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

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Our partner Rob Brezsny, who has a new book out, 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 1, 2024
Copyright by Rob Brezsny, FreeWillAstrology.com

GEMINI (May 21-June 20):
All of us periodically enjoy phases I call “Freedom from Cosmic Compulsion.” During these times, the Fates have a reduced power to shape our destinies. Our willpower has more spaciousness to work with. Our intentions get less resistance from karmic pressures that at other times might narrow our options. As I meditated on you, dear Gemini, I realized you are now in a phase of Freedom from Cosmic Compulsion. I also saw that you will have more of these phases than anyone else during the next 11 months. It might be time for you to get a “LIBERATION” tattoo or an equivalent new accessory.

CANCER (June 21-July 22):
Bold predictions: 1. Whatever treasure you have lost or are losing will ultimately be reborn in a beautiful form. 2. Any purposeful surrender you make will hone your understanding of exactly what your soul needs next to thrive. 3. A helpful influence may fade away, but its disappearance will clear the path for new helpful influences that serve your future in ways you can’t imagine yet. 4. Wandering around without a precise sense of where you’re going will arouse a robust new understanding of what home means to you.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22):
Denmark’s King Canute IV (1042–1086) wasn’t bashful about asserting his power. He claimed ownership of all the land. He insisted on the right to inherit the possessions of all foreigners and people without families. Goods from shipwrecks were automatically his property. But once, his efforts to extend his authority failed. He had his servants move his throne to a beach as the tide came in. Seated and facing the North Sea, he commanded, “Halt your advance!” The surf did not obey. “You must surrender to my superior will!” he exclaimed, but the waters did not recede. Soon, his throne was engulfed by water. Humbled, Canute departed. I bring this up not to discourage you, Leo. I believe you can and should expand your influence and clout in the coming weeks. Just be sure you know when to stop.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22):
Virgo-born Irène Joliot-Curie craved more attention than she got from her mother, Marie Curie. Mom was zealously devoted to her career as a chemist and physicist, which is one reason why she won Nobel Prizes in both fields. But she didn’t spend sufficient time with her daughter. Fortunately, Irène’s grandfather Eugène became his granddaughter’s best friend and teacher. With his encouragement, she grew into a formidable scientist and eventually won a Nobel Prize in chemistry herself. Even if you’re not a kid, Virgo, I suspect there may be a mentor and guide akin to Eugène in your future. Go looking! To expedite the process, define what activity or skill you want help in developing.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22):
I have a fantasy that sometime in the coming months, you will slip away to a sanctuary in a pastoral paradise. There you will enjoy long hikes and immerse yourself in healing music and savor books you’ve been wanting to read. Maybe you will write your memoirs or compose deep messages to dear old friends. Here’s the title of what I hope will be a future chapter of your life story: “A Thrillingly Relaxing Getaway.” Have you been envisioning an adventure like this, Libra? Or is your imagination more inclined to yearn for a trip to an exciting city where you will exult in high culture? I like that alternative, too. Maybe you will consider doing both.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21):
An Instagrammer named sketchesbyboze advises us, “Re-enchant your life by making the mundane exciting. You are not ‘going to the drugstore.’ You are visiting the apothecary to buy potions. You are not ‘running an errand.’ You are undertaking an unpredictable adventure. You are not ‘feeding the birds.’ You are making an alliance with the crow queen.” I endorse this counsel for your use, Scorpio. You now have the right and duty to infuse your daily rhythm with magic and fantasy. To attract life’s best blessings, you should be epic and majestic. Treat your life as a mythic quest.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21):
I invite you to invite new muses into your life in the coming months. Give them auditions. Interview them. Figure out which are most likely to boost your creativity, stimulate your imagination, and rouse your inspiration in every area of your life, not just your art form. Tell them you’re ready to deal with unpredictable departures from the routine as long as these alternate paths lead to rich teachings. And what form might these muses take? Could be actual humans. Could be animals or spirits. Might be ancestral voices, exciting teachings, or pilgrimages to sacred sanctuaries. Expand your concept of what a muse might be so you can get as much muse-like input as possible.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19):
The Japanese have a word for a problem that plagues other countries as well as theirs: karoshi, or death from working too hard and too much. No matter how high-minded our motivations might be, no matter how interesting our jobs are, most of us cannot safely devote long hours to intense labor week after week, month after month. It’s too stressful on the mind and body. I will ask you to monitor yourself for such proclivities in the coming months. You can accomplish wonders as long as you work diligently but don’t overwork. (PS: You won’t literally expire if you relentlessly push yourself with nonstop hard exertion, but you will risk compromising your mental health. So don’t do it!)

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18):
Typically, human fertility is strongest when the temperature is 64 degrees Fahrenheit. But I suspect you will be an exception to the rule in the coming months. Whether it’s 10 below or 90 in the shade, your fertility will be extra robust—literally, as well as psychologically and spiritually. If you would rather make great art or business than new babies, be very attentive to that. I advise you to formulate very clear intentions about how you want to direct all that lush fecundity. Identify which creative outlets are most likely to serve your long-term health and happiness.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20):
Here’s a key assignment in the coming months: Enjoy fantasizing about your dream home. Imagine the comfortable sanctuary that would inspire you to feel utterly at home in your body, your life, and the world. Even if you can’t afford to buy this ultimate haven, you will benefit from visualizing it. As you do, your subconscious mind will suggest ways you can enhance your security and stability. You may also attract influences and resources that will eventually help you live in your dream home.

