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Your Weekly Horoscope – ‘Free Will Astrology’ by Rob Brezsny

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Our partner Rob Brezsny, whose latest book is Astrology Is Real: Revelations from My Life as an Oracle, provides his weekly wisdom to enlighten our thinking and motivate our mood. Rob’s Free Will Astrology, is a syndicated weekly column appearing in over a hundred publications. He is also the author of Pronoia Is the Antidote for Paranoia: How All of Creation Is Conspiring To Shower You with Blessings. (A free preview of the book is available here.)

Here is your weekly horoscope…

FREE WILL ASTROLOGY – Week of May 2, 2026
Copyright by Rob Brezsny, FreeWillAstrology.com

TAURUS (April 20-May 20):
May is Free Thinking Month for you Tauruses. It’s also Free Feeling, Free Wheeling, and Free Healing Month. Wow! To observe this festive grace period, indulge in any of the following jubilant acts: 1. Declare your independence from anyone who tries to tell you how you should live your life or who you are. 2. Declare independence from your history, especially recollections that dampen your sense of possibility and old self-images that impede your yearning to explore. 3. Declare independence from groupthink and conventional wisdom. 4. Declare independence from your former conceptions of freedom so you’ll be free to arrive at fresh understandings of it.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20):
The Navajo practice hózhó means “walking in beauty”: living in balance and harmony with life. But hózhó isn’t a static state you achieve once and possess forever. You must continually restore and reinvent it. I suspect you’re in a phase like that now, Gemini. Too much thinking and not enough feeling? Too much future and not enough present? I recommend you take corrective measures. Start by taking one physical action that grounds you. Have a conversation from the heart instead of the head. Spend an hour not planning the story to come, but simply loving what’s here right now. Refresh your hózhó!

CANCER (June 21-July 22):
If a honeybee colony becomes too crowded, scout bees search for potential new hive sites. When they return, they perform waggle dances for their colleagues to convey specific information about different locations. Negotiations ensue. Various possibilities are offered and considered through more dancing. Eventually, the swarm collectively makes a choice and heads out to its new home. Your challenge right now, Cancerian, is to be like a scout bee who facilitates your group’s decision-making process. I invite you to carry out a reconnaissance mission and then perform your waggle dances for your people. Make your case with vigor and precision. Trust the group’s emergent wisdom to make the best decision.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22):
Like all of us, Leo, you have persistent aches from old losses, absences, and wounds. They may seem like permanent burdens you will never be able to shake or transcend. But here’s some very good news: In the coming months, there’s a greater chance than usual that you’ll discover new approaches to healing them. The remedies won’t necessarily be logical or obvious. They may involve you conducting rituals, taking symbolic actions, or ambushing the pain from unexpected angles. Be alert for interventions that may seem too simple or unexpected to work.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22):
Your restlessness is building. How much longer will you pretend you don’t sense the pull of bright temptations and appealing sanctuaries? At what moment will you finally stop resisting your urge to slip past the usual boundaries and roam? The astrological omens hint that this pivot is close at hand. In the borderlands of your imagination, a daring journey is already taking shape. Where might it carry you? Here’s my guess: down into the raw, unfiltered depths of the future you secretly dream about.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22):
In fairy tales, when heroes are rewarded for their help and kindness, their gifts are often tools of protection: a cloak that renders them invisible, a magic club that chases off foes, or enchanted shoes that enable them to outrun any threat. In other stories, the reward is meant to deepen the hero’s delight in living: a genie’s lamp, a cauldron that cooks up exquisite food, or a horn that calls forth marvelous companions from the fairy world. I mention this, Libra, because I believe rewards for your past and recent generosity are on their way. If you have any say in what form they take, I suggest you request something from this second, pleasure-giving category.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21):
Poet Marie Howe wrote, “I don’t think we can love anything more intensely than we love a secret.” Many Scorpios feel this way. You understand that mystery is often a joy to be savored. Some truths reveal themselves only to those who summon the patient intelligence to be at peace amidst the confounding riddles. Non-Scorpios may be desperate to leave nothing hidden, but you like to learn from the teasing prickles. You know that some transformations need darkness to carry on their work. Your next assignment: Decide what truth needs more time in the deep before it’s ready to surface.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21):
Diamond is the hardest natural substance, while graphite is soft and slippery. Yet they’re both made of pure carbon. The difference is in their structure. Let’s extrapolate from this fact as we ruminate on your life, Sagittarius. I’m 97-percent certain that you already have everything you need. Maybe you imagine you lack key resources and powers, but from what I can tell, you are well set-up. So I propose that you simply reorganize what’s available to you now. Take the “carbon” of your life and arrange it in new patterns. Your task isn’t further accumulation but reconfiguration.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19):
My Capricorn grandfather was a master artisan. He told me that the best furniture is built twice: first in the imagination, then with wood. Let’s apply that theme to you. I believe you have mostly finished the first step of visualizing what you want. Now you’re almost ready to launch the actual work. I’m eager to see the practical effects that will bloom from your detailed fantasies. The rest of the world is excited, too. These days, we all especially need your talent for turning beautiful dreams into vivid realities. You have extra power to inspire us to convert our idealistic notions into dynamic actions.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18):
I invite you to imagine a time in the past when you were almost perfectly content. Visualize that magical confluence of satisfying feelings. Where were you? Who was or wasn’t there? What could you see, hear, smell, and feel in your body? What made that moment so right? Next step: Make a vow to rebuild as many of those conditions as you realistically can over the next three weeks. Maybe you can’t recreate the exact scene, but you can approximate its essence.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20):
The astrological factors now in effect are tending to generate useful and valuable cosmic jokes. I believe they may be disruptive and catalytic in helpful ways. In this spirit, I offer you the following affirmations, borrowed from internet memes: 1. “You may call me ‘melodramatic.’ I describe myself as a ‘creative problem-solver with flair and panache.’” 2. “I’m not overthinking; I’m overriding simplistic answers that hide the real truths.” 3. “You shouldn’t think of me as chaotic; the fact is that I’m generously non-linear.” 4. “I have a solid plan, but it’s always evolving to keep up with reality’s crazy insistence on ceaseless change.” 5. “Please dismantle your low expectations; I need ample room to exceed them.” 6. “I trust my instincts; they have often been wrong in interesting ways.”

