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Fleet of ‘Flying Ferries’ Will Provide Zero-Emission, Silent EV Boats for Travelers Along Norway’s Busy Coast

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Candela P-12 electric hydrofoil rendered on Norwegian fjord for Boreal
Candela P-12 electric hydrofoil rendered on Norwegian fjord for Boreal

Tourists and commuters along Norway’s stunning coastline will soon travel aboard “flying” electric ferries—quietly whizzing above the water to their destinations.

A Norwegian leader in sustainable transport, Boreal AS, has ordered 20 electric hydrofoil vessels from Candela Technology, with deliveries next year from the Swedish company that will launch the world’s largest electric fleet.

Water travel is an essential part of daily transportation along Norway’s fjord-lined coast and the “uniquely fast” hydrofoils will speed up commute times. (Watch the video at the bottom…)

Electrifying passenger boats has been challenging—because E-ferries have lacked the range and speed to replace diesel-powered vessels connecting towns across Norway’s 62,000 miles of coastline (100,000km).

The Candela P-12 solves this: it combines a cruising speed of 25 knots with a range of around 40 nautical miles, enabling electric operation on routes previously only served with diesel fuel, according to a company press release.

“Candela P-12 is the only electric passenger vessel that combines longer range with high speed without requiring extensive charging infrastructure,” said Boreal CEO, Nikolai Knudsmoen Utheim.

Candela P-12 on test run in Stockholm – media release

“Our investment will enable new high-speed routes both in cities and in rural areas.”

“Norway has already led the electrification of maritime transport. With this fleet, Boreal wants to take the next step—accelerating zero-emission high-speed travel.”

The P-12’s unique performance comes from computer-controlled hydrofoils—wings mounted beneath the hull—that lift the vessel above the water at speeds above 18 knots. By flying above the waves, drag is drastically reduced, and energy consumption drops by around 80 percent compared with conventional vessels of similar size.

Furthermore, the efficient P-12 can fully recharge in an hour using standard DC car fast chargers, avoiding the expensive megawatt-scale charging systems required by conventional electric ferries.

The capability was recently demonstrated during a voyage between Sweden and Norway, when the P-12 completed the longest electric sea journey to date, recharging along the route using a mobile battery system transported by a Ford F-150 Lightning pickup.

Passengers will also see a major upgrade in comfort. The vessel’s digital flight controller reads wave conditions using sensors and adjusts the hydrofoils in real time, ensuring a smooth ride even in rough seas.

Candela electric ferry interior – released

Indeed, Candela’s EU Director Alexander Sifvert touted the upcoming ferry journeys as “free from seasickness and without the negative impacts of wake and emissions on the unique Norwegian fjords.”

CHECK OUT THESE STORIES:
• First Flying Electric Ferry in US to Shuttle Lake Tahoe Crowds With Zero Emissions
• Electric Ferry Boat Makes Historic First Crossing from Europe to Africa Cutting Energy Use by 80%

Recent tests in Stockholm showed that wakes from the P-12 measured just 13 cm (5 inches), which the company compared to “a small dinghy with an outboard motor”.

Cabin noise tests confirmed cabin noise levels of just 64 dB—which is lower than modern trains, aircraft, or ferries.

With 99% of new car sales in Norway already fully electric, it makes sense that the backbone of the nation’s rural transport—“hurtigbåtar”—should also be cleaner and greener and lifted into the 21st century.

WATCH the ad-free video below…

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“The worry is what you do next.” – The Madison

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By Matt-Cooper via SWNS

Quote of the Day: “The worry is what you do next.” – The Madison (2026 TV series)

Photo by: Tulips by Matt Cooper via SWNS

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

By Matt-Cooper via SWNS

Good News in History, April 12

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Happy 79th birthday to David Letterman, who on February 1st, 1982, took the reins of NBC’s Late Night and kept them for 33 years before stepping down in 2015. In total he went on the air for 6,080 episodes, surpassing his friend and mentor Johnny Carson as the longest-serving late-night talk show host in American television history. Perhaps unsurprisingly, he went on to host what is essentially a late-night talk show on Netflix, called My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman. The first season of which contained a cross-interview with Jerry Seinfeld entitled “You’re David Letterman, you idiot.” READ some more about the famous host… (1947)

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After 5 Years, Missing Cat Finally Reunited With Owner Thanks to Old Facebook Post from When He was Stolen

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Danielle Arme reunited with stolen cat – SWNS
Danielle Arme reunited with stolen cat – SWNS

A missing cat has finally been reunited with his owner five years after being ‘catnapped’.

Danielle Arme was left heartbroken when her beloved kitten Bodhi suddenly disappeared in July 2021. In a double blow, Bodhi’s brother Braxon also vanished leaving the family devastated.

Danielle put posters up around her neighborhood in Derby, England, and asked locals but no one had seen either of the grey tabbies.

Braxon was found a few weeks later, but Bodhi stayed missing—and eventually the family was forced to give up hope and eventually moved to a new home.

Danielle was stunned when a vet called her last week saying her long lost pet had been found 20 miles away from where he was last seen.

“I burst into tears, I was so shocked,” said the 37-year-old. “There’s not many cats that go missing for that long and come back to you – it was just so surreal.

“I shouted his name when we met, and he came totting on over, it was like out of a film. He rubbed his head on me and was purring. He was so loving after all these years.”

Cats Bodhi and Braxon – Danielle Arme / SWNS

Danielle got two boy cats from the same litter in 2020, and believes Bodhi and Braxon had been ‘catnapped’ before being dumped miles from home.

“The heartache I felt when they were both missing was unbelievable.

People around her suspected someone was responsible because six cats had mysteriously disappeared. There was never any proof so the police never got involved.

