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Dubai Company Buys Used Cooking Oil to Turn Into Biofuel for Cars Citywide to Reduce CO2 Emissions

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Used cooking oil collection truck and one of the biofuel production plants – Credit: Lootah Biofuels
Used cooking oil collection truck and one of the biofuel production plants – Credit: Lootah Biofuels

A Dubai-based company Lootah Biofuels is producing biodiesel from used cooking oil bringing sustainable transportation options to a major oil-producing country.

The result is a fuel that is less expensive, renewable, and clean.

The United Arab Emirates company now boasts having their own fuel outlets across the city of Dubai, delivering 60 million liters annually.

It is the brainchild of Yousif Bin Saeed Al Lootah, who wants the UAE to be the first nation in the region to mandate that biofuels blends be featured alongside other fuel in all public stations.

They pay for the used cooking oil collected, thus giving an incentive to providers like restaurants, bakeries, and food chains, which provide 500,000 liters of waste oil every month.

The company says it converted the waste oil into 770 tons of biofuel last year.

The Lootah Biofuels website reports that used cooking oil has the highest carbon saving ratio amongst all the available biodiesel feedstock—and calculates their product has caused the reduction of 500 million tons of CO2, so far.

MORE RENEWABLE GOOD NEWS: United Airlines Flies Jet Entirely Powered by 100% Plant-Based Fuel from Corn Stalk Waste

WATCH the Reuters report from Dubai below…

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Scientists Discover Potential HIV Cure that Eliminates Disease from Cells Using CRISPR-Cas Gene Editing

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HIV-1 virus particles under electron micrograph with H9 T-cells (in blue) – Credit: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
HIV-1 virus particles under electron micrograph with H9 T-cells (in blue) – Credit: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

A new study has unveiled a likely future cure for HIV which uses molecular scissors to ‘cut out’ HIV DNA from infected cells.

To cut out this virus, the team used CRISPR-Cas gene editing technology—a groundbreaking method that allows for precise alterations to a patient’s genome, for which its inventors won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2020.

One of the significant challenges in HIV treatment is the virus’s ability to integrate its genome into the host’s DNA, making it extremely difficult to eliminate—but the CRISPR-Cas tool provides a new means to isolate and target HIV DNA.

Because HIV can infect different types of cells and tissues in the body, each with its own unique environment and characteristics, the researchers are searching for a way to target HIV in all of these situations.

In this study, which is to be presented ahead of this year’s European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, the authors used CRISPR-Cas and two guide RNAs against “conserved” HIV sequences.

They focused on parts of the virus genome that stay the same across all known HIV strains and infected T cells. Their experiments showed outstanding antiviral performance, managing to completely inactivate HIV with a single guide RNA and cut out the viral DNA with two guide RNAs.

CRISPR HOPE FOR CANCER: Aggressive Leukemia Disappears in 13-Year-old Girl Who was First to Receive New CRISPR Treatment

“We have developed an efficient combinatorial CRISPR-attack on the HIV virus in various cells and the locations where it can be hidden in reservoirs, and demonstrated that therapeutics can be specifically delivered to the cells of interest,” said Associate professor Elena Herrera Carrillo from the University of Amsterdam AMC.

“These findings represent a pivotal advancement towards designing a cure strategy.”

HIV AIDS virus (in yellow) infecting a human cell – Credit: National Cancer Institute

The team has a long way to go before their cure will be available to patients, but said, “These preliminary findings are very encouraging’.

Currently, HIV can be kept in check with anti-retroviral medication, but no one has actually been cured—although three patients receiving stem cell transplants for blood cancer were subsequently declared free of the disease when their HIV became undetectable.

“We hope to achieve the right balance between efficacy and safety of this CURE strategy,” said Dr. Carrillo. “Only then can we consider clinical trials of ‘cure’ in humans to disable the HIV reservoir.

“Our aim is to develop a robust and safe combinatorial CRISPR-Cas regimen, striving for an inclusive ‘HIV cure for all’ that can inactivate diverse HIV strains across various cellular contexts.

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Your Horoscope for the Seasonal Equinox – ‘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 March 23, 2024
Copyright by Rob Brezsny, FreeWillAstrology.com

ARIES (March 21-April 19):
I suspect you will soon have far more beginners’ luck than you ever thought possible. For best results—to generate even more wildly abundant torrents of good luck—you could adopt what Zen Buddhists called “beginner’s mind.” That means gazing upon everyone and everything as if encountering it for the first time. Here are other qualities I expect to be flowing freely through you in the coming weeks: spontaneity, curiosity, innocence, candor, and unpredictability. To the degree that you cultivate these states, you will invite even more beginner’s luck into your life.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20):
Taurus artist Salvador Dali was prone to exaggerate for dramatic effect. We should remember that as we read his quote: “Mistakes are almost always of a sacred nature. Never try to correct them. On the contrary: Rationalize them; understand them thoroughly.” While that eccentric advice may not always be 100-percent accurate or useful, I think it will be true and helpful for you in the coming weeks. Have maximum fun making sacred mistakes, Taurus! Learn all you can from them. Use them to improve your life.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20):
The professional fun advisors here at Free Will Astrology International Headquarters have concluded that your Party Hardy Potential Rating for the coming weeks is 9.8 (out of 10). In fact, this may be the Party Hardy Phase of the Year for you. You could gather the benefits of maximum revelry and conviviality with minimal side effects. Here’s a meditation to get you in the right mood: Imagine mixing business and pleasure with such panache that they blend into a gleeful, fruitful synergy.

