Quote of the Day: “You can give without loving, but you can never love without giving.” – Robert Louis Stevenson
Photo by: Kateryna Hliznitsova for Unsplash+
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On this day 71 years ago, The Johnny Carson Show debuted on CBS television. The prime-time variety show was a traditional potpourri of monologue, comedy, music, dance, and skits. The series was short-lived, but planted the seeds for sketches he would later perform on The Tonight Show, such as “The Mighty Carson Art Players.” WATCH a highlight reel from the Tonight Show… (1955)
From the halls of Westminster comes the news that English farmers may finally be covered under a national agriculture policy that extends beyond the next harvest.
In what it described as “the most significant moment for English agriculture since the Second World War,” the currently-leaderless Labor government has prepared a 25-year farming plan to make the industry more profitable, productive, sustainable, and resilient.
Called Farming Roadmap 2050: Growing England’s Future, the plan has centered around rejoining farmers’ interests and suggestions in a way that balances existing environmental commitments around land management and conservation, as well as dramatically expanding the definition of agriculture by adding to the sector all work that comes as a direct result of agricultural production, for example English dairy and brewing made possible by English hops and milk.
This new measurement increases the recognized contribution in economic terms of the agriculture sector to 6.1% of the national economy, a 10-fold increase from the previous metric of 0.6%. Additionally, the new metric puts 1 in every 10 workers into the agriculture or “agri-food” sector, making it one of the largest employers in the country.
The Roadmap comes off the back of a review on profitability in English faming conducted by Baroness Minette Batters, a working farmer, president of the National Farmers’ Union of England and Wales from 2018 to 2024, and a current member of the British Parliament in the House of Lords.
The ‘Batters Review’ featured 57 recommendations, not one of which came from a politician, “including making farm reservoirs easier to build, improving access to finance and tackling the shortages of workers to harvest salads and berries,” The Times reported.
There is a doubling of government investment into agriculture innovation like soil health monitoring, nutrient cycling, climate resilience, and robotics. In total, the Roadmap adopted 53 of the 57 recommendations.
Emma Reynolds, the current Environmental Minister, spoke with the Times about the Roadmap and the value it will return to English farming.
“That [0.6 per cent figure] massively underplays and underestimates the value of farming. I think it’s completely inaccurate and has led some people to underestimating the value of the sector.”
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“Of course farming doesn’t stop at the farm gate. We should look at agri-food in the whole. And the agri-food sector is massive. It’s got the economic value that’s equivalent to the automotive sector or the construction sector.”
Other benefits included in the farming overhaul will be promises to work to cut trade friction with the EU, combining multiple government service and regulatory accounts into a single platform for ease of use, launching a $39 million fund for supporting small producer expansions, and extending the current visa program for seasonal harvest workers until 2030.
MORE STORIES LIKE THIS: UK Aims for ‘Moonshot’ Goal of Restoring Nature Across Area the Size of Greater London
“I have spent every day in this role rebuilding our relationship with farmers brick by brick because they’re such an important part of our economy, our society, and our environment,” Minister Reynolds said in a statement. “We are looking at how farming is valued economically and socially to ensure it receives the recognition it deserves.”
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Across Asia, children are living past their 1st birthday at record rates that underscore just how successful the region has been at raising the standards of living.
In India, China, and Indonesia—the world’s 3 most populous nations, infant mortality rates have fallen to record lows.
The most populous of the 3, India, recorded a drop in its infant mortality rate of 30 per 1,000 live births in 2019 to 24 in 2024. Tragically this is still more than 4-times higher than the US, but India is a vast nation with a dramatic variance in income and poverty levels.
Several states including lower-income Bihar and higher income Tamil Nadu have recorded nearly 50% drops in the mortality rate. Part of the success has been the dramatic rise in the percentage of live births where mothers received medical attention—from 83% to 95% over the same period.
In 2025, China’s infant mortality rate dropped to 3.8 per 1,000 live births, and the under-5 mortality rate fell to 5.4 per 1,000 live births, according to Fu Wei, director of the country’s Department of Maternal and Child Health.