“When my two lovely boys went missing I was posting letters through doors and spreading them far and wide.”

Months later Braxon was found wandering the streets 20 miles away in Uttoxeter, Staffordshire, so she immediately posted a notice about Bodhi on the Facebook page for the town, in case anyone saw him.

TOO AMAZING:
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• Man is Overwhelmed as His Bengal Cat Returns From 16-year Absence After a Phone Call

2 gray brothers – Danielle Arme / SWNS

“The years rolled by and I thought he was a goner, until this lovely lady called Viccie Mahon from Sudbury messaged me through Facebook last week and asked if I ever found my cat Bodhi.”

“She said she thought she had him, and he’d been living around her cottage and under her car port.

Viccie had been trying to get hold of the family since last year, but they moved twice since Bodhi and hadn’t updated the contact info on his chip.

“Finally, she searched Bodhi’s name on Facebook and lo and behold my poster from all those years ago came up, and she managed to message me.

“It was nothing short of a miracle.”

WATCH: Newborn Calf Leads Mother Cow to Greet the Stranger Who Reunited Them

Danielle has since kept Bodhi indoors and vowed to keep a close eye on him going forward.

TELL FRIENDS NOT TO GIVE UP HOPE–By Sharing This Tale on Socials…

Loyal Pet Lovebird Won’t Leave the Side of Her Parrot Companion After He Dies (Video)

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Pet lovebird and ringneck parrot by Mariyam Jazeela (via SWNS)
Pet lovebird and ringneck parrot by Mariyam Jazeela (via SWNS)

A devoted pet lovebird lived up to her name when she wouldn’t leave the side of her companion after it died at the owner’s home in the Maldives.

Mariyam Jazeela captured a video of the poignant moments on March 2nd as her lovebird, Ollu, lingered next to Sky, the ringneck parrot which had just passed away.

The tiny lovebird stayed by his side, reluctant to move away from her longtime friend.

According to Jazeela, Sky had developed an infection, but couldn’t be treated in time.

The two birds had formed a strong bond over the past year, she said, making the loss even more painful.

Despite Jazeela being left heartbroken by Sky’s death, she reported that Ollu has gradually started to bond with another bird living at their home in Maafushi.

Watch a video set to music below…

WATCH MORE BIRD LOVE:
• After Soccer Ball Slams into Seagull, Watch a Player Use CPR to Gently Revive it
• Injured Bald Eagle Plucked From River in Daring Rescue
• Farmer Filmed the Adorable Moment His Newborn Quails Caused a Mini Stampede in His Home

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Urine From Music Festival Toilets is Fertilizing a New Biodiverse Forest With Odor-Free Nutrients

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NPK Recovery Junior Scientist George Barnsley fertilizes field for planting
NPK Recovery Junior Scientist George Barnsley fertilizes field for planting

In a UK first, a new forest is set to be grown with fertilized nutrients recovered from urine collected from music festival toilets.

The woodland in Wales will feature 4,500 native British trees, like beech, grown with fertilizer made with pee from the Boomtown festival, Bristol Pride, and even the London Marathon.

The first seed, a Scots pine, was planted in February on the Brecon Beacons National Park as part of a trial funded by the UK Forestry Commission.

Behind the green fertilizer is NPK Recovery, a Bristol-based start-up that collects thousands of liters of urine from portable composting toilets at festivals—and gigs including Massive Attack and the Sugababes—and transforms them into odorless fertilizer.

Scientists with the female-founded company extract the nitrogen and other nutrients, such as phosphorous and potassium, from the urine to produce fertilizer on site in a natural bacteria-driven process.

Recently the team has perfected their own mobile processing system in a unit that measures 2 x 6 meters, which they take to events and plug into the back of festival toilets to process the urine into fertilizer right there on site—easing the burden on the volume of sewage that the event produces and minimizing chemical use.

Credit: Getty Images for Unsplash+

The process required to make the product incorporates biochar, which is a sustainable material that improves soil health. The team then works with the festival and land owners to apply the fertilizer on that local acreage—or they take it with them back to Bristol. (Watch the video below…)

The product has already enriched crops such as wheat and mustard, and measurements show it is just as effective as synthetic and commonly used fertilizers.

Product manager and Co-founder Lucy Bell-Reeves said the company is determined to create ‘fertilizer security’ for farmers and growers in the UK, particularly at a time when the war in Iran is causing the price of imported synthetic fertilizers to soar.

“Urine is a resource that we have in abundance, so it really is a win-win here,” she told SWNS news agency.

But she is quick to warn that it’s not a good idea to start peeing in your garden.

“Urine has great nutrients but it also contains other components that are not safe or free from pathogens and contaminants.”

FROM TOXIC TO TONIC: Mining in Oklahoma Left a Toxic Wasteland Until Indigenous Tribe Brought it Back to Life

NPK Recovery and Stump up for Trees at the Welsh nursery – SWNS

The reason they use urine and not feces is because it is much harder to recover nutrients from mixed waste, especially due to fecal contamination, which is more likely to have pathogens that are more challenging to remove.

“So the exciting thing is that more festivals are using urine-diverting toilets—where the urine is already separated which is great. It means you can recover the maximum amount of nutrients possible which is the best solution.

For NPK Recovery’s plans to grow a forest, the company has partnered with a Welsh nonprofit, Stump up for Trees, and its tree nursery on the outskirts of Abergavenny. The fertilizer will be used to grow thousands of native trees from seed, in a project backed by a nearly half-million dollar grant from the Forestry Commission’s Tree Production Innovation Fund.

“We wanted to explore where else our sustainable fertilizer could make an impact and the government has set high tree-planting targets.

