Faith Snapp had always grown up around animals; and though she couldn’t see them, she “always loved them.”
Now, she’s on the road to becoming perhaps Texas’ first-ever blind veterinarian, and she spoke to Fox News recently about her journey, and about how anything is possible if you believe it’s possible.
Born quite prematurely, Snapp has about 10% vision. Her right eye can detect motion. Her left is more suited to colors, large print, and shapes.
“My entire life, my family has raised horses and goats for as long as I can remember,” Snapp shared with FOX 26 Houston. On top of the farm critters, Snapp had a guide dog since the beginning of high school.
She says she never let her disability get in the way of her living her life, and as long as there was accommodation and people to support her, she felt there was nothing she couldn’t do.
Case in point, Snapp was recently accepted into Texas Tech University School of Veterinary Medicine after years of volunteering in local animal clinics.
She starts her classes in August with an eye on becoming a mixed-animal vet, and working with both housepets and larger animals.
“No matter who you are or what your circumstances… anything is possible,” she said. “I just hope my story can help others realize that you can accomplish anything you set your mind to.”
SHARE This Inspiring Woman’s Disability Being Totally Not A Problem…
Worms collected in the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone – SWNS / New York University
Worms collected in the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone – SWNS / New York University
The 1986 disaster at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant transformed the surrounding area into the most radioactive landscape on Earth, and now the discovery of a worm that seems to be right at home in the rads is believed to be a boon for human cancer research.
Though humans were evacuated after the meltdown of Reactor 4, many plants and animals continued to live in the region, despite the high levels of radiation that have persisted to our time.
In recent years, researchers have found that some animals living in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone are physically and genetically different from their counterparts elsewhere, raising questions about the impact of chronic radiation on DNA.
In particular, a new study led by researchers at New York University finds that exposure to chronic radiation from Chernobyl has not damaged the genomes of microscopic worms living there today, and the team suggests the invertebrates have become exceptionally resilient.
The finding could offer clues as to why humans with a genetic predisposition to cancer develop the disease, while others do not.
“Chernobyl was a tragedy of incomprehensible scale, but we still don’t have a great grasp on the effects of the disaster on local populations,” said Sophia Tintori, a postdoctoral associate in the Department of Biology at NYU and the first author of the study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
“Did the sudden environmental shift select for species, or even individuals within a species, that are naturally more resistant to ionizing radiation?”
Tintori and her colleagues turned to nematodes, tiny worms with simple genomes and rapid reproduction, which makes them particularly useful for understanding basic biological phenomena.
“These worms live everywhere, and they live quickly, so they go through dozens of generations of evolution while a typical vertebrate is still putting on its shoes,” said Matthew Rockman, a professor of biology at NYU and the study’s senior author.
“I had seen footage of the Exclusion Zone and was surprised by how lush and overgrown it looked—I’d never thought of it as teeming with life,” added Tintori. “If I want to find worms that are particularly tolerant to radiation exposure, this is a landscape that might have already selected for that.”
In collaboration with scientists in Ukraine and U.S. colleagues, including biologist Timothy Mousseau of the University of South Carolina, who studies the effects of radiation from the Chernobyl and Fukushima disasters, Tintori and Rockman visited the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone in 2019 to see if chronic radiation has had a detectable impact on the region’s worms.
With Geiger counters in hand to measure local levels of radiation and personal protective gear to guard against radioactive dust, they gathered worms from samples of soil, rotting fruit, and other organic material.
The ruins of Reactor 4, Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. credit Matt Shalvatis – CC BY-4.0. SA
Worms were collected from locations throughout the zone with different amounts of radiation, ranging from low levels on par with New York City (negligibly radioactive) to high-radiation sites on par with outer space (dangerous for humans, but of unclear if it would be dangerous to worms).
After collecting samples in the field, the team brought them to Mousseau’s field lab in a former residential home in Chernobyl, where they separated hundreds of nematodes from the soil or fruit. From there, they headed to a Kyiv hotel where, using travel microscopes, they isolated and established cultures from each worm.
Back in the lab at NYU, the researchers continued studying the worms by freezing them.
“We can cryopreserve worms, and then thaw them for study later. That means that we can stop evolution from happening in the lab, something impossible with most other animal models, and very valuable when we want to compare animals that have experienced different evolutionary histories,” said Rockman.
They focused their analyses on 15 worms of a nematode species called Oscheius tipulae, which has been used in genetic and evolutionary studies. They sequenced the genomes of the 15 O. tipulae worms from Chernobyl and compared them with the genomes of five O. tipulae from other parts of the world.
The researchers were surprised to find that, using several different analyses, they could not detect a signature of radiation damage on the genomes of the worms from Chernobyl.
“This doesn’t mean that Chernobyl is safe—it more likely means that nematodes are really resilient animals and can withstand extreme conditions,” noted Tintori. “We also don’t know how long each of the worms we collected was in the Zone, so we can’t be sure exactly what level of exposure each worm and its ancestors received over the past four decades.”