This was fewer infant mortality events than countries like the US, France, and Portugal, and a major accomplishment for an upper-middle income country. China’s public medical insurance, though covering 95% of the country, is lean in terms of what it will insure against, and how much it will cover in terms of cost.
Among its free offerings is medical care for children aged 0-6, aiming to build a foundation of health and reduce future impacts on the health system for the rest of the child’s life.
Lastly, in Indonesia, considered along with China to be an upper-middle income country, the country recorded its lowest ever infant mortality rate of 14 per 1,000 live births in 2024. This marks a 50% fall from 2010 according to data from the World Bank Group.
CELEBRATE All These Babies Living To See Their 1st Birthday With Your Friends…
A Critically-Endangered and critically important vulture species has been sighted in a Cambodian wildlife sanctuary for the first time in 10 years.
After a poisoning incident decimated the local population of white-rumped vultures, there were substantial efforts made to increase the supply of habitat and food, and to reduce the chance of future poisonings.
Lomphat Wildlife Sanctuary surveyors spotted a white-rumped vulture this month at a “vulture restaurant” inside the sanctuary, encouraging those at NatureLife Cambodia who operate the restaurant, and conservationists working in the sanctuary.
Bou Vorsak, chief executive of NatureLife Cambodia, described the rediscovery as an important milestone for the organization’s long-term conservation work, Cambodianess reported.
“As a partner of the Ministry of Environment, we have worked for years to protect wildlife, particularly in Lomphat Wildlife Sanctuary,” Vorsak said. “The return of the White-rumped Vulture shows that our conservation efforts are making a difference by improving habitat conditions and ensuring a reliable food source.”
The survey which identified the white-rumped returner also spotted 5 red-headed vultures, another species considered Critically-Endangered by the IUCN that Vorsak and his colleagues are working to protect within Lomphat Sanctuary.
Vultures play a vital yet underappreciated role in all ecosystems by quickly devouring carcasses of larger animals. This not only helps prevent disease outbreaks, but recycles nutrients into the soil far faster than bacteria and insects can.
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Feeding thusly on carrion exclusively, however, vultures are at extreme risk of poisoning if they feed on a poisoned animal: either one killed by lead bullets or shot, or poisoned by industrial agri-chemicals like DDT.
“Poisoning remains a threat despite our awareness campaigns,” Vorsak said. “The number of incidents has dropped significantly, from more than 30 cases a year in the past to around 1 to 3 cases annually.”
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To help not only protect the vultures from poisoning but also ensure a steady food supply during leaner times, NatureLifes operate a vulture feeding station that distributes a large carcass for the resident vultures once a month.
Less than 200 vultures were counted in the organization’s latest survey, showing just how precarious these birds’ existence is.
SHARE This Encouraging Sign To Keep Working Hard Preserving Cambodian Wildlife…
50 million Africans living in 40 countries now have access to electricity for the first time thanks to a $15 billion development initiative by the World Bank and African Development Bank Group (ADB).
Called Mission 300, it aims to halve the number of people living without reliable electricity by 2030 by pioneering and working to finance and implement National Energy Compacts—fixed agendas for public ministries, commercial operators, and investors to coalesce around.
African development has been a mixed story since the end of colonialism, with shining examples of Botswana and post-war Rwanda clashing with others like Zimbabwe or Sierra Leone.
It’s a testament to these earlier failures that 600 million people could still be living without electricity on the continent. There’s nothing mysterious about why economies grow and why they don’t, in the same way that there’s nothing mysterious about how to finish an ultra-marathon: that doesn’t make it any easier.
Mission 300’s National Energy Compacts may finally be the ticket, at least regarding electrification. Indeed, households are receiving their first stable power supplies twice as frequently now as when Mission 300 began in 2024, and more than 30 countries have now created or are already working under a National Energy Compact.
In Tanzania, for example, 7.5 million people have gained access to power under Mission 300—a five-fold increase in the average annual pace of electrification prior to the initiative.
In Ethiopia, 4.6 million people have been connected, supported by reforms that made grid connections more affordable.
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“50 million people connected is a milestone—but the bigger story is the pace and the partnership behind it,” said Ajay Banga, President of the World Bank Group.