“So we can’t wait to give these trees a good fighting start and lead a UK first in using nutrients from urine to grow trees.”

And the team is interested to hear from anybody who wants to discover a more sustainable way to recycle their waste: “It’s about understanding the power of your pee even if you’re not an environmentalist.

MORE EARTH HEROES: Over 600 Lakes, Ponds, Reservoirs Restored Across the Whole of India by Divinely-Inspired Nonprofit

“I love the idea that by the end of this three-year project, revelers and runners will have created a fledgling Welsh forest, which could flourish for hundreds of years.”

DON’T HOLD THIS STORY–Share it to Spread the Idea on Social Media…

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

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Our partner Rob Brezsny, whose latest book is Astrology Is Real: Revelations from My Life as an Oracle, provides his weekly wisdom to enlighten our thinking and motivate our mood. Rob’s Free Will Astrology, is a syndicated weekly column appearing in over a hundred publications. He is also the author of Pronoia Is the Antidote for Paranoia: How All of Creation Is Conspiring To Shower You with Blessings. (A free preview of the book is available here.)

Here is your weekly horoscope…

FREE WILL ASTROLOGY – Week of April 11, 2026
Copyright by Rob Brezsny, FreeWillAstrology.com

ARIES (March 21-April 19):
Unexpected deliverance? Lucky rides? Beginner’s grace? Dreamy, gleaming replacements? To the untrained eye, it may look like you are bending cosmic law in your favor. In truth, you’re simply redeeming the backlog of blessings you earned in the past—acts of quiet generosity and unselfish hardship that never got their proper reward. Serendipitous leaps? Divine detours? Shortcuts to victory? Welcome the uncanny gifts, Aries, even if they’re not what you expected.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20):
The current phase of your destiny could disturb you if you’re not super patient. Life seems to be teasing you with promises that then go into hiding. You’ve been having to master the art of living on the edge between the BIG RED YES and the GREY MURKY NO. My advice: Imagine your predicament as an intriguing riddle, not a frustrating ambiguity. See if you can figure out how to grow wiser and stronger in response to the evasive mysteriousness. My prediction: You will grow wiser and stronger.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20):
Why it’s always triple-great to be a Gemini, drawing on an abundance of mercurial wisdom: 1. You excel at the art of translation and are skilled at finding common ground between different realms. You can oscillate and flow between the lyrical and the pragmatic, the insightful and the comic, the detailed focus and the big picture. 2. You know that consistency is overrated. Your capacity to harbor multiple perspectives is a superpower. 3. You get to be both the question and the answer, proving that wholeness includes all the fragments. All the aptitudes I just named should be your featured approaches in the coming weeks.

CANCER (June 21-July 22):
The saga of Troy is one of the most renowned tales from ancient Greece. Yet the fabled setting of Homer’s epic tale, the Iliad, was a settlement of just seven acres. Let that detail resound for you in the coming weeks. It’s an apt metaphor for what’s taking shape in your life. A seemingly modest situation could become the stage for a mythic turning point. An experience that starts small may grow into a story of immense and lasting significance.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22):
Many people have a favorite number they regard as lucky. Some choose it because it showed up at a major turning point in their life. Others derive it from their birthday or from the numerology of their name. Plenty are drawn to “master numbers” like 33, 77, or 99. Personally, I give three numbers my special love: 555, the square root of -2, and 1.61803, also known as the golden ratio in Fibonacci-related patterns. I hope this nudges your imagination, Leo. Your fortunes are shifting now in the direction of an unusual kind of luck, so it’s a potent moment to select a new lucky number. I suggest that you also choose a new guiding animal, a fresh initiation name, and a charged symbol to serve as your personal emblem.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22):
Do you know what ignorance is causing you to suffer? Is there a teacher or teaching that could provide an antidote? I suspect you are very close to attracting or stumbling upon the guidance you need to escape the fog: maybe a therapist who can help you undo a hurtful pattern, a mentor to inspire your quest to do work you long to do, or a spiritual friend who reminds you that you’re not merely your latest drama. Your task in the coming weeks is not to obsess on fixing everything at once, but to seek one or two sources of wisdom that illuminate your blind spots and educate your heart.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22):
I’m an honorary Libra, with three planets and my lunar north node in your sign. So I speak with authority when I declare that fostering harmony, which is a Libran gift, is only superficially about smoothing away friction and asymmetry. More importantly, it’s about rearranging reality so that beauty is a central feature. The goal is to accomplish practical wonders by stimulating grace and fluency. When I’m best expressing my Libra qualities, I don’t ask how I can please everyone, but rather, how I can serve maximum goodness and intelligence. Here’s another tip to being a potent Libra: Know that your enchanting charm is a lubricant for the truth, not mere decoration. Here’s your homework: Beautify one system you use every day so it serves you with less friction and more pleasure.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21):
You are potentially an expert in creative destruction. You have a knack for eliminating what’s unnecessary and even obstructive. What has outlived its usefulness? You’re prone to home in on energy drains and unleash transformative energy. And yes, this intensity of yours may unnerve people who prefer comfortable numbness—but not me. I love you to exult in your talent for locating beauty and truth that are too complicated for others. I applaud you when you descend into the darkness to retrieve dicey treasures. PS: You’re not shadowy or negative. You’re a specialist in the authentic love that refuses to enable delusion or sanction decay.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21):
My Sagittarian friend Artemisia bemoans “the scarcity of collective delight.” She wishes there were more public acclaim for stories about breakthrough joys, miraculous marvels, and surprising healings. Why are we so riveted by reports of misery, malaise, and muck, yet so loath to recognize and celebrate everything that’s working really well? She also mourns the odd habit among some educated folks to mistake cynicism for brilliance. If you don’t mind, Sagittarius, I’m assigning you to be an antidote in the coming weeks. Your task is to gather an overflowing harvest of lavish pleasure, fun epiphanies, and richly meaningful plot twists. Don’t hoard any of it. Spread it around to everyone you encounter.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19):
“Id” is a psychoanalytic term. It’s the part of the psyche where basic instincts, needs, and drives reside. On the one hand, the id supplies a huge charge of psychic energy. On the other hand, it mostly operates outside conscious awareness. Consider the implications: The fierce, pulsing center of your life force is largely hidden from you. Most of the time, that veil is protective. Encountering the id directly can be overwhelming or unsettling. But in the coming weeks, you Capricorns are poised to cultivate a more interesting and righteous relationship with your high‑voltage core. Do you dare? Treat your id as a brilliant but untamed creature. Extend a careful, curious invitation for it to show you more about itself.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18):
In architecture, a “clerestory” is a high window that brings light into a space without compromising privacy. It illuminates without exposing. I suggest that you find metaphorical equivalents for clerestories, Aquarius. Look for ways to let spaciousness and brightness into your world without disturbing your boundaries. Your assignment is to avoid swinging between total lockdown and overexposure. The best option: strategic vulnerability and selective transparency. Allow people to see selected parts of you without giving them access to everything. Be both open and discriminating.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20):
In 1903, the Wright brothers flew a primitive model of the first airplane. How did they prepare the way for their spectacular milestone? Their workshop was a bicycle shop, not a high-tech, state-of-the-art lab. By building and fixing bikes, they learned key insights about flying machines. The lesson for you, Pisces, is that mastery in one area may be transferable to breakthroughs in another. With this in mind, I invite you to evaluate how your current skills, including those you take for granted, might be repurposed. Methods you developed in one context could solve problems in another. You shouldn’t underestimate the value of what you already know.