ARIES (March 21-April 19):
Welcome to the future of your education, Aries! Here are actions you can take to ensure you are exposed to all the lush lessons you need and deserve in the coming months. 1. Identify three subjects you would be excited to learn more about. 2. Shed dogmas and fixed theories that interfere with your receptivity to new information. 3. Vow to be alert for new guides or mentors. 4. Formulate a three-year plan to get the training and teachings you need most. 5. Be avidly curious.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20):
Poet Emily Dickinson was skillful at invoking and managing deep feelings. One scholar described her emotions as being profoundly erotic, outlandish, sensuous, flagrant, and nuanced. Another scholar said she needed and sought regular doses of ecstasy. Yet even she, maestro of passions, got overwhelmed. In one poem, she wondered “Why Floods be served to us in Bowls?” I suspect you may be having a similar experience, Taurus. It’s fun, though sometimes a bit too much. The good news is that metaphorically speaking, you will soon be in possession of a voluminous new bowl that can accommodate the floods.

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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“It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves.” – Edmund Hillary

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Quote of the Day: “It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves.” – Edmund Hillary

Photo: by barnyz (CC License)

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?

Madrid’s Iconic Football Stadium Now has a 4-Story Underground Greenhouse to Store ‘Retractable’ Grass Field

By
Andy Corbley
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credit - Real Madrid, screengrab
credit – Real Madrid, screengrab

Real Madrid’s cathedral of a soccer stadium has just finished state-of-the-art renovations that include a retractable roof and—if it can be believed—a retractable field.

You read that correctly. When the 12-time champions of Europe are not in action, the entire natural grass pitch is moved on segmented, hydraulic-powered platforms onto shelves in an underground greenhouse 4 stories deep.

Inside it’s bathed in UV growing lights for 14 hours and routinely watered until game day.

The stadium, known as the Santiago Bernabeu, underwent five (active) years of renovations starting in 2017 that cost a total of €1.17 billion, which was almost double the original cost because of delays from the pandemic and the war in Ukraine.

A fixed roof of 28,000 m² and a retractable roof of 8,000 m² allow the stadium to be used every day of the year, regardless of weather conditions. The retractable pitch was unveiled to many fans as a delightful joke—when the club posted pictures on their social media accounts of the famous stadium with no pitch and a giant hole in the floor.

The underground greenhouse is equipped with ventilation, climate control, lighting, monitoring, and irrigation systems, ensuring optimal conditions for turf preservation and facilitating continuous maintenance without interfering with stadium events.

There’s probably something to be said for efficiency and water savings by preventing the Sun from drying out the pitch, but at the end of the day, it’s more just about the incredible engineering accomplishment.

credit – Real Madrid, released
The Estadio Santiago Bernabeu and its new screen and stand during the match against Bayern Munich in 2024. credit – CC 4.0. BY SA, Zoser, retrieved from Wikimedia.

The significant aspect of this pitch removal and preservation system is that it’s entirely developed within the stadium’s existing floorplan without occupying any external space whatsoever. This unique feature makes this system a one-of-a-kind engineering marvel in the world.

MORE AMAZING INFRASTRUCTURE: First Fully-Electric MLS Soccer Stadium Being Built in New York City Could Transform the Whole Neighborhood

Suspended from the roof is a new 360° LCD screen, also a first of its kind in a European stadium, which displays multiple content zones simultaneously, including live video, instant replays, statistics, graphics, animations, and sponsorship messages in an unbroken ring around the entire stadium.

The renovations take the stadium capacity up to 85,000, with a full-stadium suite of accessibility and disabled seating and infrastructure to ensure that everyone gets to enjoy arguably the most famous seats in all soccer.

WATCH the pitch get stored underground…

SHARE This Story With Your Friends Who Love Soccer… 

New Tool to Mitigate Algae Blooms Shows Breakthrough Results in Utah, Scientists Say

By
Andy Corbley
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credit - BlueGreen Solutions
credit – BlueGreen Water Technologies

A reservoir in Utah has been transformed from a pea-soupy mess of harmful algal blooms into a clear blue body of pristine water perfect for migratory birds and boaters.

The hero behind the transformation is an extraordinary company called BlueGreen Water Tech which has invented an environmentally friendly algicide that causes mass cell death among the mats of gooey green cyanobacteria.

They fund these pond and lake cleaning projects by selling carbon credits to companies looking to offset the effects of their greenhouse gas emissions, and the above photograph comes from the large, Mantua Reservoir in Utah, which was cleaned to the benefit of the public at no cost to them, or the state.

“Harmful algal blooms infect 60 million lakes around the world, ultimately rendering them dead aquatic zones. They also hold an untapped potential to remove 5-15 gigatons of carbon each year,” Eyal Harel, CEO of BlueGreen, told Carbon Herald.

The potential to trap carbon comes after their patented LakeGuard product made from sodium percarbonate releases hydrogen peroxide, a chemical that has long been used safely as an algicide, when it comes into contact with water and causes an auto-catalytic cell-death cascade among the algae.

“What happens is that these harmful algae blooms become a giant carbon sink. And by us sinking that carbon to the sediment level and then allowing it to go back into the natural processes, we restore the biodiversity, and more importantly, restore photosynthesis,” said Jan Spin, recently-appointed President of BlueGreen’s Americas Division.

ALSO CHECK OUT: World’s Tallest ‘Hempcrete’ Building in South Africa Captures More Carbon than it Emits

The restoration process was undertaken by the Utah Waterbodies Restoration Program, which in turn was carried out in partnership with Brigham City, Utah, at no cost to the city because of the 12,913 tonnes of carbon credits that were sold to fund the clean-up of Mantua Reservoir.

Whether it’s helping a corporation improve its ESG scores or allowing its shareholders to feel they are making an environmentally responsible investment, for locals like Paxton Isom visiting from Brigham City, it’s all about the clarity of the water.

MORE CARBON OFFSETTING: Tree Growing Nonprofit is Sprouting Entrepreneurs With Unique Training and Lots of Trees for Madagascar

Speaking to KSL TV, he said that he remembers how disgusting the usual pea soup color was at the end of August.

WATCH the local news report…

SHARE This Story With Your Friends In Utah On Social Media… 

Alaskan Inventor is 3D Printing Tidal Power Generators for Houseboats: Just Drop Anchor and Power On

By
Andy Corbley
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credit - @sitkana, substack
credit – @sitkana, substack

An awesome inventor in Juneau has created a simple way to decarbonize small vessels and houseboats using tidal power, a relatively under-exploited form of renewable energy.