ARIES (March 21-April 19):
In the 19th century, Aries photographer Eadweard Muybridge (1830–1904) resolved to settle a debate about whether galloping horses ever have all four hooves off the ground. He developed a system to capture rapid sequential images, which ultimately helped lead to the invention of motion pictures. His answer to a narrow technical question opened up an entirely new art form. Moral of the story: Solving a specific problem may create unforeseen revolutions. In the coming weeks, Aries, I invite you to stay alert for how your focused efforts to address one challenge might birth even more significant breakthroughs. Don’t get so fixated on your immediate goal that you miss larger innovations emerging from your work.

WANT MORE? Listen to Rob’s EXPANDED AUDIO HOROSCOPES, 4-5 minute meditations on the current state of your destiny — or subscribe to his unique daily text message service at: RealAstrology.com

(Zodiac images by Numerologysign.com, CC license)

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“Joy is a net of love by which you can catch souls.” – Mother Teresa

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Credit: Sander Weeteling

Quote of the Day: “Joy is a net of love by which you can catch souls.” – Mother Teresa

Photo by: Sander Weeteling

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?

Credit: Sander Weeteling

Good News in History, May 2

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Good News Network
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Raising a flag over the Reichstag - credit, Public Domain

81 years ago today, the Third Reich surrendered Berlin, the Wehrmacht surrendered in mass, and World War II ended in the West as more than 1,000,000 German soldiers officially surrendered across their positions in Italy, Germany, and Austria. A Red Army soldier was famously photographed draping the flag of the Soviet Union down over the Reichstag. READ a bit more of what happened on May 1-2… (1945)

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Company’s 2 Million lbs. Excavator Has a Green Trick: Fully-Electric Drive Mode

By
Andy Corbley
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- credit, supplied by Komatsu
– credit, supplied by Komatsu

Mining is heavy business, and this giant Komatsu excavator is too.

It weighs 2 million pounds, but comes standard with fully-electric drive mode, allowing even the world’s largest mining operations to suddenly zero-out emissions from excavation vehicles.

The PC9000-12 is the largest excavator Komatsu has ever built. It can move 80 tons with a single movement of its giant scoop, and having undergone successful testing at Suncor Mining’s Alberta sand mine, it’s now ready for order and delivery around the world.

The behemoth’s party trick, reports Electrek, is that you can plug it in like you’d plug in and use a vacuum, only you need grid-scale power rather than a home electrical outlet.

Once it is plugged it, a face-frying 4 megawatts of power are drawn into 2 electrical motors that crank out the equivalent of 5,300 horse power.

“The PC9000-12 sets a new benchmark for global surface mining operations,” explains Peter Buhles, Komatsu Vice President, Sales and Service. “With its versatile configurations – including face shovel and backhoe, as well as diesel and electric drive options – we can efficiently serve all major mining operations worldwide.”

“The PC9000-12 delivers the power, performance and reliability our customers expect, while supporting higher productivity, lower emissions per-ton and seamless integration with autonomous haulage systems.”