Wondering whether the lack of genetic signature was because the worms living in Chernobyl are unusually effective at protecting or repairing their DNA, the researchers designed a system to compare how quickly populations of worms grow and used it to measure how sensitive the descendants of each of the 20 genetically distinct worms were to different types of DNA damage.
The surprise in this story is that while the lineages of worms were different from each other in how well they tolerated DNA damage, these differences didn’t correspond to the levels of radiation at each collection site, meaning that unlike the origin stories of several superheroes, radiation exposure doesn’t seem to create super worms just as much as it can’t turn you or I into Spiderman or the Hulk.
Instead, the teams’ findings suggest that worms from Chernobyl are not necessarily more tolerant of radiation and the radioactive landscape has not forced them to evolve.
The results give researchers clues into how DNA repair can vary from individual to individual—and despite the genetic simplicity of O. tipulae, could lead to a better understanding of natural variation in humans.
“Now that we know which strains of O. tipulae are more sensitive or more tolerant to DNA damage, we can use these strains to study why different individuals are more likely than others to suffer the effects of carcinogens,” said Tintori.
How different individuals in a species respond to DNA damage is top of mind for cancer researchers seeking to understand why some humans with a genetic predisposition to cancer develop the disease, while others do not.
“Thinking about how individuals respond differently to DNA-damaging agents in the environment is something that will help us have a clear vision of our own risk factors,” added Tintori.
SHARE This Interesting Irradiated Science Project On Social Media…
Papyrus was the premier writing material of the ancients, and an international team of researchers has discovered that wasabi, the spicy green goop you get with your sushi, can save ancient papyrus manuscripts from fungal contamination.
Papyrus is made from the crushed stems of the Cyprus papyrus plant, and because it’s only one step removed from a plant, the papyrus, and the pigments contained upon it, can be eaten away by fungal microbes.
Papyruses contain all manner of ancient wisdom, including the Egyptian Book of the Dead, the Will of Naunakhte, treatises on medicine and surgery, the only extant copy of the Greek playwright Menander, many different Biblical sections, Book V and VI of Homer’s Illiad, and the Vision of Dorotheus, one of the earliest examples of Christian hexametric poem, just to name a handful.
“The bio-deterioration of papyri is a worldwide problem,” lead author Hanadi Saada, a researcher at the Grand Egyptian Museum in Egypt, tells New Scientist.
Archivists are not helpless against such bio-deterioration, but chemical agents used have their issues, such as toxicity for humans and objects, damage and disruption of ancient pigments, and not providing a future guarantee against such contamination.
In their study, the team created papyrus sheets and baked them in the oven to simulate years of weathering. Next, they exposed the papyrus to microscopic fungi commonly found on ancient scrolls.
Gradually mixing water and wasabi until it reached a “dumpling-like state” they hung the papyrus in such a way as to ensure the fumes from the wasabi lump could cover the whole scroll.
After three days, the contamination had been cleared without a trace remaining. All the pigments and other physical characteristics of the papyrus remained undisturbed, and something within the wasabi vapors increased the scroll’s textile strength.
A Graco worker inspects a roof - credit, Graco Roofing and Construction
A Graco worker inspects a roof – credit, Graco Roofing and Construction
Scott and Deborah Senner are really impressed with their home’s new shingled roof. It’s hail resistant, and it lowered their homeowners’ insurance.
The only thing was, they didn’t order a roof. It was put on their house—if one can believe such a thing—completely by mistake.
The contractors at Graco Roofing Construction of Edmond Oklahoma were probably 80% finished taking the old roof off when they realized that contingencies and protocols that had stood for 30 years to prevent such a thing from happening had failed, and that they had just torn the roof off the wrong house.
5-hours away on a business trip, the Senners got a shocking phone call.
“Had to be humble,” said Doug Gray, the owner of Graco Roofing and Construction. “We made a mistake and here’s what we can do to fix it.”
Coming home, the couple thought Doug and his team had done a phenomenal job, with Scott mentioning that if they hadn’t received the call, they probably wouldn’t have even noticed the new roof after they got back.
And despite Mr. Gray’s roof goof, the couple actively recommends his services to anyone looking to replace their roof—for both the quality, and more importantly, the honesty.
WATCH the story below from Inside Edition…
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Quote of the Day: “Never close yourself off to love or give up… Do everything you can.” – Cheryl Strayed
Photo by: Nathan Walls, CC license
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?
Dramatic footage from downtown Louisville, Kentucky, last week showed a semi-tractor trailer truck dangling over the water, after nearly plummeting off the Clark Memorial Bridge.
The Louisville fire department was on the scene within three minutes and devised a plan to rescue the driver who was still trapped inside.
Fire Chief Brian O’Neill said the rescue method used is known as a ‘pickoff.’
When firefighter Bryce Carden was lowered with a harness and reached the driver she was still belted into the truck’s cab.
