All News - Page 252 of 1721 - Good News Network
Home Blog Page 252

10,000 Native Oysters Released on Homemade Reef off England’s Coast to Filter Pollutants, Block Storm Damage

By
Andy Corbley
-
wild_oysters_project / Instagram
wild_oysters_project / Instagram

Britain was once a paradise of oysters, and one conservation group hopes that if they continue their pioneering work, it can be so again.

The Wild Oysters Project in the UK just released 10,000 oysters to live wild, undisturbed lives off the northeast coast of England near Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

Oysters are a vital part of marine ecosystem health because of the amount of water they can filter every day in search of simple sustenance. A single oyster can filter 50 gallons of water per day, or over 100 liters, cleaning out nitrogen and other pollutants.

Their reefs also form natural and important breakwaters that reduce storm impacts on the shore.

With such a dirth in oyster populations, the Wild Oysters Project built up an artificial reef made of 827 tons of scallop shells and stones to mimic the natural materials of oyster reefs before releasing the bivalves.

MORE BRITISH MARINE LIFE: Once Biologically Dead, the River Mersey in England is “Best Environmental Story in Europe”

“Native oysters are ecosystem engineers, which means they change and improve the environment around them,” said Matt Uttley, restoration project manager at the Blue Marine Foundation, according to a press release from the Zoological Society of London. “Native oysters create a structurally complex three-dimensional habitat, which supports an abundance of other marine life and is intrinsically linked with ecosystem biodiversity.”

The oysters on the new reef are not intended for human consumption but for their services as ecosystem engineers.

ANOTHER STORY LIKE THIS: Sustainable Seagrass High in Omega-6 and Protein is Better Than Rice For This Master Chef

“Today marks an important milestone in our journey to restore native oyster reefs to British coastlines,” said Wild Oysters Project Manager Celine Gamble.

“We’re optimistic that the 10,000 oysters will thrive, reproduce, and grow on the new reef, which is the size of a football pitch, and we look forward to carefully monitoring their progress over the coming months.”

Wild Oysters Project has so far released more than 1 billion oyster larvae, and they maintain restoration reef sites in 6 marinas around England.

WATCH the story below from the ZSL… 

SHARE This Inspiring Rewilding Effort With Your Friends… 

Watching Symphonies Can Synchronize Heart, Lungs, and Even Electrical Impulses of the Listener

By
Andy Corbley
-
credit Manuel Nageli
credit Manuel Nageli

The perfect synchronicity of a classical symphony has the power to similarly synchronize the movement, heart rate, breathing rate, and the electrical conductivity of skin between audience members,

The beautiful finding comes from a study of 132 people and three classical pieces: Ludwig van Beethoven’s “Op. 104 in C minor,” Brett Dean’s “Epitaphs,” and Johannes Brahms’ “Op. 111 in G major.”

Previous studies, the authors note, have shown that music may be able to induce synchronization in listeners, but there has been little investigation into whether concert audiences become synchronized.

Most synchronization in humans is caused by a direct social interaction with another person and is typically found in breathing or walking.

Professor Wolfgang Tschacher and his colleagues at the University of Bern in Switzerland observed 132 people whilst they listened to a string quintet of the three pieces whilst monitoring them in several ways.

Participants’ movement was tracked with overhead cameras and their physical responses with wearable sensors. They were also asked to fill out a questionnaire about their personality and mood.

The authors observed significant synchronization between audience members for movement, heart rate, breathing rate, and the electrical conductivity of skin (which indicates arousal of the sympathetic nervous system). The greatest level of synchronization was seen in the breathing rate.

Additionally, the personality traits of a listener were associated with their likelihood of synchronizing physical responses—those with agreeableness or openness traits were more likely to become synchronized, whilst those with neurotic or extravert traits were less likely to become synchronized.

These are four of the “Big Five” personality traits, with openness being typical of creative types, and agreeableness found in people who find tension and conflict very difficult.

MORE INTERESTING STUDIES: Metabolism Does Not Slow Down in Mid-Life as is Commonly Believed, Says Study

The authors note that they experienced gaps in data collection due to prioritising wearer comfort over data quality when choosing sensors, and suggest that more reliable data collection methods are necessary for future studies.

Music in general is a fascinating phenomenon. While frequencies can vary significantly between sounds, all sounds we detect in our reality fall essentially within 12 music notes, or more fractionally, on microtones between those 12.

OTHER SURPRISING POWERS OF MUSIC: Children Do Much Better in Math When Music is Added to the Lesson: New Study

Some of those 12 notes will at certain times blend frequencies with other notes in a non-disruptive way. “Off-pitch” or “out of tune” notes are deeply disturbing in a musical ensemble as complicated as a symphony, and humans have the ability to pick them out with ease.

With each additional musician and instrument into the ensemble, the task of ensuring all notes arrive with one another in harmony increases in difficulty, and is perhaps why attentive listeners begin to follow the music with their physiology—the necessity of all parts fitting together is imperative to an enjoyable performance.

SHARE This Fascinating Finding With Your Musically-Inclined Friends…

Massachusetts Innovators Aim to Turn Ocean Plastic into Fuel–Right Onboard the Ship

By
Andy Corbley
-
WPI Chemical Engineering Professor Mike Timko at work in his lab. (Photo Business Wire)
WPI Chemical Engineering Professor Mike Timko at work in his lab. (Photo Business Wire)

Chemical engineers are pioneering a process to equip diesel ships with the onboard capacity to turn collected plastic garbage into fuel.

The result has been dubbed “blue diesel” and would save time, money, and emissions in both the trips necessary for ocean-cleaning vessels to reach the mainland to offload and in running fuel use.