CANCER (June 21-July 22):
Cancerian author and psychotherapist Virginia Satir (1916–1988) was renowned as the “Mother of Family Therapy.” Her research led her to conclude, “We need four hugs a day for survival. We need eight hugs a day for maintenance. We need 12 hugs a day for growth.” That 12-hug recommendation seems daunting to achieve, but I hope you will strive for it in the coming weeks. You are in a phase when maximum growth is possible—and pushing to the frontiers of consensual hugging will help you activate the full potential.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22):
Have you been genuinely amazed anytime recently? Have you done something truly amazing? If not, it’s time to play catch-up. According to my analysis of the astrological omens, you need and deserve exciting adventures that boggle your soul in all the best ways. You should be wandering out on the frontiers and tracking down provocative mysteries. You could grow even smarter than you already are if you expose yourself to challenges that will amaze you and inspire you to be amazing.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22):
I invite you to perform a magic spell that will help prepare you for the rich, slippery soul work you have ahead of you. I’ll offer a suggestion, but feel free to compose your own ritual. First, go outside where it’s raining or misting, or find a waterfall. Stand with your arms spread out as you turn your face up toward the falling moisture. As you drink it in, tell yourself you will be extra fluid and flowing in the coming weeks. Promise yourself you will stimulate and treasure succulent feelings. You will cultivate the sensation that everything you need is streaming in your direction.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22):
You are gliding into the climax of your re-education about togetherness, intimacy, and collaboration. The lessons you’ve been learning have deepened your reservoir of wisdom about the nature of love. And in the coming weeks, even further teachings will arrive; even more openings and invitations will be available. You will be offered the chance to earn what could in effect be a master’s degree in relationships. It’ll be challenging work, but rewarding and interesting. Do as best as you can. Don’t demand perfection from yourself or anyone else.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21):
Now is not a favorable phase to gamble on unknown entities. Nor should you allow seemingly well-meaning people to transgress your boundaries. Another Big No: Don’t heed the advice of fear-mongers or nagging scolds, whether they’re inside or outside your head. On the other hand, dear Scorpio, the coming weeks will be an excellent time for the following actions. 1. Phase out attachments to alliances and love interests that have exhausted their possibilities. 2. Seek the necessary resources to transform or outgrow a frustrating fact about your life. 3. Name truths that other people seem intent on ignoring and avoiding. 4. Make simple, small, slow, practical progress.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21):
Falling in love is fun! It’s also exciting, enriching, inspiring, transformative, world-shaking, and educational. Wouldn’t it be fabulous if we could keep falling in love anew three or four times a year for as long as we live? We might always be our best selves, showing our most creative and generous sides, continually expanding our power to express our soulful intelligence. Alas, it’s not practical or realistic to always be falling in love with another new person. Here’s a possible alternative: What if we enlarged our understanding of what we could fall in love with? Maybe we would become perpetually infatuated with brilliant teachings, magical places, high adventures, and great art and music. The coming weeks will be an excellent time for you to cultivate this skill.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19):
I’m perplexed by spiritual teachers who fanatically preach the doctrine that we should BE HERE NOW as much as possible. Living with full enjoyment in the present moment is a valuable practice, but dismissing or demeaning the past is shortsighted. Our lives are forged from our histories. We should revere the stories we are made of, visit them regularly, and keep learning from them. Keep this in mind, Capricorn. It’s an excellent time to heal your memories and to be healed by them. Cultivate deep gratitude for your past as you give the old days all your love. Enjoy this quote from novelist Gregory Maguire: “Memory is part of the present. It builds us up inside; it knits our bones to our muscles and keeps our heart pumping. It is memory that reminds our bodies to work, and memory that reminds our spirits to work, too: it keeps us who we are.”

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18):
Controversial author William S. Burroughs was a rough, tough troublemaker. But he had some wisdom that will soon be extra useful for you. He said that love is the best natural painkiller available. I bring this to your attention not because I believe you will experience more pain than the rest of us in the coming months. Rather, I am predicting you will have extra power to alleviate your pain—especially when you raise your capacity to give and receive love.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20):
The planet Saturn entered Pisces in March 2023 and won’t depart for good until February 2026. Is that a bad thing or good thing for you Pisceans? Some astrologers might say you are in a challenging time when you must make cutbacks and take on increased responsibility. I have a different perspective. I believe this is a phase when you can get closer than ever before to knowing exactly what you want and how to accomplish what you want. In my view, you are being called to shed secondary wishes that distract you from your life’s central goals. I see this period as a homecoming—your invitation to glide into robust alignment with your soul’s code.

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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“Consider not the gift of the lover, but the love of the giver.” – Thomas à Kempis 

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Credit: Diego PH

Quote of the Day: “Consider not the gift of the lover, but the love of the giver.” – Thomas à Kempis 

Photo by: Diego PH

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?

A Coal Billionaire Is Building the World’s Biggest Clean Energy Plant to Power 16 Million Homes in India

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Andy Corbley
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Bhadla Solar Park in Gujurat, seen from ESA's Copernicus Sentinel-2, satellite, will pale in comparison to Khavda when it's completed
Bhadla Solar Park in Gujarat, seen from ESA’s Copernicus Sentinel-2, satellite, will pale in comparison to Khavda when it’s completed

The Khavda solar and renewables park in a barren salt pan in India’s state of Gujarat is going to be big; really, really big.