“Mission 300 is helping countries move faster, connect more people, and build a platform that will last well beyond this effort — one others can use, build on, and scale for years to come. At the end of the day, electricity is not just about power. It is about what it enables: jobs, business, health care, education, and opportunity.”
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To date, the African Development Bank Group and the World Bank Group have committed nearly $15 billion in financing and attracted about $4.5 billion in co-financing for Mission 300-related projects, while additional development partners have pledged more than $7 billion in support of Africa’s energy sector.
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Quote of the Day: “I am always doing that which I cannot do in order that I may learn how to do it.” – Pablo Picasso
Photo by: Samuel Castro
With a new inspirational quote every day, atop the perfect photo—collected and archived on our Quotes page—why not bookmark GNN.org for a daily uplift?
70 years ago today, the Interstate Highway System was established in the US to create a national road grid that today totals 48,440 miles across all 50 states (78,000 km). It ushered in the first national road numbering system for cross-country travel and they all have unified sign design. READ more… (1956)
A new high tech jacket developed by engineers at the University of Texas can pull drinking water from thin air.
With the advance in fabric technology, the jacket can collect up to one-and-a-half pints of drinkable water a day, say scientists.
They suggest the ground-breaking technology could benefit anyone who spends a lot of time in areas without easy access to drinking water, like hikers, campers, runners, agricultural workers, and soldiers.
“Water harvesting from air is usually imagined as a stationary device such as a box, a panel. We wanted to rethink the form,” said research co-leader Professor Guihua Yu. By focusing on the fibers rather than building another bulky device, the researchers overcame a common problem in the field.
He explained that the textile incorporated into the jacket collects moisture and funnels it to detachable harvesting units, which are then “placed in a foldable collector and heated to produce the water”.
The jacket produced between 400 and 900 milliliters (0.7 to 1.5 pints) of drinkable water per day, depending on humidity levels, according to a study published in the journal Science Advances.
Compared with conventional water-harvesting materials, the textile showed a three- to 10-fold improvement at scale.
“The important advance here is that the team did not simply make another material that absorbs water,” said study co-author Professor Keith Johnston.
“They designed a pathway for water to move quickly, from vapor in the air to liquid on the fiber surface, and then into the interior of the textile.
The researchers are now eyeing applications beyond clothing – including backpacks, tents, emergency shelters and other outdoor gear, allowing items people carry every day to help collect water. They also plan to look at applying the technology to remote field operations, disaster response, and water access in arid or infrastructure-limited regions.
A separate device developed by the same research team pulled a record amount of drinking water from the air using solar power—in both the arid climate of the Chihuahuan Desert and the humidity of Austin, Texas.
In tests, the researchers captured 1.3 liters (2.3 pints) of clean water per day in both locations. That equates to 4.3 liters (7.5 pints) of water per kilo of moisture-capturing materials per day—more than any other research group has achieved, according to a paper published in the journal Nature Water.
“This is a big stride toward practical atmospheric water harvesting,” said study co-lead author Weixin Guan.
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At the center of the team’s work is AirGel, a specially-engineered hydrogel fabric made from biomass-derived materials. The fabric absorbs moisture from the air, then releases it when warmed.
“This goal has been incubated over years of work, from molecular design to real-world operation, and it is especially meaningful to see those pieces finally come together in a field-ready system,” said Guan.
The University’s research commercialization unit, has filed a patent application for the technology.
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Two ‘super-puff’ planets lighter than cotton candy have been discovered by scientists—and they’re bigger than Jupiter.
They are among the lowest-density giant planets ever detected, according to a new study.
The two planets orbit a dwarf star located around 1,110 light years from Earth in the southern constellation of Volans.
Although both planets—named TOI-791b and TOI-791c—are around the size of Jupiter, researchers say they are “extraordinarily” diffuse.
Jupiter’s density is 1.33 grams per cubic centimeter, while TOI-791b has a density of just 0.038 grams per cubic cm, and TOI-791c’s density is just 0.047—that’s 28 to 35 times lighter.