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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“A garden must combine the poetic and the mysterious with a feeling of serenity and joy.” – Luis Barragan 

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Credit: Getty Images for Unsplash+

Quote of the Day: “A garden must combine the poetic and the mysterious with a feeling of serenity and joy.” – Luis Barragan 

Photo by: Getty Images for Unsplash+ (cropped)

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

Credit: Getty Images for Unsplash+

Good News in History, April 11

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Thiago Alcantara playing for Bayern Munich - credit, Steffen Prößdorf Released by DFL on CC 4.0. BY-SA

Happy 35th Birthday to the midfield maestro, Thiago Alcântara, one of the finest and cultured passers of the ball seen in recent memory. Enjoying a star-studded, honor-laden career with the mega clubs Barcelona, Bayern Munich, and Liverpool, as well as with the Spanish National Team, Thiago lifted no less than 27 major trophies and is remembered  with extraordinary fondness for his charming smile and artistic passing and vision. WATCH him perform wizardry below… (1991)

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12-yo Girl Named a Hero for Running into Burning Home to Save Brothers

By
Andy Corbley
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Macy Johnson, and her burning house - credit, family photo and video
Macy Johnson, and her burning house – credit, family photo and video

A Georgia pre-teen saved her older brothers from potentially perishing in a fire that consumed the left side of the family’s two-story home.

She’s been hailed by the family and community as a hero, who saved the most important things the family had while everything else was destroyed in the fire: each other.

The Johnson family of 6 had only moved into the house a few months before the fire started last Monday in their garage.

As it raged across the ground floor, Macy arrived home on the school bus and saw the fire.

WJCL News didn’t say whether she knew her two older brothers were in the house, but in any case she ran to the door and began screaming that the house was on fire.

“My oldest son was preparing to go to work. He was in the shower, again, had no idea until she started screaming,” said Macy’s mother Lisa Johnson, who said her second-oldest son was asleep in his room over the garage. “She’s an incredible girl and I’m very proud of her.”

FIREFIGHTERS WITHOUT SIRENS:

Firefighters from Richmond Hill and Bryan County arrived quickly and stopped the fire before it consumed the entire house. The cause of the fire is under investigation.

“Hard as it is to know that we’ve lost almost everything, that we have a lot of memories, a lot of good things, we have each other and we have God,” Mrs. Johnson said. “And I have faith in him and there’s a reason for everything.”

WATCH the story below… 

SHARE The Heroic 12-Year-Old’s Life-Saving Actions With Your Friends…

Coalition Pushed for Cycling Lanes and Better Buses and Got Them, Transforming Manila in the Process

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Andy Corbley
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800 miles of new bike lanes have been built in Manila - credit, the WRI Ross Center Prize for Cities
800 miles of new bike lanes have been built in Manila – credit, the WRI Ross Center Prize for Cities

For decades, 98% of transportation-related funding and infrastructure went to the 6% of people in the Philippines who own cars.

Now after years of research, advocacy, and lobbying, a national coalition has led a transformation in public transit and civic planning on behalf of cyclists, pedestrians, and non-car commuters, and has attracted international attention and support for their work.

Made up of 77,000 people across 142 citizen groups, Move As One began its revolutionary work following the government-enforced lockdowns and business closures during COVID.

With public transit in the capital of Manila shut down, authorities realized how many people in the city of 1.9 million people relied on it to get to work. Additionally, they heard from Move As One about just how close to the edge, financially speaking, transit workers were living.

When the buses stopped, with room for a pinch of exaggeration—but only a pinch—so too did the food on family tables.

From then on citizens representing the broad swath of society that didn’t drive began to demand change—they wanted official bus routes and stops, protected cycling lanes, raised, shaded sidewalks, and options that could cater to those with disabilities. Move As One was loud, persistent, and unified, and over the last 6 years has seen remarkable change in Manila and beyond.