Imagine if you will a giant hole in the ground. Now place this imaginary hole 150 kilometers from any city, and fill the bottom of it with large hauling trucks. Now consider if you will, that to get the truck from the bottom of the hole to the top, it must drive up a long series of ramps at 40 degree angles.

How much diesel does it use to get that truck from the bottom to the top 8 times every day?

The recent disruption in worldwide diesel production and refining from the closure of the Strait of Hormuz has significantly impacted certain mining operations that can’t get around the need to power their fleet and generators with diesel.

BETTER MINING: 

Electric excavators and haul trucks would help insulate the industry—certain parts of which are currently enjoying record-high margins, from future oil shocks, and the PC9000-12 could do exactly that.

Mining would be one of the hardest sectors to de-carbonize, but opportunities are there to reduce its carbon footprint in tandem with the leaps and bounds the industry has made reducing its environmental footprint in other ways such as tailings storage and disposal, and reclamation costs being budgeted upfront.

For example, Electrek also reported that an electric haul truck—remember the ones at the bottom of the hole—has already been produced and proven, and is ready for action in the next generation of mines.

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Not 1, Not 2, but 5 Students Jump into Lifesaving Action as School Bus Driver Loses Consciousness

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Andy Corbley
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- credit, Hancock County School District.
– credit, Hancock County School District.

5 Mississippi middle school students leapt into action when their bus driver lost consciousness while driving, and are being hailed as heroes.

Driver Leah Taylor from Hancock County School District was on her usual route with a busload of students on board when she suffered a serious asthma attack and lost consciousness.

Not one, not even two, but five students jumped out of their seats and got a handle on the situation.

First was Jackson Casnave who grabbed a hold of the wheel when he felt the bus veering off road.

While Jackson had the wheel, it was 6th grader Darius Clark who hit the breaks in fits and starts.

8th grader Kayley Clark called 911, while classmates Destiny Cornelius and McKenzie Finch helped Taylor the driver.

McKenzie propped her head up which allowed Taylor to regain some awareness, and that’s when she immediately began reaching for something, which Destiny noticed was almost undoubtedly medication on the dashboard.

“I can’t thank these students enough,” Taylor told WLOX News, “for saving everybody’s life, because it could have turned out so much worse.”

WATCH the story below… 

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40 Years of Work Returning 900 Wild Horses to China’s Steppes is Celebrated in Year of the Horse 2026

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Andy Corbley
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Przewalski's horses in Hustai Nuruu National Park - credit Chinneeb CC 4.0. BY-SA
Przewalski’s horses in Hustai Nuruu National Park – credit Chinneeb CC 4.0. BY-SA

In China, whether on Earth or in the Heavens, it’s the Year of the Horse.

This year is the 40th anniversary of one of the country’s earliest conservation efforts: the Wild Horse Return Program, which since 1986 has been breeding, relocating, and protecting the famous Przewalski’s horse on the country’s vast grasslands.

2025’s data from the project’s monitoring arm shows that the wild horse population in China is now 900-strong and growing autonomously. This makes up one-third of the total global population of Przewalski’s horse, the last non-domesticated species on the planet.

In 1985, the species was considered extinct in the wild in China, and the animals alive today had their genesis at the hooves of a few animals kept in zoos and breeding centers in Europe.

The rare horse has become a flagship symbol of ecological restoration, and a recent cultural icon that inspired the creation of “Chengcheng,” the mascot for the 2026 Year of the Horse Spring Festival Gala.

A large portion of the 900 animals are located in Dunhuang West Lake Nature Reserve. Here, in Gansu Province, known in antiquity as the “Jade Gate”—the entrance to China proper, 200 animals roam across 28 herds.

Their numbers over the last one-and-a-half-decades have been bolstered by relocations from the Gansu Endangered Animal Protection Center in Wuwei city further east, which pioneered a long-distance road transport method called “loose relocation.”

Rather than anesthetizing and crating the animals which can sometimes lead to casualties, they are allowed more room to move in the transportation. At one point, the Wuwei center transported 28 of these wild horses over 600 miles to the reserve.

MORE ON THIS FANTASTIC ANIMAL: 

When they arrived, they underwent an acclimatization period. During this crucial phase, the animals are getting used to foraging again, and often need their diet supplemented with hay, stored on site. This is gradually reduced, and then eliminated to encourage the animals to forage.

“Around six foals are expected in 2026. We aim to build a healthy population with stable generational succession,” said Wang Hongjun, head of the center’s wildlife management department.

Additional reserves in Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia, and Ningxia also host the animal, and are all self-sustaining, though introductions continue. The Przewalski’s horse carries 60 million years of evolution with it, making it an important source of genetic knowledge for the equine family. All other wild equines are either donkeys or zebras.