The new planets’ densities are even lower than cotton candy, which typically has a density of about 0.05 grams per cubic centimeter. In contrast, Earth’s density is 5.5 grams per cubic centimeter, according to the study published in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, led by University of Oxford scientists working with researchers from the University of Birmingham and the Université Côte d’Azur in France.
The planets are “siblings” believed to have formed together from the same disc of gas and dust surrounding their young star.
They are also locked in a rare gravitational relationship known as a 5:3 mean-motion resonance, meaning that for every five orbits completed by the inner planet, the outer planet completes almost exactly three.
The research team says that gravitational interaction causes the planets to repeatedly “tug” on one another, producing measurable shifts in the timing of their transits across the host star.
“Only a handful of these super-puffy planets are known, and it is even rarer to find two in the same system,” said lead author Dr. George Dransfield, from Oxford.
“Their extremely low densities make them fascinating targets for understanding how planetary systems form and evolve.”
They were first identified as possible planets by citizen-science volunteers participating in the Planet Hunters TESS project, which searches NASA data for possible new worlds.
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Scientists then measured the planets’ densities by combining observations of their sizes and masses using telescopes located around the world, including Antarctica (where the ASTEP is located—Antarctic Search for Transiting ExoPlanets).
The Antarctic winter provided a unique advantage for one of their telescopes: months of continuous darkness enabled astronomers to capture the planets’ exceptionally long transits, each lasting more than 11 hours, in a single uninterrupted observation—the longest continuous planetary transits ever observed in their entirety from the ground.
Transits are crucial for the research because when a planet passes in front of its host star the view slightly dims the star’s light, and the amount of dimming reveals the planet’s size.
The researchers detected subtle variations in the timing of the transits, caused by the two planets gravitationally tugging on one another as they orbit the star. By analyzing the timing shifts, the team was able to estimate the planets’ masses and calculate their remarkably low densities.
“Bringing together observations from Antarctica, space telescopes, and observatories across several continents was essential to revealing the true nature of these extraordinary planets,” said co-author Professor Tristan Guillot, from the Université Côte d’Azur
Astronomers are still debating how super-puff planets form.
The researchers intend to carry out further investigations to understand more about how the puff-planets formed, and to rule out some of the explanations.
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“We propose to carry out space-based observations using the James Webb Space Telescope to assess if the puffy atmosphere contains carbon-, nitrogen-, and oxygen-bearing species, revealing new insight into how these unusual planets formed,” explained study co-author Professor Amaury Triaud, from the University of Birmingham.
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A 48-year-old woman who won a million in the lottery immediately gave her neighbors a gift of five thousand, so they can travel on their first family vacation abroad.
Honorata Jamrozik scooped up the life-changing tax-free prize in the UK Omaze Monthly Millionaire Draw—and her first act was selfless generosity.
The kind-hearted foster care mother surprised her neighbors of 14 years with the cash to spend on a family getaway.
“It’s a life-changing prize for us, but also for our friends and family,” said the woman from Dartford, Kent, who says she can go back to fostering kids thanks to the influx of money. “Now we can help make life easier for our loved ones—and that is the best feeling in the world.
“Good neighbors are one of life’s true blessings. They have been wonderful since the day we moved in, and they feel like family to us.
“Being able to give them money for a holiday so they can make some magical memories together makes me so happy.”
Polish-born Honorata, who’s lived in the UK for 25 years, had been grieving the loss of her father just two weeks earlier, and she learned about her new fortune after returning from his funeral in Poland.
And she’s convinced he’s the one who ‘sent it’ to her: “He’ll always be the angel sitting on my shoulder, and I know it was him who sent this gift to me.”
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Honorata had spent seven years providing foster care—work she adored—before having to give it up, so she could care for her elderly parents back in Poland, which required a lot of traveling back and forth.
She says her big windfall now means she’ll be able to return to the role she loves.
“I just wanted to change the lives of kids who haven’t had an easy start in life.
“I’m blessed that I was able to help children of all ages find a better future. I absolutely love fostering—and this win means I can carry on doing what I love. Winning just makes everything so much easier.”
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The mom-of-two won the prize worth £1 million British pounds ($1.3mil), as part of her £15 monthly subscription ($20).