Thanks to a tremendous team effort, the woman was safely back on the bridge within 40 minutes.
“The first responders did an amazing job,” said the department on social media.
Firefighter Bryce Carden – Credit: Louisville Fire Department
“All credit goes to these folks,” O’Neill said, gesturing to a line of fire department members behind him. “They train for this stuff all the time.”
“She is incredibly fortunate that the semi truck threaded the needle of those bridge stanchions…getting wedged in there,” Carden told GMA in an interview which aired on ABC…
AMAZE Your Friends With These Incredible Firefighters–SHARE it Now…
Losing weight is extremely difficult because high-calorie, delicious food is widely available. Despite best intentions, it’s common to wind up overeating—and these setbacks can be frustrating and demoralizing, often leading to the abandonment of goals.
A study of 140 overweight or obese adults enrolled in a weight loss program found that higher levels of self-compassion, particularly self-kindness, were linked to reduced negative feelings following a dietary lapse.
Individuals who practiced self-kindness tended to feel less guilty and more positive about themselves despite the setback.
Afterward, they reported feeling more in command of their eating habits, suggesting that self-compassion can help people regain a sense of agency after a lapse.
The research from the Center for Weight, Eating and Lifestyle Sciences (WELL Center) at Drexel University, published in Appetite, found that when study participants had more self-compassionate responses to their lapse, they reported better mood and self-control over their eating and exercise behavior in the hours following the lapse.
“Many people worry that self-compassion will cause complacency and lead them to settle for inadequacy, but this study is a great example of how self-compassion can help people be more successful in meeting their goals,” said Charlotte Hagerman, PhD, an assistant research professor in the College and lead author.
“The road to achieving difficult goals—especially weight loss—is paved with setbacks. Practicing self-compassion helps people cope with self-defeating thoughts and feelings in response to setbacks, so that they are less debilitated by them. In turn, they can more quickly resume pursuing their goals.”
The 140 participants, who were trying to lose weight through a group-based lifestyle modification program, each responded to surveys on their smartphones multiple times a day to report whether they had experienced a dietary lapse – eating more than they intended, a food they didn’t intend, or at a time they didn’t intend – and the extent to which they were responding to that lapse with self-compassion.
It’s important to forgive yourself. (Fa Barboza)
The researchers also asked about participants’ moods and how well they had been able to practice self-control over their eating and exercise behavior after the last survey they responded to.
Hagerman said people typically blame themselves for a lack of willpower.
“In reality, we live in a food environment that has set everyone up to fail. Practicing self-compassion rather than self-criticism is a key strategy for fostering resilience during the difficult process of weight loss,” said Hagerman.
“The next time you feel the urge to criticize yourself for your eating behavior, instead try speaking to yourself with the kindness that you would speak to a friend or loved one.”
For example, instead of a person saying to his or herself, “You have no willpower,” reframe it to a kinder – and truer – statement: “You’re trying your best in a world that makes it very difficult to lose weight.” Hagerman added that this isn’t letting yourself “off the hook” but giving yourself grace to move forward in a highly challenging process.
The research team hopes this will lead to more effective interventions and best strategies for reducing self-blame and criticism, while also holding themselves accountable to their personal standards and goals.
“It can be easy for the message of self-compassion to get muddied, such that people practice total self-forgiveness and dismiss the goals they set for themselves,” said Hagerman. “But we’ve shown that self-compassion and accountability can work together.”
FEED The Self-Help Tips to Pals on Diets By Sharing on Social Media…
A new cheap, non-invasive test for oral cancer which could potentially save millions of lives has been developed.
Oral cancers and precancerous mouth lesions are considered especially difficult to diagnose early and accurately.
The biopsies are expensive, invasive and stressful for the patient, and can lead to complications. They’re also not feasible if repeated screenings of the same lesion are required.
But a team of researchers, led by a clinician scientist at Case Western Reserve University School of Dental Medicine, has discovered a simpler, low-cost test to detect the cancer and monitor precancerous lesions, while determining when a biopsy is warranted.
And the results can be determined within thirty minutes.
Their findings are based on a scoring system linked to the levels of two proteins in the cells which can be brushed from suspicious oral lesions at dental clinics or by ear, nose and throat doctors.
One of the proteins (human beta defensin 3 or hBD-3) is expressed at high levels in early-stage oral cancer, while the second (hBD-2) is low or unchanged.
The ratio of one to the other found in the lesion site—over the ratio of the two proteins on the opposite, normal site—generates a score, called the beta defensin index (BDI).
A score above a predetermined threshold implies cancer; anything below does not. Determining the levels of the proteins and quantifying the BDI is done routinely in a lab.
“When we first discovered hBD-3, we saw it acted as a ‘good guy,’ involved in wound-healing and killing microbes,” said the study’s lead researcher Aaron Weinberg, chair of the Department of Biological Sciences at Case Western.