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Norway’s Largest-Ever Trove of Viking Age Coins Is ‘Historic Find’ By Metal Detectors

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Andy Corbley
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One of the coins found in the hoard - credit, Innlandet Municipal Council
One of the coins found in the hoard – credit, Innlandet Municipal Council

More than 3,150 medieval coins dating back to the Viking Age were found in a field in Norway, the largest such discovery in the country’s history.

The search is ongoing, and archeologists expect there to be more in the vicinity.

Discovered in a field near the village of Rena, in Innlandet County, they offer a rare insight into the economy, the long-distance connections, and the flow of silver in Norway during a period marked by major political change, a statement from Innlandet County Municipality read. 

While coin hoards, and the metal detecting community who find them, aren’t rare in England, this kind of thing rarely happens in Norway, despite it being one of birthplaces of the Viking Age. Just once before has a coin hoard—basically a bank account for a time without banks—exceeded 3,000 units in Norway, and only 4 times has one been found with 1,000 or more.

Dating from the late 10th to early 11th centuries, they were mostly minted in England and Germany, although some were minted in Norway and Denmark. The reliefs point to minting during the reigns of the powerful Viking king Harald Hardrada, as well as Ethelred II of England and Cnut the Great.

“During Harald’s reign, royal coinage gradually replaced most of the foreign currency in circulation. This hoard appears to have been deposited at the very beginning of that transition,” said Professor Svein Gullbekk of the Coin Cabinet at the Museum of Cultural History.

MORE COIN HOARDS: Hoard of 1,000-yo Coins Unearthed in Farmer’s Field Nets Millions for Metal Detecting Friends–and Treasure for UK

Municipal authorities praised the two metal detectors, Rune Sætre and Vegard Sørlie, who had, according to the statement, completed ethical metal detecting courses organized to inform hobbyists how to best handle discoveries related to national archaeological heritage.

Sætre and Sørlie did everything correctly when they first found 19 silver coins in early April. “They have been highly cooperative and have played an active role in ensuring that the find has been secured and documented in the best possible way.”

ALSO CHECK OUT: Family Unearths Treasure of 1,500 Medieval Coins During Excavation for a New Swimming Pool

May-Tove Smiseth, an archaeologist and adviser on the Innlandet County Council, said the treasure has drummed up excitement in the local community.

“This is an extraordinary discovery of a kind one might experience only once in a career,” Smiseth said in a statement. “To be present when something like this comes to light is a truly remarkable experience, both professionally and personally.”

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“You just can’t beat the person who never gives up.” – Babe Ruth

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Credit: Nghia Le

Quote of the Day: “You just can’t beat the person who never gives up.” – Babe Ruth

Photo by: Getty Images for Unsplash+

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?

Credit: Nghia Le

Good News in History, May 1

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Good News Network
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William Wilberforce, the leader of the British campaign to abolish the slave trade.

219 years ago today, the Slave Trade Act of 1807 entered into force in Great Britain, abolishing the British participation in the Transatlantic Slave Trade and pressed other nation states to abolish their own slave trades. Sometimes in history, the abandonment of a previous widespread practice occurs naturally after its practice diminishes, but the Slave Trade Act was passed at a time when slavery was still an incredibly lucrative business, demonstrating, at least partially, the resolve of the abolitionists in Britain who lobbied and campaigned for 18 years for a bill. READ more… (1807)

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Toy Story Character Talks with Deaf Girl in Heartwarming ASL Moment That Went Viral

By
Andy Corbley
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- credit, Jessica Moore, screengrab via TikTok
– credit, Jessica Moore, screengrab via TikTok

If you’ve ever wondered who’s underneath the costumes at Disneyland and what kind of person takes that job, one TikToker found the answer to that question is simple: sweethearts.

Jessica Moore shared an unforgettable reaction where Woody the cowboy from Toy Story realizes that her daughter was deaf, and begins to communicate in American Sign Language.

The now-viral moment has garnered over 1 million views after she posted it on her account. The interaction isn’t long—it can’t be with a line of children waiting to see Woody, but goodness knows it probably made both their days.

“My kids had so much fun. Our family saw Woody doing a meet-and-greet and waited our turn to get his picture,” Moore said about the day according to Storyful.

“I grabbed my phone as fast as I could and started recording the moment,” Jessika said, adding, “Woody made her day.”

WATCH the interaction below… 

@lifewithjessikaa My daughter (Aureliana) was SO excited to meet the characters at Disney but scared because she is deaf. Woody made her day. 🥹🤟🏽 #deaf #disney #disneylandcalifornia #woody ♬ original sound - lifewithjessikaa

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Phone-Free Social Events Grew by 567% Led by the Generations Who Didn’t Have Them Until Adulthood

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Andy Corbley
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Members of Gen Z and Millennials are attending phone-free experiences 567% more often across the globe, signaling a major shift in how people want to gather.