Her husband of almost 20 years had no idea that she’d been entering the drawings. He’d always been dismissive when it came to luck—as neither of them had ever won anything before.
“I’ll never forget that moment for as long as I live,” she recalled
“My husband always joked I had more chance of being struck by lightning than winning a million pounds. I guess I better be extra careful next time there’s a storm outside.”
As well as paying for their neighbor’s dream getaway, the couple will also book their own once-in-a-lifetime trip to mark their 20th wedding anniversary in October.
“We can afford to do something really special for our 20th anniversary now—go on a big family holiday somewhere lovely, I’ve already started planning!
“We will take my mother as she deserves a break more than anyone, I’m so happy we can enjoy this win together.”
“Helping the people we love is what this win is all about for us.”
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The Omaze Monthly Millionaire Draw runs every month, guaranteeing one UK winner £1 million, tax-free, each time.
At the same time it is changing Honorata’s life forever, Omaze raises money for good causes across the UK through its prize drawings, with more than £140 million raised to support UK charity partners since launching in 2020.
MAKE HER AN EXAMPLE By Sharing That Generosity on Social Media…
A shipwreck off the British coast, including a treasure of hundreds of gold coins, has finally been identified after 30 years.
The 400-year-old ship discovered off the coast of Devon, England, has now been identified as the Dutch trading ship ‘Dom van Keulen’, which sailed from Morocco for the Netherlands in the autumn of 1633.
Found by the South West Maritime Archaeology Group, its cargo included 9,000 Barbary ducats (widely used European coins made of gold or silver), and gold Moroccan coins, along with 320 goat skins, 150 bags of gum arabic, and 64 bags of saltpeter.
The announcement came in a new book, From Morocco to the Coast of England: The Story of the Dom van Keulen and its Remarkable Cargo.
“It is thought that most of the cargo was salvaged at the time, but more than 400 coins remained on the seabed until they were discovered by the Archaeology Group in 1995,” said Professor Dave Parham, professor of maritime archaeology at Bournemouth University and the book’s co-editor who collaborated with the British Museum on the research.
Independent Historian, Ian Friel, who helped identify the ship, has uncovered documents in the National Archive relating to its voyage from Morocco to the Netherlands during which the crew “met with much tempestuous weather”.
The ship sprang a leak and sank close to the coastal town of Salcombe, off the south coast of England, but the entire crew survived.
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The 400 coins, along with other cargo from the wreck, are currently on display at the British Museum—all having originated along the Barbary Coast, today’s Morocco.
“The discovery of African gold from under the sea off the coast of Devon was an amazing discovery,” said Jeremy D. Hill, head of research at the British Museum. “It raised so many questions about how it came to be there.”
Answering those questions required a team of experts collaborating for years.
The story can now be told—and it provides tangible evidence of the flourishing 17th-century maritime trade linking Morocco, the Low Countries, and Britain.
It also illuminates the history of trade in African gold and the wealth and architecture of the Sa‘dian Sharifs, an Arab dynasty that ruled Morocco from 1549 to 1659.
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“It reminds us how much there is still to be found under our seas,” added Hill.
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Quote of the Day: “Wine is constant proof that God loves us and loves to see us happy.” – Benjamin Franklin
Photo by: Getty Images for Unsplash+
With a new inspirational quote every day, atop the perfect photo—collected and archived on our Quotes page—why not bookmark GNN.org for a daily uplift?
Happy 100th Birthday to Mel Brooks, the comic and writer who became the legendary director of comedies like Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein, and The Producers. One of the most successful film directors of the 1970s, Brooks was married to actress Anne Bancroft for 41 years until her death in 2005. He co-wrote TV’s Get Smart, and recorded the LP The 2000 Year Old Man, which propelled him into an exclusive club of entertainers honored with the EGOT grand slam—for winning an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony. WATCH his bio and interview from several years ago… (1926)
Two “worthless” garden statues thought to be made of cheap concrete were discovered to be rare 18th-century Italian marble masterpieces, earning the homeowner a nice payday after their sale.
An estate-sale expert spotted the tatty chipped busts in the undergrowth around a house that was being cleared out in Kent, England.
