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City Experiments with Reusable Cups at Starbucks, Taco Bell and 30 Other Restaurants–with Return Bins all Over Town

By
Andy Corbley
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Petaluma reuseable cups - credit, NextGen Consortium
www.returnmycup.com

A consortium of small firms is creating a renewable revolution within the boundaries of a small city in Northern California, which will be the testbed for a use-and-return concept for fast food drinks.

Around 50 billion disposable drink cups are used every year in the US, but in the city of Petaluma, we will see if Americans have the discipline to reduce this footprint.

The city numbers around 60,000 people, and will participate in the Reuseable Cup Project. The aim is to furnish 30 local restaurants, from Starbucks to Taco Bell, with identical, durable, plastic drink cups, which customers and diners can use and then either leave on the table, or deposit in a network of dropoff bins around the city.

NextGen Consortium, which is led by the Center for the Circular Economy at Closed Loop Partners investment firm, asked the city government for help identifying partner restaurants, while a firm called Muuse will provide professional cleaning and distribution services to redeliver the cleaned cups back to the locations.

“What they’ve told us they like about Petaluma is that there’s already a spirit of sustainability in Petaluma and [an] interest in trying to reduce the amount of waste that we’re creating collectively as a city,” Patrick Carter, assistant of the city manager who oversees the program, said in a phone call with FOX Business.

“They liked the combination of kind of a denser downtown, more businesses together that are serving these drinks, these beverages, but with a smaller population.”

Located between Santa Rosa and San Francisco, Petaluma’s residents will not be charged a penny more for their drinks, and are only asked to drop them off in one of the network of bins when they are finished. A map showing the locations of the bins can be found on the project website.

MORE PROGRAMS LIKE THIS: Washed up Hi-Tech Tracker Buoys Brilliantly Redeployed to Protect Turtles from ‘Ghost Nets’

Along with reducing cup waste, it should also reduce the throwaway hot drink sleeves, since the cups themselves are more durable and less conductive to heat.

A three-month trial starting on August 5th and running into November will provide NextGen the data they need to understand if such a program can be used in larger cities.

SHARE This Much-Needed Action Plan To Green The Take Away Beverage Industry…

“Don’t be ruled by fear or futility. The future rests on what we do now.” – Joan Halifax

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Good News Network
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Quote of the Day: “Don’t be ruled by fear or futility. The future rests on what we do now.” – Joan Halifax 

Photo by: ©GWC (Santa Barbara County, California)

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?

United Airlines Worker Resolves How to Turn Thousands of Expired Life Jackets into Backpacks and Bags

By
Andy Corbley
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Photo by Alpha, CC-SA-2.0
Photo by Alpha, CC-SA-2.0

A partnership between United Airlines and a fashion company diverted 900 pounds of trash from landfills in the form of expired life jackets.

According to unified aviation safety regulations, the life jackets under your seat have to be switched out every 8 to 10 years, and while it’s obviously a great thing that they never have to be used, they add up to over 19,000 expired jackets per year just for United’s Boeing 737 fleet.

To save space in landfills and reduce the carbon footprint of the world’s third-largest carrier, United Airlines has partnered with a company called B2L to upcycle the jackets into a trendy, travel-themed collection of bags for laundry, laptops, and the beach as well as backpacks.

“While working to dispose of expired life vests at IAD [Washington Dulles International Airport], I wanted to find a more creative solution to divert this material from landfill,” said Erin Taylor, an environmental affairs manager at United. “Thankfully I was able to connect with a company who upcycles the life vest material (typically thrown away), into fun and practical products.”

B2L or ‘Bag 2 Life’ is a German upcycling company, and the first year’s offerings were met with positive reviews and success, diverting 900 pounds of jackets from landfills, and winning the Germans a contract renewal for a second year at double the volume.

MORE IDEAS LIKE THIS: Mountains of Garbage in Russia are Being Turned into Fashionable Accessories

It takes hundreds and hundreds of years for these life jackets to break apart underground, releasing methane, a potent greenhouse gas over a very short time, as it decomposes.

UPCYCLING IDEAS: Instead of Demolishing its Tallest Building, Australia Holds Contest to ‘Upcycle a Skyscraper’ Saving Tons of CO2

While the bags are eye-catching and go to a good cause, they are steeply priced at well over $100 just for a shoulder bag, and $177.89 just for a small backpack.

SHARE This Product Line With Friends Passionate About Sustainability… 

Uber Driver Picks Up Passenger and Realizes it’s His Long-Lost Friend – (WATCH)

By
Andy Corbley
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credit - Danny Blanton, retrieved from TikTok
credit – Danny Blanton, retrieved from TikTok

When it comes to virality on the internet, the absurd and obtuse tend to win the greatest share of attention, but with 10 million views and counting, a clip of two long-lost friends running into each other in an Uber shows how the genuine is often the most appreciated.

In January, Uber driver Danny Blanton, 51, picked up passenger John Johnson, 60, for a ride to Dallas’ UT Southwestern Medical Center.