Its aim is for 30 gigawatts—as much as the national grid of Switzerland. It will sprawl out across an area of lifeless desert five times the size of Paris costing $20 billion, and generate enough to power 16 million Indian homes.

In fact, this one renewables farm is estimated to provide 9% of the entire Indian renewable portfolio by 2070 when it finishes in a few years. The project involves solar panels, wind turbines, and battery storage.

“A region so large, a region that is so unencumbered, there’s no wildlife, there’s no vegetation, there’s no habitation. There is no better alternative use of that land,” said Sagar Adani, the executive behind all the powers and departments making the project possible.

Nephew to India’s second-richest man, Adani is the executive director of Adani Green Energy Limited (AGEL) a subsidiary of the Adani Group, India’s largest coal-power owner-investor.

It’s inspiring to see a family that has a net worth of $100 billion directing its resources, both corporate and personal, to a project of the scale of Khavda, which is set to be the largest renewable power plant on Earth.

The Adani Group plans to invest $100 billion into energy transition over the next decade, with 70% of the investments earmarked for clean energy, according to CNN. 

MORE INDIA NEWS: Poverty Rate in India Drops Below 5% First Time Ever as Rural-Urban Divide Shrinks

In 2021, Prime Minister Narendra Modi pledged that India would achieve net zero emissions by 2070, and the scale of the Khavda project is likely to be music to his ears.

India bulls see the economic future of the subcontinent as one of perhaps unprecedented growth, with 6% annualized expansion, and 600 million people entering the middle and upper-income brackets in the next 10 years alone.

ALSO CHECK OUT: Largest US Solar Storage Project Goes Online – Enough for a Quarter Million Homes

Such flourishing requires energy, and the demand in the country for air conditioning alone is expected to overtake all of Africa by 2050.

On such a scale, it’s unsurprising that Sagar Adani has stopped reading and calculating numbers on the Khavda plant—they’re too big and too abstract, he says, and it sounds like that’s how it ought to be if India is going to avoid the worst of 1.5°C of warming.

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Witness the Glory of the 2024 European Tree of the Year – Growing in Poland for 200 Years

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Andy Corbley
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credit - Marcin Kopij
credit – Marcin Kopij

In this year’s edition of the European Tree of the Year contest, the leafy crown was bestowed upon a common beech in the botanical gardens of the University of Wroclaw.

Thought to be 200 years old, The Heart of the Garden is the third Polish tree in a row to win, following up on the Oak Fabrykant with its outrageous 60-foot-long digit in 2023, and the 400-year-old Oak Dunin outside the Białowieża Primeval Forest, in 2022.

“Its majestic appearance impresses us with its unusually shaped and thick trunk, widely spread branches, and purple-colored leaves that shine beautifully in the sun,” the contest organizers wrote.

Known in the UK as a “copper beech” all beech trees seem to have the genetic potential to be purple, though exactly what causes it to happen is unknown. The naturally occurring mutation appears spontaneously, without human interference, and is most commonly seen in either saplings or old trees.

The Heart of the Garden is certainly old, and what a wonderful confluence of character that it should have been grown as the centerpiece in the arboretum, and be 200 years old, and have a copper beech mutation.

OTHER GLORIOUS TREES: Tree-Loving Brits Crowdsource a National ‘Ancient Tree Inventory’ – 200,000 Unique Trees

The Fagus genus took silver as well, with The Weeping Beech of Bayeux, in France. Popular for its immense weeping canopy and massive twisted branches probably related to whatever genetic mutation is responsible for Verzy’s faux trees, it’s a perfect romantic spot for celebrations and weddings.

Spreading over 120 feet, or 40 meters in width today, the city had to keep on perfecting an incredible supporting structure for the last 100 years.

THE CONTEST IN BRITAIN: Tree of the Year Contest Features Oak that Stood Up to Bombing and Elm that Survived Catastrophic Plague

Held every year, the European Tree of the Year contest is a delightful opportunity for tree photographers to showcase their skills, for nature lovers to connect with the continent’s wild heritage, and for residents to celebrate the old or interesting trees in their area.

Ongoing since 2011, it grew from a similar contest held in Czechia, and as a result, East-Central Europe boasts the largest number of finalists.

(CORRECTION: An earlier version described the 200 year old tree as 2,000 years old.)

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School Bus Catches on Fire, Driver Gets All the Kids Out–and Herself–Before it Explodes Behind Her

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Andy Corbley
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The charred remains of Kia Rousseve’s school bus - Kia Rousseve, released.
The charred remains of Kia Rousseve’s school bus – Kia Rousseve, released.

Some very successful comedic songwriters once said: “cool guys don’t look at explosions,” which turns out to apply equally to cool gals as well.

Schoolbus driver Kia Rousseve rescued a flock of children when her bus caught fire, and it wasn’t until she—the lost one off—took 8 or 9 steps before the front half exploded in flames.

Rewinding to the beginning of this everyday hero story, Rousseve had around 7 stops left in her route to bring New Orleans’ children to Lafayette Academy for the opening bell.

At approximately 7 a.m. on March 13th, she found that her bus was losing power and had begun to smoke. Pulling over, one of the children, a hero in her own right, alerted Rousseve that a fire had started under the bus.