The owner used them as garden decorations, thinking they were low value concrete figurines, but closer inspection revealed the statues were carved in the early 1700s by craftsmen in Florence, Italy.
Placed up for auction this week, the two Florentine busts—one depicting Apollo and the other Diana—sparked a bidding war between collectors and architectural salvage companies.
They fetched around $3,000 each, with the hammer falling to a round of applause.
They were discovered by Hansons Auctioneers’ Justin Matthews during a routine house valuation in the village of Boughton Monchelsea.
“The owner thought they were mass produced and made of concrete and was surprised when I told him I thought otherwise.”
Dating from 1720-1730, the busts probably came to Britain during the Grand Tour era when wealthy travelers scoured Europe for classical treasures.
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“Both may once have formed part of a much larger architectural scheme, perhaps decorating a grand staircase, formal garden, or a classical façade before eventually making their way to England.”
The figures would have been instantly recognizable to Georgian collectors in the 1700s but their heavily weathered look after centuries of erosion, lichen, and surface deposits hid their true value, until experts later uncovered the hand-carved marble beneath the grime.
Apollo—god of music, poetry and the sun—is depicted bare-chested and draped in the classical Roman style. Diana—goddess of the hunt and moon—appears in flowing robes in the neo-classical style popular across Europe at the time.
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“Many comparable pieces imported to Britain during the Georgian era were lost, broken up, or dispersed as estate collections were dismantled over the centuries,” said Justin.
“The survival of the pair is remarkable.”
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A Bavarian wildlife rescue organization is using thermal imaging drones to locate and rescue vulnerable fawns hidden in tall meadow grass ahead of the annual mowing season.
Every spring, thousands of fawns are killed by mowing machinery across Germany. Baby deer instinctively freeze when threatened, a natural defense mechanism that protects them from predators but leaves them vulnerable to farm equipment.
Traditionally, this work was done on foot—with volunteers walking through the meadows in lines—an extremely labor-intensive task for this volunteer rescue group founded in 2020.
Now, with the thermal imaging of DJI drones, the rescue group, Rehkitz-Rettung Mangfalltal, can locate these hidden animals more quickly and efficiently before mowing begins, especially with the drone’s AI technology features that help pilots reliably spot fawns, baby hares, and ground-nesting birds.
Since integrating drone technology into their workflow, the group’s annual count of rescued fawns has ballooned from 10-15 in previous years to between 300 and 350 fawns today.
In a case study, operators used the Matrice 4 Series’ precision positioning controls to spot heat signatures in vegetation, verify them visually, and direct ground teams to the exact location. (See the video below…)
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Whenever the thermal camera detects a heat source, its location is pinned with centimeter-level accuracy using the drone’s GPS and shared instantly with the ground team.
The German case study also provides a video step-by-step guide on the rescue process, including drone operations from an altitude of 80–100 meters and how to handle fawns once they are found.
Thanks to the Rehkitz-Rettung Mangfalltal volunteers and drone pilots, farmers are able to happily proceed with mowing—confident that fields have been safely cleared of hidden animals. WATCH the Reuters news video below…
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A hospital in south London opened a garden on its rooftop where Critical Care patients can spend hours in the fresh air and sunlight.
ICU patients visiting the rooftop garden receive “full life support” while experiencing the therapeutic benefits of the natural surroundings.
Located on top of the hospital’s 60-bed critical care unit, King’s College Hospital says their roof garden has space for up to six beds.
The best part is that each patient can be safely cared-for—without being disconnected from essential life-support systems.
Six specially-designed weatherproof cabinets keep the patients close to power, data, and medical gas supplies, just like they would receive on the unit.
The hospital’s team will also be able to research how exposure to fresh air, greenery and sunlight can reduce stress, lower blood pressure, and improve the well-being of patients—and the families and staff who care for them.
Dr. Tom Best, Clinical Director of King’s Critical Care, said many of their patients spend weeks or even months receiving intensive care—and research shows that time spent in nature can improve recovery outcomes.
“It’s important to treat the whole person and this outdoor critical care unit helps meet our goal of caring for the mind as well as the body,” he said in a media release.