Blanton, who didn’t see the picture of his passenger ahead of time, kept his eyes mostly on the road, making small talk as the car took off. Speaking with People Magazine, he said that Johnson was his last pickup of the day, and the thought initially crossed his mind that his passenger seemed familiar.

“I thought for a brief second, ‘Do I know this guy?’” but then he recalls thinking, “‘No, it can’t be. I don’t know anybody here [in this part of South Texas].’”

However, the passenger Johnson asked the driver Blanton if they had met before, which led to Blanton looking over his shoulder, looking back at the wheel, and doing a double take with glee as they shook hands and started laughing.

Working together at the popular Dallas nightclub Phenomenon in the 90s, Blanton was a bartender and Johnson was head of security. They describe a wonderful, chill relationship that flourished at work, but not so much beyond it, leading to their eventual loss of contact.

Reaching the end of the Uber ride, the two exchanged numbers and promised to keep in touch, while Blanton was so excited he posted the dashcam video of their ride on Facebook so his family could see. He eventually added it to his TikTok account so that those who have abandoned Facebook could do the same.

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Then Blanton’s son came to him with the news: the two men had gone viral and the video was up to 4.1 million views.

“We’re both elated by it and to see all the positive comments that it got,” Blanton told People. “Just people saying, ‘This is my favorite video,’ and how many people have watched it… It’s been positive.”

MORE VIRAL VIDEOS: 3rd Generation Shoemaker Goes Viral–Has Millions Watch Him Fix Shoes as ‘America’s Cobbler’

The comments highlight how viewers could relate strongly to the unique sensation that you know someone, and iterations of praise like “I wanted to live that moment with yall,” and “that sensation is priceless” were often repeated in the over 7,000 comments.

“[We’re] just two little old guys from Mesquite and Dallas that went viral on the internet,” he adds. “That’s it.”

WATCH the reunion (profanity included)…

@danny.b106 When you’re driving Uber, pick up a passenger, and realize its an old friend you aint seen in 20+ years #uber #uberdriver ♬ original sound - danny.b106

KEEP THE VIRAL TRAIN ROLLING And Share This Priceless Moment With Your Friends…

Monster 12-Inch-Long Oyster Harvested Off English Coast Weighs Over 5 Pounds

By
Andy Corbley
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Credit - SWNS
Credit – SWNS

The boss of a seafood delicacy business has spoken of the shock he experienced harvesting a monster oyster as big as a newborn baby.

Tom Haward said he was fascinated after his company retrieved the huge mollusk, weighing 5.5lbs (2.5kg) along the coast of Mersea Island, Essex.

Mr. Haward estimates the 12 inches long and five inches wide oyster is 20 years old which makes it considerably rare as they usually only live for around six years in harvested waters.

“My first thought was ‘flipping heck’. We work with oysters all the time and see thousands upon thousands a day, but to see one like that, it was fascinating,” Mr. Haward said. “You could see the growth lines on it, just like a tree. It’s very intriguing.”

Richard Haward’s Oysters, founded in 1769, harvests around a million mollusks a year but Mr. Haward said this one was the largest he’d seen.

Positing how an oyster could live so long, the oysterman said that with 14 miles of oyster reefs, it’s always possible for an individual to be looked over.

“Some can be left growing as they keep getting missed and then they can end up around 20 years old,” he said.

Unlike other delicacies, size doesn’t confer special treatment, and if the oyster does make it to their market stall, it would be sold according to the weight of its meat, putting it at about $12.00.

A MOMENT OF APPRECIATION: How an Oyster Can Form a Perfectly Symmetrical Pearl – Better Than We Humans, With All Our Technology

However Mr. Haward said he may put this special find up for auction with any proceeds going as a donation to a lifeboat charity.

Autumn holding the monster oyster – credit SWNS

The eighth-generation oysterman joked that the seafood delicacy weighed about the same as his daughter Autumn when she was born.

“She weighed about 6lbs, this one was 5.5lbs. Autumn loves the sea so she could be the ninth generation of Richard Haward’s Oysters,” he told the British news source SWNS.

MORE RECORD-BREAKERS: World’s Largest Genome Discovered in a Tiny Fern: ‘Breaks all records’

“We’ve been doing this for 300 years and it’s still as exciting for us as it was back then.”

The oyster is 1.5 inches (4cm) short of the largest oyster recorded by the Guinness World Records, discovered in Denmark at 13.97 inches long.

SHARE This Amazing Ocean Oddity With Your Coastal Friends…

Stunning Tang Dynasty Mural Unearthed in China Portrays a ‘Westerner’ with Blonde Hair

By
Andy Corbley
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Image credit: Shanxi Provincial Institute of Archaeology
Image credit: Shanxi Provincial Institute of Archaeology

In north-central China, roadwork near the city of Taiyuan uncovered a tomb dating to the Tang Dynasty that is turning heads for its remarkably preserved collection of murals depicting daily life.