The device can deliver 1.6 kilowatts of power from the movement of the tides and is as easy to use as dropping an anchor.

Lance McMullan, pictured here with a 3D-printed prototype of his invention from last August, launched a startup called Sitkana which last year managed to cobble together $90,000 in seed money.

Now, their first full-scale prototype, the Chinook 3.0 portable tidal power device, has been tested and found to deliver fluctuating power levels as high as 1.6 kilowatts. The design is intended for live-a-board vessels, houseboats, and small fishing vessels to power everything on board apart from the motor when it’s time to drop anchor.

A Texas native, McMullan has been focused on developing the state’s tidal power capacity for years. Ranged by countless steep fjords and inlets, the geographical chokepoint at the entrance to these tiny bays amplifies the natural power of the tides in the same way that the narrowing of a river increases the speed of the water flow.

McMullan’s Chinook works in essentially the same way as a wind turbine. The kinetic energy of the wind turns a rotor which generates electricity from this motion, but because water is much denser than air, this effect is actually amplified, and because tides are perfectly consistent and can be harvested for energy from the force of their retreat and their advance, tidal energy as a whole is more effective than wind.

A HUGE TIDAL POWER PROJECT: Liverpool is Building the World’s Largest Tidal Power Plant to Power a Million Homes

The Chinook takes advantage of these forces and exploits them thanks to modern developments in 3D printing that allow Sitkana to make low-cost tidal power generators for small boats. Weighing about 100 pounds, they’re far easier to bring aboard than a diesel generator.

A much larger version called the Orca is designed for coastal households and can generate 3.6 kilowatts, while a smaller version that generates 20 watts is soon to be available for sailboats.

WATCH the first test video below… 

SHARE This Excellent Way To Decarbonize Boating With Your Friends… 

Egyptians Performed Brain Surgery 4,000 years ago: A Discovery Called a ​​‘Milestone in the History of Medicine’

By
Andy Corbley
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Skull E270 - supplied by Tondini, Isidro, Camarós
Evidence of the man’s malignant tumor – supplied by Tondini, Isidro, Camarós

As with many things, a discovery from ancient Egypt has put a time stamp on the development of something: cancerous tumor removal from the brain.

A man living sometime between 2,686 BCE and 2,345 BCE was nearing 40 when he developed malignant brain tumors, scarring on his cranial walls revealed.

But scientists studying the skull with micro-computed tomography (CT) scans found evidence of tiny cut markets from sharp implements, meaning that ancient Egyptian physicians were either attempting to remove the malignancies or were performing an autopsy to study them.

Either way, scientists at the Duckworth Laboratory at Cambridge in the UK say it’s a first in medical history.

“It was the very first time that humanity was dealing surgically with what we nowadays call cancer,” senior study author Dr. Edgard Camarós, a professor at the University of Santiago de Compostela in Coruña told CNN.

“If those cut marks were done with that person alive, we’re talking about some kind of treatment directly related to the cancer,” or “it means that this is a medical autopsy exploration in relation to that cancer.”

Evidence of cranial surgery from the Neolithic period has been found, but this is the first case of it involving cancer.

The medical knowledge of Egyptian physicians is known to be sophisticated, as several treatises and medical dictionaries have come down to us on papyrus. They detail lists of ailments and treatments, including one in which a woman is marked as having breast cancer tumors. Interestingly, one such text, called the Edwin Smith papyrus, notes there’s no cure or treatment for breast cancer.

MORE STORIES LIKE THIS: Evidence of Amputation in Prehistoric Times Shows Patient Surviving for a Decade–Proves Medical Expertise Existed

It’s a fascinating indication that cancer was for these ancient physicians a kind of frontier science, and the tumors removed from the man’s skull would have been critical to expanding the scope of their understanding.

Skull E270 – supplied by Tondini, Isidro, Camarós

Another skull from the Duckworth collection labeled E270, dating about 2,000 years later, also showed evidence that malignant tumors had damaged the bone. While the tumors were not removed, this woman’s skull had signs of a prior medical intervention for a fracture which she carried for years before her death.

MORE STORIES LIKE THIS: Thousands of Years Ago, a Woman Underwent Two Surgeries to Her Head–and Survived Both Procedures

In perhaps both cases, treatment to the skull would have been incredibly painful, and couldn’t not be accomplished neatly without some kind of anesthesia. The Egyptians must therefore have had ways to create powerful painkillers beyond the application of simple analgesic plants.

The Duckworth skulls provide an incredible snapshot of the capabilities of ancient surgeons, as well as demonstrate that cancer isn’t just limited to humans who enjoy the longer lifespans of today, but has instead played a role in human mortality even in the distant past.

SHARE This Truly Incredible Evidence Of Ancient Medicine With Your Friends… 

“Ethics and equity and the principles of justice do not change with the calendar.” – D. H. Lawrence

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Good News Network
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Quote of the Day: “Ethics and equity and the principles of justice do not change with the calendar.” – D. H. Lawrence

Photo: by Colin Lloyd (cropped)

With a new inspirational quote every day, atop the perfect photo—collected and archived on our Quote of the Day page—why not bookmark GNN.org for a daily uplift?

Police Officers Surprise 911 Caller with a Chorus of ‘Happy Birthday’ – (WATCH)

By
Andy Corbley
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It had all the hallmarks of an unremarkable night in East Boston for a couple of police officers before they got a call about a wellness check after a concerned citizen dialed 911.

However, once they got all the details they realized that the caller wasn’t so much concerned about his health, but about a special occasion that was soon to pass him by—he was turning 25 years old, but no one was there to celebrate.

Officer Israel Bracho and his partner Frank originally thought the call was a joke. Once they verified it as legitimate, they perked up, and went to a bakery to furnish themselves with everything they needed for the task—muffins and candles.