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Iona Joy, Director of Grants at the King’s College Hospital Charity, said the garden—the first of its kind in the UK—is about dignity, humanity, and innovation.
“We are transforming intensive care into compassionate care—where science, technology, and empathy work together to save and rebuild lives.”
“When you’re stuck inside all day there’s no motivation to try and get back to normal life,” said Holly, who is waiting for a vital heart operation and spends hours at a time on the outdoor ward.
“Even if it was thunderstorms, I’d be out here,” she told the BBC. “It’s lovely.”
The garden designers, landscape architect Nigel Dunnett—a professor at the University of Sheffield—and Sarah Price—a three-time winner of the Chelsea Flower Show—formed a planting strategy.
Aromatic species, including rosemary, sage, and oregano, were incorporated alongside native species and tactile plants, such as lamb’s ear, to actively encourage engagement rather than passive observation.
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The low-maintenance garden has become a vital extension of the King’s Critical Care Centre, which supports over 5,000 patients and 15,000 loved ones each year.
As part of the research for the department, the Critical Care team will study patients’ long-term outcomes, with an additional focus on how families and staff benefit from using the space, particularly in managing stress levels.
Professor Clive Kay, Chief Executive of King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, says the roof garden is dedicated to those with serious and life-threatening conditions.
“It’s been built with purpose and guided by the needs of patients and their families—and reflects a deep commitment to dignity, support, and hope.”
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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 June 27, 2026
Copyright by Rob Brezsny, FreeWillAstrology.com
CANCER (June 21-July 22):
Now is an auspicious time to declare a sweeping amnesty and observe a personal season of pardon. To the best of your ability, release your clenched feelings about people who have caused you pain. Banish blame! Purge any lingering resentment and regret that has curdled into self‑reproach. Celebrate atonement and absolution! Most vital of all, exonerate yourself. Shed the guilt you’ve carried for missteps and missed chances. And please offer yourself a sweet gift: a ritual of renewal.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22):
If you happen to be swallowed whole by a dragon or whale sometime soon, don’t freak out. It’s far preferable to being chomped into bits first, which absolutely won’t happen. You may indeed spend a brief spell inside the creature’s dark belly, but I confidently predict you will ultimately be deposited on the outside in one intact piece, after which you will only need to find your meandering way back home. The whole episode may be confounding or humbling, but I bet it will also scrub you free of a load of old karma.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22):
Bees perform what scientists call a “waggle dance” to communicate the location of flowers to their hive-mates. But the directions are sometimes imprecise, and the apparent sloppiness actually helps the hive. It forces other bees to explore more broadly, discovering new food sources that the original bee missed. Perfect information would make them too efficient to be adaptable. Your precision is one of your gifts, Virgo, but right now I think you need strategic vagueness and fuzzy logic. Leave some directions unclear. Mistakes and misunderstandings might lead to discoveries that your perfect plans would have eliminated.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22):
In ancient Greek thought, kairos referred to the opportune moment. It meant the right timing, when circumstances aligned for action to be most effective. The term chronos, on the other hand, was about sequential time, which blindly marched forward without any regard for special moments or auspiciousness. Most of us are more or less hypnotized by chronos-consciousness. We measure our lives by calendar dates and external schedules. But in the coming weeks, Libra, I recommend you stay on high alert for kairos-rich pivots. For now, suspend inquiries like “Am I on schedule?” and ask, “Are the circumstances ripe?”