Millions of tons of plastic enter the oceans every year and tend to accumulate in the ocean “gyres”—specific zones where several currents meet, but which can still be thousands of square miles.

Even though the ocean does the work of rounding up the trash for cleanup organizations like The Ocean Cleanup to then collect, it still requires a lot of time to sail back and forth from these gyres to offload plastic on land and to refuel.

Professor Nikolaos Kazantzis and Michael Timko at the Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts took a lot of inspiration and perseverance in their work of developing blue diesel from the fact that the chemical bonds of plastic and those of fossil fuels are essentially the same.

“Our research team is modeling a specialized reactor that converts harvested waste plastic using an innovative chemical process called hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL),” Kazantzis told Cambridge press last year. “This compresses the plastic at high temperature and high pressure into “blue diesel” (the name emphasizes its marine origins).”

Their work was funded by a two-year, $259k grant from the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) 2026 Idea Machine competition.

MORE GOOD CLEANING NEWS: Apple Co-Founder Steve Wozniak Launches Company to Clean Up Space Debris

Team member and fifth-year Ph.D. candidate Elizabeth Belden said that the technology would also be exceptionally useful on rivers, since they would require less fuel to navigate on, and since the overwhelming majority of plastic in the ocean enters it via major river systems.

They modeled the economics of the project based on existing datasets of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch in the Pacific Ocean, one that’s already being cleaned by several groups using large ship-mounted booms and nets.

“The project is still in the early stages,” Nikolaos says, “but it appears that economically, the HTL system is a modest additional cost relative to the clean-up vessel and boom system.”

MORE GREAT INNOVATIONS: Robots That Look Like Manta Rays Will Sink Seaweed to Ocean Floor–Will Help Absorb Carbon

“The next challenge will be to creatively structure the portfolio of the public policy responses of collecting and removing waste plastic – including the impact on marine and human health. We will have to have reliable rigorous scientific responses to inform and incentivize.”

WATCH the story from NBC News 10 Boston… 

SHARE This Radical Idea Of A Plastic Powered Plastic Clean-Up… 

“To begin, begin.” – William Wordsworth

By
Good News Network
-

Quote of the Day: “To begin, begin.” – William Wordsworth

Photo by: Glenn Carstens-Peters

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?

Born Without an Arm She Now Has a Realistic Prosthetic With Painted-on Freckles and Acrylic Nails

By
Good News Network
-
SWNS
SWNS

A student born without a left arm has a “new lease of life” thanks to her prosthetic limb with painted-on veins, freckles and acrylic nails.

Zahra Tabibniya says she felt embarrassed during her school years and wanted to hide the truth.

She tried different prosthetics–including a heavy limb made of silicone–but now she has a lightweight one that looks real and allows her to tie her laces and do her hair.

The $850 (£700) silicone prosthetic looks natural with painted-on veins, freckles, moles and acrylic nails. The 23-year-old even got a color touch-up to match her summer tan.

“Prosthetics started off as a disguise for my disability, a shield against the bullying, but it’s just a part of me now.”

“People think it’s just a cosmetic thing because it looks natural, but it actually has most of the function an actual arm has.”

Zahra is delighted to be able to carry her own luggage, check her phone and tie her laces thanks to her prosthetic arm—and says it has given her much more freedom.

LOOK: Woman Who Lost Eye As Baby Wears Glitter Eyeballs to Own Her Difference

SWNS

“So many of the ones I used to have really hindered the way I moved, especially if they were heavier,” said the pharmacy student from Iran studying at the University of Rome in Italy.

But at the age of 21, Zahra was introduced to her current doctor, Dr. Khaghani, at the Behboodteb Clinic, in Tehran.

She says he was the “first doctor in the world” to use the type of silicone prosthetic Zahra has—and she only needs to get it replaced every two years.

Zahra says it is fun to watch it being customized. Acrylic nails are attached to the hands which can be painted.

SWNS

“They’re the exact same material you get done when you go to the nail salon.

“You can get moles and freckles spray-painted on there; you can actually tattoo them as well, if you want.”

FUN: Woman Shocked to Be Reunited With Prosthetic Leg After Scuba Diver Happened to Find It the Next Day

Zahra feels like she’s gained “around 60 percent” of function in her new left arm—and can now do a number of everyday tasks with much more ease than before.

Zahra now takes time to educate people about her disability and documents the making of her prosthetic arm on TikTok.

“For a long time, I just wouldn’t tell people I was disabled,” she said. “I would tell people after a week or two. That way, they’d get to know me before judging me.

AWW, CUTE: When Prosthetic Makers Said it Couldn’t Be Done, Dentist Gives Orphaned Koala a New Foot

“But being open about it has actually given me the opportunity to educate people about my disability.

“The kids who bullied me were influenced by the adults around them, just as much as their friends.

“Kids are always going to speculate—their imaginations go wild. But parents and teachers just told them not to ask questions.

“I want people to ask questions. The more questions they ask, the more educated they become.”

BUST A STEREOTYPE By Sharing The Uniqueness on Social Media…

Bumblebees are Hitting Back at Asian Hornets With Top-Tier Combat Skills, Reveals Research

By
Good News Network
-
Asian hornets by Sandra Rojas-Nossa – University of Exeter
Asian hornets by Sandra Rojas-Nossa – University of Exeter

Bumblebees have top-tier combat skills when targeted by Asian hornets, reveals new research.

Buff-tailed bumblebees drop to the ground when hornets attack—carrying the pests down with them, according to the findings.

Hornets lose their grip as they drop, or the bee raises its sting and fights until the hornet gives up.