One might imagine such a tomb decorated with images of dragons among heavenly palaces resting on clouds—depicting a glorious afterlife, but this tomb shows a series of pictures of household chores, and a glimpse of the Silk Road in the form of a foreigner.

Discovered in 2018 on a hill slope alongside the old Jin Ci West Central Ring Road in Taiyuan city, the tomb consists of a brick chamber, entranceway, and corridor, and first welcomed its owners into the embrace of the Earth around 736 CE during the Tang Dynasty.

The Tang saw the Chinese Empire reach its greatest territorial extent, and become a cosmopolitan realm of magnificence, luxury, and highly developed in arts, letters, and commerce. Several of the most famous rulers of China date to this period, including the concubine turned Empress Wu Zetian, and the domineering Emperor Taizong, who created much of the control and prosperity the dynasty enjoyed.

On the tomb’s three walls and four pyramidal ceiling faces, scenes from Tang life are depicted that include men and women stepping on and scooping rice, grinding grain in a mill, making noodles, bathing, and using a strange contraption mounted in an orange tree to draw water from a well.

On another panel is the depiction of a “Westerner” which for the Tang Chinese meant someone from what is known in the West as the Tarim Basin, or perhaps even further into Transoxiana—the two regions crossed by traders on the Silk Road before reaching the ‘Jade Gate’ and the Gansu Corridor into China proper.

Image credit: Shanxi Provincial Institute of Archaeology
Image credit: Shanxi Provincial Institute of Archaeology

The Westerner is depicted with blonde hair holding the reigns of an Asian camel and several horses, and was likely a Sogdian—a trading people who flourished and declined with the rise and fall of the fortunes along the Silk Road. He’s unlikely to be a Turk, as the Tang Emperor warred fiercely with several Turkish khagans over the dynasty’s history.

NEWS FROM THE SILK ROAD: 2,000-year-old Gold Jewelry from Mysterious Central Asian Culture Discovered in Kazakhstan

Other panels show what is probably the tomb’s owners, a man in his sixties and a woman, under trees according to one of the oldest established Chinese art styles known as “figure under a tree” which dates to the Han Dynasty of the 2nd century BCE to the third century CE.

MORE CHINESE TOMBS: Extremely Elaborate 2,200-Year-old Tomb Discovered That May Have Belonged to a King–‘Most Complex Structure of its Kind’

The final set of panels shows yellow-robed swordbearers at the entrance of the tomb, alongside doormen holding the coffin in their hands and standing in positions of welcome. The ceiling is decorated with mythical beasts, likely dragons or phoenixes.

SHARE This Amazing Ancient Artwork With Your Friends Who Love History…

“Buried talent is the sunken rock on which most lives strike and flounder.” – Frederick William Faber

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Good News Network
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Quote of the Day: “Buried talent is the sunken rock on which most lives strike and flounder.” – Frederick William Faber

Photo by: ©MCC

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?

Primary Cause of Lupus Discovered–And a Possible Way to Reverse It

By
Andy Corbley
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Lupus effects on the skin - credit Nephron, CC BY-SA 3.0
Lupus effects on the skin – credit Nephron, CC BY-SA 3.0

A team of scientists from Northwestern Medicine and Brigham and Women’s Hospital have identified the cause of lupus, a devastating autoimmune disease that affects 1.5 million Americans.

In doing so they also believe they’ve found a cure, or at least a more sophisticated treatment, and are currently working on developing a pharmacologic method of delivering the potential cure-like molecule.

Lupus erythematosus, to use its full name, involves the body’s immune system attacking its own native cells, causing a variety of skin complications, while also potentially life-threatening damage to the heart, kidney, and brain. The cause of lupus isn’t well understood, and the scientists at Northwestern criticized existing treatments as “blunt instruments.”

The researchers first studied lupus patients and found that those with the disease had higher levels of an infection-fighting protein called interferon and not enough aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR), which regulates how the body responds to infection.

“Up until this point, all therapy for lupus is a blunt instrument. It’s broad immunosuppression,” said co-corresponding author Dr. Jaehyuk Choi, associate professor of dermatology at Northwestern University. “By identifying a cause for this disease, we have found a potential cure that will not have the side effects of current therapies.”

His coauthor Dr. Deepak Rao, a rheumatologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, explains the cure acts as an adjustment.

“We’ve identified a fundamental imbalance in the immune responses that patients with lupus make, and we’ve defined specific mediators that can correct this imbalance to dampen the pathologic autoimmune response,” said co-corresponding author Dr. Deepak Rao.

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Rao and Choi, along with the rest of their team aim to develop medications to activate the AHR pathway. When this pathway is insufficient, it results in too many immune cells that promote the production of disease-causing autoantibodies.

Northwestern press reports that in order to show how this discovery can be leveraged for treatments, the investigators returned the AHR-activating molecules to blood samples from lupus patients. This seemed to reprogram these lupus-causing cells into a type of cell that may promote wound healing from the damage caused by this autoimmune disease.