In a world shaped by algorithms and constant visibility, Eventbrite data shows that the generations having grown up with limited to no social media and smartphone use, and which then lead the charge to its ubiquitous adoption, is now leading the world back—away from constant connectivity.

GNN has reported before on the rise of offline events, including the Offline Club, which is exploding across Europe, and phone-free US event organizer Kanso in the US.

Phone-free events grew 567% globally between 2024 and 2025, with attendance rising 121% and expanding from 5 to 12 countries, according to Eventbrite, which monitors event listings for terms like “phone-free” “analog” or “offline.”

These events now span the full calendar year, signaling a shift from temporary reset to sustained behavior. The momentum is most pronounced in the US and UK, though each market reflects a distinct pattern of growth.

The United Kingdom has emerged as the global leader for phone-free socializing, with events growing by 1,200% and attendance increasing by 1,441%.

Of course the previous amount will have been very small, and like a biotech startup whose new medical product’s approval sees an explosion in the stock price, the overall number of phone-free events will still be low in comparison to others.

ANALOG IDEAS: Engineer Revives the Pay Phone for Vermont Community to Make Free Calls in Their Cellular Dead Zone

On the other hand, there is a strong focus in the UK on countering loneliness and social isolation, and messaging regarding it can be found throughout English society.

In the United States, the offline or analog movement is defined by expansive participation. While event volume grew by 388%, attendance jumped by 913%.

The growth is already accelerating. In just the first three months of 2026, phone-free experiences have reached over a third of last year’s global event volume, signaling that this is no longer a fringe behavior, but a mainstream way of gathering.

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Record Number of Humpbacks Observed Feeding in ‘Supergroup’ Near South Africa

By
Andy Corbley
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humpback whales bubble net fishing in Alaska, 2007 - credit, NOAA
humpback whales bubble net fishing in Alaska, 2007 – credit, NOAA

Two photographers recently set a world record for the number of individual baleen whales seen in a single group at 304.

It’s not just hard rockers that can form supergroups. Humpback whales seem to like it too, though scientists don’t know why.

What they do know, however, is that they will congregate in numbers as large as several dozen, even several hundred, and that when they do, the ocean quakes.

Renowned wildlife photographers Chris Fallows and his wife Monique described to the BBC that their breaching was like “bombs going off” and said that the constant blowhole spray stank up the ocean air for miles around.

A supergroup is defined as 20 or more whales swimming within 5 body lengths of each other. They often form during the austral summer off the coast of South Africa where the major ocean current known as the Benguela upwelling brings nutrients from the cold depths up to the surface to cause major plankton and krill proliferation.

This is feeding time and tide for the whales, who gorge themselves on the tiny animals, using a special keratin plate in their mouths called a baleen to filter the krill from the seawater which they then eject through their blowholes.

Humpback whales are one of the planet’s great conservation success stories from the perilous latter days of the whaling industry. Since then, they’ve breached 125,000 known individuals worldwide, and the population recorded by the Fallows contains many new whales never documented before.

Humpback supergroups began to be documented in 2011 off the west coast of South Africa.

Scientists documenting the phenomena at the time and since have several theories. First, they supposed it could be the result of changes in prey availability leading to a novel feeding strategy, or a historically unobserved strategy that became apparent as populations recovered from whaling.

They also thought it might be that increasing whale abundance elsewhere resulted in the exploration of alternative feeding strategies or areas, or even that supergroups had always existed, and just the probability of seeing them increased as a result of population recovery.

WHALE STORIES: Scientists Hail Record Number of Sightings in January as Auspicious for Endangered Right Whales

New research measuring concentrations of chlorophyll-A in ocean plankton published in 2021 seems to indicate the second of these hypotheses has the sturdiest legs.

Whatever the reason, Simon Elwen, a marine biologist at South Africa’s University of Stellenbosch says that now the average supergroup reaches hundreds of whales, and that the surprise isn’t seeing a supergroup, but not seeing a supergroup.

OTHER STORIES LIKE THIS: ‘Superpod’ of More Than 2,000 Dolphins Frolic off California Coast – (WATCH)

The Fallows found themselves in the midst of a right mess—hundreds and hundreds of whales breaching, splashing, blowing, and making a thunderous racket. They ended up photographing 472 whales, of which 304 were individuals according to the artificial intelligence powering the citizen science project Happywhale.