“Stunned” scientists at University of Exeter witnessed 120 attacks that took the same course, with the bee triumphing each time.

The invasive pests, also known as yellow-legged hornets, have already invaded large portions of mainland Europe and parts of east Asia and have for the first time been spotted in the US. Sightings in the UK and mainland Europe are at an all-time high this year—but people are fighting back, fearing for pollinators such as bees.

“With honey bees, the hornets do something called ‘hawking’—hovering outside the bees’ nest and attacking returning foragers as they fly past,” said Dr. Thomas O’Shea-Wheller at the University of Exeter.

RELATED: French Beekeeper Invents a Trap to Take on Asian Hornets Decimating Bee Populations in Europe

“(But) we recorded hornets doing the same thing to bumblebees, but with the surprising difference that in our observations, they were entirely unsuccessful.”

“Although the attacks we witnessed at colony entrances were unsuccessful, defending against such attacks is likely energetically costly,” said Dr. O-Shea-Wheller, whose team published the study in Communications Biology. “And when hornet abundance is high, this could be a major problem for bees out foraging.

“Hornets also consume nectar from flowers, meaning they compete directly with bees for food and harass them at flower patches.

The team placed commercially reared colonies of buff-tailed bumblebees, Bombus terrestris, in 12 locations across the province of Pontevedra, Spain, with varying densities of Asian hornets.

FASCINATING: Bumblebees Learn New ‘Trends’ for Their Behavior by Watching Each Other and Learning

SHARE the Positive Buzz With Bee Lovers on Social Media…

Largest Dam Removal in History Begins Restoring Salmon and California Tribal Way of Life

By
Good News Network
-
Leaping Salmon by Mid-Klamath Watershed Council
Leaping Salmon by Mid-Klamath Watershed Council

After 20 years of advocacy and legal challenges, the largest dam removal in history is returning the Klamath River in California to its natural state.

In partnership with tribal nations, the demolition of four hydroelectric dams will allow wild salmon from the Pacific to run upstream and spawn again as they haven’t done for 100 years.

This week, the Klamath River Renewal Corporation began preparing a stretch of the river to flow freely for the first time in a century.

The soon-to-be dismantled Klamath Hydroelectric Project has blocked fish passage and altered river flows in a place sacred to the Shasta Indian Nation.

In 1925, the construction of Copco No. 2 dam was completed, diverting the river, and in the absence of sustained flows, a dense stand of trees colonized the riverbed within the steep canyon. The Yurok Tribe joined the partnership to clear the alder and cottonwood trees from the river corridor, while leaving all floodplain vegetation intact.

“It fills my heart to know that salmon will migrate through this river reach on their way to spawn in the upper basin,” said Yurok Vice Chairman Frankie Myers. “For the last century, we have watched the dams suffocate the life out of the river (and) I would like to thank the KRRC and the Shasta Indian Nation for the opportunity to help our salmon runs and our river recover for our children and the next generations.”

The Klamath dam removal project broke ground in June 2023, after the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued the approval that allowed construction crews to get to work on the deconstruction of Copco No. 2 dam, due to be fully removed by the end of September. Iron Gate, JC Boyle and Copco No. 1 dams will be deconstructed next year in what is considered the largest salmon restoration project in history.

“Seeing the revitalization of this river canyon is incredible,” exclaimed Mark Bransom, CEO of the Renewal Corporation.

ALSO CHECK OUT: Chinook Salmon Introduced to Mountain Streams Not Inhabited for 100 Years

Iron Gate Dam – Credit: Michael Wier for CalTrout / Klamath River Renewal

Prior to construction of the dams, the Klamath supported one million spring and fall Chinook or king salmon as well strong populations of steelhead trout, sturgeon, Pacific lamprey and many other native fish species. This fall, it is predicted that less than 25,000 Chinook will return to the river.

But, after the dams are removed, fisheries experts expect fish numbers to gradually increase in response to renewed access to historic spawning grounds and improved ecosystem health.

The four dams had denied salmon access to hundreds of miles of historical habitat, degraded water quality, and fostered the spread of fish diseases. Scientific studies and dam removal efforts in other watersheds demonstrate that removing dams can reverse these trends.

LOOK: 13-Foot Sawfish Spotted Farther North Than Any in Decades Hints at Recovery of Species

This month’s demolition work is promising not only the return to ancestral ways of life for the various tribes on the Klamath River, but a robust increase in commercial salmon fishing because the salmon runs are less than 5% of their historical abundance.

“The Klamath salmon are coming home,” proclaimed Yurok Chairman Joseph James. “The people have earned this victory and with it, we carry on our sacred duty to the fish that have sustained our people since the beginning of time.”

SPLASH SOME GOOD NEWS on Fishing Lovers Using Social Media…

How To Love Yourself: 5 Ways to Let Go of the River Bank and Go With the Flow

By
Good News Network
-

The Lesson: Today’s Good Talk teaches 5 ways to love yourself and be in the flow of your life using the philosophy of Lao Tzu. This ancient Chinese philosopher was the founder of Taoism and author of its masterful text, the Tao Te Ching. Lao Tzu suggests that life is like the course of a river, effortlessly following its own path, embodying the natural flow of life. Being in the ‘Flow’ is about leading your life’s course with minimal resistance. It is about allowing the course of your life to unfold, whilst making conscious decisions—even while accepting it.