“Imagine our surprise when this Dr. Jekyll turned out to be Mr. Hyde,” he said. “We found it was not only promoting tumor growth but was overexpressed in the early stages of the disease, while another member, hBD-2, wasn’t changing.
Head and neck cancer, of which oral cancer is about 90%, is the seventh-most prevalent malignancy in the world, with about 640,000 cases per year, resulting in 350,000 deaths worldwide.
The study’s lab-based approach, which is now patented, can reduce biopsies in primary care clinics by 95% because it can tell clinicians which patients actually need a biopsy. The test can also be used in developing countries where oral cancer is rampant and pathology services are questionable or lacking, said Weinberg.
The successful results, published March 4 in the journal Cell Reports Medicine, have inspired the development of a device that measures the protein ratio and could be used directly in a clinic.
Working through Case Western Reserve’s Technology Transfer Office, a patent for the device is pending, setting up possible manufacturing and clinical validation as a next step.
Christy Conrad with Bill Moczulewski – Courtesy Mr. Bill‘s Village on Facebook
Christy Conrad with Bill Moczulewski – Courtesy Mr. Bill‘s Village on Facebook
For years, in the rain or cold, Bill Moczulewski walked six miles to work at the local Walmart as a nightshift janitor—but that all changed the day a woman stopped and offered him a ride.
Christy Conrad learned that despite being legally blind he possessed a steadfast determination to trudge in any kind of weather in order to work.
“I picked him up in nine degrees the other morning,” said Christy, who also learned that he used to ride a bike until he got hit by a car.
But Christy has her own family and couldn’t always be there, so she started a Facebook group to seek other volunteers who could give him a lift.
Mr. Bill’s Village soon attracted over a thousand members who wanted to keep an eye out for the man walking in a camouflage jacket at sunset or sunrise.
One group member said it’s now like a competition, ‘Who can give Bill a ride today?’
“There’s a lot of good people in this world, all over the place,” Bill told Steve Harman and his CBS News crew who recently visited Cabot, Arkansas, to tell the heartwarming story.
Bill Moczulewski – Courtesy Mr. Bill‘s Village on Facebook
After seeing the TV news story shared across the world, Christy cried—but all “happy tears”.
“I hope if anyone takes anything from this, it would be: use the Golden Rule. Treat others the way you would want to be treated,” she wrote on the Mr. Bill’s Village Facebook Page.
“When you see a need, fill it if possible!”
Chris Puckett, the local owner of Puckett Auto Group, saw a way he could help. He wanted to gift Bill a vehicle, but since he’s not allowed to drive, the car was donated to Christy—a fitting example of the old adage, ‘It takes a village.’
WATCH the video below… (*NOTE to Those Outside the U.S: View the video at CBS.com)
STEP UP WITH KINDNESS By Sharing the Heartwarming Story on Social Media…
Quote of the Day: “Somewhere between perfect success and abject failure is a sweet spot that maximizes long-term progress.” – Adam Alter
Photo by: Pim de Boer (Church of the Rock ‘Temppeliaukion kirkko’ in Helsinki, Finland)
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?
Dinosaur footprints on the beach in Bexhill, East Sussex – By Vicky Ballinger / SWNS
Dinosaur footprints on the beach in Bexhill, East Sussex – By Vicky Ballinger / SWNS
A family was strolling along an eroded beach at sunset when they discovered a trove of eight huge dinosaur footprints.
Vicky Ballinger and her two kids were stunned by the sight in East Sussex, England, after high tides and heavy rains had worn away the sand, exposing the rock underneath.
The area from Bexhill-on-Sea to Fairlight has become known for its track casts and prints of dinosaurs.
“I grew up in Bexhill and I’ve never seen these ones before,” says Vicky.
“I believe they are iguanodon footprints. They’re not T-rex tracks (because) they weren’t in England.”
Vicky went to the local Bexhill Museum with her discovery, and they’re investigating further this week. She also uploaded her video to YouTube (see below).
“The kids loved that they could see the track of a dinosaur and walk where it walked. It was very exciting.”
Set of eight Dinosaur footprints on the beach in Bexhill, East Sussex – By Vicky Ballinger / SWNS
In 2018, more than 85 footprints from the Cretaceous period made up of at least seven different species were uncovered by the cliffs between Hastings and Fairlight—including the fine detail of skin and scales.
Another fossil discovered on Bexhill beach was confirmed as a ‘pickled’ dinosaur brain.
The Bexhill site dates back to around 140 million years ago and contains the remains of dinosaurs that used to roam in the freshwater surroundings of the period.
“It’s quite beautiful to find these amazing dinosaur footprints when we came on a walk.”
Over the years, the fossils of several dinosaur species have been found including Iguanodon, Megalosaurus, Baryonyx, Polacanthus, and the tooth of a Velociraptor-type animal, many of which are on display at the Bexhill Museum.