“We didn’t go out with the intention of breaking a record,” Mr. Fallows told the BBC. “There were just so many whales around us. Monique and I were laughing, because there was just so much going on that you didn’t even know what to photograph. It was like rapid fire.”

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6 Year Old Saffie Has Her Vision Saved from Rare Form of Blindness Thanks to One-Time Gene Therapy

By
Andy Corbley
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Saffie and her parents - credit, Great Ormond Street Hospital
Saffie and her parents – credit, Great Ormond Street Hospital

A 6-year-old girl in the UK is able to see normally again in the day and night thanks to a one-time gene therapy for a rare form of congenital blindness.

At this very tender age, Saffie Sandford from Stevenage was diagnosed with Leber’s Congenital Amaurosis, (LCA) a mutation in the RPE 65 gene which both her parents unknowingly had a copy of.

LCA typically affects children and manifests as the inability to see in low light, and the difficulty to see in daylight. Because infants and toddlers can’t sit for traditional eyesight tests, diagnosis can come late, even though its progression starts at birth. It continues worsening until blindness sets in at early adulthood.

Luckily for Saffie, Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) Children’s Trust in London had been developing a novel gene therapy for this very condition by the time she arrived on referral from the Moorfields Eye Hospital in Herefordshire.

Called Luxturna, it provides a healthy copy of the RPE 65 gene directly into both eyes in a single dose. Saffie received the first one in April, 2025, and the second one in September.

“Having the treatment has been life-changing, it’s like someone waved a magic wand and restored her sight in the dark,” said Saffie’s mother, Lisa. “We’ve been able to take her trick or treating, and out to restaurants in the evening—something that was impossible before.”

“Her peripheral sight in the daylight has also improved. She’s now able to see hazards and has improved at school. She’s thriving and you wouldn’t know she had the condition just by looking at her.”

MORE BLINDNESS CURES: 100 Times Improvement in Sight Seen After Gene Therapy Trial for Disease That Deteriorates Vision in Childhood

GOSH recently published a study on the effects of Luxturna, which it developed in concert with Moorfields, administered in children as young as 15 months to as old as 12 years who had LCA. The encouraging findings showed that 7 out of 10 children showed clinically meaningful improvements in vision after receiving Luxturna.

That included personal parental anecdotes, but also results from a special new test that measures electrical signals sent to the brain from the retina—a harmless and new way of measuring vision in infants.

AND FOR HEARING TOO: 10 out of 10 Patients with Congenital Deafness Have Hearing Restored in Children’s Gene Therapy Trial

“For the first time, we’ve been able to show objectively that gene therapy can strengthen the visual pathways in babies and young children who are living with this rare eye condition,” said Rob Henderson, consultant ophthalmologist at GOSH.

“For many of the families we work with, even small improvements in their child’s ability to see the world around them make a profound difference.”

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“We spend nearly every moment of our lives lost in thought, and hostage to the character of those thoughts.” – Sam Harris

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Good News Network
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Credit: !ME (i_no_one)

Quote of the Day: “We spend nearly every moment of our lives lost in thought, and hostage to the character of those thoughts.” – Sam Harris

Photo by: !ME (i_no_one)

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?

Credit: !ME (i_no_one)

Good News in History, April 30

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Good News Network
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Hydrogen atomic orbitals at different energy levels. The more opaque areas are where one is most likely to find an electron at any given time - CC 4.0.

129 years ago today, J. J. Thomson announced his discovery of the electron as a subatomic particle, over 1,800 times smaller than a proton (in the atomic nucleus), at a lecture at the Royal Institution in London. It put to rest a long history of experimentation seeking to determine whether or not a “cathode ray” as the electron was first studied, was a ray or a wave. Thomson discovered that, in fact, it was neither. READ more about this groundbreaking discovery… (1897)

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Chinese Pangolin Numbers Growing Steadily in the Wilds of Southern China for the First Time This Century

By
Andy Corbley
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A Chinese tree pangolin in the Leipzig zoo - credit, released by author into the public domain
A Chinese tree pangolin in the Leipzig zoo – credit, released by author into the public domain

For the Chinese subspecies of the world’s most trafficked wild animal, the darkest days may be in the rearview mirror.

The Chinese tree pangolin, a Critically-Endangered species according to the IUCN, is steadily growing in population size 6 years after China placed the animal under first-class national protection measures.

In Guangdong Province, the wild population is estimated at 1,778, which if divided across its distribution areas, amounts to 0.33 pangolins per square kilometer. This is a marked improvement from earlier this century when the population plummeted to zero in areas of counties Meizhou, Huizhou, and Heyuan.

The pangolin is one of the last surviving groups of scaley mammals, and the 9 recognized species are located across tropical regions of Asia and Africa.