“As soon as I seen the bus smoking, my instinct was get them off of the bus,” bus driver Kia Rousseve said. Speaking with WOWT 6 News, she added that she performs her own brief inspection of her bus every day, despite the school district having claimed it’s relatively pristine.

Ignoring the emergency exit, she led every child aged Kindergarten through 8th grade, through the front door and onto the street. Once everyone was a safe distance away, she reboarded, double-checked to make sure no one was left, killed the engine, and then stepped off again—just in time as it turns out.

RESCUING CHILDREN IN AMERICA: Hero Bus Driver Saves Boy From Choking on Coin, Rushing Him to Safety–WATCH

“I turned the bus off and got off. When I got off, the bus blew up,” she said. “All I heard was boom, boom, boom. I was like, ‘Oh my God, the bus blew up.’”

A statement released by the school district called her efforts and poise under pressure “nothing short of heroic.”

MORE EXPLODING RESCUES: Man Hailed as a Hero After He Rushed to Pull Driver From Burning Car After Fuel Explosion

“It’s a poignant reminder of the crucial role bus drivers play in our lives, often going unnoticed until a moment of crisis thrusts them into the spotlight,” said the statement, which was first reported by Nola.com.

Rousseve has decided to stop driving school buses, as the days that have since passed gradually made her realize how close she came to losing her life.

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“The secret of happiness is something to do.” – John Burroughs

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Quote of the Day: “The secret of happiness is something to do.” – John Burroughs

Photo by: Marin Tulard

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?

UK Restaurant is Letting People Pay-as-They-Can While Rescuing Tons of Food

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Andy Corbley
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The Long Table
The Long Table

A restaurant in England has been able to employ 22 full and part-time staff serving food diverted from landfills to people on a “pay-as-you-can” basis.

This fantastic achievement is rooted in two significant challenges faced by the UK: price inflation has increased the average cost of food by a quarter, and as many as 10 million Brits, Scots, and N. Irish are malnourished.

The Long Table’s remarkable business model is rooted in conscience and ethics as much as anything they put on the menu. The Guardian reports that 6.4 million tons of food goes to waste in the country every year, amounting to quite a hefty bill of carbon emissions from rotting food and transportation to move it around.

But perhaps the reason this special Gloucestershire restaurant has been able to stay open despite allowing people to eat for free if they want is that the plan was never to focus on the negative.

“We hold a space where we are all collectively trying to answer a question: what if everyone in our community had access to great food and people to eat it with?” says Will North, The Long Table’s general manager.

Lunch is served five days a week from noon, while the store is open every morning for coffee and cake. Dinner is Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Everyone eats the same meal based on what the managers are rescuing from their suppliers, but that doesn’t mean the menu is stale.

OTHER ALTERNATIVE RESTAURANTS: Run by Grandmothers, a Staten Island Restaurant Highlights Homecooking from Around the World

“We’re not pro-organic, anti-organic, pro-GM [or] anti-GM, we’re just pro-food,” says North. “But it just so happens that our local producers really prioritize the planet over anything else.”

FOOD RESCUE OPERATIONS: Charity Rescues So Much Food From Landfill, It Opens a ‘Pay What You Feel’ Grocery Store To Share Tons of Produce

A not-for-profit community interest company, the turnover is about enough to cover all costs, but little else remains. Nevertheless, they don’t need any grant money from the government—all their profit comes from diners, heavily supported by drink and coffee sales.

The Guardian writes that others are looking at replicating the model in Cirencester and Falmouth.

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US Bookstores Coming Back as Barnes & Noble Celebrates Banner Year While Indie Shops Flourish

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Andy Corbley
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By Jason Leung
By Jason Leung

Ask most people around the country about the number of bookstores in their town over the last 20 years and the answer will almost inevitably be that it’s gone down, but the new Barnes & Noble in Papillion, Nebraska is no anomaly—corporate bookstores are returning.

The new Nebraska location is part of a slate of openings envisioned to reach as high as 50 to 60 this year alone, to follow up on the 31 openings from last year to match booming book sales born during the pandemic and which carried on into the post-pandemic world.

But the great news is that it’s more than just corporate bookstores that economic reports suggest are flourishing; as the US book sales market continues to both grow and diversify, the majority of the retail book market is controlled by small stores.

Yet further, this isn’t a trend limited to the US, but continues around the world, with 50% of all retail book sales, whether in Germany, India, or Nebraska, coming from the proverbial Shop Around the Corner.

“It’s so exciting,” said Janine Flanigan, Senior Director of Store Planning and Design with Barnes & Noble, when interviewed about the Papillion store opening. “We came to a screeching halt in terms of opening stores. We hadn’t opened stores in a very long period of time.”

POSITIVE BUSINESS TRENDS:  Czech Village is at the Heart of Vinyl Record Revival, Survives Communism, Streaming, and the Pandemic

Flanigan has the same thing to say about bookstores as Grand View Research, whose data were quoted above—that communities use bookstores as a gathering place to talk, to meet, to interact, and to hold events.

“We opened 31 stores which is actually more stores than we opened in the past 10 years combined,” Flanigan told WOWT News 6, Omaha. “This year we’re looking to open somewhere between 50-60 new stores.”

POSITIVE BUSINESS TRENDS: Company Emerges to Help Small Businesses Compete with Amazon’s Same-Day Delivery—But With Green Cred

While digital and technological forms of media such as eBooks, audiobooks, and long-form podcasts continue to grow at the highest paces, the physical book, bought in a physical store, has never lost its luster and continues to represent the largest chunk of book purchases nationwide.

