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Minnesota Hosts World Snow Sculpting Championship–And The Giant Ice Art is Pretty Spectacular

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Good News Network
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Snow sculpting championships in Stillwater

Stillwater, Minnesota is hosting the third annual World Snow Sculpting Championship with artists from eight countries.

The event, sanctioned by the Association Internationale de Sculpture sur Neige et Glace based in Finland, will feature world-class snow sculpting teams from Turkey, Finland, France, Wales, Canada, Mexico, Ecuador, and the U.S. competing to create the most compelling snow sculptures.

“We are thrilled to be hosting this event again in its third year, and to be bringing the beauty and excitement of snow sculpting to Stillwater,” said Robin Anthony, President of the Greater Stillwater Chamber of Commerce and Co-Director of the World Snow Sculpting Championship.

The World Snow Sculpting Championship will be celebrated with a week-long festival of events, entertainment, and activities for people of all ages.

Some of the spectacular sculptures erected during this event include the whimsical and dramatic.

LOOK: Sculptor Carves Life-sized Willy Wonka Using 220 Lbs of Chocolate in London’s Trafalgar Square

In addition to the events, there will be an indoor market, warming house, and heated tent. You can see the full schedule of events on the official website.

STUNNING: Beautiful Snow Sculptures of Bluebirds Appear in Virginia Town After Blizzard (LOOK)

Winners of the competition—from January 17 to January 21, 2024—will earn prize money and the title of World Champions.

SLIDE These Gorgeous Sculptures to Social Media–Especially Minnesotans…

“We must sense that we live in a mysterious world—that things happen and can be experienced that remain inexplicable.” – Carl Jung 

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Good News Network
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Quote of the Day: “We must sense that we live in a mysterious world—that things happen and can be experienced that remain inexplicable.” – Carl Jung 

Photo by: Jr Korpa

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?

Protecting The Great Wall of China From Erosion, Lichen Soil Crust Shields Monument from Weather Damage

By
Andy Corbley
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Researcher Yousong Cao helped gather samples from the Great Wall for testing - released to Smithsonian by Bo Xiao
Researcher Yousong Cao helped gather samples from the Great Wall for testing – released to Smithsonian by Bo Xiao

For centuries, soldiers stood guard along the Great Wall of China, defending the heartland of the North China Plain from nomadic invaders like the Huns, and the ancestors of the Mongols.

Now, a new kind of protector stands stalwart on the wall, even as the unfinished parts of the great monument crumble away: biological soil crusts.

These mixes of lichen, moss, and cyanobacteria form a crusty surface atop loose soil, and play a major role in arid ecosystems, but in Northern China, they are protecting sections of the wall from wind and water erosion.

Scientists hoping to understand the impact of these soil crusts on the famous wall selected a 300-mile-long section to take samples from. The Great Wall of China was built in several stages, separated by hundreds of years. At times, the wealth and power of the Chinese ruling dynasty allowed them to use brick and mortar, but in other times, or in more remote places, rammed earth was used instead.

Rammed earth is a mixture of mud, gravel, and other natural materials that are compacted, much like the surface of the ground. This has allowed biological soil crusts to flourish on the rammed earth sections of the wall, and indeed were found to cover 67% of the sampled areas.

“Compared with bare rammed earth,” the authors of the study wrote in the journal Science Advances, “the biocrust-covered sections exhibited reduced porosity, water-holding capacity, erodibility, and salinity by 2 to 48%, while increasing compressive strength, penetration resistance, shear strength, and aggregate stability by 37 to 321%.”

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE: New National Monument Spans 1 Million Sacred Acres Linking Indian Reservations to the Grand Canyon

In many desert parks in the US, signs are posted along trails warning visitors and hikers to stay away from patches of lumpy dark Earth. These are biological soil crusts, and they keep desert environments more fertile than they otherwise would be by keeping the sandy dirt from blowing away.

In fact, half of all the soil on Earth would be blown into the oceans, approximately 700 million metric tons of dust every year, if not for this diminutive phenomenon. Researchers at the University of Almeria, Spain, have estimated that 25% of all the soil in all the world’s drylands is covered in these biocrusts.

MORE SURPRISES ACROSS THE WORLD: Pristine Coral Reefs Discovered Are Thousands of Years Old And Teeming With Life

Other scientists have estimated that these little colonies of organisms prevent an amount of dust equal to all human-created atmospheric aerosols, and three times as many as humans have placed into the atmosphere through land-use changes, from entering it.

It can take over 50 years for biological soil crusts to form, and merely 1 second of a heavy hiking boot falling to unmake them. So watch your step!

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Oklahoma Teen Overcomes Shyness to Collect and Give Away 54,000 Toys

By
Andy Corbley
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Reed Marcum in 2022 during his seventh annual toy giveaway – Photo by Angie Miller
Reed Marcum in 2022 during his seventh annual toy giveaway – Photo by Angie Miller

Reed Marcum was just a kid when he learned that some children in his town of McAlester Oklahoma didn’t have any toys under their Christmas tree.

A shy kid who was bullied in school, Reed remembered the moment very clearly, since he was no stranger to feeling left out. Even though his parents divorced when he was just 7, there were people who stepped in to make Christmas time special, so the thought this his fifth-grade friend would find nothing under the tree was tough to hear.

Whatever the reason his heart or his blues, he proposed to his mother to hold a toy drive, similar in structure to a backpack drive they had organized the year before. Reed’s mother, Angie Miller, posted a video on Facebook explaining her son’s intentions, and asked for donations of toys or money to buy toys for a giveaway that Reed had decided to do as a 4-H project.