MORE AUTOIMMUNE DISEASE TREATMENTS: New Simple Therapy Offers Potentially Groundbreaking Treatment Option for ALS and Other Autoimmune Diseases

“We found that if we either activate the AHR pathway with small molecule activators or limit the pathologically excessive interferon in the blood, we can reduce the number of these disease-causing cells,” said Choi. “If these effects are durable, this may be a potential cure.”

ALERT Social Media Of This Potential Cure Now… 

Baby Bird Rescued in Texas Wrapped in a Warm Tortilla Until Wildlife Experts Arrived

By
Andy Corbley
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Wild West Wildlife Rehabilitation Center – FB
Wild West Wildlife Rehabilitation Center – FB

Being that it took place in America, as far as volunteers at the Wild West Wildlife Rehabilitation Center were concerned it was a story that could only happen in Texas.

A family in the north Texas city of Amarillo found a baby bird lying cold and abandoned on the ground in their yard during a swim party and barbeque.

The mother acted fast, tossing a tortilla on the stove before using it like a warm blanket to scoop up the chick.

Afterwards the WWWRC was alerted by the family that they had found what they thought was an owlet, but what turned out to be a Mississippi kite.

“Undoubtedly, it was an inventive method to keep the baby warm, and surprisingly, it was effective,” the wildlife center said in a Facebook post. “Wildlife rescue is always filled with lively and unexpected moments.”

The young bird is doing well and has since been given the name Taquito.

The WWWRC found the concept of a tortilla blanket irresistible charming (and surprisingly effective) and have begun selling custom t-shirts and hoodies to raise money for their operations featuring a graphic of a baby bird wrapped snuggly in a tortilla with the caption “Tortillas Save Lives.”

SIMILAR STORIES OF RESCUE: Quick-Thinking Flight Attendant and Passengers Save 6 Flamingo Eggs Aboard Flight

In the swarm of Facebook comments that followed the post, the tortilla mom revealed herself: Katie Lasher Adlong, who was praised with over 170 replies to her announcement.

“You’re a brilliant momma! Would have loved to see the lightbulb moment of ‘how am I gonna keep this baby safe and warm?'” one commenter said.

OTHER QUICK THINKERS: Watch Quick-Thinking Kayakers Save Pair of Rare Eagles Drowning in the Danube River

If you are short on thematic t-shirts and in the mood to support a great cause, WWWRC is swamped with injured birds from the effects of Hurricane Beryl, and they need to raise thousands to ensure each one gets appropriate medical care.

The donate link is here.

SHARE This Hillarious But Also Brilliant Quick Thinking Down In Texas…

Man Traveling the Width of Scotland in a ‘Bicycle Canoe’ Entirely Made by Hand

By
Andy Corbley
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Ben Kilner in the bicycle canoe - SWNS
Ben Kilner in the bicycle canoe – SWNS

A man is preparing to travel the width of Scotland and back again in a bicycle canoe built by hand according to the time-honored British tradition of performing adventurous feats for charity.

The 36-year-old spent two months building his unique contraption, which has been dubbed Pedal Paddle, and will see him take on over 150 miles of land and sea.

Starting from Fort William, Ben Kilner will paddle to Inverness along the Caledonian Canal before turning around and cycling back on land along the Great Glen Way.

He aims to raise £2,500 for the charity A Leg To Stand On, which provides prosthetic limbs for children in developing countries across the world. He also hopes to inspire people to go outside and explore the world.

The idea was born after Kilner, who previously paddled down the River Thames in a hand-built canoe, was left unable to walk for several days after a camping trip.

“It was deeply upsetting and highlighted how much I rely on my mobility and how much we take it for granted,” said Kilner, from England’s East Sussex.

“The canoe is a skin-on-frame canoe made from Douglas fir and steam-bent green oak with a ballistic nylon skin stretched over it,” said Kilner in a TikTok video announcing his voyage by paddling the strange machine right into a lake. “The reason for going with that design was because it is super lightweight and also something I can build myself relatively easily.”

Ben Kilner in the bicycle canoe – SWNS

The challenge is expected to take around nine days, with Kilner spending his evenings and nights camping.

THE TIME-HONORED TRADITION: British Man Finishes His Run Across Africa: 385 Marathons in 352 days

“The biggest challenge will be the wind and stability. I’m sat quite high up along with the Pedal Paddle bike mechanism, so it’s pretty tippy. I think stability will be a challenge,” he added.

OTHER DIY INSPIRATION: Man Builds an Electricity-Generating Windmill in His Own Garden

“I’ll be doing daily updates on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok as I’m going on the journey, and people can follow along. I’m excited to see the grand magnitude of Loch Ness and the Great Glen and to immerse myself in that.”