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Students Surprise Nigerian Security Guard Who’s ‘Part of the Family’ with a Trip Home–Raising $30K

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Andy Corbley
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James at Providence College – Courtesy of Brandon Reichert via Gofundme
James at Providence College – Courtesy of Brandon Reichert via Gofundme

This week CBS News introduced the world to James, a Nigerian security guard at Providence College, who was recently given a monumental shock by the students he protects.

Working 4 overnight shifts a week, student organizer Brandon Reichart said James greets everybody with a smile and always welcomes conversations no matter what time of the night.

But for the last five years, James has not been able to return to his homeland to visit his family, and so Brandon organized a GoFundMe to secretly arrange a trip back to Nigeria with pocket money included.

The GoFundMe page said that all donations will go first to buy James a ticket, then to pay for his food and lodging, but the donations kept on coming until the fundraiser was halted at $30,000.

Then came the fun part, when Brandon and some of his fellow students entered James’ office and surprised him with the ticket.

A SIMILAR STORY: After 29 Years in Prison for Rape He Didn’t Commit, the Survivor Helped Free him

“We started a GoFundMe to take care of our own, because that’s what we do here at PC. As long as I’ve been here they’ve done that for me, we do that for each other, so now we’re doing it for you,” said Brandon, with James sitting in his chair looking perplexed.

“You’re part of the family, so our gift to you is a trip to Nigeria,” he says, while a fellow student tries to hand James an envelope; James covers his face and falls to the floor.

WATCH a great man receive a deserved vacation… 

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

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Andy Corbley
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A scroll painting of an Okinawan king - credit FBI.gov
A scroll painting of an Okinawan king – credit FBI.gov

Last year, a Massachusetts resident and his family were going through the personal effects of a deceased grandfather and happened to come across a very large collection of very valuable Asian art.

The FBI Art Crimes Unit from the Boston Field Office received a complaint in January 2023 from the family, saying that the grandfather was a World War II veteran, but never served in the Pacific Theater.

“There were some scrolls, there were some pottery pieces, there was an ancient map,” said Special Agent Geoffrey J. Kelly, the art coordinator for the Boston Office, who added that the family did their own research and determined that at least the scrolls had been entered about 20 years ago in the FBI’s National Stolen Art File.

In total, the FBI recovered 22 artifacts: six painted scrolls from the 18th-19th centuries (three of which were one piece and appear to have been divided into three pieces), a hand-drawn map of Okinawa dating back to the 19th century, and various pieces of pottery, ceramics, and metalwork.

An unsigned typewritten letter was also found with the artifacts that helped confirm they were looted in the last days of World War II during the Battle of Okinawa.

“When taken together, they really represent a substantial piece of Okinawan history,” said Kelly.

The FBI transported the artifacts from Massachusetts to the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Asian Art in Washington, D.C., where the scrolls were unfurled for the first time in many years, revealing portraits of Okinawan royalty in vivid reds, golds, and blue accents.

credit – FBI.gov
A 19th century, hand-drawn map of Okinawa – credit FBI.gov

“A nation’s cultural identity is really summed up in the artifacts and the history,” said Kelly. “This is what makes a culture. And without it, you’re taking away their history. And the surest way to eliminate a culture is to eliminate their past.”

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE: Netherlands to Return Nearly 500 Looted Objects to Indonesia and Sri Lanka

“And so, it’s really important for us as stewards of artifacts and cultural patrimony to make every effort that we can to see that these go back to the civilizations and the cultures in the countries where they belong,” he said.

“So I think one of the biggest takeaways from this entire investigation is the fact that in this case, the family did the right thing,” Kelly added. “They had some questioned artifacts that they thought might not belong here in this country. They checked the National Stolen Art File. And when they realized that it may, in fact, have been looted cultural property, they did what they should have done, which is call the FBI.

MORE REPATRIATED ARTIFACTS: 11th c. Monastery Gets Back Statues from Two US Museums–And Discovers Hundreds of Treasures in the Process

“We’re not looking to put people in jail because they happened to inherit some objects that have some questionable or dubious provenance. We’re here to help make sure at the end of the day it goes back to its rightful owner,” concluded the special agent.

The FBI, who just released details of the story this week, added that some relics from Okinawa lost during WWII are still at large and waiting to be returned, and the story of the Massachusetts family is a great reminder to always be conscientious when digging through an attic.

WATCH the story below from the FBI… 

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All-Female Auto Repair Shop Lets Clients Get Mani-Pedis While Waiting For Their Cars

By
Andy Corbley
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Girls Auto Clinic (GAC) was founded in 2013 by Patrice Banks (Girls Auto Club Facebook)
Girls Auto Clinic (GAC) was founded in 2013 by Patrice Banks (Girls Auto Club Facebook)

A Pennsylvania entrepreneur left her 6-figure engineering job to volunteer at mechanic shops around her area to learn how to fix cars, and founded the Girls Auto Clinic when she was finished.

The GAC is the first of its kind in the nation, and offers car care memberships, car care education classes, and hands-on mechanic workshops for women looking to learn the skills for themselves.

Patrice Banks was working at DuPont, and decided to double her workload and enroll in a mechanic’s night school, where the 30-year-old was the only girl in a class full of 18 and 19-year-old boys.