Check out her lovely video below…
SHARE THIS AMAZING SIGHTING With Paleo-Pals on Social Media…
Mark Garland (left) with his doppelganger Mark Garland (right) – Photo via SWNS
Mark Garland (left) with his doppelganger Mark Garland (right) – Photo via SWNS
A man was stunned recently to discover his doppelganger seated next to him on an airline flight—and not only do they look alike, they found out they had the same names, hobbies, and even a mutual friend.
Mark Garland arrived at the check-in desk at Heathrow airport for a flight to Bangkok, Thailand, when staff informed him that he had “already checked in”.
After 40 minutes, staff finally figured out that there were two Mark Garlands on the flight.
“I said, ‘Look I’m Mark Garland’, showing him my passport, and he started laughing and opened his passport and showed me his name.”
But having identical names was just the beginning.
When they came face to face, they realized they looked remarkably similar, both wearing black and donning shaved heads.
“I go to the desk and there’s a bloke who looks just like me.”
Then, the 58-year-old arrived at his seat to find the other Mark Garland seated right next to him.
The bus driver from Trowbridge, Wiltshire, spent 11 hours chatting with his new pal, a 62-year-old builder who lives just 34 miles away from Mark in Bristol—so close that sometimes Mark gets on the other Mark’s bus route.
Both of the men have four kids, but are currently single, and they even has a friend in common, a colleague of the younger Mark drinks with Mark the elder at his local pub.
Perhaps most bizarre, both men absolutely love Thailand, having visited more than a dozen times each.
“We were so shocked by how strange it was,” said the younger man. “We both kept laughing and smiling about it, it made me happy.”
The other man agreed. “It was crazy. I have never known anything like it.
“I was thinking ‘what is going on!’ I thought someone was winding me up.
Their personalities matched up well, too. After getting through the line for boarding, they both burst out laughing when they see they were seated next to each other.
“He’s like me, I’ve got a character, and I love winding people up. We’re the same.”
The pair were both going on 3-4 week vacations to Thailand on March 2, when they discovered the lucky coincidence on the EVA Air flight.
“I just found it astonishing that he lived so near—right up the road. I told him I’d been to Thailand 13 times and he told me he’d been there 83 times.”
A baby left completely paralyzed after being diagnosed with botulism was saved by a remedy found thousands of miles away in the US.
The parents rushed their six-month-old baby to the hospital in Birmingham, England, when he “went floppy” in the middle of the night.
Their pediatrician had already told them to keep a close eye on the infant because he showed a lack of energy and unwillingness to eat. So when he became limp they went straight to hospital—but Thomas’s condition initially stumped doctors.
“Everyone said just how strange Thomas was presenting and that his symptoms didn’t match up,” said mom Alba.
Thomas was eventually diagnosed with botulism, a toxin that can be found in dust, soil, and honey—which is why, for decades, doctors have advised parents not to give honey to babies under the age of one, because it is known to sometimes contain botulinum spores.
He was transferred to intensive care, where he was intubated and put into an induced coma.
“Seeing him like that was terrible. It was just so frightening,” Alba said in a statement. “The next few days were horrendous for us. He was completely paralyzed and we didn’t know if our little boy would wake up again.”
Dr. Amitav Parida, consultant pediatric neurologist, was the first to suggest that it might be botulism, the disease caused by botulinum toxin, which is also the chemical used in the production of Botox.
Only 20 cases of the condition, which can be deadly, have ever been reported in Britain.
Dr. Parida said it was something none of them in the hospital had ever seen before, but laboratory tests confirmed they were right.
In fact, it is so rare that staff at Birmingham Children’s Hospital had to order the medicine to be rushed from California—the only place in the world that creates the human antitoxin. It travelled more than 5,000 miles in under 48 hours, after rapid customs approval was given.
Baby Thomas – SWNS
Thanks to the speedy delivery, Thomas received the antitoxin treatment needed to cure him in time.
Thomas is now back at home and recovering well, after being held in the hospital for another five weeks.
“Every day, we saw some progress. It was such a relief for us,” recalled Alba.
Now he has regained most his movement and is thriving with his family.
FREE WILL ASTROLOGY – Week of March 9, 2024
Copyright by Rob Brezsny, FreeWillAstrology.com
ARIES (March 21-April 19):
“Everyone has talent. What is rare is the courage to follow talent to the dark place where it leads.” So wrote Aries author Erica Jong. Is that true? Is it hard to access the fullness of our talents? Must we summon rare courage and explore dark places? Sometimes, yes. To overcome obstacles that interfere with ripening our talents, there may be tough work to do. I suspect the coming weeks and months will be one of those phases for you, Aries. But here’s the good news: I predict you will succeed.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20):
In October 1879, Thomas Edison and his research team produced the first electric light bulb that was viable enough to be of practical use. In September 1882, Edison opened the first power plant on the planet, enabling people to light their homes with the new invention. That was a revolutionary advance in a very short time. Dear Taurus, the innovations you have been making and I hope will continue to make are not as monumental as Edison’s. But I suspect they rank high among the best and brightest in your personal life history. Don’t slack off now. There’s more work to be done—interesting, exciting work!