To find out more about the fundraiser or to donate, go to www.benkilner.com

WATCH The mad machine take to the water… 

@ben_kilner Can’t wait to get going 😬🦆🚴‍♂️🛶🚀🚀🚀 Link to the donations page is in my bio or head to benkilner.com ❤️🙏 #seatoseaforcharity #benkilner #pedalpaddle #amphibious #bikeboat ♬ original sound - Ben Kilner

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4,000-year-old Tablet Describes Ancient ‘Lunchables’ of Cheese and Meat Carried in a Box

By
Andy Corbley
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The Palace at Kultepe - credit CC BY SA 3.0. Klaus-Peter Simon
The Palace at Kultepe – credit CC BY SA 3.0. Klaus-Peter Simon

At the ruined site of a 4,000-year-old civilization in Anatolia, clay tablets have been found documenting a mundane but nonetheless fascinating aspect of culture: packed lunches.

The tablet speaks specifically of a Kültepe Cheese that was part of daily life for the people in the region, who, according to the tablet, used to carry it around with them on journeys.

Located in central Turkey today, in a province (Kayseri) that bears an astonishingly similar name to the German word for cheese dairy (Käserei) the ruins of Kültepe are considered the birthplace of Anatolian civilization.

It was an important city for the Hittites: the premier Anatolian civilization of its time, and today is known as the site where the earliest definitive example of an Indo-European language was written: in the form of Hittite, the loan words from which are mixed into Assyrian and Acadian cuneiform on the 20,000 tablets located at the city.

Professor Fikri Kulakoğlu, an archaeologist working on the site, which has been under excavation and study for 76 years, explained to Hurriyet Daily that the cheese would have been essential for life in the region.

“Four thousand years ago there was a cheese called ‘Kaniş Cheese.’ We read from these tablets that they took this with them,” Kulakoğlu told the Daily. “Obviously, whatever is in today’s geography, we see the same products in a similar way 4 thousand years ago.”

SIMILAR NEAR EAST DINING HABITS: 5,000 Year-Old Tavern Found in Iraq

“People took this cheese with them while traveling,” he added. “People at that time took boxed, sliced, and dried meat with them on their journeys. Even today, it is similar to preparing a normal sandwich in today’s conditions.”

Today, “pastırma” a spiced dry meat, is still a traditional foodstuff to carry on one’s person in the region, and Kulakoğlu stresses how there is no reason to believe the continuity connecting Hittite habits and today’s grab-and-go food culture has been interrupted.

CHEESE NEWS TODAY: First Ever Cheese Museum Opens in Paris: ‘It’s Gouda Brie a Delicious Visit’

It’s not the oldest example of cheesemaking in the world, as pottery found in Poland shows how comparatively primitive Neolithic cultures in Northern Europe were making cheese to circumvent lactose intolerance, or so it’s hypothesized, 2,000 years earlier than the Kaniş Cheese tablets.

KEEP The Cheese Wheel Of History Turning With Your Friends…

“Art teaches nothing, except the significance of life.” – Michael Korda

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Good News Network
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Quote of the Day: “Art teaches nothing, except the significance of life.” – Michael Korda

Photo by: Hayes Potter

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?

CRISPR Identifies Commonly Available Drug That Works as Cobra Venom Antidote

By
Andy Corbley
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Professor Greg Neely (right) and lead author Tian Du in the laboratories of the Charles Perkins Centre. Photo Fiona Wolf - University of Sydney
Professor Greg Neely (right) and lead author Tian Du in the laboratories of the Charles Perkins Centre. Photo Fiona Wolf – University of Sydney

In a scientific paper demonstrating multiple breakthroughs, scientists at Sydney and Liverpool have identified a commonly available blood thinner that doubles as an antidote to cobra venom.

The study relied on CRISPR gene modification technology to identify cells immune to snake venom and use them as case studies to figure out what would be the best mechanism for preventing necrosis from snake bites.

The authors describe snake bites in general as “the deadliest neglected tropical disease” and report that around 140,000 people every year die from them, with another 400,000 permanently wounded.

Snake venom comes in different forms. Cobra venom attacks cells directly causing necrosis, but also attacks the nervous system and can affect the heart and brain.

Antivenom is typically about 7 times as expensive as the average daily wage in countries where cobra bites are the highest, and many pharma companies will simply discontinue the products for this reason.

By examining the effect of cobra venom, what study author Professor Greg Heely refers to as a “three-finger toxin,” on human cells, he and his team found a cell pathway conserved in all known animal species that produces the related molecules heparan and heparin, the latter being a used as a blood thinner.

“Heparin is inexpensive, ubiquitous, and a World Health Organization-listed Essential Medicine. After successful human trials, it could be rolled out relatively quickly to become a cheap, safe, and effective drug for treating cobra bites,” says Ph.D. student and lead author, Tian Du, who like Professor Neely, resides at the University of Sydney, working in functional genomics.

Heparin and heparan are both targets of cobra venom, with heparan found on the cell surface and heparin being released during an immune response. Their similar structure means the venom can bind to both, and the “heparan/heparin sulfate biosynthesis pathway” was often the most heavily targeted component by the venom as a means to infiltrate cells, with 7 out of 11 components in the pathway attacked by the venom of the red spitting cobra, and 8 out of 11 by the venom of the black-necked spitting cobra.