Notable Excerpt: “The river advances serenely, undisturbed by judgments or expectations. But if you care about what other people think, you will always be their prisoner… Because one believes in oneself, one doesn’t try to convince others.” The 5 steps discussed are the following:

  1. Embrace your natural state
  2. Let go of self-judgement
  3. Live in the present
  4. Trust the unfolding of the Tao (life’s natural order)
  5. Cultivate inner stillness

The Channel: With 1.2 million subscribers on YouTube, alone, Philosophies for Life shares “ancient wisdom for modern living”. From the Greeks to the Eastern mystics, from Existentialism to Jungian psychology, their YouTube channel provides animated textual visuals that accompany the life-changing philosophical ideas that can help people through challenges with money, relationships, depression, happiness, etc. Listen to the video in the dark or watch the visuals, depending on how you can best absorb the profound ideas.

KNOW SOMEONE Who Needs to Love Themselves? Share This on Social Media…

“The willingness to change one’s mind in light of new evidence is a sign of rationality, not weakness.” – Stuart Sutherland

By
Good News Network
-

Quote of the Day: “The willingness to change one’s mind in the light of new evidence is a sign of rationality, not weakness.” – Stuart Sutherland 

Photo by: Tim Mossholder

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?

New Oxford Malaria Vaccine is ‘Huge Advance’ to Protect Children From Deadly Killer

By
Good News Network
-
A health worker prepares the vaccine at a Tanzanian clinical testing site - credit Tom Wilkinson - University of Oxford
A health worker prepares the vaccine at a Tanzanian clinical testing site – credit Tom Wilkinson – University of Oxford

A new vaccine from Oxford, called R21, has been shown to be not only effective for the prevention of malaria in children, but also easier to make with a lower price tag—so will help protect a greater number of African countries.

The World Health Organization (WHO) officially recommended the R21/Matrix-M vaccine this week—the second malaria vaccine in two years, following the RTS,S/AS01 vaccine, which received a WHO recommendation in 2021.

Both vaccines are shown to be safe and effective in preventing malaria in children, the deadly disease that killed 619,000 people in 2021 alone.

When implemented broadly, the treatments are expected to have a major public health impact against the mosquito-borne disease, particularly in the African Region.

Demand for the malaria vaccines is high, but, available supply of RTS,S is limited. The addition of R21 will boost supply that could benefit all children living in these areas.

“As a malaria researcher, I used to dream of the day we would have a safe and effective vaccine against malaria. Now we have two,” said Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General. “Demand for the RTS,S vaccine far exceeds supply, so this second vaccine is a vital additional tool to protect more children faster, and to bring us closer to our vision of a malaria-free future.”

The WHO Regional Director for Africa says the second vaccine holds real potential to close the supply gap for hundreds of thousands of young lives in Africa.

The ongoing R21 vaccine clinical trial and other studies showed:

  • High efficacy when given just before the high transmission season: In areas with highly seasonal malaria transmission (contained to 4-5 months per year), the R21 vaccine was shown to reduce symptomatic cases of malaria by 75% during the 12 months following a 3-dose series.
  • A fourth dose given a year after the third maintained the vaccine’s efficacy. This high efficacy is similar to that demonstrated when RTS,S is given seasonally.
  • Good efficacy when given in an age-based schedule: The vaccine showed good efficacy (66%) during the 12 months following the first 3 doses. A fourth dose one year after the third maintained efficacy.
  • Cost effectiveness: R21 costs just $2-4 per dose, compared to RTS,S, sold under the name of Mosquirix by London pharmaceutical company GSK, which costs around $9.80 per dose, according to Nature.
  • Safety: The R21 vaccine was shown to be safe in clinical trials; and safety monitoring will continue.

RELATED: Breakthrough For Kenyan Scientists Who Discover Natural Microbe That Completely Stops Malaria in Mosquitoes

The two WHO-recommended vaccines have not been tested in a head-to-head trial to compare performance, so the choice of product to be used in each country will be based on programmatic characteristics, vaccine supply, and affordability

At least 28 African countries plan to introduce one of the malaria vaccines as part of their national immunization programs—with the Vaccine Alliance Gavi providing technical and financial support to this effort in 18 countries. The RTS,S vaccine will be rolled out in some African countries in early 2024, with R21 becoming available to countries in the middle of next year.

MORE GOOD HEALTH NEWS: After Taking Vitamin B2 Baby Becomes Solitary Case of Recovery from Rare Genetic Disease

MULTIPLY The GREAT News For Africa By Sharing on Social Media…

Dad’s Love Letter to a Small Town Public Library

By
Good News Network
-

A Massachusetts man wrote a love letter that was published in his local newspaper, the Salem Evening News, in late August—but it wasn’t your normal love letter.

As a stay-at-home Dad to two young children, Sean Devlin soon learned that the historical downtown library (which opened in 1913) had a fantastic children’s program.

“I personally never used a public library as a child or as a young adult,” he told GNN. “So this is where the love letter starts—describing our wonderful experiences going there hundreds of times—even to this day…”

The letter in full: It was a beautiful late August morning with a hint of fall in the air. I sat on a black, metal bench at the Beverly Commons across the street from the Beverly Public Library. With my notebook in hand I began writing my love letter to the library. It was long overdue.

We had dropped off our daughter, Natasha, at college yesterday and our son, Rory, recently graduated college last May. They both do really well academically. They deserve most of the credit, but some must go to the Beverly Public Library and of course their parents who brought them there.

When they were just babies, Rory and Natasha would crawl around the Children’s Room at the library. Soon enough the wooden train whistle would blow and they were lining up to go to Story Hour and to make crafts in the craft room. They both would take out big stacks of book to bring back home.

My wife, Michele, would read to them every night. There were books everywhere. By now the librarians were like family and the library itself was a home away from home. We were even going to retirement goodbyes and memorial services, one being for our dear friend and children’s librarian, Nancy Bonne.