“I was tired of feeling helpless and having to go talk to a guy,” she told the Int. Business Times. “I was afraid I was going to be taken advantage of.”

The fear is mutual Patrice, but unlike this reporter, she didn’t give up learning about how to mend cars, and after accumulating enough experience she opened GAC in Upper Darby, PA, in 2013 with some pretty excellent business ideas based on a decade of dreading oil changes.

“Me and my girlfriend that I worked with at DuPont would go to this specific Jiffy Lube on our lunch break because there was a nail salon next to it. We’d drop our cars off and walk next door and get our nails done while we waited,” Banks explained, saying she and almost every other woman she knows, hates getting oil changes.

MORE AUTOMOTIVE INNOVATION: Hyundai Unveils ’Crab-Walking” Car That Can Parallel Park For You (WATCH)

She explains that, despite the complex mechanical engineering going on under the hood of cars, working as a mechanic is a lot of intuition based on touch, smell, hearing, and seeing.

Girls Auto Clinic Facebook

Her clients, who get access to free WiFi, snacks and beverages, hundreds of books, and the “Clutch Beauty Clinic” nail salon while they wait, are not only told about the state of their vehicle when the work is finished, but told about how Patrice came to that conclusion—what she was looking for, hearing for, and how she found or heard it.

This is breeding a community of “Shecanics” that are not only learning for themselves about the cars they rely on, but quite possibly changing the face of the industry.

MORE FEMALE ENTREPRENEURS: Ghanaian Woman Entrepreneur is Revolutionizing Transportation–Building Electric Bikes to Improve Air Quality

Maybe it’s this transparent communication, but the automotive repair sector was flooded with female workers during the pandemic, with nationwide numbers rising from 4,000 to 19,000 by the end of 2022.

Maybe it was because the government-enforced business closures and curfews kindled a desire for greater self-reliance, or maybe it was because of women like Patrice.

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“Be brave, young lovers, and follow your star.” – Oscar Hammerstein II 

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Good News Network
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Quote of the Day: “Be brave, young lovers, and follow your star.” – Oscar Hammerstein II 

Photo by: Karsten Winegeart

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Experts Begin Hunt for Most Valuable British Shipwreck in History, and the Gold Worth 4 Billion

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Andy Corbley
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The anchor found by fishermen aboard the Cornish vessel Spirited Lady suspected to come from ‘The El Dorado of the seas’ – SWNS
The anchor found by fishermen aboard the Cornish vessel Spirited Lady suspected to come from ‘El Dorado of the seas’ – SWNS

A team of marine experts are to begin hunting for the most valuable shipwreck in history which sank 400 years ago carrying $4.3 billion worth of gold.

Royal Merchant, a 17th-century English treasure ship known as “El Dorado of the Seas” sank in bad weather off Lands End, eastern England in 1641.

It was returning to Dartmouth laden with treasure from Mexico amounting to at least 100,000 pounds of gold, 400 bars of Mexican silver, and 500,000 pieces of eight.

Carrying a crew of 80 under the command of Capt. John Limbrey, the ship was described as having “£300,000 in silver, £100,000 in gold and as much again in jewel” lying in its hold.

Proceedings in the House of Commons were halted to hear the news it was lost, and King Charles I spoke of the event as the “greatest loss ever sustained in one ship.”

Fast forward to modern-day and in 2019, a massive anchor was brought up in the nets of The Spirited Lady off the coast of Cornwall, and experts speculated it belonged to the Royal Merchant.

So now a team of marine cargo recovery experts from Cornish-based company Multibeam Services is working with former local fishermen in a mission to find the wreck and its treasure.

Multibeam plans to spend all of 2024 looking for the wreck, covering a 200-square-mile area of the English Channel to the tune of millions of British pounds. They say if they find the boat, the governing authorities will be notified.

YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE: 76,000 Gold and Silver Artifacts Recovered from Chinese River Charts Infamous 17th Century Warlord’s Conquests

“We’ve got state-of-the-art technology, and one of the best dive teams in the world,” said Nigel Hodge, from Multibeam Services who leads the on-water team. “We will definitely find it—we’ve found everything we’ve ever looked for and we’ve been in the business looking for 35 years.”

“We are a team of marine exploration experts trained from working at sea as ex-commercial Cornish fisherman, so we have a knowledge of the local area.”

Multibeam will use remote-controlled unmanned submersibles equipped with sonar and cameras each costing around $3.8 million. The company has used them previously to find submarines and other shipwrecks.

MORE TREASURE HUNTS: Treasure For 3 Miles: A Scatter Trail from the Most Famous Shipwreck is Uncovered Behind the Maravillas

With a treasure haul estimated at $4.3 billion, Multibeam aren’t the only ones interested in finding it, and in 2007, news reports surfaced that the wreck was apparently found by the US company Odyssey Marine Exploration.

The State Department Cables from Wikileaks revealed that Odyssey lost a legal battle and was ordered to hand over coins recovered from the wreck to Spain, suggesting that the ship was really a Spanish frigate.

The project to find the Merchant Royal will begin in April and will be televised in a series hosted by TV presenter Jason Fox.

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Heaps of Gold Uncovered in 1,200-year-old Pre-Colombian Tomb in Panama

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Andy Corbley
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The golden artifacts from Tomb no.9 - credit Panama Ministry of Culture.
The golden artifacts from Tomb no.9 – credit Panama Ministry of Culture.