The team used this knowledge to turn the heparin drug into an antidote that can stop necrosis in human cells and mice by flooding the bite zone with decoy molecules. The venom rapidly attacks the exogenous heparin, leaving the endogenous heparin and the cells containing it, intact.

OTHER SIMILAR NEGLECTED MEDICINE: FDA Approves New Drug for A Timeless Illness–Frostbite–to Save Fingers and Toes from Amputation

Cobras are part of the Elapidae family of snakes which include sea snakes, mambas, and coral snakes. In some parts of Asia and Africa, cobras are responsible for more bite deaths and amputations than any other group.

In an interesting secondary discovery, the team hypothesized how their method could be used to find other use cases for antivenoms. In a video explainer, Professor Neely says that there aren’t many different kinds of venom across the animal kingdom, and finding a way to crack the code of one offers the chance to develop antivenoms much more rapidly.

MORE BREAKTHROUGH MEDICINES: Scientists Find Potential Universal Anti-Venom to Treat Snakebites, from Kraits to King Cobras.

The three-finger toxins present in cobra venom are also found in the terribly toxic blue bottle jellyfish of Australia, which the team says is next on their list for antivenom research.

It was hypothesized when CRISPR first entered the public zeitgeist that it would be monopolized by wealthy industrialized nations to create a slew of aesthetic products and treatments to enhance beauty or longevity. It’s inspiring to see CRISPR be used directly for the benefit of the poorest and most vulnerable members of the world.

SHARE This Amazing Discovery And The Thousands Of Lives It Could Save… 

NASA Stunned by Discovery After Mars Rover Breaks Open a Rock

By
Andy Corbley
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NASA
NASA

NASA’s old but still kickin’ Curiosity rover drove over a boulder, which crumbled to reveal yellow sulfur crystals.

Rocks made of pure sulfur have never been seen before on the Red Planet, and scientists say the conditions in which such crystals form aren’t associated with the location the rover was exploring.

Since October 2023, the rover has been exploring a region of Mars rich with sulfates, a kind of salt that contains sulfur and forms as water evaporates. But where past detections have been of minerals consisting of a mix of sulfur and other materials, the rock Curiosity recently cracked open is made of elemental, or pure, sulfur.

“It forms in only a narrow range of conditions that scientists haven’t associated with the history of this location,” a NASA spokesperson said.

“And Curiosity found a lot of it—an entire field of bright rocks that look similar to the one the rover crushed.”

Curiosity made the discovery while off-roading within Gediz Vallis channel, a groove that winds down part of the 3-mile-tall (5-kilometre-tall) Mount Sharp, the base of which the rover has been ascending since 2014.

NASA says it isn’t clear what relationship, if any, the elemental sulfur has to other sulfur-based minerals in the area.

Curiosity’s project scientist, Ashwin Vasavada of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, compared finding a field of stones made of pure sulfur to “finding an oasis in the desert.”

MORE NEWS LIKE THIS: Lava Tubes and Water Frost Found on Mars Offer Double Opportunity in Search for Life

“It shouldn’t be there, so now we have to explain it. Discovering strange and unexpected things is what makes planetary exploration so exciting,” said Vasavada.

CNN reports that Vasavada and the team have seen evidence of bright white calcium sulfate, also known as gypsum, within cracks on the Martian surface that are essentially hard-water deposits left behind by ancient groundwater flows.

MOST RECENT ROVER DISCOVERIES: Scientists Puzzling Over Bright White Rock on Mars – the First of its Kind, Never Seen Before

The mineral itself is no pink diamond: sulfur is the tenth most common element by mass in the universe, and the fifth most common on Earth. Elsewhere in the solar system, it may be present near the Lunar crater Aristarchus, while the distinctive colors of Jupiter’s enormous satellite Io are believed to result from forms of molten, solid, and gaseous sulfur.

Thankfully, while people associate sulfur with the smell of rotten eggs, the result of hydrogen sulfide gas, NASA confirms that elemental sulfur is odorless.

SHARE This Update On Martian Exploration With Your Friends… 

Man Builds an Electricity-Generating Windmill in His Own Garden

By
Andy Corbley
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Gareth Ross Buddell with his handmade backyard wind turbine – SWNS
Gareth Ross Buddell with his handmade backyard wind turbine – SWNS

Often called windmills out of habit, wind turbines generate electricity kinetically from the force of the wind.

However an Englishman has further complicated things by building both—a windmill based on a 12th-century example that also doubles as a wind turbine. Sitting in his garden, he believes it can power his whole house.

Gareth Ross Buddell built the structure in his home garden in Swindon. He is next looking to test its capabilities on a windy hillside, where he explains more than 10,000 of the structures would once have been visible across the UK.

“I think they would look fantastic,” he told English media outlet SWNS, gesturing to the hillside. “You could use them to pump up water for the farms at the top, or for heating, or you could run a line down to the school and get the school free electricity.”

To ensure his plans were based on historic originals, Gareth purchased over 1,700 survey drawings of the Bourn Windmill in Cambridgeshire, approximated the measurements, and then reconstructed a quarter-size copy in his garden.