GEMINI (May 21-June 20):
I watched as the Thai snake charmer kissed a poisonous cobra, taming the beast’s danger with her dancing hands. I beheld the paramedic dangle precariously from a helicopter to snag the woman and child stranded on a rooftop during a flood. And in my dream, I witnessed three of my Gemini friends singing a dragon to sleep, enabling them to ramble freely across the bridge the creature had previously forbidden them to traverse.
CANCER (June 21-July 22):
The horoscopes you are reading have been syndicated in publications all over the world: the US, Italy, France, Japan, Canada, Mexico, Australia, Netherlands, Russia, Cambodia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Venezuela, Ireland, and Finland. Yet it has never appeared in a publication in the UK, where there are over 52 million people whose first language is English—the same as mine. But I predict that will change in the coming months: I bet a British newspaper or website will finally print Free Will Astrology. I prophesy comparable expansions in your life, too, fellow Cancerian. What new audiences or influences or communities do you want to be part of? Make it happen!
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22):
Author Jean-Dominique Bauby wrote, “Today it seems to me that my whole life was nothing but a string of small near misses.” If you have endured anything resembling that frustration, Leo, I have good news: The coming months won’t bring you a string of small near misses. Indeed, the number of small near misses will be very few, maybe even zero. Instead, I predict you will gather an array of big, satisfying completions. Life will honor you with bull’s eyes, direct hits, and master strokes. Here’s the best way you can respond to your good fortune and ensure the arrival of even more good fortune: Share your wealth!
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22):
Virgo advice expert Cheryl Strayed wrote some rather pushy directions I will borrow and use for your horoscope. She and I say, “You will never have my permission to close yourself off to love and give up. Never. You must do everything you can to get what you want and need, to find ‘that type of love.’ It’s there for you.” I especially want you to hear and meditate on this guidance right now, Virgo. Why? Because I believe you are in urgent need of re-dedicating yourself to your heart’s desire. You have a sacred duty to intensify your imagination and deepen your willpower as you define what kind of love and tenderness and togetherness you want most.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22):
Author Adam Alter writes, “Perfect success is boring and uninspiring, and abject failure is exhausting and demoralizing. Somewhere between these extremes is a sweet spot that maximizes long-term progress.” And what is the magic formula? Alter says it’s when you make mistakes an average of 16 percent of the time and are successful 84 percent. Mistakes can be good because they help you learn and grow. Judging from your current astrological omens, Libra, I’m guessing you’re in a phase when your mistake rate is higher than usual—about 30 percent. (Though you’re still 70 percent successful!) That means you are experiencing expanded opportunities to learn all you can from studying what doesn’t work well. (Adam Alter’s book is Anatomy of a Breakthrough: How to Get Unstuck When It Matters Most.)
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21):
Sometimes you Scorpios are indeed secretive, as traditional astrologers assert. You understand that knowledge is power, and you build your potency by gathering information other people don’t have the savvy or resources to access. But it’s also true that you may appear to be secretive when in fact you have simply perceived and intuited more than everyone else wants to know. They might be overwhelmed by the deep, rich intelligence you have acquired—and would actually prefer to be ignorant of it. So you’re basically hiding stuff they want you to hide. Anyway, Scorpio, I suspect now is a time when you are loading up even more than usual with juicy gossip, inside scoops, tantalizing mysteries, taboo news, and practical wisdom that few others would be capable of managing. Please use your superpowers with kindness and wisdom.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21):
Here’s a little-known fact about me: I am the priest, wizard, rabbi, and pope of Parish #31025 in the Universal Life Church. One of my privileges in this role is to perform legal marriages. It has been a few years since I presided over anyone’s wedding, but I am coming out of semi-retirement to consecrate an unprecedented union. It’s between two aspects of yourself that have not been blended but should be blended. Do you know what I’m referring to? Before you read further, please identify these two aspects. Ready? I now pronounce you husband and wife, or husband and husband, or wife and wife, or spouse and spouse—or whatever you want to be pronounced.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19):
“You don’t have to suffer to be a poet,” said poet John Ciardi. “Adolescence is enough suffering for anyone.” I will add that adolescence is enough suffering for everyone, even if they’re not a poet. For most of us, our teenage years brought us streams of angst, self-doubt, confusion, and fear—sufficient to last a lifetime. That’s the bad news, Capricorn. The good news is that the coming months will be one of the best times ever for you to heal the wounds left over from your adolescence. You may not be able to get a total cure, but 65 percent is very possible. 75 percent isn’t out of the question. Get started!