Beverly Public Library via their Facebook Page

Eventually, Natasha and Rory started volunteering at the library and participated in fundraising events for the new Bookmobile and they also helped with the library book sale. The Election Day book sale was always fun with books and people everywhere and all the excitement of the election.

We even went on a library tour in the North End with the author, Stephen Puleo, who had written about the great molasses explosion of 1919.

POPULAR: 8-Year-old Slips His Handwritten Book Onto a Library Shelf—And It Now Has a Years-Long Waitlist

When Rory and Natasha entered high school they both got jobs at the Children’s Library. They were now the ones checking out books and preparing the crafts, working with the same librarians who had once read to them during Story Hour. Their library job helped them save for college. Luckily, they both got jobs at their college libraries. So not only did their library experience help them get into college, but it also helped them pay for it.

So this is my love letter to the Beverly Public Library and all their staff both living and dead. I finished writing, clicked my pen and placed my notebook back in my bag. When I stood up from the bench a young mother and her child walked by. The child looked up to me and said. “I’m going to the library.”

Sean Devlin,
Beverly, Massachusetts

LIKE TO COLOR? Download Free Coloring Books From 100 Museums, Libraries, and Iconic Collections

Sean told us later that the reaction from the librarians and staff to the love letter was “wonderful”.

“They were so appreciative—even the custodian thanked me. One librarian cried.”

SPREAD THE LIBRARY LOVE to Friends and Strangers On Social Media…

Must See: 16th Century Turkish Baths Reopening in Istanbul as Part-Antique Spa, Part-Museum

By
Good News Network
-
Cinili Hammam Turkish bath men's hot room by Ibrahim Ozbunar
Cinili Hammam Turkish bath men’s hot room by Ibrahim Ozbunar

Reprinted with permission from World at Large, an independent news outlet covering conflict, travel, science, conservation, and health and fitness.

Following an extraordinary 13-year restoration project, a historic bath in Istanbul reopened after centuries of neglect. From a “nothing” state of moldy plastered walls and general abandonment, one of the most princely health and wellness centers in the Ottoman Empire has been restored to glories past.

The Zeyrek Çinili Hamam will feature antique and contemporary bathing and spa facilities, a private garden, and a museum to showcase the fascinating history of the baths and others like it.

Located in the UNESCO-listed Zeyrek District of Istanbul, the first step on the baths’ long road to restoration was a new series of archaeological digs starting in 2011 that unearthed the oldest foundations of the building, including Roman artifacts and the original cisterns built by the Byzantines which fed hot water into the baths and surrounding neighborhoods. These cisterns are the site of a new contemporary art exhibit called Healing Ruins which has opened in advance of the spa facilities.

The name of the baths, “Çinili” means tiled, and estimates based on the excavations at the site and surveys of private collections suggest that 10,000 iznik tiles, mostly in blue and white and in 37 different designs, lined the walls of the baths which once (and will again) included separate facilities for men and women and hot and cold rooms.

It was one of the earliest examples of a public space with such an elaborate tiled design, usually the preserve of royal palaces.

16th-century builder Mimar Sinan was commissioned by a royal admiral to build the baths, although they’re not often spoken of in the same glowing tone as the Selimiye Mosque or the Stari Most Bridge. He is considered the greatest architect of the Ottoman Empire and built bridges, mosques, koranic schools, and mausoleums across the whole Near East, stretching as far away as Bosnia. Many proclaim him the equal of Michelangelo.

Interior Turkish bath women’s cold room in Cinili Hammam – by Ibrahim Ozbunar

He also built 48 public and private bathhouses, or hammams, in his time, several of which also exist in Istanbul, including the Haseki Baths near the Hagia Sophia Mosque, which also were neglected after the fall of the Ottoman Empire, and also restored in the 21st century by a hospitality group.

LOOK: Dutch 27-Year-Old Finds 1000-Year-Old Medieval Treasure Using Metal Detector

The Marmara Group, a Turkish hospitality corporation, oversaw the whole project for the Zeyrek Çinili Hamam, and enlisted architecture and design teams to reimagine the tiled interior with 3,000 original tiles and fragments that were discovered during the excavations.

A dip into the past

Press materials released of the domed ceilings in the hot and cold rooms display a truly stunning backdrop to communal bathing. In places where it could be done, the walls’ original and beautiful 18th and 19th-century paintings which once covered the hammam’s walls, but were hidden under layers of plaster for over two centuries, have been left exposed. In places where they were too ruined they have been covered over by new material.

The result is a moving reminder of the antiquity of the place.

Near at hand to the baths will be a museum dedicated to hammam culture and tradition across Turkiye and the wider world of the Ottoman Empire. Collections of intricately carved and quite obtuse wooden sandals worn by wealthy bathers, along with towels and robes, bowls, and fantastical shoes (see below). The grooming implements are on display together with an exhibit dedicated to the tiles that would have covered the walls and floors in the baths’ heyday.

WOW: Dad is Pleasantly Surprised That His Toothbrush Holder is Actually 4,000-Year-old Relic

Two pair of the ceremonial shoes on display, along with bowls, in museum.

In addition, the museum provides an insight into the baths’ ingenious water and heating system. Visitors can explore the underground Byzantine cisterns where mysterious naval carvings have been discovered on the walls. In the future, the cisterns will host a rotating program of site-specific art installations.

CHECK OUT: Amateur Treasure Hunter Unearths Missing Centerpiece of Henry VIII’s Crown — And It’s Worth Millions

Before resuming its original function as public baths, Zeyrek Çinili Hamam in Istanbul presents the contemporary art exhibition Healing Ruins. This one-off exhibition to mark the hammam’s opening takes place throughout the historic 16th-century baths and newly uncovered Byzantine cisterns.