Gareth relied on his skills and education as a classical boat builder at the Falmouth Marine School, which also serves him at his day job repairing furniture. The windmill is built mainly of green oak and can rotate to be directed at the wind. He sewed the sails himself from a curtain he bought in a thrift store.

The mill’s generator produces 100 amps at 12 volts when spinning at its optimum speed.

Although the mill currently looks “beautiful” on the main street of his hometown of Bishopsville, the wind is insufficient to turn the sails, so he will take the portable mill to higher land to test its functionality.

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“God gives you the wind; you have just got to mill it!” said Gareth enthusiastically. “A green oak windmill costs less than £500 to knock up and it is 100 percent renewable and recyclable.”

– SWNS

In England, certain rural areas have protected aesthetics, and Gareth says he’s had no problems with local government because it’s an agricultural building at its heart.

Unlike wind turbines with dangerous blades that move at high speed, the sails move at a low speed.

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Gareth intends to send the design to King Charles to get the eco-conscious monarch’s opinion.

SEND This Great DIY Project With Your Friends Inspired By Home Building… 

Salmon Return to the Heart of UK for First Time in 100 Years After Dam Removal: ‘It’s very rewarding’

By
Andy Corbley
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Weir in the River Derwent at Chatsworth House, similar to the one removed to allow the salmon to pass - credit Tom Bendall
Weir in the River Derwent at Chatsworth House, similar to the one removed to allow the salmon to pass – credit Tom Bendall

In the north-central English county of Derbyshire, the removal of a dam has hundreds of salmon swimming up a beloved river once again.

It’s the first time in 100 years that salmon have reached so far up the River Derwent, and it’s caused quite a stir among the locals.

While the industrial activity in the East Midlands which first drove Atlantic salmon out of the Derwent is now gone, there were still weirs and other obstacles the fish can’t overcome on their journey upstream.

After years of feeding in the ocean, the incredible salmon can return hundreds of miles upstream to find the same stretch of river—even the exact same tributary—where they were born in order to breed and lay eggs.

It’s one of the most famous journeys in the animal kingdom, but it’s one the citizens of Derbyshire are only recently getting to know again.

“We’d started to see large salmon turning up in the Derwent in winter,” Dr. Tim Jacklin, a Conservation Officer for the Wild Trout Trust, told the UK Natural History Museum.

“They became sort of local celebrities really. People were going out with their head torches at night and looking into the river, because it’s not a particularly large watercourse and these fish were quite literally as long as your arm, without it being an angler’s tale.”

While the reduction in pollution allowed the salmon to return, it wasn’t until wildlife organizations like Wild Trout and Derbyshire Wild Trust began to remove river obstacles like weirs and dams that the salmon could reach the upper stretches of the River Derwent where it becomes the Ecclesborne.

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In particular to this story was the weir at Snake Lane, which once removed allowed the salmon to continue on their journey. The weir was replaced with several boulders that created rapids.

“It’s very rewarding,” says Tim. “We opened up a good ten kilometers of spawning habitat upstream, so that translates into hundreds more juvenile salmon that make their way downstream and hopefully to come back and spawn.”

MORE UK RIVER RESTORATION: After Scenic Waterway Declines, Government Sides with Activists to Intervene on the Wye River’s Behalf

Dam removal has become a widespread conservation practice in Europe and North America. In cases too numerous to list here, the dams and other obstacles like weirs are no longer used, but are too complex and expensive a demolition job for most local governments to undertake. In America, millions of salmon will soon be returning to ancestral spawning grounds as three dams on the Klamath River are set for demolition in the largest operation of its kind in history.

SHARE This Great River Story With Your Friends Who Love Wildlife… 

“History is full of people whose influence was most powerful after they were gone.” – Rebecca Solnit

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Good News Network
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Quote of the Day: “History is full of people whose influence was most powerful after they were gone.” – Rebecca Solnit

Photo by: Leon Seibert

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?

‘Shy’ Senior Lands Modeling Career at 70 After Stranger’s Instagram Post Goes Viral

By
Good News Network
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Senior Anne Flanagan starts a modeling career at age 70 – SWNS
Senior Anne Flanagan starts a modeling career at age 70 – SWNS

A retiree says she spent her life with low self-esteem, but now she can be seen on catwalks after a stranger approached her on the street, wanting to take a photo.

Irishwoman Anne Flanagan had never modeled before and always thought of herself as a serious person.

But after a chance meeting in January with a photographer in Belfast, she found her confidence—and a desire to have a little fun.

“I saw someone coming towards me with a camera,” said the 70-year-old, who is always happy to help a tourist by giving directions.

Christopher Ward didn’t need directions. He told her he runs the Instagram page Model Strangers, and wanted to snap her photo. Once he showed her the account, she said yes—and the post went viral.

Anne was delighted by the commenters saying how empowering the photos made them feel. Soon, people began recognizing her on the street.

“I was stopped in a coffee shop, and this lady said, ‘are you Anne?’

“They love seeing an older person being given a platform.”