“My mother raised me right; she would have killed me if I didn’t,” Officer Bracho told WPRI.

The man with special needs which went unrevealed by news reports, meekly answered the door while the officers cheerily asked him his name and how old he was going to be.

His name was Chris, and he was going to turn 25. As Bracho was lighting the candles, Chris asked his partner Frank how old they were.

MORE SWEET POLICEMEN: Police Melt Over This 4-Year-old Boy’s Emergency Call Inviting Them to Come See His Toys (LISTEN)

“Aw man, we’re old—we’re about 40,” he replied. Candles lit, the pair belt out the birthday song. Chris, who by then had been fidgety and nervous-looking, loses it with joy and gratitude when they finished, hugging the officers who had made his night.

“This is more than I could ask for,” Chris said, gesturing to the muffin when asked if he needed anything else.

WATCH the video below from WRPI…

SHARE This Cheery And Heartwarming Wellness Check With Your Friends… 

Reusable ‘Sponge’ Can Soak Up Marine Oil Spills–Even in Frigid Waters

By
Andy Corbley
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Dr. Baiyu Helen Zhang Professor and Canada Research Chair Memorial University, Newfoundland - credit, CLS, CC 2.0. BY NA
Dr. Baiyu Helen Zhang Professor and Canada Research Chair Memorial University, Newfoundland – credit, CLS, CC 2.0. BY NA

Using nothing other than light, Canadian scientists have developed an organic smart material that can either soak spilled oil out of water, or repel it.

The material can be used in this way like a sponge to quickly clean up marine oil spills before the oil reaches the shoreline and mixes with or poisons sand, vegetation, and animal life.

The special material—called CNF-SP aerogel—combines a biodegradable cellulose-based material with a substance called spiropyran.

A light-sensitive material, spiropyran has a unique ‘switchable’ property that allows the aerogel to go from being oil-sorbent and oil-repellent, just like a kitchen sponge that can be used to soak up and squeeze out water.

“Once spiropyran has been added to the aerogel, after each usage we just switch the light condition,” explains Dr. Baiyu Helen Zhang, professor and Canada Research Chair at Memorial University, Newfoundland.

“We used the aerogel as an oil sorbent under visible light. After oil adsorption, we switched the light condition to UV light. This switch helped the sponge to release the oil.”

And the material continues soaking up and releasing oil, even when the water temperature drops, according to Dr. Xiujuan Chen, an assistant professor at the University of Texas, Arlington.

ALSO CHECK OUT: 14-year-old Invents Soap for Treating Skin Cancer and Wins Top Honor as America’s Top Young Scientist

“We found that when we tested the oil sorbent’s performance under different kinds of environmental conditions, it had a very good performance in a cold environment. This is quite useful for cold winter seasons, particularly for Canada,” she said.

Part of the research was done at Canadian Light Source, a national research facility that possesses one of the world’s most sophisticated synchrotron microscopes. Using it, they were able to ensure the CNF-SP aerogel was highly effective in cold temperatures, which would be absolutely necessary under the circumstances of an oil spill in Canadian territorial waters.

OTHER INVENTIONS LIKE THIS: Scientists Invent De-icing Coatings to Cut Airline Delays by Lasting Longer Without Toxic Runoff

GNN has reported on various scientific endevors to solve world problems that made a stop in the CLS, including an Australian-Canadian team that discovered a way of turning mine waste into arable soil—and that’s already being used to grow maize and sorghum, and a US team that took pollutant phosphorus from wastewater and infused it into a soil superfood called biochar.

SHARE This Innovative Way to Clean Up Oil With Your Friends… 

US Returns 600 Stolen Ancient Artifacts Worth $80 Million to Italy ‘Where it belongs’

By
Andy Corbley
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Partial lot of Italian art confiscated and – Credit: Emanuele Antonio Minerva / Italy's Ministero della Cultura
Partial lot of confiscated Italian art – Credit: Emanuele Antonio Minerva / Italy’s Ministero della Cultura

US law enforcement and consular officials recently unveiled a massive trove of stolen art and antiquities worth around €80 million set to be repatriated to Italy “where it belongs.”

The pieces range from the 9th century BCE to the 4th century CE, and include Roman coins, a mosaic floor, Umbrian bronzes, military equipment, oil paintings, sculptures, and a variety of pottery.

The pieces were either dug up during illicit excavations or stolen in high-profile art crimes in the regions of Calabria, Campagna, Puglia, Sicily, and Lazio. Some were seized from private collections, and others were handed over by museums convinced by the authorities’ evidence of their plundered origin.

The haul was collected and processed by the Art Trafficking Unit (ATU) at the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, a veritable force of nature in the pursuit of trafficked art and antiquities.

Prosecutor Matthew Bogdanos received help from Italy’s Carabinieri for the Protection of Cultural Heritage, the art crimes unit of the country’s armed policing force. The Carabinieri operate the Stolen Works Of Art Detection System or SWOADS, an artificial intelligence program that since 2023 has led to the confiscation of 105,474 pieces of art worth more than €264 million worldwide, according to the unit’s commander, Francesco Gargaro.

“When artifacts are taken from clandestine graves, they have never been cataloged,” General Gargaro told CNN. “That means that, in addition to the items themselves, their historical context was stolen, robbing archaeologists of valuable information.”

Some of the haul’s most valuable relics include a bronze statue crafted by the Umbrian tribe in remarkably good condition, several bronze heads crafted 2,400 years ago, and a mosaic floor depicting the myth of Orpheus dating to the 3rd or 4th century CE.

“Looting is local,” Bogdanos said. Locals, he adds, “know when the security guards come on, they know when they come off. They know when the security guards are guarding particular sites and not others. They know when there are scientific, proper, approved archaeological excavations, and then they know when those archaeological excavations close for example, for the winter or for lack of funding.”

credit – Emanuele Antonio Minerva Ministero della Cultura

For this reason, Bogdanos explains there will always be looting, but the buying and selling of these pilfered items by sinister or unscrupulous collectors in the West is what can be controlled and eliminated.