“With Move As One, we gave everyone a platform to connect, to meet each other, to hear each other’s common struggles, to create that shared sense of solidarity and to form consensus,” said Rycel Bendaña, the national coordinator of the Move As One Coalition.

One of the bus carousels on EDSA – credit, the WRI Ross Center Prize for Cities

The coalition’s door-knocking, cold-calling, testimonies before the House and Senate, and relationship-building inside city hall has influenced decisions affecting an estimated $946 million in immediate transport funding and $12 billion in medium and long-term funding, the World Resource Institute’s Meghna Ray and Jen Shin detail in a feature piece. 

– credit, the WRI Ross Center Prize for Cities

In Manila, they wrote, some of that work has resulted in the redirecting of public funds to create a pedestrian boulevard along the Pasig River and supporting a car-free zone in Manila’s historic district of Intramuros as a people-friendly public spaces.

It also included the implementation of a dedicated bus route along the Epifanio de los Santos Avenue (EDSA), Manila’s main arterial highway, with dedicated stations, safer, inclusive pedestrian access, and structured boarding at various carousel-accessed stops. Across the country, more than 800 miles of bike lanes now connect neighborhoods in several cities.

MORE PHILIPPINE STORIES: College Project Sparks Student to Start Orphanages for Homeless Kids in Philippines: ‘Why haven’t I started this?’

GOOD TRANSPORT: Sub-Zero Temperatures Didn’t Affect Madison’s Electric Bus Fleet This Year–A Major EV Milestone

Mark Steven Pastor, undersecretary for road transport and infrastructure at the Philippine Department of Transportation, admitted to the WTI that Move As One has become something of the DoT’s “Swiss Army Knife,” providing anything and everything the department might need to effectively plan and carry out projects involved in transit and infrastructure.

Move As One Coalition was selected as one of five finalists for the 2025-2026 WRI Ross Center Prize for Cities, which celebrates projects and initiatives catalyzing healthy cities.

SHARE This Citizens Alliance Coming Together To Change Manila For The Better…

Artifacts from 2,000-yo Shipwreck at Bottom of Swiss Lake Include Roman Chariot Pieces (LOOK)

By
Andy Corbley
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Photo by Octopus Foundation
Photo by Octopus Foundation

In November 2024, an exceptional shipwreck was discovered at the bottom of Lake Neuchâtel, Switzerland.

It contained an exquisitely preserved cachet of pottery, weapons, tools, and components for horse-drawn transport that date back 2,000 years.

Divers recovered three swords, including this one that’s still sheathed in its scabbard – credit, Octopus Foundation

Archaeologists believe it was a civilian merchant ship crossing the lake on a supply mission to a Roman legionary camp on the northern shore, but the cause of the wreck—given the absence of the boat itself—remains a tantalizing mystery.

“At the time, the loss must have been immense,” notes a statement from the Octopus Foundation, a nonprofit collaborating with the Cantonal Archaeology Office of Neuchâtel, which conducted the dives down to the lakebed.

The discovery in 2024 was made via drone surveys examining the details of the 84-square-mile lakebed. While initial surveys indicated the cargo was in good condition, there was a fear that it could become susceptible to looters, so a decision was made to recover it.

The first excavations were conducted in March of last year and continued until some 1,200 objects were recovered. Many of these were ceramics—dishes, plates, cups, and bowls produced regionally across the Swiss Plateau. Olive oil amphorae, imported from Spain, showed the extent of long-distance transport of goods in Roman times.

Metal tools including a pickaxe, horse cart/chariot components which even included wheels, and three swords, one still in its leather scabbard, were also found. A style of brooch known to be worn during the Imperial period of Rome, called a fibula, and a plank of wood, helped corroborate the year in which the cargo sank.

MORE GREAT SHIPWRECKS: Shipwrecked Cargo of Roman Lead Bars Provides a Chance to Observe Dark Matter on Earth

Based on the breadth of items, the Octopus Foundation wrote that the archaeologists’ working hypothesis is that the cargo was destined for the 13th Legion’s camp at what was then called Vindonissa along the Aare River between 16 and 45 CE.

Even wooden objects were preserved – credit, Octopus Foundation

The area was patrolled by the legion, whose job was to prevent hostile Germanic tribes from moving southward from Germany. The berth of the vessel might well have been Eburodunum, an ancient port at the southern end of the lake that is now called Yverdon-les-Bains, Smithsonian Magazine reports.

SWISS STORIES: 4 Sisters Invent Electric Tractor with Mom and Dad and it’s Selling in 5 Countries

Perhaps a strong gust of wind, as can manifest all-unexpectedly on Alpine lakes, caught the sailors unawares so that their goods slipped out of their moorings and into the water.

The Canton of Neuchâtel described the cargo as an “exceptional discovery, unique in Switzerland and in the inland waters north of the Alps,” and wrote that the items are destined for display at the Museum of Archeology of Neuchâtel once proper preservation work is carried out on the waterlogged artifacts.

SHARE This Fascinating Discovery From The Early Roman Frontier… 

In Memorium: First American to Climb Everest Dies at 97 After a Lifetime of Climbing with His Brother

By
Andy Corbley
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Jim Whittaker, on the summit of Everest, and his younger brother Lou credit, family photos.
Jim Whittaker, on the summit of Everest, and his younger brother Lou credit, family photos.

America doffs its hat to one of its greatest modern outdoorsmen: the first among our countrymen to conquer the two highest peaks in the world: Mount Everest in 1963, and K2 in 1978.

Jim Whittaker was born in Washington state on February 10th, 1929. His identical twin brother Lou was born on the same day. Just as they shared a birthday, they would share a life’s passion for mountain climbing.