Comprehensive monitoring in Guangdong has been established by the Chinese Forests and Grasslands Administration, with 690 infrared cameras activated in 2020 across its remaining known locations.

Since then, reports China Daily, certain areas of habitat have improved, and the Administration also established the first research and breeding center for Chinese tree pangolins in the country in Guangzhou, the provincial capital.

There are now 35 distribution areas for the Chinese pangolin in the country, which are included in a national list of “key terrestrial habitats.”

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Chinese traditional medicine has used the animal’s scales for millennia as a supposed treatment.

The country’s population of animals stood at around 64,000 individuals in 2000, but this fell more than 80% since then, mostly from poaching for this medicinal use. Like rhino horn and elephant ivory, Chinese traditional medicine has a lot to answer for over the declines in the pangolin.

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The Chinese authorities seem to be both well aware of this, and frank about the animal’s precarious existence.

Pangolin species across the world are poached for export into China and Vietnam, but the first step to protecting the group across the world is to protect the member you have at home, and though China has a spotty track record of preventing its native wildlife from becoming extinct, conservation authorities have at least gotten to this animal earlier than other species.

SHARE This Story With Your Friends Who Love This Scaly Little Guy… 

Key Discovery Could Be a ‘Valuable Starting Point’ To Saving Children from Deadly Disfiguring Condition

By
Andy Corbley
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A sample of Treponema, which might be the culprit beyond the noma disease - credit, CDC
A sample of Treponema, which might be the culprit beyond the noma disease – credit, CDC

An “astonishing” find has led to a “valuable starting point” to developing a treatment for a disfiguring childhood disease.

If the reader knows the word “noma” for the famous Danish restaurant, well buckle up because it is also a flesh-eating bacterial disease that affects the mouth and face of children in the Sahel region of Africa.

Classified as a neglected tropical disease, noma is currently a mysterious ailment that can be treated with broad-spectrum antibiotics if caught early. However, the symptoms of the disease associated with infection is currently the only method of diagnosis.

It has a case mortality rate of 90% if left untreated, and even when it is, disfiguring scars often remain across the person’s mouth and face.

Recently, a team at the Liverpool School of Tropical Diseases set out to study the bacterial communities in the mouths of 19 noma patients living in Nigeria. Since antibiotics seem to treat the disease, their assumption was that it has a bacterial origin.

When analyzed with modern genetic profiling, the team at Liverpool found that bacterial species associated with healthy mouths were significantly decreased, while others were increased, but populations of a previously unknown member of the genus Treponema were found to be significantly above normal levels, a trait which stuck out like a badly trimmed hedge.

Angus O’Ferrall is the PhD student who prepared the data for Professor Adam Roberts, a senior author on the study, who described himself as being “astonished” at “a great reveal.”

The study team then reanalyzed previous samples of noma patients, and found the Treponema bacteria was present in those as well. They eventually began to call the seeming culprit Treponema A. 

Roberts spoke with the Guardian on just why it was a great find, and the potential for future treatments this discovery opens up.

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“We don’t know if it [Treponema] can colonize a noma wound because of the architecture and the environment, or if it causes the noma wound.”

“But if we know that actually Treponema A, for example, is always or 99% associated with the development of noma at the gingivitis stage then we could detect and treat prophylactically with antibiotics to stop it progressing,” he said.

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Additionally if it could be determined that noma was was caused specifically by this bacteria, or as a result of its colonization, than broad spectrum antibiotics, the kind which can most often lead to resistance from overuse, could stay on the shelves in favor of a medicine directed at Treponema A.

Professor Philippe Guérin, director of the Infectious Diseases Data Observatory, University of Oxford, agreed the study was “a valuable starting point.”

SHARE This Great Jumping Off Point Towards A Future Without This Horrifying Illness… 

Judicial Overhaul in India Decriminalizes Hundreds of Offenses That Previously Landed You in Prison

By
Andy Corbley
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Credit: Planet Volumes for Unsplash+

 

Credit: Planet Volumes for Unsplash+

In one of India’s largest-ever legislative reviews, 717 offenses that might have come with a steep fine or even jail time have been decriminalized.

Called the Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Act, the aim is for a shift away from excessive criminalization to help create a more relaxed business environment and easier living.

Reporting generally, prison sentences have been amended to fines, while steep fines have been amended to warnings.

For good or ill, when a government criminalizes anything, such as hawking goods on the street without a license, it instantly creates hundreds or thousands of criminals. This naturally comes with all the burden on society that criminals come with: bureaucratic burden on the prison and courts, severe disruption to family life, and societal baggage in the form of difficult-to-employ ex cons.