MORE ART CRIMES SOLVED: Man Discovers Attic Filled with Looted Art from Battle of Okinawa–Works with FBI to Repatriate it All to Preserve History

With District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s leadership and Bogdanos’ tireless work tracking down stolen items, Manhattan has become an art-bust capital of the world, with the ATU recovering and returning more than 1,000 antiquities stolen from 27 countries, valued at over $215 million in just a few years.

278 of these have been Italian in origin. They also include 307 that were returned to India, 133 returned to Pakistan, 16 returned to Egypt—including the incredible Fayum Mummy Portrait, 55 returned to Greece, and 1 truly priceless artifact to the nation of Bulgaria—a bronze helmet that likely belonged to Philip of Macedon, Alexander the Great’s father.

SHARE This Incredible Success Of Law Enforcement With Your Friends…

Indian Engineers Tackle Water Shortages with Star Wars Tech in Kerala

By
Andy Corbley
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credit - Uravu Labs, released.
credit – Uravu Labs, released.

When a severe water shortage hit the Indian city of Kozhikode in the state of Kerala, a group of engineers turned to science fiction to keep the taps running.

Like everyone else in the city, engineering student Swapnil Shrivastav received a ration of two buckets of water a day collected from India’s arsenal of small water towers.

It was a ‘watershed’ moment for Shrivastav, who according to the BBC had won a student competition four years earlier on the subject of tackling water scarcity, and armed with a hypothetical template from the original Star Wars films, Shrivastav and two partners set to work harvesting water from the humid air.

“One element of inspiration was from Star Wars where there’s an air-to-water device. I thought why don’t we give it a try? It was more of a curiosity project,” he told the BBC.

According to ‘Wookiepedia’ a ‘moisture vaporator’ is a device used on moisture farms to capture water from a dry planet’s atmosphere, like Tatooine, where protagonist Luke Skywalker grew up.

This fictional device functions according to Star Wars lore by coaxing moisture from the air by means of refrigerated condensers, which generate low-energy ionization fields. Captured water is then pumped or gravity-directed into a storage cistern that adjusts its pH levels. Vaporators are capable of collecting 1.5 liters of water per day.

Moisture vaporators on the largely abandoned Star Wars film set of Mos Espa, in Tunisia – credit © Andrew Corbley

If science fiction authors could come up with the particulars of such a device, Shrivastav must have felt his had a good chance of succeeding. He and colleagues Govinda Balaji and Venkatesh Raja founded Uravu Labs, a Bangalore-based startup in 2019.

Their initial offering is a machine that converts air to water using a liquid desiccant. Absorbing moisture from the air, sunlight or renewable energy heats the desiccant to around 100°F which releases the captured moisture into a chamber where it’s condensed into drinking water.

ALSO CHECK OUT: New Solar-Powered Desalinator Keeps Producing Clean Water Without Needing Sunshine

The whole process takes 12 hours but can produce a staggering 2,000 liters, or about 500 gallons of drinking-quality water per day. Uravu has since had to adjust course due to the cost of manufacturing and running the machines—it’s just too high for civic use with current materials technology.

“We had to shift to commercial consumption applications as they were ready to pay us and it’s a sustainability driver for them,” Shrivastav explained. This pivot has so far been enough to keep the start-up afloat, and they produce water for 40 different hospitality clients.

MORE INDIAN INVENTORS: Revolutionary Portable Airdrop Hospital Unveiled in India Quickly Deploys to Treat 200 People During Disasters

Looking ahead, Shrivastav, Raja, and Balaji are planning to investigate whether the desiccant can be made more efficient; can it work at a lower temperature to reduce running costs, or is there another material altogether that might prove more cost-effective?

They’re also looking at running their device attached to data centers in a pilot project that would see them utilize the waste heat coming off the centers to heat the desiccant.

SHARE These Inspired Star Wars Fans And Their New Invention… 

“Have patience. All things are difficult before they become easy.” – Saadi

By
Good News Network
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Leonardo Iheme

Quote of the Day: “Have patience. All things are difficult before they become easy.” – Saadi

Photo: by Leonardo Iheme

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?

Hitachi Rail Develops Battery Unit Set to Decarbonize Rail Travel on Retrofitted Trains

By
Andy Corbley
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TransPennine Express train – Credit: Chris Davis Photography / Hitachi Rail
TransPennine Express train – Credit: Chris Davis Photography / Hitachi Rail

The first test trial in Britain’s history of a diesel-powered train retrofitted with a battery took place last Friday.

The train’s battery unit, which generates a peak power of more than 700kw, was successfully retrofitted onto a TransPennine Express ‘Nova 1’ train that ran between Sunderland and Newcastle in England’s far northeast.

The test is a collaboration between TransPennine Express, (which runs the trains) Angel Trains, (which makes the carriages) Turntide Technologies, (which manufactures the batteries) and Hitachi Rail, a Japanese railway firm that runs trains in Britain, is involved as an R&D partner, and which also helped with the battery technology.

The single battery unit stores enough electricity to power more than 75 houses for a day. This impressive energy and power density will deliver the same levels of high-speed acceleration and performance while being no heavier than the diesel engine it replaces.

The installation of a battery will reduce emissions and improve energy efficiency. It’s also predicted to reduce emissions and fuel costs by as much as 30% on a Hitachi intercity train.

“We’re really pleased to be a part of this innovative and critically important trial of battery technology,” said Paul Staples, Engineering, Safety and Sustainability Director at TransPennine Express. “We take our environmental responsibilities seriously and are constantly looking at ways of making rail travel even more sustainable and efficient.”

Most importantly for passengers, the trial will test how intercity trains can enter, alight, and leave non-electrified stations in zero-emission battery mode to improve air quality and reduce noise pollution.