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21):
Ravens are strongly motivated to engage in elaborate play: aerial acrobatics, complex games, sliding down snowbanks, and sharing food with non-relatives. These behaviors lack an immediate payoff, yet support learning, motor skill development, and social relationships. They seem to be both emotionally rewarding and indirectly advantageous for survival and success over the long term. Let’s apply this to you, Scorpio. Let’s conclude that delight isn’t wastefully frivolous and that pleasure doesn’t need to justify itself through productivity. In the coming weeks, you may face pressure to explain or defend your joy, as if to prove it’s worth it in some utilitarian way. Refuse. Like the ravens, engage in purposeless beauty and fun simply because it feels so good.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21):
Glaciologists studying ice cores can read Earth’s climate history going back 800,000 years. Each layer contains trapped air bubbles. These are time capsules that preserve the atmospheric composition of each moment. The ice remembers everything. You accumulate similar records, Sagittarius. Each of your experiences leaves its trace. And in the coming weeks, you will have extra access to these archived layers of your own history. Memories and patterns you thought were lost will surface with intriguing clarity. I hope you study these revelations to glean insight about your long-term patterns and cycles. It’s time to see the Big Picture.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19):
Many people forget, but you know: Structure is the foundation for freedom, not a suppression of it. While others fantasize about escaping responsibility, you know that mastery is key to every emancipation. When properly practiced, your flair for discipline adds vigor as well as rigor. More than any other sign of the zodiac, you are adept at using limits to give unlimited possibilities their specific shape. I trust you will express all these Capricornian powers to the max in the coming weeks. People in your life need them even more than usual.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18):
Horticulturists practice “deadheading.” They remove spent flowers from plants to encourage new vitality. Faded flowers drain energy that could go toward fresh growth. Plants that have been deadheaded produce more abundant blooms than those left to manage their own decay. I recommend a metaphorical version of this practice to you, Aquarius. You’ll be wise to deadhead your emotional garden. Certain attachments, once vibrant and nourishing, have expired. They’re not evil or wrong; they’re simply finished. It’s best not to keep directing precious energy toward maintaining their faded forms. With gratitude for the old beauty, clear the way for new beauty.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20):
For maximum safety, be as uninteresting as possible. Shun risks that might shake up your beliefs and avoid adventures that could expose you to people who aren’t similar to you. If you really want to be certain about preserving your security and stability, as I’m recommending, the surest method is to retreat to your power spot and do nothing at all. WAIT! STOP! Dear Pisces, everything I just said was pure misdirection! I was joking! In fact, the opposite is true. The true way to nurture genuine safety and security is to pursue what sparks your curiosity and lights up your zeal. And the coming days are likely to provide you with plenty of chances to do exactly that.
ARIES (March 21-April 19):
The interesting struggles you’ll wage in the coming weeks will require your vulnerability: showing up exactly as you are when you might rather fight or escape. Your warrior nature probably prefers a clear enemy or a definable problem you can confront, but the truer conquest will come from laying down your weaponry. I suggest you meet aggression with curiosity and engage chaos with receptive stillness. At least for now, your greatest strength will be to remain undominated by your own reactive impulses. Think of it as an advanced martial art.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20):
In accordance with astrological omens, I invite you to be inspired by this wisdom from artist Pablo Picasso: “I am always doing that which I cannot do in order that I may learn how to do it.” He’s proposing that we treat a lack of expertise not as an embarrassment, but as a doorway. Instead of waiting until we feel ready, trained, and confident, he suggests we head into territory where we fumble, guess, and feel awkward. Our discomfort may lead to gratifying growth. So I dare you to ask yourself whether there’s a capacity or skill you’d love to add to your repertoire but are too shy or timid to try. Then take small, imperfect steps toward it, trusting that each move will teach you how to do what once felt impossible.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20):
Hummingbirds keep track of every flower they visit and know how long it will take each one to replenish its nectar. They maintain mental maps of many feeding sites and visit them on precise schedules. To ensure their survival, they can’t waste energy on flowers that aren’t ready yet. Your mind could work like this if you want it to, Gemini. Which people, places, and projects need time to refill before you visit them again? Who have you been approaching too frequently, seeking their nectar before it has had time to regenerate? In the coming weeks, practice strategic patience with your resources. In your secret conversations with yourself, call yourself “Hummingbird.”
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176 years ago today, a hero of the Japanese nation was born on the Greek island of Lefkada. Scarcely could one find a life as strange and colorful as that lived by Patrick Lafcadio Hearn, who was the first Westerner to write extensively on everyday life in Japan. His unrivaled affection for the country that would become his home and resting place “lies in the glimpses he offered of an older, more mystical Japan lost during the country’s hectic plunge into Western-style industrialization and nation building,” wrote the Times. “His books are treasured as a trove of legends and folk tales that otherwise might have vanished because no Japanese had bothered to record them.” READ about his incredible life… (1850)