SWNS reported she was “quickly snapped up by a modeling agency, a clothing brand, and a shopping centre fashion show”.

Anne Flanagan (via SWNS)

“The photos taken of me give me a boost,” said Anne. “If I’m able to represent older women, I’m thrilled with that.”

The mother of two spent her life working—as a career counselor, a social security officer, and a corporate services director—so after she retired, her daughters said she should be doing something a bit more fun.

After seeing her photos, a local boutique contracted Anne to model their clothes in April.

“The day of the shoot, I felt so sick and unprepared.” But, she went in, just being herself and ‘enjoyed it enormously’.

“That was my very first foray into this bizarre world.”

She is also booked to model at the Victoria Square ‘Park and Stride’ fashion show, this Autumn.

(via SWNS)

Anne says her favorite part about her “new career” is proving to herself that life doesn’t end at 70.

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“It’s not over as soon as you hit 70,” she said.

“I’ve been absolutely overjoyed by the amount of older people who stop me and say things to me.

“They say it’s ‘great to see someone our age, who’s been spotted for standing out.’

“I just think it’s great that an older woman is getting so much good publicity.”

WORK FOR LOVE: Senior Finds Love and Connection Greeting People at Walmart After Husband Dies: ‘Working is beautiful therapy’ (WATCH)

INSPIRE YOUR ELDERS By Sharing This on Social Media…

Boy in Foster Care Allowed to Stay With Disabled Brother When Loving Parents Agree to Adopt Them Both–WATCH

By
Good News Network
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Dalton and Dawson – Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption
Dalton and Dawson – Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption

At the age of 7, Dawson lived in fear that he and his older brother Dalton wouldn’t get the chance to grow up together because they were floundering in foster care.

Adoption would be difficult because Dalton has cerebral palsy and epilepsy, is nonverbal, and a quadriplegic. Although several families were interested in Dawson, he was worried that finding a forever home could lead to separation.

Thankfully, with help from the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption and Florida parents Robbin and Steven, the boys are now together—and thriving.

When Dawson first arrived at his new Florida home, he was in second grade, yet had a reading level of a kindergartner. But with the love and security provided for him and his brother, the boy began to flourish.

“The light clicked, and it was game on,” said his mom. “He reached the honor roll for four straight semesters.”

Today, Robbin gushes that she couldn’t have asked for two better sons.

“Dawson is the person he is because he got the opportunity to keep his brother. It’s half of him—that’s his heart.”

Robbin and Steve with adopted sons Dalton and Dawson – Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption

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His brother’s medical problems have also inspired Dawson to dream of becoming a doctor, wanting to take care of people the way Dalton’s doctors did.

“There isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for Dalton,” said his little brother. “I just love being with him.”

Steve and Robbin now have a handicap-accessible van and a new wheelchair for Dalton, and is currently working with local vendors to put in an accessible swimming pool.

“Dalton is the greatest gift I was ever given,” said Robbin, in a YouTube video by the Foundation. “He brings more joy, more love than any person I ever met.”

See the happy-ending vibes in the video below…

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SPREAD THE LOVE By Sharing the Inspiring Story on Social Media…

One in Three Americans Believe They Have a Way to Strike it Rich: New Poll

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Good News Network
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By Giorgio Trovato (cropped)
By Giorgio Trovato (cropped)

One in three Americans believe they have an idea they think could one day make them wealthy, according to new poll.

From writing the next big novel to a hot stock tip or turning an invention into product, the survey found 33% saying they feel they have a tantalizing idea they think could make waves in the market.

And if that doesn’t come to fruition, there’s always pure hope for 19% of the respondents, who have a strong feeling that they’ll one day win big in the lottery.

The survey, conducted by Talker Research in partnership with Wealth of Geeks, found 17% of those with a wealth-generating idea hoping to use an inheritance or some family money.

Men were significantly more likely to feel confident that their idea was going to make them wealthy—39% vs. 26% of women.

Four in ten of those currently holding onto a wealth-driving idea want to start a business or service—and one quarter (26%) believe it is a game-changing product that’s never been done before.

From energy-creating mushrooms to a new type of burger or fresh ideas using AI to blow away the competition, many Americans are quietly working away on their big hope for later-day success.

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A new type of ceiling fan, ideas for a new social media platform or plans to launch an irresistible food truck were among the broad concepts for which these Americans were hatching plans.

Many are also putting hope in their creative endeavors by working on the next great American novel or developing the music they one day hope to share with the world.

But while many harbor an optimism that their finances could take a turn for the better, not all of us have faith that fortune will come our way.

Just 10% of those polled describe themselves as ‘very lucky’ when it comes to money, with 21% ‘somewhat lucky.’

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That might be why 39% say they’ll need some sort of luck or financial windfall in order to be comfortable later in life and 10% are relying on inheritance to feel the same way.

Luckily, a whopping 27% say they also have a stock tip they believe has the potential to make them a millionaire.

MORE OPTIMISM: Three-Quarters of Small Business Owners Believe They’re Equipped to Handle Any Economic Instability

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