The brothers Whittaker started doing just that—as soon as they were in the Boy Scouts, and at 16, they climbed Mount Rainier, the highest peak in the Lower 48.

At 34 years old, and a decade after Edmund Hillary and Tenzig Norgay first climbed it, Jim Whittaker became the first American to climb Mount Everest on an expedition funded by National Geographic. He actually made the ascent with a nephew of Norgay, Nawang Gombu. They were the only climbers to summit that season, and just the 10th and 11th men respectively to achieve the feat even though they ran out of oxygen and were carb-loading on JELL-O.

Mr. Whittaker was awarded the Hubbard Medal, recognizing achievements in research, discovery and exploration, by President John F. Kennedy for his achievement.

He followed this up by becoming the first American to summit K2 in 1978, and as the guide in the hugely successful Mount Everest International Peace Climb in 1990.

In it, Jim led climbers from the United States, USSR, and China to the summit. In addition to putting twenty climbers on the brow-line of the world, the expedition hauled off a large amount of trash left on the mountain by previous expeditions.

“We took the three countries that were enemies during the Cold War and demonstrated what could be done through friendship and cooperation,” Mr. Whittaker told National Geographic in 2003.

If his exploits in the Himalayas weren’t enough to enshrine him among mountaineering legends for all time, he was also the first employee of Recreational Equipment Co-op, better known as REI, which at the time operated almost entirely as a mail-order business.

“It was too good to pass up,” Mr. Whittaker recalled in an interview. “What a job. I was the only one in the place. I opened the store, stocked the shelves, talked with customers, rang up sales, cleaned the place, locked up and made the bank deposit.”

As REI expanded, Whittaker oversaw sales, and eventually became president and chief executive in 1971 amidst a boom in popularity for gritty outdoor recreation activities he played a large role in catalyzing. REI inspired numerous outfitter imitators, as mountain climbing and other sports entered a glitzier retail environment.

Today, REI is a multi-billion dollar, international outfitter with exceptional brand recognition.

In 1965, Whittaker guided then-Senator Robert F. Kennedy to the top of Mount Kennedy in the Yukon. As the wilderness tends to do, it made friends out of the two men, and Whittaker helped lead Senator Kennedy’s presidential campaign in Washington in 1968.

He was in the hospital room, the New York Times reports, when Kennedy was pronounced dead after being shot in Los Angeles. Whittaker would go on to be a pallbearer at Kennedy’s funeral.

Jim Whittaker died in his home in Port Townsend, Washington. He is survived by his sons Leif, Bobby, and Joss, as well as his second wife, Dianne Roberts, who photographed her husband’s expedition to K2.

Lou Whittaker, became the most experienced Cascades Range guide in the country, and became a guide on Mount Rainier at just 19. He died in 2024 at the age of 95.

Lou’s sons, Peter and Win, are now incredibly successful climbers and guides on Mount Rainier like their father. Peter has summited Everest thrice, and served as the guide for both the oldest man and the oldest woman to reach the summit of Mt. Vinson in Antarctica.

Jim authored Life on the Edge while Lou wrote Memoirs of a Mountain Guide. Big Jim, and Big Lou, are both Washington mountains named for the famous brothers.

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“In my world, attachment is another word for devotion—the focused zeal of knowing what I love and joyfully working on its flourishing.” – Rob Brezsny

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Good News Network
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Credit: Shane Stagner

Quote of the Day: “In my world, attachment is another word for devotion—the focused zeal of knowing what I love and joyfully working on its flourishing.” – Rob Brezsny

Photo by: Shane Stagner

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

Credit: Shane Stagner

Good News in History, April 10

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Good News Network
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59 years ago today, Marvin Gaye finished recording “I Heard It Through the Grapevine,” one of the hottest singles in Motown history, for his then upcoming album In the Groove. Written by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong for Gaye, Motown executive Barry Gordy declined to release it at the time. Whitfield and Strong then recorded and released it with Gladys Knight & the Pips as a single, where it went to number one on the Billboard R&B Singles chart and number two on the Billboard Pop Singles char, allowing the songwriters to push harder for the release of Gaye’s original recordings, which proved even more successful. WATCH a great live version of the song from Montreux… (1967)

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Scientists Track Where Butternut Trees Have Resisted Deadly Disease – So Reforesting Efforts Can Thrive

By
Andy Corbley
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Juglans cinerea at an arboretum in Hungary - credit, Tom Christian, licensed via CC 4.0. BY-SA by Trees and Shrubs online
Juglans cinerea at an arboretum in Hungary – credit, Tom Christian, licensed via CC 4.0. BY-SA by Trees and Shrubs online

The butternut tree, (Juglans cinerea) a close relative of black walnut prized for its pale wood and wildlife value, is on the brink of disappearing from North American forests.

But a new study from Virginia Tech offers hope that the species could regain its foothold with help from modern data science. By mapping climate and soil conditions linked to natural resistance which the tree has developed to a fungal disease, researchers are guiding restoration strategies that could help this native species recover.

Published recently in Forest Ecology and Management, the researchers identify where endangered butternut trees and their more disease-resistant hybrids are most likely to thrive.

Using habitat modeling that combines climate, soil, and genetic data, the team mapped regions across the Midwest and Northeast that are best suited for restoration.

“Butternut has nearly vanished from our forests because of an invasive fungal disease that spread across the landscape a century ago,” said Carrie Fearer, assistant professor in the Department of Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation and senior author of the study.

“But we now know that some individuals have natural resistance, and by understanding the conditions that support those trees, we can focus conservation where it will matter most.”