“There was a great response—lots of people went out and bought new toys to donate, or they sent money for us to buy them,” Miller said.

That was all 7 years ago, and now as a university freshman, Reed still drives two-and-a-half hours home from his campus in Stillwater to participate in the annual toy drive; now in its seventh edition.

NEWS JUST LIKE THIS FROM UK: Boy Who Started Food Bank in his Shed Now Opens Holiday ‘Gift Bank’ for Hundreds of Poor Kids

10,000 toys are slated to be handed out in this year’s giveaway which takes place as a drive-through event, with eager kids in the back seats gesticulating to their parents which toy they like the most. Each kid also receives a pair of socks, underwear, trousers, a shirt, gloves, and a hat.

“We have walls of toys lined up on each side of the cars, and kids tell us which ones to grab as their parents drive them through the line,” Reed, who studies prelaw and sociology at OK State University, told the Washington Post. “Seeing the happy looks on their faces is always the best part.”

54,000 toys have so far been given out to kids in McAlester, which unfortunately has a poverty rate of 24% according to international statistics.

MORE INSPIRING TEENS: Seven Swimmers Owe Their Lives to Australian Teens on Boogie Boards–2 Rescues in One Week

Reed continues paying forward, as he sees it, the kindness his family received more than a decade ago by starting other charitable programs. He holds silent auctions to benefit pediatric cancer patients, and continues the backpack giveaways he started with his mom when he was just 11 years old.

One resident told the Post that he’s catalyzed everyone in the community; everyone wants to get involved with his work in some way, and the paper says his activities have raised more than $3.5 million.

SHARE This Young Man’s Heroic Work With Your Friends In Time For Christmas… 

Rare Nocturnal Parrot Described as ‘the Holy Grail of Ornithology’ Finally Recorded by Rangers in Remote Desert

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Andy Corbley
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Adult night parrots are ground-dwelling birds that fly – Photo by Steve Murphy
Adult night parrots are ground-dwelling birds that fly – Photo by Steve Murphy

From ABC News Australia comes a fantastic development in indigenous-led conservation, as rangers from the Kiwirrkurra traditional owners have recorded the calls of one of the world’s rarest birds, the night parrot.

There’s nothing better than a natural enigma to heighten or restore your sense of wonder of the natural world, and the night parrot is certainly under this category. A ground-dwelling bird that flies, it does all its calling in spinifex bushes after nightfall.

Feral cats and fires have reduced the available habitat of these animals, and they’re believed to be critically endangered. Now, a Kiwirrkurra ranger team in a remote area of the Gibson Desert in the central regions of the state of Western Australia has become the fifth such team to record their calls.

“It made me really excited that the night parrot still exists there, because it means we’re doing lots of good work,” Kiwirrkurra ranger coordinator Ed Blackwood told ABC. “If that’s there, it means lots of other animals can live and be happy in that same area.”

The calls are extremely valuable conservation data points, as they help define their current habitat areas. Once enough of these recordings have been taken, scientists studying the night parrot will be able to recommend specific spaces for conservation measures.

This year, Kiwirrkurra rangers erected sound recording stations in five separate areas and sent the night’s sound to night parrot expert Dr. Nick Leseberg at the Univ. of Queensland. The bird has a predictable calling sequence, so picking them out in the field recordings is not necessarily difficult.

The difficult part is finding where to put the monitors.

Janine West and Conway Gibson erect song meters to detect the night parrot’s call.(Supplied Tjamu Tjamu Aboriginal Corporation)

“Every time we get a new dot on the map, that extends the range of the night parrot just a little bit further. It’s critical,” Dr. Leseberg told ABC.

ABC News was able to speak to indigenous owners who communicated what the night parrot’s call meant to them.

MORE ENDANGERED BIRDS: Australian Lyrebirds Give Singing Lessons to Juveniles–Mimicking 10 Different Species–LISTEN

One, Nolia Yurrkultji Ward, said that her mother used to tell her when she was young that it was time for bed when the night parrot calls, advice that Ms. Ward always took out of fear the calls were evil spirits. Hearing them now doesn’t fill her with fright, but fond memories of her childhood.

The discovery in Gibson means that the Kiwirrkurra are now stewards of 4 endangered species, including the great desert skink, the bilby, and the princess parrot.

MORE AUSTRALIAN NEWS: 29 Species Have Recovered Enough in Australia to be Taken Off Endangered List–a Milestone for Celebration

The call itself is nothing to write home about if it wasn’t attached to such an enigmatic bird, with three short whistles and then a chatter.

Many conservationists are beginning to find value in audio-focused conservation. Camera trap surveys are extremely laborious and don’t necessarily give good indications of the population density of targeted animals. By mapping whole soundscapes, conservationists can get a much better read on the range and density of animals, as well as the overall intactness of the ecosystems they’re studying, since so many animals vocalize.

SHARE This Great Conservation News With Your Friends… 

Country Star Steps in to Pay Woman’s $250,000 Court Damages for Using His Likeness–a Case he Was Unaware of

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Andy Corbley
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credit Luke Combs Instagram
credit Luke Combs Instagram

When Country music star Luke Combs learned that a big fan was fined a quarter million dollars for using his likeness, Combs stepped in to help.

A company contracted by Combs’ management identified Florida resident Nicol Harness as selling tumblers and t-shirts with his likeness on them on Amazon. Taking her to court, they won a $250,000 damages judgment, money which Harness, who has congestive heart failure, did not have, and had no means of obtaining.