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The trial will provide real-world evidence to inform the business case for a 100% battery-electric intercity train, capable of traveling up to 60 miles in battery mode. This range means the battery technology could be deployed to cover the final non-electrified sections of intercity routes in the coming years.

It will hopefully demonstrate how battery technology can reduce infrastructure costs by reducing the need for overhead wires in tunnel sections and over complex junctions.

MORE RAILWAY DEVELOPMENT: World’s First 100% Hydrogen-Powered Trains Now Running Regional Service in Germany to Replace Diesel

“We are incredibly proud to be part of this ground-breaking project, co-developing one of the world’s most powerful passenger train batteries with our esteemed partners at Hitachi Rail,” said Mark Cox, General Manager of Turntide Technologies transport business unit.

“The successful development and production of this high-performance battery at our Sunderland facility further highlights the key role we play in the UK’s industrial landscape. We believe this clean technology will revolutionize the rail industry, not only in the UK but around the globe.”

The retrofit comes in advance of the tests for the whole train slated for this summer.

SHARE This Great Advance In Heavy Rail Travel In Britain… 

How a US High School Class Solved Six Murders and Identified the ‘Bible Belt Strangler’

By
Andy Corbley
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Jerry Johns - Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.
Jerry Johns – Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.

A class of high schoolers managed to solve the 35-year-old cold case of the Redhead Murders in Tennessee and surrounding states.

It started at Elizabethton High School in Tennessee, where teacher Alex Campbell was looking to engage and inspire the students through an unorthodox sociology assignment.

What started as an experiment on profiling—how can you build a picture about someone based only on known actions taken by them but with no other details—quickly turned into a true crime investigation, based partly on Campbell’s wife’s fascination with the subject which had rubbed off on the teacher.

Pulling out the old case files and looking at 6 of the 11 victims murdered between 1983 and 1985, the students started to use details of the case like the character of the victims, the places they were found, their age, and occupations to try and work out what would the murderer’s demographic details be like.

They determined he was likely a white, male, heterosexual with long hair, upwards of 30 or even in his 40s, and perhaps a truck driver.

The culmination of the students’ work was a press conference, attended by 60 people from law enforcement, local media, and community members, where they presented their findings.

Suddenly, police departments in the state began receiving a flood of tips from people who believed they might know the killer’s identity. Further investigations scored a real breakthrough, and soon DNA evidence found on a woman from a separate case was revisited, and it actually confirmed the killer’s identity. The students had done it.

Jerry Leon Johns, who died in prison in 2015 at the age of 67, was imprisoned for the attempted murder of Linda Schacke. Another six potential victims, of similar profile to the five confirmed ones, are associated with Johns’ murder spree which stretched from 1978 and 1992.

Schacke survived when the corner of her jacket got in between her neck and the piece of cloth from her t-shirt Johns was using to try and strangle her, which provided just enough space for blood flow to continue to her brain. Left on the roadside, she was found by a truck driver.

MORE TRUE CRIME STORIES: New Evidence Unearthed by Podcasters Frees 2 Men Wrongfully Imprisoned for 25 Years

The would-be victim told the police that her car had been stolen by the would-be murderer and that whoever was driving it was the one who nearly took her life. The police found and arrested Johns, but didn’t make the connection that he was involved in the other murders.

The team of students and their teacher presented their evidence before a grand jury in Tennessee to see if it would be enough to press charges against Jerry Johns, were he still alive. The jury ruled that, in such a scenario, the full power of the criminal justice system would have been brought down on Johns.

“The whole goal was to get as many people to see the case as possible,” Campbell told IndyStar during a phone interview back in 2019. “Investigators, they do need the help of the public to solve this.”

One of the students told the Times Radio years later that at their press conference, the police were somewhat “salty” with them—a tad jealous that they were being shown up by a bunch of teenagers.

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Relatives of the murdered women, who were mostly prostitutes, exotic dancers, or runaways, are reported to be extremely grateful to the class and their teacher for bringing a bit of closure to the tragedies they endured.

The next project will see the students tackling wrongful convictions in the hope that the same super-sleuthing they demonstrated in the Jerry Johns case could be leveraged to set innocent prisoners free.

SHARE This Incredible True Story Of How Teenagers Succeeded Where Investigators Couldn’t… 

Coldplay Singer Gives Fan with Arthritis a Lift to Show: ‘Such a nice man!’

By
Andy Corbley
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Coldplay's Chris Martin and fan Shauna Glen ride together in Martin's Mercedes - credit, Shauna Glen, released
Coldplay’s Chris Martin and fan Saundra Glenn ride together in Martin’s Mercedes – credit, Saundra Glenn, released

Famous celebrity good guy Chris Martin recently gave a woman with a “dodgy hip” a lift to his show, adding to a string of kind and considerate acts the famous frontman has performed for his fans over the years.

Performing at Radio 1’s Big Weekend music festival, Martin was on his way to the artist’s area in a black Mercedes when he saw a woman leaning against a fence.

The woman, 64-year-old Saundra Glenn, suffers from osteoarthritis and a “dodgy right hip.” She was walking to the box office for an accessibility ticket when she decided to rest for a moment.

In her own words she “doesn’t do festivals” and had considered going home to watch the show on television.

Then, a woman in the Mercedes that just pulled up suggested Glenn accept her offer for a lift.

“The door opens and I said, ‘oh that’s Chris Martin, I can’t get in with him’ and they said ‘yes you can,'” she recalled to the BBC.

Inside, Glenn recalls the atmosphere as chatty, as if she and the celebrity were “two old women.”

Glenn further joked that the car ride was worth the price of admission, saying “I’m 64 Chris, I don’t do festivals, I’ve come just to see you and now I’ve seen you and I can go home.”

After they arrived in the artists’ area, Martin ensured that a golf cart was found to take Glenn to the box office, a moving gesture that deeply impacted her.