The disease, known as butternut canker, has pushed the tree to Endangered status on the IUCN’s Red List. Working with Purdue University and the US Forest Service, the research team developed predictive maps that show where resistant trees are already surviving and where future planting efforts could succeed.

The models highlight parts of southern Indiana, western Kentucky, western Michigan, and much of New England as prime regions for resistant butternut. The results also identify areas where naturally occurring hybrids, crosses between native butternut and the disease-tolerant Japanese walnut, may already be helping the species persist.

“This study gives forest managers a conservation map,” said Fearer, also an affiliated faculty member of the Fralin Life Sciences Institute. “It tells us which combinations of temperature, precipitation, and soil carbon tend to support resistant butternuts. Those insights help us protect the right trees and guide future restoration planting.”

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Butternuts are valuable “mast,” or “canopy trees,” that is, they’re producers of large nuts that feed wildlife such as turkeys, deer, and bears. Their decline has ripple effects across forest ecosystems and the communities that depend on them.

“Losing a canopy species like butternut changes everything from wildlife habitat to forest composition,” Fearer said. “It’s about protecting the biodiversity and heritage of our eastern forests.”

Aziz Ebrahimi, a research scientist at Purdue University who worked on the project, said the results of their work are practical tools that guide where to collect seed, establish regeneration orchards, and focus restoration efforts.

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As climate patterns shift, identifying where endangered species can survive is important. Fearer said that the same modeling approach could guide efforts for other native trees under threat from invasive diseases and changing temperatures.

“We can’t move trees everywhere,” she said, “but we can predict where they’re most likely to succeed. This research gives us a road map for restoring not just butternut, but resilience to our forests.”

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New Railway Between Europe and China Will Shave a Week Off Delivery Times, Boost Kyrgyzstan Economy

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Andy Corbley
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Officials, including Kyrgyzstan President Said Japarov, at a ceremony for the first commemoration stone along the CKU Railroad - credit, President.kg
Officials, including Kyrgyzstan President Said Japarov, at a ceremony for the first commemoration stone along the CKU Railroad – credit, President.kg

Construction of a “transformational” new railway line linking China, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan will allow goods to transit from east to west across Eurasia a whole week faster.

On the way, it’s also predicted to have a transformational impact on the economy of Kyrgyzstan, one of the slowest developing countries on the continent.

To speak of Europe later, the railway will address Central Asian transit in a dramatic way. A map will prove handy to understand why. If you wanted to send a load of goods from China to the capitals of Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan) or Tashkent (Uzbekistan), you’d have to send them all the way across Kazakhstan first before doubling back via truck, a quite absurd runaround considering China’s border with the former is actually closer than with Kazakhstan.

Now, the “CKU” will give direct transit options for most of Central Asia while unlocking substantial natural resource opportunities among a depressed, mountainous region of Kyrgyzstan.

“This railroad will virtually transform Kyrgyzstan—and not just Kyrgyzstan, but the whole of Central Asia,” Edil Baisalov, the country’s deputy prime minister, told The Times of Central Asia.

“Even under the most pessimistic scenarios, the cargo loads expected to transit this route could generate at least $300 million in annual revenue, benefiting the country significantly.”

Other estimates have placed the totals closer to $200 million, but either way it would allow the country to pay back the costs of the construction work in a few prosperous years.

The trilateral agreement to build the 300-mile-long railway was signed on December 27th, 2024, and construction began the following year. $1.1 billion will be provided by China for the Chinese portion, and $573 million by Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan for their respective portions. An additional $2.3 billion will be paid by a Chinese joint venture overseeing the project.

Overlooking the landscape of Naryn – credit, Pmelton87, Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0.

90% of the Kyrgyzstan portion will run through the poor region of Naryn, 70% of which is mountains. To get through it, the CKU railway will pass over 50 bridges and through 29 tunnels. Already the country has 5,000 people employed on this impressive engineering project.

Huge infrastructure investment like this takes years to pay off, but Baisalov sees ample opportunities for the private sector to take root along this vital corridor. Kyrgyzstan is a resource economy, yet 82% of all freight in the country is transported on roads, making it slow, seasonal, and vulnerable to fuel shocks.

With the CKU comes the opportunity to access the region’s “world class” mineral wealth, including iron and aluminum which cannot be transported via trucks.

“During the Soviet era, Kyrgyzstan’s mineral base was largely ignored in favor of deposits elsewhere. The Soviets focused only on uranium here, which was used for their first nuclear bomb, but otherwise, industrial development was minimal,” Baisalov explained, adding that as a result, Kyrgyzstan remained mostly agrarian—producing crops and animal products.

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Additionally, there is the opportunity for logistics businesses and warehousing to service transit along the line.

“The railroad will also stimulate manufacturing and logistics. International investors are already building logistics centers and assembly facilities along the line, leveraging the region’s labor force,” said Baisalov.

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As for the value of the railroad on a continental basis, existing transcontinental railway lines pass through Kazakhstan and Russia, and for the purpose of exporting between Europe and China, would require an extra week of transit time.

Instead, with a terminal in Uzbekistan’s Fergana Valley, the CKU will link directly with trans-Caspian routes to Turkey and onto Europe.

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Applebee’s Worker Praised for Sheltering 50 People as Tornado Barreled Towards Them in Michigan

By
Andy Corbley
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Applebee's in Griffin, Georgia - credit, Michael Rivera CC 4.0. BY-SA
Applebee’s in Griffin, Georgia – credit, Michael Rivera CC 4.0. BY-SA

An Applebee’s manager whose been afraid of storms since she was a child nevertheless stepped up to rapidly lead her staff and guests to safety as a tornado was barreling towards the restaurant.