“She told me she was absolutely shocked by this,” Combs said in a social media post. “I’m so apologetic. Talking to her, it makes me sick honestly that this would happen, especially at the holiday.”

In total, Pinellas had sold just 18 tumblers, earning a total of $360. She had no idea that she was targeted along with a suite of other illegal online vendors in an October lawsuit filed in a court in Illinois.

“So, we do have a company that goes after folks, only supposedly large corporations operating internationally that make millions and millions of dollars, making counterfeit T-shirts, things of that nature run illegal businesses,” Combs explained. “And apparently this woman, Nicol, has somehow gotten wrapped into that.”

Combs said Harness told him she had $5,500 locked in her Amazon account, which the judge determined had to go toward the 250K she has been ordered to pay Combs.

Luke Combs in Amsterdam CC License – Alwyn Greer

“I’m gonna double that send her $11,000 today just so she doesn’t have anything to worry about,” Combs said. “She was never supposed to be involved in anything like this.”

Furthermore, Combs has decided to license an official tumbler to sell on his online stores with the proceeds going to fund Harness’ medical bills.

MORE GOOD GUY CELEBRITIES: Taylor Swift is a Hero to Food Banks Across the U.S. at Each Stop of Her Eras Tour

“I invited Nicol and her family out to a show this year so I can give her a hug and say sorry in person,” he said in conclusion. “And yeah, I love you guys. I just wanted to clear that up because it makes me sick for anybody to be thinking I’m this kind of person.”

WFLA Tampa reports that in Illinois, court orders and lawsuits can also be served via email, which Harness said was buried in her junk folder. In Florida, where she lives, court orders and notices of any legal requirements must be served in person.

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“Life holds its miracles, good erupting from darkness chief among them.” – John Patrick Shanley 

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Good News Network
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Quote of the Day: “Life holds its miracles, good erupting from darkness chief among them.” – John Patrick Shanley 

Photo by: Filip Bunkens

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?

FDA Approves Cure for Sickle Cell Disease, the First Treatment to Use Gene-Editing Tool CRISPR

By
Andy Corbley
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sickle-cell-anemea-cc-Libertas-Academica-foter.jpg
A close-up of sickle-cell anemia – CC, Libertas Academica license.

The first FDA-approved treatment using CRISPR may see hundreds of African Americans cured of sickle cell disease.

Making headlines without end for years, but only approved for trials, a CRISPR product is now finally on the shelves, so to speak, and this iteration of the treatment is called Casgevy and manufactured by Vertex Pharmaceuticals.

CRISPR edits the genetic code of the body’s own stem cells to treat conditions that arise from defective or mutated genes. In the case of sickle cell, Homo sapiens evolved this genetic change to protect themselves against the malaria parasite of the African continent.

However the disease that sometimes results from the sickle cell gene, which affects over 100,000 Americans, can cause debilitating pain and shortened lifespan.

“It’s been really remarkable how quickly we went from the actual discovery of CRISPR, the awarding of a Nobel Prize, and now actually seeing it being an approved product,” said Dr. Alexis Thompson, chief of the division of hematology at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, who has previously consulted for Vertex.

Until now, the only previous treatment for sickle cell disease was a bone marrow transplant from a donor which carried large risks such as rejection of the immune system. It’s also difficult to find a matching donor.

MORE CRISPR NEWS: FDA Clears First Study of CRISPR Gene-Editing in Human Patients

While classified as a one-time treatment, the process involves many individual appointments, which themselves are painful, but NBC spoke to one woman who feels as if she’s been given a second shot at life, and can now run and go to the gym; things she couldn’t do before.

“I’m just like a regular person. I wake up and do a 5K. I lift weights. If I wanted to swim, I can swim. I’m still trying to know how far I can stretch it, like what are all the things I can do,” said 29-year-old LaRae Morning.

MORE CRISPR NEWS: Aggressive Leukemia Disappears in 13-Year-old Girl Who was First to Receive New CRISPR Treatment

She would recommend the treatment to anyone who has the option, despite the painful administration process. Winning the Nobel Prize in chemistry in 2020, CRISPR is new, and state-of-the-art. What it isn’t, though, is cheap, and Casgevy costs $2.2 million.

Because it can help prevent years of medical care, NBC reports at least some of the cost will be covered by insurance.

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4-month-old Baby Sucked Up into Tornado is Found Asleep and Unharmed in a ‘Cradle’ of Fallen Tree Limbs

By
Andy Corbley
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Lord, and the damage from the tornado - GoFundMe, Caitlin Moore
Lord, and the damage from the tornado – GoFundMe, Caitlin Moore

Sydney Moore watched as the bassinet containing her infant son Lord followed the roof of her mobile home up into the funnel of a tornado—ensuring, she thought, that she would never see him again.

Without time to shed a tear, she threw herself atop her 1-year-old boy just as the walls collapsed on them both.

Outside, her car was obliterated, and the area around her Clarksville Tennessee mobile home was completely destroyed.

Surviving the collapse of the home, she searched desperately for the 4-month-old with her boyfriend, who had been thrown by the force of the funnel which broke his arm and shoulder

“I thought he was dead,” Moore told WSMV in a sober voice. “I thought he was dead and I’d never see him again.”

Then, a miracle.

“It was like a little tree cradle,” Moore remembered. Her baby was but for a cut unscathed, lying asleep in the crook of a fallen tree. Moore’s sister remembered thinking that it looked for all the world as if little Lord had been placed there, as if an angel had guided him through the storm.