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18):
A psychic once predicted that I would win a Grammy award for my music. She said my dad and mom would be in the audience, smiling proudly. Well, my dad died four years ago, and I haven’t produced a new album of songs for over ten years. So that Grammy prophecy is looking less and less likely. I should probably give up hope that it will come to pass. What about you, Aquarius? Is there any dream or fantasy you should consider abandoning? The coming weeks would be a good time to do so. It could open your mind and heart to a bright future possibility now hovering on the horizon.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20):
I invite you to entertain the following theory: Certain environments, companions, and influences enhance your intelligence, health, and ability to love—while others either do the opposite or have a neutral effect. If that’s true, it makes good sense for you to put yourself in the presence of environments, companions, and influences that enhance you. The coming weeks will be an excellent time to test this theory. I hope you will do extensive research and then initiate changes that implement your findings.
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
Quote of the Day: “We waste time looking for the perfect lover, instead of creating the perfect love.” – Tom Robbins
Photo by: Hannah Busing (cropped)
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Tandem cycling may improve the health and well-being of people with Parkinson’s, according to a new study.
Pedaling on a bicycle built for two people can also be beneficial for the patient’s carer, particularly in terms of mental and emotional resilience.
The new findings have offered new potential avenues for improving the quality of life both for people suffering from the complex neurodegenerative condition and for those around them.
Researchers from the University of South Carolina in the US studied 18 participants—nine with Parkinson’s and nine care partners—as they took part in a tandem cycling program over two months.
The pairs exercised on stationary tandem bicycles indoors twice a week while also using a virtual reality platform which allowed them to visualize themselves cycling along scenic, real-life, outdoor routes.
Results, which will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology’s 76th Annual Meeting, showed that the participants with Parkinson’s had improved overall function after the program.
This included improved mobility and walking speed, and decreased disease progression and disease burden.
They also reported ‘fewer difficulties in daily living,’ with an average five-point drop recorded when it came to a test measuring challenges around relationships, communication, and social situations or interactions.
For carers, an improvement in resilience was noted, with more people indicating ‘stronger’ responses to resilience questionnaires than those completed before the program.
This meant more people answered questions about challenges with positive answers such as ‘I usually come through difficult times with little trouble’ and ‘I tend to bounce back quickly after hard times’.
This group also demonstrated a decrease in depression, which the research team believes could help reduce ‘the care partner burden’.
“Our study found that a unique cycling program that pairs people with Parkinson’s disease with their care partners can improve the physical, emotional, and mental well-being of both cyclists to improve their quality of life,” said corresponding author Dr. Jennifer Trilk.
“It is just as important that care partners also receive care, so that is why we included them as the cycling partner.”
She noted that the initial study was small and so in the future the team will look to use larger test groups to confirm their findings.
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A Grey whale spotted by the New England Aquarium - credit, New England Aquarium.
A Gray whale spotted by the New England Aquarium – credit, New England Aquarium.
In an incredibly rare event, the New England Aquarium aerial survey team sighted a gray whale off the New England coast last week, a species that has been extinct in the Atlantic for more than 200 years.
Aquarium scientists were flying 30 miles south of Nantucket on March 1st when they sighted an unusual whale. The animal repeatedly dove and resurfaced, appearing to be feeding.
The aerial survey plane circled the area for 45 minutes, allowing observers to capture additional photos. After the encounter, the observers reviewed the images and confirmed their suspicions: It was a gray whale.
“I didn’t want to say out loud what it was, because it seemed crazy,” said Orla O’Brien, associate research scientist in the Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life at the New England Aquarium.
While the whale was on a dive, O’Brien showed the photos to Research Technician Kate Laemmle, who was also in the plane.
“My brain was trying to process what I was seeing, because this animal was something that should not really exist in these waters,” said Laemmle in a press release. “We were laughing because of how wild and exciting this was—to see an animal that disappeared from the Atlantic hundreds of years ago!”
Gray whales are regularly found in the North Pacific Ocean and are easily distinguished from other whale species by their lack of a dorsal fin, mottled grey and white skin, and dorsal hump followed by pronounced ridges. The species disappeared from the Atlantic Ocean by the 18th century, but in the last 15 years, there have been five observations of gray whales in Atlantic and Mediterranean waters, including off the coast of Florida in December 2023.
Aquarium scientists believe the gray whale seen off New England this month is the same whale sighted in Florida late last year.
The Washington Post, reporting on the sighting, dug up a colonial official’s writings from 1729 that described a “scrag whale” off the coast of Massachusets as the last time a grey whale was sighted in the area, though they are common off the coast of California.
To explain the strange sightings, scientists point to climate change. The Northwest Passage, which connects the Atlantic and Pacific through the Arctic Ocean in Canada, has regularly been ice-free in the summertime in recent years, partly due to rising global temperatures.
The extent of the sea ice typically limits the species range of gray whales, experts say, as the whales cannot break through the thick winter ice that usually blocks the Passage. Now, gray whales can potentially travel the Passage in the summer, something that wouldn’t have been possible in the previous century.