An array of golden artifacts and human remains have been discovered in Panama belonging to a religious leader of a non-Mayan, pre-Colombian society.

Little is known about the nature of the society, but the discoveries, found in the ninth excavated tomb at an archaeological site called El Caño, present some intriguing clues.

Dating to 750 to 800 CE, the individual for whom the tomb was built was probably a 40-year-old man, and has been nicknamed The Lord of Flutes based on the presence of several animal bone flutes found in the tomb.

Buried face-down atop a woman, a practice seldom seen in the region, archaeologists determined he was a religious leader as he was “buried with flutes and bells and not, as in the case of other lords found at the same site, with axes, spears, and objects made with teeth of large predators.”

“This calls attention to the importance of religion in this society,” Dr. Julia Mayo, the excavation’s leader and the director of the El Caño Foundation, told CNN in an email. “After the death of these people, (it was believed that) a constant communication was established between the ancestor and his descendants.”

Bedecked in gold, the Lord of Flutes was clearly a leader who sat at the top of the social hierarchy, but the nature of the artifacts reveals that he may have maintained long-distance connections with other chieftains.

MORE PRE-COLOMBIAN ARCHAEOLOGY: Pre-Incan ‘Floor of Thunder’ Found Where Ritual Dances Atop Stone Platform Made Booming Footsteps Like Thunder

The treasure included 5 golden pectoral ornaments, 2 belts made entirely of golden beads, 4 bracelets, 8 earrings—2 in the shape of human figures (a man and a woman), 1 in the shape of a double crocodile, and 5 made of gold-plated sperm whale teeth—1 necklace of small circular beads, a set of circular gold plates, and 2 bells.

Many of the objects resemble golden pieces found in the Quimbaya region of Colombia, researchers said, suggesting that trade may have linked the two regions.

The site of El Caño was a religious center and necropolis, a Greek word for City of the Dead. Ghastly as it is to us today, the tombs excavated so far have shown that when the important people in the cemetery died, human sacrifices often accompanied them to the grave.

MORE STORIES LIKE THIS: Circular Stone Plaza Moves Up Start of Stone Age Construction in the Andes on Par with Stonehenge

Some of the higher-ranking graves have turned up between 8 and 32 bodies. It’s considered obvious that the woman buried with the Lord of Flutes had some social relationship to him, though nothing indicates marriage necessarily.

Bodies buried face down is common practice, said Mayo’s colleague Nicole Smith-Guzmán, but face down atop someone else has not been seen at El Caño before—rather only at another archaeological site called Sitio Sierra.

When gold-filled graves are found in Latin America, the knee-jerk reaction is to imagine one of the three great empires of Maya, Mexica, or Inca, but the discoveries show that throughout the history of civilization, the Western Hemisphere boasted dozens of complex and rich societies, ancient Panama included.

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A California Superbloom Is Springing to Life and the Best is Yet to Come

By
Andy Corbley
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California Superbloom from - Public Domain Bureau of Land Management via Wikipedia Commons
California Superbloom from – Public Domain Bureau of Land Management via Wikipedia Commons

Drenching rains and record snowfall throughout California’s 2022-2023 winter season carried on throughout the year, and by September, normally the peak of the dry and fire seasons, no part of the state was considered to be suffering from drought conditions.

Experienced Californians will have had a hunch that all that water meant this year’s spring may hold a surprise—a superbloom.

This non-scientific term simply refers to spring wildflower blooms of inordinate proportions after wet winters. California has recently experienced some incredible blooming events that were seen from space.

Last year’s was breathtaking; one of the most dramatic ever seen according to experts. This year promises to be something similar, but we won’t know for certain until April, when peak blooming tends to occur as flowers open in the higher-elevation deserts.

“It’s definitely looking like it’s going to be a good season,” said Evan Meyer, a botanist and the Executive Director of the nonprofit Theodore Payne Foundation. “Last year was incredible, it was one of the best blooms in many years.”

ALSO CHECK OUT: The Smell of Desert Rain May Be Good for Your Health

Wildflower blooms in California’s Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, about 50 miles south of Palm Springs, are already up in color according to CNN, as well as in Chino Hills State Park, outside of Anaheim, and Tule Elk State Natural Reserve, south of Santa Barbara.

California poppies from the 2023 Superbloom – Youtube
Death Valley Superbloom FB National Park Service

It depends on what the weather decides to do, but if a Goldilocks ratio of moisture and heat continues as it has so far, many more areas are liable to explode in color.

Flower species include desert sand verbena, sage, dune evening primrose, and California poppies.

MORE NATURAL PHENOMENA TO INSPIRE: Cicadas Are Coming: Rare ‘Dual Emergence’ Could Awaken a Trillion Bugs of 2 Species – First Time in 221 yrs

The poppies in particular are very sensitive to changing temperatures, and in Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve, it’s unclear whether this native flower will explode as it did last year because of a late showering of rain.

Superblooms are on across desert states like Nevada and Arizona, and even Death Valley National Park can experience these giant blooms.

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For World Happiness Day, Finland Wants to Bring 5 Winners to World’s Happiest Country–Crowned 7 Years in a Row

By
Andy Corbley
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FIND YOUR INNER FINN - HELSINKI HAPPINESS HACKS
FIND YOUR INNER FINN – HELSINKI HAPPINESS HACKS

Today, for the seventh year in a row, Finland has been named the happiest country in the world by the annual United Nations World Happiness Report, holding the top title since 2018.