MORE MIRACLE STORIES: ‘Miracle’ Drug Has Young Girl Running Dancing and Swimming Again Despite Cystic Fibrosis

Caitlin, Sydney’s sister, organized a GoFundMe to help the family recover from the destruction of their home, means of transport, and the loss of all their furniture and most of their possessions.

Generous souls a-plenty have seen the fundraiser reach $68,000 out of the 100 grand the family is hoping for.

WATCH the story from WSMV…

SHARE This True Miracle With Your Friends On Social Media… 

Australian Scientists Manage to Identify 1,100 Species in their Backyards, Highlighting Value of Urban Biodiversity.

By
Andy Corbley
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Dr. Holden and his friends - released to the press by the University of Queensland
Dr. Holden and his friends – released to the press by the University of Queensland

If you went out into the backyard of a house in a major metropolitan area, how many species of plants and animals would you expect to find there?

Well scientists who decided to conduct an experiment at their Brisbane suburban home in order to answer that question managed to find over 1,000 species of plants, animals, and fungi.

Dr. Matt Holden, a mathematician, Dr. Andrew Rogers, an ecologist, and Dr. Russell Young, a taxonomist, were roommates together in the city of Brisbane during the initial round of COVID-19 lockdowns in Australia.

The idea of the species count was born when Dr. Rogers went to vacuum cobwebs in his room and wondered how many spiders were on the property.

“We asked a large number of ecologists and conservation scientists how many species they’d expect to find in this setting and they predicted only 200,” said Rogers’ roommate, Dr. Holden. “But after 60 days of surveying, we’d already discovered 777 species.

“It shows suburban houses and apartments could have far more biodiversity than ever imagined, especially when it comes to insects.”

Insects, yes, but not the ones you’d imagine. Their survey, which they turned into a scientific paper published in the journal Ecology, identified 436 moth and butterfly species, yet only 56 different spiders.

WE KNOW YOU’LL LIKE: Download a Free Native-Plant Garden Plan for Your Specific Region

In addition to the invertebrates, they found 8 reptiles and 56 birds, including tawny frogmouths, laughing kookaburras, blue-faced honeyeaters, rainbow lorikeets, spotted doves, and a Brisbane favorite: the Australian white ibis.

Holden and and his colleagues spoke with their university press about the experiment, and hailed their house as not just a bachelor pad, but a “complex ecosystem” that showcases Australia’s biodiversity without the need of even going to the Outback.

“The house was a complex ecosystem of species interacting—we stumbled upon the moth Scatochresis innumera, which as a caterpillar spends its whole time feeding inside the dung of a Brushtail Possum before emerging as an adult,” said Dr. Holden.

MORE BACKYARD SCIENCE: 10-year-old’s Backyard Discovery Reveals ‘Mind-blowing’ Interaction Between Plants and Insects

“The Parilyrgis concolor is another moth species whose caterpillar lives in spider webs and devours spider poop to survive. You don’t have to go traveling to connect with Australia’s diverse range of species, just look in your own backyard.”

Holden recommended keeping native and low-maintenance tree and shrub species, and ignoring the urge to manicure a lawn with pesticides to preserve the greatest biodiversity.

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Your Weekly Horoscope: A ‘Free Will Astrology’ From Rob Brezsny

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

Here is your weekly horoscope…

FREE WILL ASTROLOGY – Week of December 16, 2023
Copyright by Rob Brezsny, FreeWillAstrology.com

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21):
Egyptian Pharaoh Tutankhamun died over 3,300 years ago. When his mournful entourage placed him in his tomb, the treasures they left included a pot of honey, which was meant to sweeten his travels in the afterlife. In the early 20th century, archaeologists excavated the ancient site. They dared to sample the honey, finding it as tasty and fresh as if it had just been made. Amazingly, this same longevity is a characteristic of most honey. I propose we use this as a metaphor for your life. What old resources or experiences from your past might be as pure and nurturing as they were originally? And now could they be of value now?

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19):
Moonstruck screenwriter John Patrick Shanley writes, “Life holds its miracles, good erupting from darkness chief among them.” I predict a comparable miracle for you, Capricorn, though I suspect it will arise out of confusion or inertia rather than darkness. My advice: Don’t be so bogged down in the muddle that you miss the signs that a great awakening is nigh. Start rehearsing how you will feel when deliverance arrives.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18):
Before he reached the height of fame as a novelist, Aquarian Charles Dickens experienced financial instability. When he was 31, the situation got desperate, and he resolved to take extreme measures. For six weeks, beginning in October 1843, he obsessively worked on writing the story A Christmas Carol. It was published on December 19 and sold out in a few days. Within a year, 13 editions were released. Dickens’ economic worries were over. Dear Aquarius, I think the near future will be a favorable time for you, too, to take dramatic, focused action to fix a problem you’re having.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20):
Many religious people believe God can hear their prayers and intervene in worldly affairs. Other religious folks think God can hear their prayers but may not intervene. Then there are the non-religious folks who don’t believe in God and think praying is useless. Wherever you might be on the spectrum, Pisces, I’m pleased to reveal that you will have extra access to support and benefaction in the coming weeks—whether that’s from God, fate, nature, or other humans. So seek out blessings and assistance with alacrity. Be receptive to all potential helpers, even unlikely ones.