Healing Ruins explores the possibilities for transformation at both an individual and societal level. The title purposefully carries multiple meanings, suggesting not only that ruins are inherently healing, but that the act of repairing ruins might have a transformative effect on us.

“The show is all about the discovered layers of this place,” Koza Gureli Yazgan of the Marmara Group tells the Art Newspaper. “No one knew it was there, and now it will be a contemporary space.”

SEND THIS BEAUTY (And the SHOES) to Wash Over Friends on Social Media…

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

By
Good News Network
-

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 October 7, 2023
Copyright by Rob Brezsny, FreeWillAstrology.com

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22):
Take a few deep, slow breaths. Let your mind be a blue sky where a few high clouds float. Hum your favorite melody. Relax as if you have all the time in the world to be whoever you want to be. Fantasize that you have slipped into a phase of your cycle when you are free to act as calm and unhurried as you like. Imagine you have access to resources in your secret core that will make you stable and solid and secure. Now read this Mary Oliver poem aloud: “You do not have to be good. You do not have to walk on your knees for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting. You only have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves.”

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21):
An Oklahoma woman named Mary Clamswer used a wheelchair from age 19 to 42 because multiple sclerosis made it hard to use her legs. Then a miracle happened. During a thunderstorm, she was hit by lightning. The blast not only didn’t kill her; it cured the multiple sclerosis. Over the subsequent months, she recovered her ability to walk. Now I’m not saying I hope you will be hit by a literal bolt of healing lightning, Scorpio, nor do I predict any such thing. But I suspect a comparable event or situation that may initially seem unsettling could ultimately bring you blessings.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21):
What are your favorite mind-altering substances? Coffee, tea, chocolate, sugar, or tobacco? Alcohol, pot, or opioids? Psilocybin, ayahuasca, or MDMA? Others? All the above? Whatever they are, the coming weeks will be a favorable time to re-evaluate your relationship with them. Consider whether they are sometimes more hurtful than helpful, or vice versa; and whether the original reasons that led you to them are still true; and how your connection with them affects your close relationships. Ask other questions, too! PS: I don’t know what the answers are. My goal is simply to inspire you to take an inventory.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19):
In his book Meditations for Miserable People Who Want to Stay That Way, Dan Goodman says, “It’s not that I have nothing to give, but rather that no one wants what I have.” If you have ever been tempted to entertain dour fantasies like that, I predict you will be purged of them in the coming weeks and months. Maybe more than ever before, your influence will be sought by others. Your viewpoints will be asked for. Your gifts will be desired, and your input will be invited. I trust you won’t feel overwhelmed!

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18):
William James (1842–1910) was a paragon of reason and logic. So influential were his books about philosophy and psychology that he is regarded as a leading thinker of the 19th and 20th centuries. On the other hand, he was eager to explore the possibilities of supernatural phenomena like telepathy. He even consulted a trance medium named Leonora Piper. James said, “If you wish to upset the law that all crows are black, it is enough if you prove that one crow is white. My white crow is Mrs. Piper.” I bring this to your attention, Aquarius, because I suspect you will soon discover a white crow of your own. As a result, long-standing beliefs may come into question; a certainty could become ambiguous; an incontrovertible truth may be shaken. This is a good thing!

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20):
If we hope to cure our wounds, we must cultivate a focused desire to be healed. A second essential is to be ingenious in gathering the resources we need to get healed. Here’s the third requirement: We must be bold and brave enough to scramble up out of our sense of defeat as we claim our right to be vigorous and whole again. I wish all these powers for you in the coming weeks.

ARIES (March 21-April 19):
I’ve been doing interviews in support of my new book Astrology Is Real: Revelations from My Life as an Oracle. Now and then, I’m asked this question: “Do you actually believe all that mystical woo-woo you write about?” I respond diplomatically, though inwardly I’m screaming, “How profoundly hypocritical I would be if I did not believe in the ‘mystical woo-woo’ I have spent my adult studying and teaching!” But here’s my polite answer: I love and revere the venerable spiritual philosophies that some demean as “mystical woo-woo.” I see it as my job to translate those subtle ideas into well-grounded, practical suggestions that my readers can use to enhance their lives. Everything I just said is the prelude for your assignment, Aries: Work with extra focus to actuate your high ideals and deep values in the ordinary events of your daily life. As the American idioms advise: Walk your talk and practice what you preach.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20):
I’m happy to see the expanding use of service animals. Initially, there were guide dogs to assist humans with imperfect vision. Later, there came mobility animals for those who need aid in moving around and hearing animals for those who can’t detect ringing doorbells. In recent years, emotional support animals have provided comfort for people who benefit from mental health assistance. I foresee a future in which all of us feel free and eager to call on the nurturing of companion animals. You may already have such friends, Taurus. If so, I urge you to express extra appreciation for them in the coming weeks. Ripen your relationship. And if not, now is an excellent time to explore the boost you can get from loving animals.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20):
Gemini author Chuck Klosterman jokes, “I eat sugared cereal almost exclusively. This is because I’m the opposite of a ‘no-nonsense’ guy. I’m an ‘all-nonsense’ guy.” The coming weeks will be a constructive and liberating time for you to experiment with being an all-nonsense person, dear Gemini. How? Start by temporarily suspending any deep attachment you have to being a serious, hyper-rational adult doing staid, weighty adult things. Be mischievously committed to playing a lot and having maximum fun. Ice cream uproars! Renegade fantasies! Laughter fits! Joke romps! Giddy brainstorms and euphoric heartstorms!

