-establish natural patterns of movement and behavior.
“Through this research, we are also seeing that rewilded elephants can make a meaningful contribution to the conservation of their species.”
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Microscopic view of deficient muscle tissue due to dystrophin gene -Courtesy Binghamton University
Microscopic view of muscle tissue deficient in dystrophin -Courtesy Binghamton University
Scientists studying one of the world’s most serious inherited muscle diseases have found encouraging evidence that treating children much earlier—potentially before obvious symptoms develop—could make a significant difference.
Researchers at Binghamton University in New York are studying the drug Vamorolone in very young boys with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), a progressive genetic disorder that causes muscles to weaken and eventually be replaced by scar tissue.
And the early results might have made their jaws drop.
“We were surprised at the rapid improvement of gross motor skills,” said Professor Eric Hoffman, one of the researchers who helped develop the drug.
Duchenne muscular dystrophy is caused by mutations that prevent the body from properly producing dystrophin, a protein essential for maintaining healthy muscle.
Because the gene responsible is located on the X chromosome, the disease overwhelmingly affects boys, with damage actually beginning at birth—even though children often aren’t diagnosed until symptoms become noticeable several years later.
That delay is exactly what Hoffman and his colleagues addressed—because restoring muscle after it has already been replaced by scar tissue is extraordinarily difficult.
Instead of trying to slow the deterioration caused by DMD once symptoms become apparent, what if a treatment were given well before much of that damage occurs?
“The destructive processes in muscle start from birth,” Hoffman explained, even though symptoms typically aren’t recognized until the early school years.
Current protocols recommend anti-inflammatory corticosteroids after symptoms become evident—but biologically, that may already be too late.
The drug that Hoffman and fellow Binghamton researcher Raju Nagaraju developed—Vamorolone, marketed under the brand name Agamree—was already approved in 2023 to treat DMD by the Food and Drug Administration.
It was designed to provide the anti-inflammatory benefits of corticosteroids while reducing some of their most troublesome side effects.
Duchenne muscular dystrophy researchers Eric P. Hoffman and Kanneboyina (Raju) Nagaraju – Credit: Jonathan Cohen for Binghamton University
(Traditional corticosteroids can slow children’s growth and cause weight gain, mood disturbances, adrenal suppression and other complications—making doctors and families understandably reluctant to begin giving them to very young children.)
Vamorolone has an improved safety profile, particularly when it comes to growth—and that opened the door to an important question: Could the treatment safely be started even earlier?
Treating children before age 4
The recent Phase II open-label study examined 20 boys with DMD between the ages of 2 and younger than 4 who had never previously received steroids.
They were given either 2 or 6 milligrams of Vamorolone per kilogram of body weight each day for 12 weeks. Most then continued treatment for approximately two years through an expanded-access program. Researchers monitored everything from growth and motor skills to metabolism and how children’s bodies processed the medication.
The results were encouraging: improved motor function without apparent impairment of growth.
And, the improvement in children who received the higher dose was particularly striking.
Healthy children typically have a normalized score of around 10 on the Bayley III gross-motor scale—and the boys with DMD began the study at roughly 5.
After just 12 weeks of treatment, their average score had risen to around 8.
There were also no serious adverse events during the study, although there are more minor side effects.
Some children experienced weight gain and adrenal suppression, particularly at the higher dose, and researchers emphasize that this was a small study with no placebo—not a large randomized clinical trial.
Prevention may be possible
Importantly, DMD was recently added to the U.S. Recommended Uniform Screening Panel for newborns. That means doctors may increasingly be able to identify affected babies long before the muscle weakness that traditionally leads to diagnosis becomes obvious.
“Hopefully, vamorolone may become an option for these babies if these preliminary data are confirmed,” Hoffman said.
Then, instead of waiting for a child’s muscles to deteriorate and later trying to slow the damage, doctors can intervene much earlier—protecting muscle before it is lost.
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When you see these photos from the Toronto Zoo of their newest resident, you’ll know why we had to share.
A pregnant pygmy Hippopotamus gave birth a week ago—tiny feet appearing after 1.5 hours of active labor.
The calf began teetering around in an attempt to stand within 15 minutes of birth—and was seen confidently navigating the space and nursing with mom 4.5 hours after birth. (Watch the video at the bottom…)
Both the calf and its 20-year-old mom named Kindia are doing well and are resting together behind the scenes enjoying a term of privacy.
Calf survival for this species can be challenging, but this is Kindia’s third birth, and she has proven herself to be an attentive mother, carefully protecting the newborn beneath her.
The father is a 31-year-old male pygmy hippo named Harvey, after Kindia was introduced to him for eight days in January which resulted in this pregnancy.
Kindia (right) with her newborn – Toronto Zoo
“Welcoming a pygmy hippo calf is far more than a celebration of new life,” said Toronto Zoo CEO Dolf DeJong.
Toronto Zoo
“Pygmy hippos are endangered, and their wild populations continue to decline due to habitat loss and human pressures.”
Pygmy hippos are listed as Endangered on the International Red List, with 2,000–3,000 individuals believed to be left in the wild, native to the forests and swamps of West Africa, and surviving in undisturbed habitats.
Deep in the Ivory Coast rainforest, conservation researchers are working to better protect these elusive animals in their habitat. Researchers from IBREAM are using camera traps and detection dogs to study pygmy hippos, which have long remained hidden from human eyes.
Kindia and Harvey and their new little one play an important role as ambassadors for their species. Every visit to see them is a chance to learn more about pygmy hippos and conservation efforts that can make a difference—but wait to visit when they are back outside for public viewing.
You can celebrate Kindia’s exciting news by donating to her care through the zoo’s dedicated fundraising partner, the Toronto Zoo Wildlife Conservancy.
And, watch the birth video below…
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Quote of the Day: “Since love grows within you, so beauty grows. For love is the beauty of the soul.” – Saint Augustine
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