ARIES (March 21-April 19):
In 1849, Harriet Tubman escaped from enslavement on a plantation in Maryland. She could have enjoyed her new freedom in peace, but instead resolved to liberate others. During 13 bold forays into enemy territory, she rescued 70 enslaved people and ushered them to safety. She testified that she relied on her dreams and visions to help her carry out her heroic acts. They revealed to her the best escape routes to take, the best times to proceed, and information about how to avoid the fiendish “slave catchers.” In alignment with astrological omens, I invite you to be like Tubman and seek practical guidance from your dreams in the coming weeks—to solve problems or seek bliss.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20):
Jack Nicholson has often played mavericks and anti-heroes in his movies. His life away from the silver screen has also been less than steady and predictable. For example, he has fathered six children with five different women. His fellow actor, Carrie Fisher, said Jack was “fun because he doesn’t make sense.” A person with casual knowledge of astrology might be surprised that Nicholson is a Taurus. Your tribe isn’t typically renowned for high eccentricity. But in his natal chart, Nicholson has the brash planet Uranus near his sun in Taurus, indicating he’s quirky. Aside from that, I have known plenty of Tauruses whose commitment to being uniquely themselves makes them idiosyncratic. These themes will be in play for you during the coming weeks. (PS: Taurus musician David Byrne starred in the concert film, Stop Making Sense.)

GEMINI (May 21-June 20):
The platitude says that if life gives us lemons, we should make lemonade. I’ve got a variation on this theme. Consider the Neva River in northwestern Russia. It freezes every winter. During the frigid months of 1739-1740, Empress Anna Ioannovna ordered her workers to cut huge blocks of ice and use them to construct a magnificent palace on the riverbank. She filled the place with furniture and art, making it a hub of festivities celebrating Russia’s triumph over the Ottoman Empire. I bring these themes to your attention, Gemini, because I suspect that in the coming weeks, you will have substantial redemptive power. Whether you make lemonade from lemons or a palace from a frozen river is up to you.

CANCER (June 21-July 22):
“If the world were merely seductive, that would be easy,” wrote Cancerian author E. B. White. “If it were merely challenging, that would be no problem. But I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve the world and a desire to enjoy the world. This makes it hard to plan the day.” According to my astrological analysis, your fate in recent weeks has been more challenging than seductive. You’ve been pressed to work on dilemmas and make adjustments more than you might like. But this rhythm is about to change. Up ahead, life is seductive, welcoming, and appealing. Are you prepared to drop any unconscious attachment you have to your interesting discomfort so you can smoothly make the transition to more ease?

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22):
I want to prepare you for the delights of the coming days. I want to make sure you are fully alert for them and primed to appreciate them. So I give you the thoughts of Leo psychologist Carl Jung. “It is important to have a secret, a premonition of things unknown,” he said. “We must sense that we live in a mysterious world—that things happen and can be experienced that remain inexplicable; that not everything can be anticipated; that the unexpected and incredible belong in this world. Only then is life whole.”

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22):
Have you taken a refreshing break lately? Maybe even a soothing sabbatical? Have you treated yourself to a respite from the gritty grind? If not, please do so soon. And while you are recharging your psychic batteries, I ask you to give your fantasy life ample room to wander wildly and freely. In my astrological opinion, your imagination needs to be fed and fed with gourmet food for thought. For the sake of your soul’s health, I hope you dream up fantastic, unruly, even outrageous possibilities.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22):
My Uncle Ned advised me, “The best gift you can compel your ego to accept is to make it your servant instead of your master.” An early Buddhist teacher sounded a related theme when she told me, “The best things in life are most likely to come your way if you periodically shed all hope and practice being completely empty.” The girlfriend I had when I was 23 confided, “You may get more enjoyment from the witty ways I confound you if you don’t try to understand them.” I offer these three ideas to you, Libra, because you’re in a phase when the moral of your story is that there is no apparent moral to your story—at least until you surrender your notions of what the moral of your story is.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21):
I believe you Scorpios are the zodiac sign mostly likely to benefit from being empathetic. By that I mean you have substantial power to thrive by reading other people’s moods and feelings. You are often able to figure out angles that enable you to gather what you want while helping others to gather what they want. You are potentially a genius at doing what’s best for everyone and getting paid and rewarded for it. According to my analysis of the astrological omens, this knack of yours will soon be operating at peak levels.

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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Halley’s Comet Just Began its 38-year Journey Back Toward Earth–The Big Comeback

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Andy Corbley
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Halley's Comet as seen from the Kuiper Airborne Observatory - NASA.
Halley’s Comet as seen from the Kuiper Airborne Observatory – NASA.

Halley’s Comet passed the farthest point in its orbit beyond Neptune and is now heading back toward Earth.

The most famous of all comets has a flattened elliptical orbit that sees it go from the Sun to the outer limits of the solar system. It arrived at the ‘perihelion’ or the closest point to the Sun, in February of 1986.

On December 8th, 2023, it passed its ‘aphelion’ or the furthest point from its orbit, and over the next few decades, there will be better and better chances to see it.

The Marshall Plan was still in the process of rebuilding Germany after World War II the last time Halley had passed its aphelion.

It should be able to be visible when it enters the area of Jupiter, in 2058. By May 2061, it will pass Mars, before arriving near Earth in June.

Space.com has all the details—a truly staggering amount—one could want for planning a Halley’s Comet viewing party 38 years from now including where it will be in the sky at what time of the year, when it’s in opposition to the Sun or brighter planets, and when the best time is to see its blue ion tail.

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“The most important wealth is health.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

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Good News Network
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Quote of the Day: “The most important wealth is health.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Photo by: Katie Smith

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?