It was a normal Friday at the Applebee’s in Three Rivers, Michigan, when all of a sudden Aubrey McKenzie saw the weather service issuing a severe tornado warning.

“When we got the tornado warning, we’re like, ‘Aw, there’s no way, like, it’s beautiful outside.’ And then it turned serious very, very quickly,” McKenzie told Wilcox Newspapers. “It hit so fast and so unexpectedly. I’m glad that everybody was able to get somewhere somewhat safe and able to walk away and tell their story.”

At the time, the restaurant manager was leaving for a neighboring Applebee’s location, and they discussed the tornado with McKenzine. Both more or less came to the conclusion that they had seen dozens of tornado warnings come to nothing in their lives, and that it was a beautiful day. In short, they were prepared to ignore it—but only for about ten seconds.

“I came back in and I heard everybody’s phone going off, like, blaring; every guest, every bartender, everybody,” she told Fox News 17.

Conditions were so obviously changing fast, and before long, she could see the funnel cloud outside.

Admittedly panicked, McKenzie tapped into that Friday-night dinner rush spirit—when any server or bartender has to stay calm amid the million things they need to do. McKenzie asked herself “what do I have to do right now?” and her response was quick and orderly.

She led all the guests and staff into the prep kitchen where there are no windows. It was a tight squeeze, but it was their best chance of shelter. After everyone was inside, she “peaked her head out” one last time, and saw that a man and his dog were sitting in a pickup truck outside the restaurant, as well as a boy on his phone, who seemed like he was waiting for someone. She told the man and the boy to come inside immediately.

LEADERS AMONG US: China’s ‘Bulldozer Hero’ Saves Over 100 Stranded Neighbors During Recent Beijing Flooding

“I think he was waiting for his dad or something, I don’t know, but I grabbed his arm and dragged him to the back and everything,” McKenzie told Wilcox.

Then the tornado hit.

“Your ears were popping, but then you could also hear the glass shattering from the dining room. It’s exactly how you would imagine it would be standing in the middle of a tornado. Shattering, like things hitting everything. It sounded like a freight train.”

MORE STORIES LIKE THIS: Teen Lifesaver Awarded One of Scouting’s Highest Honors After Harrowing Whitewater Rescue

The brick-built Applebee’s held up, even though it took 4 days to clean up the restaurant, with glass from the broken windows and spirit bottles finding its way into every conceivable nook and cranny. New vacuums had to be bought, new carpets too, but not one single person was hurt.

“I was surprised that I was able to get everybody, and be that organized in that short amount of time,” she admitted. “I’ve been called ‘hero’ a lot lately, and I laugh it off, but I guess I did what I felt I had to do.”

WATCH the story below from Fox 17… 

SHARE This Manager By Name And Nature Stepping Up When She Was Most Needed…

Planting 30,000 Trees Surpasses Goal for Regenerating a Rainforest on the Isle of Man

By
Andy Corbley
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Volunteers celebrating the tree-planting progress - credit, Graham Makepeace-Warne
Volunteers celebrating the tree-planting progress – credit, Graham Makepeace-Warne

3 years ago this month, GNN reported that a UK land trust had set the goal of reforesting a 70 acre “celtic rainforest” on the Isle of Man.

30,000 trees later, the effort exceeded expectations and finished ahead of schedule.

The budding rainforest instead stretches 100 acres across an area called Creg y Cowin, owned by the Manx Wildlife Trust, which owns three properties for the sake of conservation.

Temperate rainforests are one of the rarest kinds of ecosystems worldwide, and in the UK are found in Wales, on the Isle of Man, and a few other locations.

MWT chief executive Graham Makepeace-Warne spoke with the BBC about how best to categorize the ecosystem, describing something akin to the forests of the American Pacific Northwest.

“Temperate rainforests can be described as plants growing on plants, growing on plants,” he said.

It will take around 50 years for the trees to reach the level of maturity where that lush microclimate can be seen, a date too far off for some of the volunteers, many of whom brought their children with them to show them what they had hopefully secured for their posterity.

“To plant 30,000 trees in three years in incredible work, our volunteers should be really proud of that,” Makepeace-Warne said. “I love the idea of them coming back with their kids, when it is a proper woodland, that they can enjoy—that’s a lovely idea.”

MORE IMPRESSIVE TREE-PLANTING: Leslie Dart has Planted 372,290 Trees Across Canada Over the Past 3 Summers and Inspired So Many Others

Makepeace-Warne said he believes it will take far less than 50 years for cattle and sheep to be welcomed back into the rainforest. Unlike our image of domesticated cattle out in a field, the native bovid species on the British Isles was a woodland animal, which enjoyed scratching itself on trees and sheltering from extreme temperatures.

Many of the UK’s plant species evolved to rely on the downstream effects of the cattle’s presence, such as hitching a ride for their seeds on the animal’s fur.

SIMILAR STORIES: Irish Metalhead Turns His Ancestral Estate into Model of Rewilding: It Naturally Grew Into Biodiverse Eden

Creg y Cowin was included in the UK’s Temperate Rainforest Restoration Program, which aims to reforest these ecosystems where they’re found across the British Isles. The project is led by the national Wildlife Trusts, and funded with a mixture of public and private money up to $52 million (£38.9 million).

Future sites, as GNN reported in 2023, could include the peak and slopes of Bwlch Mawr, in North Gwynedd, Wales.

SHARE This Volunteer Effort To Restore A Rainforest In Britain… 

“Love is all; it gives all, and it takes all.” – Soren Kierkegaard

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Good News Network
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Credit: Fa Barboza

Quote of the Day: “Love is all; it gives all, and it takes all.” – Soren Kierkegaard

Photo by: Fa Barboza

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

Credit: Fa Barboza
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