CANCER (June 21-July 22):
Cancerian comedian Gilda Radner said, “I base most of my fashion taste on what doesn’t itch.” Let’s use that as a prime metaphor for you in the coming weeks. According to my reading of the astrological omens, you will be wise to opt for what feels good over what merely looks good. You will make the right choices if you are committed to loving yourself more than trying to figure out how to get others to love you. Celebrate highly functional beauty, dear Cancerian. Exult in the clear intuitions that arise as you circumvent self-consciousness and revel in festive self-love.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22):
The amazingly creative Leo singer-songwriter Tori Amos gives this testimony: “All creators go through a period where they’re dry and don’t know how to get back to the creative source. Where is that waterfall? At a certain point, you say, ‘I’ll take a rivulet.’” Her testimony is true for all of us in our quest to find what we want and need. Of course, we would prefer to have permanent, unwavering access to the waterfall. But that’s not realistic. Besides, sometimes the rivulet is sufficient. And if we follow the rivulet, it may eventually lead to the waterfall.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22):
Do you perform experiments on yourself? I do on myself. I formulate hypotheses about what might be healthy for me, then carry out tests to gather evidence about whether they are. A recent one was: Do I feel my best if I eat five small meals per day or three bigger ones? Another: Is my sleep most rejuvenating if I go to bed at 10 pm and wake up at 7 am or if I sleep from midnight to 9 am? I recommend you engage in such experiments in the coming weeks. Your body has many clues and revelations it wants to offer you.

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)

SHARE The Wisdom With Friends Who Are Stars in Your Life on Social Media…

“Love in the real world means saying you’re sorry 10 times a day.” – Kathie Lee Gifford

By
Good News Network
-

Quote of the Day: “Love in the real world means saying you’re sorry 10 times a day.” – Kathie Lee Gifford

Photo by: Allef Vinicius

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?

The 30 Best Things to Come Out of Canada Include Insulin, Peanut Butter–and Ryan Reynolds

By
Andy Corbley
-

A poll of 2,000 adults found many are unaware of the innovations and famous faces that have emanated from America’s northern neighbor.

The pacemaker, alkaline batteries, and the more obvious maple syrup are among the top inventions from Canada, along with the walkie-talkie and again unsurprisingly, the snowmobile and the snowblower.

Favorite celebrity exports include Keanu Reeves, Bryan Adams, and Celine Dion.

48% of those 2,000 Americans wrongly believe Canadian-born Jim Carrey is from America, and a similar percentage think the same about Pamela Anderson.

And the confusion doesn’t stop at famous faces, as more than a fifth thought Toronto was the capital of Canada—when it’s in fact Ottawa.

The study was commissioned by Canadian airline, Air Transat, which in response to the findings, created an American or Canadian quiz testing people’s knowledge when it comes to famous faces.

“[W]e’ve loved seeing what the nation considers ‘the best of’ and it’s been especially interesting to see the celebs and inventions we assume are American,” said Sonia Kurek, the brand’s UK commercial director.

It also emerged its natural beauty was voted the best thing Canada had to offer by 62%, and 76% agree its scenery is ‘world leading’.

Wildlife (42%), the friendly people (23%), and the variety of outdoor activities on offer (26%) also featured high on the voted list. However, just 26% said they would plan an outdoorsy escape during a Canadian vacation.

While more than three-quarters knew that Niagara Falls was an iconic Canadian spot, just 29% could name Alberta’s Banff National Park and only 12% knew of the Cabot Trail.

The poll included the top things as the best exports of Canada, in no particular order.

TOP 30 CANADIAN THINGS:

1. Insulin
2. The pacemaker
3. Maple syrup
4. Peanut butter
5. Alkaline batteries
6. Keanu Reeves
7. Ryan Reynolds
8. Bryan Adams
9. Celine Dion
10. The walkie-talkie
11. The snowmobile
12. Jim Carrey
13. Shania Twain
14. Michael J Fox
15. Hawaiian pizza
16. William Shatner
17. Ryan Gosling
18. Hockey
19. Tim Hortons
20. Justin Bieber
21. The snowblower
22. The Java programming language
23. Leonard Cohen
24. Drake
25. Alanis Morrissette
26. Avril Lavigne
27. Basketball
28. Kiefer Sutherland
29. Poutine
30. Justin Trudeau

SURPRISE Your Friends Who Think Canada Is America’s Hat… 

 

Hero Surfer Rescues Stranded Deer in Ocean – Photographer Captures Moment

By
Andy Corbley
-
Credit Adrienne Tully via News 12 NJ - fair use
Credit Adrienne Tully via News 12 NJ – fair use

Rough seas are no place for the uninitiated, and it couldn’t get more uninitiated than a pair of hooves.

From New Jersey comes the story of a Good Samaritan rescuing a deer that had somehow found itself battling the surf off the coast of Belmar.

Adrienne Tully was on the scene taking pictures with a nice camera which she had just picked up again. An amateur photographer, Tully had gone there to snap some shots of the sunset, but spotted the deer attempting to make its way onto a jetty.

At first, she told News 12, she thought it was a bird—and left it at that, but later she spotted a crowd of onlookers coalescing around the sea at 15th Avenue, pointing at the same jetty she had seen the bird on.

That’s when she realized it was a buck, not a bird.

“He was swimming through the ocean and then he decided a couple of times to climb on the jetty and then he went back in the water, and we were a little worried,” said Tully.

After taking a few pictures, the crowd cheered when it saw a friendly surfer pass by and coax the animal out of the confusing, eddying water and toward the shore.