Youth Volunteers Form ‘Grandpals’ to Connect Lonely Senior Citizens With ‘Grandkids’ to Hang Out With

By
Andy Corbley
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'Grandpals' Madhavi Sule and Mukund Sule with their 'goodfellow' Rupesh - Niki Thakur, provided to the Better India
‘Grandpals’ Madhavi Sule and Mukund Sule with their ‘goodfellow’ Rupesh – Niki Thakur, provided to the Better India

In India, a group of considerate young people calling themselves the “good fellows” are changing the lives of India’s senior citizens by pairing them with volunteer grandkids.

Meant to combat loneliness and help bring these elders back into society, the organization allows members of the elder’s family to nominate them as a “grandpal” in search of a “good fellow,” typically if their spouse or closest family member isn’t around anymore.

The Goodfellows was started by Shantanu Naidu, Niki Thakur, and Gargi Sandu, a trio of young Indians from Mumbai who all shared a love of hanging out with their grandparents. Today, they have a team of 65 young men and women aged between 18 and 24, and 400 grandpals signed up.

Once nominated, Mr. Naidu, who leads recruitment, has a basic interview with them to gauge their cognitive faculties, but more importantly, their interests in order to pair them with a good fellow who is interested in the same things.

The Better India spoke with two good fellows, aged 23 and 24, who volunteered to pair with grandpals for the program, and they explained that there’s no telling what might happen during any given day. One of them noticed his grandpal needed a new pair of sandals, and so took him shoe shopping for 3 hours to find the perfect pair.

“Kersi uncle has been my grandpal for the last five months,” 23-year-old Aarohi Sawant told The Better India. “We genuinely look forward to hanging out. He’s had his fair share of tough moments, but he swears on focusing on the beautiful bits. He has inspired me to hold onto the moments that make life happy.”

One grandpal calls herself the luckiest lady in the world, because her good fellow is a tech-savvy listener with a good memory; skills that led her to begin writing the 81-year-old woman’s memoirs.

MORE GOOD NEWS FROM INDIA: All 41 Workers Rescued From Collapsed Tunnel in India Himalayas After 17 Days Trapped

In some cases, the pairing lasts as long as the grandpal’s remaining years, and in these situations, the good fellow is encouraged to take time off to grieve and take care of their mental health if needed.

“We’ve come across so many grandpals who tell us they feel alone. Aside from a few utility people, the [doorbell] never rings. But our model is now changing things. They are hopeful and excited on the designated days of the week. They look forward to the bell ringing,” Ms. Thakur told The Better India.

MORE GOOD NEWS FROM INDIA: Boy Invents Smart Spoon for His Uncle’s Trembling Hands that Is Affordable in India

Read more anecdotes and personal stories from The Goodfellows on The Better India, the subcontinent’s largest source for positive news.

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NASA Summarizes What New Mars Rover has Found as it Finishes it’s Mission at Just Over 1,000 Days

By
Andy Corbley
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An animated impression of Jezero Crater filling with water over the years - credit NASA-JPL
An animated impression of Jezero Crater filling with water over the years – credit NASA-JPL

NASA’s Perseverance rover has officially completed exploring Jezero Crater, an ancient crater lake that the agency determined would be an excellent place to search for signs of life.

Having just passed its 1,000th day of operations, Perseverance has collected 23 samples of regolith, containing silicates, fine-graned silica, phosphates, and carbonates—in other words, a recipe for life as we know it.

Ever since the 5th Martian rover touched down on the Red Planet, Perseverance has been exploring a fan-shaped delta of an extinct water system.

With the help of the rover, NASA scientists have charted the path of the history of the Jezero Crater lake.

Presented at the American Geophysical Union fall meeting in San Francisco on Tuesday, Jezero formed from an asteroid impact almost 4 billion years ago.

After Perseverance landed in February 2021, the mission team discovered the crater floor is made of igneous rock formed from magma underground or from volcanic activity at the surface. They have since found sandstone and mudstone, signaling the arrival of the first river in the crater hundreds of millions of years later.

Above these rocks are salt-rich mudstones, signaling the presence of a shallow lake experiencing evaporation. The team thinks the lake eventually grew as wide as 22 miles (35 kilometers) in diameter and as deep as 100 feet (30 meters). Later, fast-flowing water carried in boulders from outside Jezero, distributing them atop the delta and elsewhere in the crater.

“We picked Jezero Crater as a landing site because orbital imagery showed a delta—clear evidence that a large lake once filled the crater. A lake is a potentially habitable environment, and delta rocks are a great environment for entombing signs of ancient life as fossils in the geologic record,” said Perseverance’s project scientist, Ken Farley of Caltech.

“After thorough exploration, we’ve pieced together the crater’s geologic history, charting its lake and river phase from beginning to end.”

The samples collected along the way have been stored in tubes about the size of sidewalk chalk, which were described before the mission launched as the “cleanest place in the universe”.

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Made of sterilized sapphire, the tubes had to be prepared in such a way as to be sure that any evidence of life found upon their return wouldn’t be mistaken as Martian, when it really was a contaminant from Earth.

Using the Planetary Instrument for X-ray Lithochemistry, or PIXL, designed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Perseverance has been able to color-code various mineral signatures in the ground below its wheels to determine where to drill for samples.

NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover took this selfie over a rock on September 10, 2021 Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

Phosphate, a critical component of human DNA and cell membranes shows up in green, while silica, a fine-grained material that’s excellent at preserving fossilized life on Earth, shows up as a kind of Burnt Siena.