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At the festival, Martin debuted his new song Orange, a tribute of sorts to his hometown soccer team Luton Town, which having just spent a dream season at the highest levels of English football, was relegated earlier this month to spend next season in a lower division.

Telling her story to BBC Radio, she said Martin was “such a nice man.”

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In December, GNN reported on another fan who was treated to a show of Chris Martin kindness, when a wheelchair-bound Irishman managed to crowd surf in his chair all the way to the front row where Martin instructed him to be carried on stage.

There, he handed the man a harmonica, and they performed a little duet together.

SHARE This Cute Story Of A Heartwarming Act Of Celebrity Kindness…

High Schooler Wins $10,000 for Discovery Solution to Mysterious Outbreak Killing Sea Turtles in His Hawaii Hometown

By
Andy Corbley
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Maddux Springer holds his award - Society for Science
Maddux Springer holds his award – Society for Science

A young man has won a five-figure financial prize at the nation’s top science fair for his research into a mysterious outbreak of tumors he witnessed among the sea turtles under the waves of his home in Hawaii.

Maddux Springer lives on Oahu and spent most of his free time during the pandemic free diving among the reefs in Kāneʻohe Bay. Down among the quiet and peaceful corals, he couldn’t stop noticing that practically every green sea turtle he saw was covered in cauliflower-like tumors.

Whether young or old, the whole population seemed to be infected and slowly dying, prompting Springer to start what would become a 2.5-year research program. It might have gone faster if wildlife authorities had agreed to allow him to perform a biopsy on one of the tumors, and without this direct evidence, he had to find other ways to collect data.

His starting point took just a few minutes, as a Google search turned up that tumors on green sea turtles are likely a symptom of fibropapilomatosis, or FB for short, caused by a herpes-type virus that affects 97% of all sea turtles.

Springer felt the outlook was bleak, and began researching what was the cause and what, if anything, could be the cure. Last week, two-and-a-half years after he began his work, he was awarded the $10,000 Peggy Scripps Award for Science Communication, which he presented at the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair, the most prestigious in the country.

“It was an incredible feeling, just having my research validated,” Springer told Business Insider. “It’s been a very long time since I have felt like some change can be made from my research.”

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Because he couldn’t perform a biopsy, he was forced to collect data via photographs—which mostly told him what he already knew: nearly every green sea turtle in Kāneʻohe Bay had FB. However, the photos also clued him in on a possible cause. Sea turtles are key to maintaining the health of coral reefs worldwide as they eat algae that could otherwise suffocate the corals.

They’re not picky eaters, and will eat any species of algae they come across. FB requires an external trigger for the tumors to form, and previous research has shown that tumors have contained high amounts of the amino acid arginine. But how and why would the turtles be ingesting so much arginine?

The photographs taken by the underwater equivalent of trail cameras set by Springer in the bay showed that the turtles spent most of their days eating one algae species—an invasive one.

MORE NEWS LIKE THIS: High School Student Invents an A.I. Powered Trap That Zaps Invasive Lanternflies

Establishing probable cause, Springer’s breakthrough came when he found that the species they were eating absorbs 11 times more arginine than native species. He connected this to the fact that coastal pollution from cesspools, or uncontained septic pits dug underneath Hawaiian homes, are a large problem for sea life on the archipelago.

But correlation doesn’t equal causation, and so over 400 hours of free diving, Springer gathered hundreds of samples of the algae from across a wide area of the bay, dried it out, crushed it into powder, and sent it to a lab for analysis under a mass-spectrometer, a device which identifies the elemental composition of objects by looking at the light spectrum reflected off them.

Sure enough, the algae was rich in nitrogen, a key marker of raw sewage.

After 400 hours of diving and over 2 years of research, Springer believes that cesspools leaching wastewater through the porous Hawaiian soil into the bay are the cause of the tumors. The wastewater comes with significant amounts of arginine which is taken up by the algae that’s then eaten by the turtles.

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“If we continue to go at this rate, and if we continue to just release raw wastewater into the bay, the environmental devastation is going to be unparalleled,” he said.

The grand prize winner of the Regeneron fair was Grace Sun, who took home $75,000 for a huge breakthrough in biomedical implant technology, GNN reported.

SHARE This Young Man’s Impressive Research Project And Just Rewards…

“When in doubt, tell the truth.” – Mark Twain

By
Good News Network
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Quote of the Day: “When in doubt, tell the truth.” – Mark Twain

Photo: by Tzenik (cropped)

With a new inspirational quote every day, atop the perfect photo—collected and archived on our Quote of the Day page—why not bookmark GNN.org for a daily uplift?

Secret of How Butterfly Wings Get Their Vibrant Colors Is Discovered

By
Andy Corbley
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Raimond Klavins - Unsplash
Raimond Klavins – Unsplash

Using cutting-edge high-resolution microscopy, researchers were able to track the developmental stages of butterfly scales, tracing their formation from caterpillar to butterfly and revealing how they become so vivacious.

Their work reveals that actin, a protein in butterfly’s scales, orchestrates the intricate arrangement of the colorful structures.

Conducted at the University of Sheffield and the Central Laser Facility, scientists noticed that the colorful scales had much denser actin bundles, creating more reflective ridges than dull-colored scales.

Using powerful microscopes, the researchers watched as actin shifted during scale growth and color formation, demonstrating how actin is crucial for creating a butterfly’s colors, and is likely a universal process among all butterflies. They also observed that if the actin structures were dismantled or too drastically altered, the colors faded before the eye.

“Actin is like a dressmaker, laying out and pinning the arrangement of these structures to shape the vibrant colors,” said Dr. Andrew Parnell, lead author of the study. “Once the actin has finished its work it departs the cell like the removal of pins in dressmaking.”

“Butterfly scale nanostructures are a powerful way in which to make long-lasting bright colors that don’t fade or become bleached by the ultraviolet rays of the sun. The museums of the world contain direct evidence of this,” he added.