“This sighting highlights how important each survey is. While we expect to see humpback, right, and fin whales, the ocean is a dynamic ecosystem, and you never know what you’ll find,” O’Brien said. “These sightings of gray whales in the Atlantic serve as a reminder of how quickly marine species respond to climate change, given the chance.”
The Post heard from Leigh Torres, a marine biologist from Oregon State U., who said that he thought the most likely explanation was that the grey whale spotted in the aerial survey was a young juvenile who “took a wrong turn.”
“I consider gray whales to be ‘risk takers,’ meaning they show up and feed in places that we often don’t expect or consider ‘normal,’” she said. Such behavior sometimes provides “good adaptation to changing conditions, like finding a new feeding area or food type,” she added.
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While more of the world’s population are enjoying battery-powered electronics than ever before, concerned governments and manufacturers are running around seeking to secure reliable supplies of minerals used to make them.
Graphite is an indispensable resource for mass battery production, and a firm in New Zealand has discovered a way to synthesize this critical mineral with woodchips.
The company claims that with just 5% of all the wood byproducts from the lumber industry, they could meet half the total global projected graphite demand for EV and power grid scale batteries by 2030, and by preventing the burning or decomposition of this wood waste, the process actually removes 2.7 tonnes of CO2 and equivalents for every tonne of biographite produced.
CarbonScrape has already secured $18 million in funding from the giant Finnish-Swedish forestry firm Stora Enso as well as and Hong Kong-based battery producer Amperex Technology Ltd.
Their production method is called thermo-catalytic graphitisation, which first produces a charcoal that is than turned into graphite.
Graphite is used for battery anodes, for which high-purity graphite is required, and for which the biographite is graded.
“The production of ‘traditional’ synthetic graphite uses fossil fuel-based feedstocks, such as coal tar pitch and petroleum coke, and fossil fuel-powered processes,” CarbonScrape CEO Ivan Williams told Euronews.
“Consequently, it emits 35 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions for each tonne of graphite it produces.”
The environmental impacts of mining for graphite need not be overelaborated here, and it’s enough to point out that by harvesting existing waste streams, i.e. woodchips, CarbonScrape is contributing to a more circular economy in the very non-circular domain of natural resource extraction.
CarbonScrape is also eager to point out that the production of biographite can take place either near lumber mills or near battery factories, elimating yet more carbon by reducing unnecessary transportation.
The financing received from Finland and Hong Kong will go to fund commericial biographite plants in the US and Europe.
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Model of the Temple of Olympian Zeus in Agrigente, Sicily – Photo by poudou99 (CC license)
Model of the Temple of Olympian Zeus in Agrigento, Sicily – Photo by poudou99 (CC license)
A 20-year restoration project on the island of Sicily has led to the reconstruction of a 26-foot (8-meter) tall statue of Atlas, the god who holds up the world in Greek mythology.
38 of these massive statues once held up the Temple of Zeus, built in the Golden Age of Ancient Greece and the largest Doric-style structure ever conceived. Located at a place called the Valley of the Temples near Agrigento, it was never finished before the city was captured by the Carthaginians.
Rather than letting the sandstone components of the Atlases lie around, restorationists and sculptors re-assembled some of them to form one of those 38 statues and mounted it in front of the remains of the Temple of Zeus as a guardian.
“The Atlas will become one of the highlights of the Valley of the Temples,” said Francesco Paolo Scarpinato, a cultural heritage assessor, in a joint statement with the Sicilian governor, Renato Schifani. “We can finally introduce this imposing work to the international community.”
Dating back to the 5th century BCE, the ancient Greek city-state of Agrakas had created one of the period’s most prosperous urban areas, crowned by a flurry of temple building from which the Temple of Zeus was to be the most grand.
Fortunes rise, but often fall, and conquered by Carthage, Rome, and eventually by an industrious Italian state looking to build a few more cities, Agrigento and its temples became archaeological rubble.
In 1818, a young British archaeologist named Cockerell discovered that large sandstone blocks lying about the Valley of the Temples were not, in fact, part of the temples themselves, but of a then-unknown number of massive human sculptures.
His research and surveys showed that the 38 Atlases were frozen in between the large Doric columns in the act of holding up a massive roof that was never built.
Now today, a giant steel plaque is the mount for the remade Atlas, whose pieces are secured to shelves. The project was initiated in 2004 as part of a collaboration between the Valley of the Temples archaeological park and the German Archaeological Institute of Rome. Together, they described and catalogued 90 components from 8 different Atlases.
“The work we have carried out on the Atlas and the Olympian area is part of our mission to protect and enhance the Valley of the Temples,” said Sciarratta. “Bringing these stone colossi back to light has always been one of our primary objectives.”
Agrigento is an amazing part of Italy to visit today. Along with the Valley of the Temples, there are several fantastic beaches, and the city itself is old, multicultural, and gorgeous.
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Quote of the Day: “Forgiveness is not something we do for others; it is a gift to ourselves.” – David Whyte
Photo by: Євгенія Височина
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