MORE MARTIAN STORIES: Mars Rover Discovers Liquid Salt Water on the Red Planet For the First Time

Of course, Perseverance’s instruments are also capable of detecting both microscopic, fossil-like structures and chemical changes that may have been left by ancient microbes, but they have yet to see evidence for either.

The exploration of Jezero may have concluded, but the still state-of-the-art rover is far from retired, and will soon be exploring the furthest reaches of the canyon where the river would have flown into the lake. Rich carbonate deposits have been spotted along the margin which stands out in orbital images, and in any case, the rover has a lot of time to kill until the sample return mission arrives in the second half of the decade.

SHARE This Milestone Mission Update With Your Friends Who Love Space… 

Vaccine Targeting Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Shows Good Response in First Clinical Trial of Patients

By
Andy Corbley
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A breast cancer tumor, credit NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center.
A breast cancer tumor, credit NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center.T

A drug that targets the deadliest form of breast cancer has recently been found to elicit no side effects, and triggered an immune response in 75% of patients.

Conducted at the Cleveland Clinic with funding from the Pentagon, the vaccine was administered to 16 women in three separate doses. The form of the vaccine that went through trials is meant to stop the return of this aggressive form of cancer in those who have already been treated.

Further research will tool it to attack tumors in women who have yet to undergo treatment.

mRNA vaccines for cancer tumors are really where this technology comes into its own. Using a piece of the tumor to train immune cells like bloodhounds to search them out is far more effective than using it to train a single component of a constantly mutating virus, as was done to try and combat COVID-19.

It could be available in five years, estimates ABC’s medical correspondent Dr. Jennifer Ashton, who didn’t participate in the research.

According to Anixa Biosciences, the firm behind this vaccine, the drug will target a lactation protein, known as α-lactalbumin, that is present in the majority of triple-negative breast cancer patients.

“The data from our Phase 1 trial to date has exceeded our expectations, and we are pleased with our progress. This vaccine is designed to direct the immune system to destroy TNBC cancer cells through a mechanism that has never previously been utilized for cancer vaccine development,” stated Dr. Amit Kumar, Chairman and CEO of Anixa Biosciences.

OTHER CANCER DEVELOPMENT: Scientists Develop Personalized Anti-Cancer Vaccine That Works in Mice

This year, GNN reported on another cancer vaccine with immense promise; this one for melanoma, which is predicted to be the second-most common type of cancer in the US by 2040.

In a phase 2b trial, 107 participants were treated with both the vaccine and immunotherapy drug pembrolizumab. Their melanoma returned in only 24 patients (22.4%) within two years, compared with 20 out of 50 (40%) who received only pembrolizumab.

WATCH the story from GMA below… 

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Among China’s Gray State-Run Schools, New Campus Wins World Building of the Year for ‘Blurring inside and outside’

By
Andy Corbley
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Approach Design Studio / Zhejiang University of Technology Engineering Design Group
Approach Design Studio / Zhejiang University of Technology Engineering Design Group

Set amid the rows of identical block apartments in the background, Huizhen High School is a breath of positive air for the students of Ningbo city, and it recently won one of architecture’s highest honors.

Recently hailed as World Building of the Year at the World Architecture Festival (WAF) in Singapore on Friday, it was made to blur the distinction between inside and outside; a variety of treehouse-like rooms and corridors connecting various open-air spaces like a lecture hall and study area.

Years of modern booming property markets and a hardcore communist past left decades of school construction amorphous, grey, and without aesthetic of any kind. But in a country with deep societal pressures for educational attainment and classrooms that can number as many as 60 students, a more welcoming and refreshing design could be considered imperative.

Huizhen High School was designed by Approach Design Studio, based in Hangzhou. They partnered with the Zhejiang University of Technology and Engineering, and managed to beat Newark Liberty International Airport’s recently opened Terminal A, Australia’s Holocaust Museum in Melbourne, and new national stadiums in both Cambodia and Senegal the win the top distinction in addition to the best school distinction.

“Our focus was not just about designing a school, or working with new forms, spaces, materials, and facades, but about designing new school life and bringing the power of nature into the building,” said Di Ma, director at Approach Design Studio and the Zhejiang University of Technology Engineering Design Group, in a statement.

MORE CHINESE ARCHITECTURAL TRENDS: Epic ‘Floating’ Science Fiction Museum is Erected in One Year to Wow Fans at 81st World Sci-Fi Convention-LOOK

Approach Design Studio / Zhejiang University of Technology Engineering Design Group

Approach also said that while teaching is nationally standardized to be efficient, the areas of the school are meant to help students “release stress, adjust their body and mind and discover beauty” outside the classroom where trees blend in with concrete and inside with outside.

Judged on 18 different criteria by a panel of 140 experts, the WAF World Building of the Year is considered to be one of architecture’s highest honors.

MORE AWESOME BUILDINGS: One of the Most Beautiful Green Buildings in the World is a Winery

Last year’s winner was Sydney’s spectacular Quay Towers, which rather than being knocked down, were “upcycled” into a new and incredible construction at half the price. The upcycling saved thousands of tons of CO2 emissions from the lack of demolition operations.

SHARE This Spectacular School And Changing Attitudes In China On Social Media…

“Change and impermanence have a positive side. Thanks to impermanence, everything is possible.” – Thich Nhat Hanh

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Good News Network
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Quote of the Day: “Change and impermanence have a positive side. Thanks to impermanence, everything is possible.” – Thich Nhat Hanh

Photo by: Michal Hlaváč (cropped)

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?