Actin causes butterfly wing colors via scales in H. sara – University of Sheffield

By investigating the mechanisms behind butterfly wing coloration, researchers hope to gain insights into broader areas of cell structure formation, including potential applications in sensing and diagnostics that could be important for a whole host of technologies including medicine.

MORE BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES: Spiders Use Their Webs as Giant Microphones to Hear What’s Going on Around Them, Says New Research

The study also creates opportunities for the development of innovative technologies inspired by nature’s own creations.

Dr. Parnell said that replicating these actin structures offers “nature-inspired ways to make such bright colors.”

“This would be on a larger scale as new kinds of sustainable paints and coatings,” he said.

OTHER EXPLAINER STORIES: An Ancient Collapse of Earth’s Magnetic Field Led to Multicellular Animals Emerging

Structural color-based technologies, mimicking the reflective properties of butterfly scales, hold promise in fields such as sensors and medical diagnostics, offering rapid and responsive solutions outside traditional laboratory-based approaches.

The study was published in Nature Communications.

SHARE This Definitive Discovery In The Insect World With Your Friends… 

Baseball Star Bryce Harper Helps a Random Guy Ask a Girl on a Prom Date

By
Andy Corbley
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Baseball star Bryce Harper helps student ask girl to prom – Instagram
Baseball star Bryce Harper helps student ask girl to prom – Instagram

The Phillies’ superstar slugger Bryce Harper just turned into the ultimate wingman for a teen looking to ask a girl out to prom.

Knowing his high school sweetheart to be a massive Phillies fan, Jake Portella reasoned that if he could get Harper to help him deliver the question, she would be certain to say yes.

In a viral video shared by Major League Baseball, Portella and Harper are outside Giullia Leonetti’s front door. When the young woman answers it, Harper asks her if she would like to go to prom with Portella. Hugs, disbelief, but most importantly a ‘yes’ follow.

But how did a teenager at Haddonfield Memorial High School in New Jersey manage to get arguably MLB’s biggest star to help out?

“I’ve been brainstorming ideas for prom for a couple weeks and I knew I wanted to do something Phillies-themed because she loves the Phillies so much,” Portella told MLB.com. “I was talking to one of my friends and I was like, ‘There’s some Phillies players who live in town, it’d be cool if I could get one of them to help me with it.’”

One of those players happened to be Bryce Harper, and Portella, deserving of recognition for some serious courage, came by one day and simply knocked on the slugger’s door to ask if he could “help in any capacity.”

It’s always cool and refreshing when celebrities behave exactly like normal people, and after answering the door, Harper asked for Portella’s contact information so that maybe he could help out. Then he had a change of heart.

BASEBALL STORIES: Is This Heaven? Kevin Costner Hosts Real Baseball Game at ‘Field of Dreams’ Site –And it’s Perfect

“Then, as I was leaving, he calls me back and he’s like, ‘What if we just did it right now?’” Portella recalled.

Harper claims it was really simple: he was just trying “to help a brother out.”

MORE CELEBRITIES BEING AWESOME: Gordon Ramsay Shocks School Cafeteria Manager Who Called in to Talk Show Asking For Substitute Chef For the Day

As for Leonetti, she was left in tears and total shock that “the chosen one” had arrived at her door. Unfortunately for Portella, she wasn’t referring to him, but she said yes all the same.

Scheduled for June 14th, any further surprise prom appearences of “the chosen one” seem unlikely, as he will be several hundred miles to the south for a 3-game series against the Baltimore Orioles.

WATCH the ‘prom-posal’ video below…

SHARE This Delightful Story Of An Unforgetable Prom Story… 

First of its Kind Medical School in Cherokee Nation Graduates First Class of Doctors

By
Andy Corbley
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credit - Matt Barnard/OSU Center for Health Sciences
credit – Matt Barnard/OSU Center for Health Sciences

In 2020, GNN reported that the inaugural class of the nation’s first medical college on a Native American reservation had begun their studies. Well now, they’ve just graduated.

The 46 graduating students from Oklahoma State University’s College of Osteopathic Medicine at the Cherokee Nation include fifteen members of tribes all around the country, including Cherokee, Choctaw, Muscogee, Seminole, Chickasaw, Alaska Native, Caddo, and Osage.

Dr. Natasha Bray, the school’s dean, said that the college was formed to address a shortage of tribal physicians in the US, as just 0.3% of all licensed medical practitioners are Native American.

Part of what makes the college observing its first graduates so exciting is that the $40 million it cost to build and staff the facilities was paid for entirely by the Cherokee nation, who designed it to be a culturally relevant building, with the Hippocratic oath written on the walls in both Cherokee and English.

Cherokee artwork decorates the walls, and a medicinal plant garden is located on the site.

“I couldn’t even have dreamed this up,” said 26-year-old Choctaw member and now OSU graduate, Mackenzee Thompson. “To be able to serve my people and learn more about my culture is so exciting. I have learned so much already.”

According to PBS News, osteopathic doctors, or DOs, have the same qualifications and training as allopathic doctors, or MDs, but the two types of doctors attend different schools.

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While MDs learn from traditional programs, the focus of DOs will be more on holistic medicine, and they are typically found in primary care facilities in rural areas. Native elders participate in the medical curriculum to teach about traditional healing practices.

“It’s our mission to be as culturally competent as we can,” Thompson told NPR. “Learning this is making me not only a better doctor but helping patients trust me more,” she said, adding that now she’s more likely to ask about a patient’s diet or if they are open to trying holistic remedies.

MORE STORIES LIKE THIS: CA Redwoods to Be First National Park Co-Managed with a Native American Tribe That Used to Own it

In the days leading up to the European, cap and gown style graduation, the graduates were honored with a ceremony conducted by the chiefs of 5 different native tribes, in which the graduates were given gifts, including a beaded stethoscope.

SHARE This Story Of A New Generation Of Native Healers Striking Out Into The World… 

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