In some cases this will be unavoidable, such as property and violent crime, but non-violent, victimless crimes, of which in India there were many, can be argued to be a net-negative on society.

The Jan Vishwas Act changes 1,000 provisions in 79 of the most fundamental pieces of legislation in the country, such as the Reserve Bank of India Act, which established the country’s central bank, the Food Safety and Standards Act, Delhi Municipal Council Act, Motor Vehicles Act, and so on.

The idea was to make India a more competitive economy and to make compliance with regulations easier, more straightforward, and most importantly, non-criminal.

Additionally, the parliament (Lok Sabah) wanted to see a state of affairs where the severity of the punishment is commensurate with the severity of the offence, and an analytical committee examined stakeholder feedback, industry consultation, and comparison with similar legislatures to grade the various offenses in question.

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According to the Financial Express, many of India’s central pieces of legislation haven’t been reviewed in 20 or even 30 years. Even when some had, often their penal component had not been.

The Jan Vishwas Act of 2023 began this process, when some 183 offenses were decriminalized. Then a joint parliamentary committee agreed to expend the effort.

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Key measures included the replacement of imprisonment with monetary penalties or warnings; graded enforcement mechanisms, including warnings for first-time offenders; and rationalization of fines and penalties in proportion to the nature of the offence.

The Act also provides for the appointment of adjudicating officers and appellate authorities whose job it is to facilitate speedy disposal of cases and reduce the litigation burden on courts.

MILLIONS Of Indians Can Breathe Easier Now After Years Of Over Policing, TELL Your Friends…

Boston Marathon Runners Praised for Stopping to Help Injured Competitor Cross Finish Line (WATCH)

By
Andy Corbley
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Ajay Haridasse falls in Boston Marathon injured but gets helping hand from stranger’s kindness - Credit: Sasi Bejrakashem via SWNS
Ajay Haridasse falls in Boston Marathon but gets help from kind stranger Aaron Beggs – Credit: Sasi Bejrakashem via SWNS

Two runners at the Boston Marathon stopped mid-race to help a fellow competitor who had collapsed due to severe leg cramps.

Spectator Sasi Bejrakashem was watching the race on April 20th when she witnessed the emotional scene unfold near the closing stages.

She said she noticed a runner in a black top suddenly come to a halt and buckle over in pain with cramp in his muscles. While several athletes ran past, two competitors made the decision to stop and help.

The pair lifted the struggling runner between them, each taking one side, and supported him as they continued along the course together.

“It was overwhelming to witness,” said Bejrakashem, who was visiting from Bangkok. (Watch the full video from GNN’s YouTube channel, at the bottom of the story—and don’t forget to Like & Subscribe…)

“It felt like such a heartfelt moment and I got emotional watching it happen. Seeing them choose to stop and help another runner instead was truly powerful and inspiring.”

The Boston Herald spoke with the runner, first-timer Ajay Haridasse. He had just crossed the 26-mile marker when he described his legs going “limp.”

Struggling up, then falling again, his mind was battling his body on Bolyston street for all to see. “After falling down the fourth time, I was getting ready to crawl,” he told the Herald.

That’s when the two runners, Aaron Beggs in yellow and Robson Oliveira, the running in white, came to his aid.

It might seem to an observer like a routine show of sportsmanship, but these athletes have goals in mind. If he was forced to crawl the last 0.2 miles, Haridasse might not have qualified for next year’s race, Oliveira would have finished with a new personal best in the Boston Marathon.

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Haridasse explained he felt humbled and honored that Oliveria and Beggs sacrificed their race times to help him. He looked up their bib numbers and found them on social media to extend his thanks.

“It was a split-second decision. When I entered the final stretch of the marathon, I was just a few meters away from achieving my personal best, but in the distance I saw [Haridasse] collapsing,” Oliveira wrote in a post on social media. “I knew I wouldn’t have the strength to help him on my own. In that moment, I thought, ‘God, if someone stops, I’ll stop too and help him.’”

MORE STORIES LIKE THIS: Chicago Marathon Runner Rescues Stray Kitten During the Race–Bystander Gives it a Home

Both men ended up in the medical tent, with Oliveira ending up worse than Haridasse, suffering from extreme dehydration. But both recovered quickly.

Haridasse, the 4th year student at Northwestern University is adamant he will run again next year.

WATCH another view—with spectators cheering on the kindness… 

SHARE This Always-Inspiring Marathon Moment With Your Friends… 

“Let the hurt send you looking for those who will accept you.” – Bryant McGill

By
Good News Network
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Credit: Tyler Lagalo

Quote of the Day: “Let the hurt send you looking for those who will accept you.” – Bryant McGill

Photo by: Tyler Lagalo

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?

Credit: Tyler Lagalo
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