Woman Brings Joy to Wyoming Town by Creating Hundreds of Personalized Snowmen (Video)

By
Andy Corbley
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Artwork and photo by Pauline Parker
Artwork and photo by Pauline Parker

There’s a small town in Wyoming where the people are outnumbered; by animals, by trees, and even by snowmen.

It was back in July when snow was equal distance a hope and a memory that Pauline Parker of Burlington, Wyoming began making personalized snowmen for everyone in her town.

Painted onto wood to ensure they didn’t melt, it was a hobby that grew and grew and grew until there were more snowmen than people, and a centerpiece snowman was one of the tallest things in the town at 27 feet high.

“I think snowmen bring joy to you,” Parker told KTVQ. “My last count was 316; you can find brown-eyed snowman, or blue or green.”

News doesn’t only travel fast in a small town, but also across small towns, and soon neighboring hamlets wanted their own. One town, with a population of just 10, got a snowman version of every person posing together under the roadsign, replicating a real-world picture of the same scene.

Throughout this month, Parker has decided to host a community snowman scavenger hunt, with snowman-shaped treats as a reward for getting the 20 questions correct across Burlington, and the nearby towns of Otto and Emblem.

MORE STORIES LIKE THIS: Minnesota Snow Sculpting Team Takes First Over Artists From Germany, Finland in World Championships–LOOK

The joyful crusade has won Parker a variety of fans, among art classrooms in the county, but also among the locals who love that she’s spruced up their town in a unique way.

Check out all her snowman designs through this news report from KTVQ.

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Pair of Endangered Corpse Flowers Defy Odds to Bloom at Same Time–Now Bearing 700 Seeds

By
Andy Corbley
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Amorphophallus titanum (corpse_flower) (left) Sailing Moose (right) W. Barthlott - CC 4.0. BY SA
Amorphophallus titanum (corpse_flower) (left) Sailing Moose (right) W. Barthlott – CC 4.0. BY SA

There is more than one species of ‘corpse flower’ and in an incredible coincidence, two managed to bloom at the same time in a Japanese botanical garden, allowing the two to pollinate naturally.

The result of this incredible stroke of fortune is that one of the corpse flowers has now fruited, bearing 736 seeds critical for conserving this wondrous botanic enigma.

While the most famous corpse flower may be the Rafflesia genus, these Amorphophallus titanum, or titan arums for short, share all the same wonders.

In the rainforests of the Indonesian islands of Sumatra and Borneo, these flowers produce massive blooms at completely random intervals spanning years. Of the 10 titan arums in the Tsukuba Botanical Gardens of Japan’s National Museum of Nature and Science, only one has bloomed since 2012. Once the flower, which is the world’s largest, comes out into the sun, it begins to release a chemical scent to attract pollinating insects.

But it isn’t looking for nectar feeders, Rafflesia and Amorphophallus are looking for carrion flies. The smell has been described as everything from rotting meat to rancid garlic, and made it difficult for the workers at Tsukuba to gather the pollen from the giant flowers.

Every artificial attempt at pollinating these plants in captivity has failed, and none of the plants have pollinated naturally.

“We don’t know why, whether pollination can’t occur with pollen from this one plant, or whether pollen has a limited shelf life,” Head researcher Chie Tsutsumi told the Mainichi.

Seeds of titan arum plant – Photo provided by Japan’s National Museum of Nature and Science

Then, in May of this year, a female plant in their gardens produced a small bloom 8 days before a male plant produced an enormous one. They quickly took pollen from the first one and used it to pollinate the second one.

It took about an hour to carefully swab the pollen onto the female plant, all the while the staff were bathed in a famous reek that was very difficult to get out of their clothes, the Mainichi reports.

In November, the plant fruited, and the team gathered the persimmon-like seeds from over 700 small red fruits for cultivation.

“It’s a difficult plant to cultivate, but I’m looking forward to growing it from seed,” said Tsutsumi.

MORE CAPTIVE BREEDING SUCCESS: Flower That Grew Only in York Brought Back From Extinction After 30 Years—First Ever British De-Extinction

 

In February of 2022, GNN reported on the work of Sofi Mursidawati, a Ph.D. in agriculture at the Bogor Botanical Gardens, who is attempting to create the world’s first nursery for a more famous corpse flower, Rafflesia arnoldii, which has a very different character to titan arum.

Rafflesia is a parasitic specimen that has no leaves, roots, or stems, but rather only one giant, one-meter-long, 20-pound bloom. By contrast, titan arum has a root system—it’s the largest single corm, or tuber, on Earth—weighing over 200 pounds.

Rafflesia arnoldii flower with buds – By Raphaelhui, CC license / Wikipedia

With seeds the size of sawdust grains, pollinated flowers infect a genus of vines called Tetrastygma, before slowly growing over many months into an enormous cabbage-sized bulb. The curiosities don’t end there. In fact, it barely qualifies as a plant.

OTHER SPECTACULAR SPECIES: New Species of Owl Discovered on Tiny Island off African Coast – And it was Named After ‘Unflinching’ Park Ranger

It branched away from having genetics that code for photosynthesis millions of years ago, and relies entirely upon its host for energy. Furthermore, and unlike most flowers that have pollinating and pollination equipment, Rafflesia blooms are sexually monomorphic, which means that even after taking a year to grow a flower once it’s time to reproduce, it can only succeed if there is another flower of the opposite sex within the same territory of the carrion flies attracted to the scent of rot from its nectar.

SHARE These Incredible Plants And The Lucky Botantists Working With Them…

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