Finns are proud and grateful for this prestigious title, believing that the key to their unique style of happiness is found in four basic elements: a close connection to nature, a down-to-earth lifestyle, food from fresh ingredients, and a sustainable approach to life.

According to Finns themselves, Finnish happiness is not a state secret or great mystery; instead, it is a learnable set of skills. From a walk in the forest or a dip in the sea after sauna to a meal made of freshly foraged local ingredients, these are the daily hacks of Finnish happiness.

To celebrate being the happiest country in the world, and following the success of 2023’s Masterclass in Happiness, Finland’s official tourism arm and Helsinki Partners are seeking applicants from around the globe to attend a happiness hack-a-thon and take part in a five-day curated experience in the happiest capital in the world, Helsinki.

The Helsinki Happiness Hacks urban expedition, taking place in June 2024, will be entirely free of charge for the chosen participants, who will learn from five Helsinkians as they share their tips and tricks for achieving happiness in the city. Apply now for your upcoming vacation at the event page here.

These include seventy-year-old skateboard enthusiast and passionate swimmer, Lena Salmi, who will reveal the new rules of urban swimming; chef and owner of several restaurants renowned for sustainability, Luka Balac, to share his local approach to social gastronomy; and well-being expert and biologist, Adela Pajunen, will expose what the doctor may order in Finland—which may just be a walk in the woods.

MORE STORIES ABOUT HAPPINESS: 3 Friends All Over 100 Reveal Secrets to Long Life, ‘Happiness, Staying Active and Keep a Boy Toy Nearby’

Designer Tero Kuitunen offers a bike ride around town to show how urban and nature are combined in Helsinki and how this relationship inspires the local design and the Finnish lifestyle, while for the musically included, there’s Tapio Hakanen, also known as one of Finland’s biggest electronic music exports, DJ Orkidea, who invites you to something called a “sauna rave”.

credit Julia Kivela

“There is an old Finnish proverb that states ‘the one who has happiness, should hide it.’ As the world’s happiest country since 2018, we have decided to take the old phrase and update it, making our modern motto: ‘the one who has happiness, should share it.’ We are excited to invite people from around the world to learn about our Finnish keys and hacks to happiness,” comments Heli Jimenez, Senior Director of international Marketing at Business Finland.

YOU MIGHT ALSO ENJOY: Global Happiness Has Been ‘Remarkably Resilient’ Over the Past Three Years: World Happiness Report

“In 2023, we invited global happiness seekers to the world’s first Happiness Masterclass and this year we are thrilled to share an authentic slice of Finnish urban happiness in Helsinki from our own Helsinki Happiness Hackers.”

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“I want to do what Spring does with the cherry trees.” – Pablo Neruda

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Good News Network
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Quote of the Day: “I want to do what spring does with the cherry trees.” – Pablo Neruda

Photo by: Stefan K

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Volunteers Plant One Million Moss Cuttings to Restore Bog and Improve Water Quality in England

By
Andy Corbley
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Chew Reservoir in 2005, and after plantings of sphagnum moss, in 2023 – Photos by RSPB
Chew Reservoir in 2005, and after plantings of sphagnum moss, in 2023 – Photos by RSPB

After deciding in 2012 that the Dovestone Reservoir needed serious restoration, volunteers have spent the last decade hand-planting cuttings of moss to improve water quality and filtration.

The hilltop reservoir in Oldham, in Manchester county, was surrounded by bare peat bogs, over which rainwater would fall rapidly and take on a silty brown color. This water then moved into the surrounding streams and gullies and further degraded the riverine qualities.

Additionally, the lack of any ground vegetation meant that flood risk in the surrounding communities was high, as nothing stopped the water from falling down into the reservoir, or down the hillsides onto the roads.

To remedy this, volunteers with the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, together with United Utilities which owns the land, have worked rain, wind, and sunshine (but mostly rain and wind) for 10 years planting sphagnum moss all around the area which has been experiencing de-vegetation since Neolithic times.

On a rainy, windy Wednesday, the volunteers celebrated planting their one-millionth cutting.

“We are wanting a landscape that sequesters carbon and slows floodwaters, and supports lots of biodiversity, and is somewhere that gives people really nice health and wellbeing benefits,” site manager Kate Hanley told the Oldham Times.

A SWAMP PROTECTED FOREVER: Unprecedented Gift Preserves 8,000 Acres of ‘The Land Between the Rivers’ in Alabama: ‘America’s Amazon’

Hanley explained that all together, the volunteers have donated over 45,000 hours of their time to do the replanting, equivalent to 20,000 labor hours of work.

“We’ve come a really long way on that journey from bare, degraded, peat 10 years ago, to sphagnum-rich, soaking wet, functional blanket bog.”

MORE BRITISH LANDS RESTORED: Farmer Combats Flooding by Returning Creeks to Nature: ‘Wildlife That Has Come is Phenomenal’

Peat and rock dams have been set up to trap water and provide habitat for birds, amphibians, and insects.

“We needed to get it back to something that looked how it used to look, with vegetation that was good for the wildlife, good for the birds, good for the mountain hares, and everything else,” 71-year-old Denzil Broadhurst who has been volunteering for years, told the Times. “It was important to actually try and help to do that work, to improve things.”

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