JUST LIKE THIS BUT AUSTRALIA: Rookie Lifeguard Faced With Saving a Kangaroo From Rough Surf in Her First Ever Rescue

“There was a nice surfer, I don’t know his name, but he eventually tried to guide the deer out. The deer came out and then just ran north on the beach, you know, far away from any people and I’m sure he’s fine,” said Tully.

Other surfers said the water was pretty turbulent, and they doubted whether the buck could have made it alone, but unanimously admitted they didn’t know the surfer that rescued it.

News 12 New Jersey is still seeking the identity of the Good Samaritan.

WATCH the story below from News 12… 

BUCK UP Your Down Friends With A Nice Story Of Kindness To Animals…

Heavy-Lift Drone Can Haul 220-Pounds of Cargo for Delivery, Aid, or Construction Companies

By
Andy Corbley
-
credit - FlyingBasket
credit – FlyingBasket

A heavy-lifting drone is now on sale in Europe that can haul loads in excess of 200 pounds.

Called the FB3, it’s the first heavy-lifting drone with this level of versatility the market has seen, and the company envisions it as an irreplaceable asset for delivery and logistics companies, forestry and logging, and disaster relief.

Imagine 220 pounds, or 100 kilograms of food, aid, medicine, or disaster shelter, being able to be carried into remote locations quickly, without the need for a large landing area, and without any risk to the pilot or an expensive helicopter.

The FB3 is made by FlyingBasket, which wrote that “the journey with the FB3 drone has been marked by extensive testing and collaboration with customers across various industries, enabling them to tailor its capabilities to meet specific and relevant needs.”

The FB3’s outstanding heavy cargo transport and lifting capability has been rigorously demonstrated in a wide range of environments, including forests, wind parks, and urban settings. It can carry 70 kg, or around 147 pounds in its cargo hold, or 100 kg, around 220 pounds, in a basket or sling suspended from a hook on the drone’s undercarriage.

“The FB3 commercial availability is another milestone in the roadmap of FlyingBasket, who continuously commit to innovation, safety, and excellence within the drone industry. It represents a significant leap forward in cargo transportation possibilities,” states Moritz Moroder, the CEO of FlyingBasket.

“We are excited about the potential it holds for various industries.”

Among those possibilities, FlyingBasket sees their drone as a great option for telecom companies who need to do repairs or installations on towers in cities or remote locations, and renewable energy companies needing to complete repairs on wind turbines. The same applies to construction firms needing to carry materials up to the top of buildings.

Before you get any idea of dropping 200 pounds of flour onto your friend’s lawn as a prank, the drone will run you about $76,500 which includes a sophisticated control console as well as a remote controller, replacement batteries, and cargo attachments.

WATCH the drone in action below…

SHARE This Awesome Advance In Aid And Industry With Your Friends… 

Little Known Ancient Site in Ohio Crowned by UNESCO–for Incredible Alignment with Moon and Sun

By
Andy Corbley
-
'Mound City' is one of 8 earthwork sites in the Hopewell Culture NHP - © NPS
‘Mound City’ is one of 8 earthwork sites in the Hopewell Culture NHP – © NPS

In the rustbelt state of Ohio, famous for being the epicenter of so much great American music, a little-known collection of earthen mounds has made national headlines for their historic testament to their maker’s deep wisdom.

The Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks recently became the 25th property from the United States to have the honor of a place on the UNESCO World Heritage List, a selection of buildings, locations, cities, and landscapes that tell a significant part of the story of humanity.

Built between 2,000 and 1,600 years ago, they are described as “complex masterpieces of landscape architecture and are exceptional among ancient monuments worldwide in their enormous scale, geometric precision, and astronomical alignments.”

“The huge squares, circles, and octagons, which are geometrically precise and align perfectly with the cycles of the sun and moon, were built by dispersed communities of American Indians who periodically gathered at these special places to worship and stay connected to one another,” reads an explainer on Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks’ official website.

It took a decade of advocacy from groups like Ohio History Connection and the Department of the Interior to get a nomination to the UNESCO pending list in 2022.

Of the site’s truly interesting features is its collection of Native American artifacts that have origins from all over the North American continent, including seashells from the Gulf of Mexico, shark teeth from the mid-Atlantic, obsidian from the Pacific Northwest, and silver and copper from modern-day Canada.

MORE NORTH AMERICAN HISTORY: 300 Epic Ancient Murals ‘Unique in the World’ Depict Creation Myths on Texas Rock: ‘Oldest Books in North America’

The mounds would have been the site of ritual and gathering, but the people who lived there were very different from the North American mound builders of Cahokia, who had a stratified hierarchical society that included a ruler and caste of nobles.

At Hopewell, even those interred with obvious honorific funeral rights seemed to wear the same clothes, eat the same food, and do just as much labor as everyone else. Their ceremonies at the mounds, perfectly aligned to movements of the sun, and even more complex movements of the moon, carried on for hundreds of years until about 400 CE when the mounds remained, but the ceremonies stopped.

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE: 60% of Ecuadorians Vote Against Continued Oil Drilling in Critical Amazon Biosphere

Over the next 200 years, trees began to grow overtop the mounds, and a greater focus on subsistence meant that by 650 CE, people began building in or over top of them, and their significance and perhaps secrets were lost.

Now on the UNESCO World Heritage List, it joins ancient properties like Stonehenge, the Lascaux cave paintings, and Olmec sites that have revealed the most about our most ancient organized societies.

WATCH an explainer and celebration video below…

SHARE This Incredible Heritage Site on Social Media to Surprise Your Friends…

“With the new day comes new strength and new thoughts.” – Eleanor Roosevelt

By
Good News Network
-

Quote of the Day: “With the new day comes new strength and new thoughts.” – Eleanor Roosevelt

Photo by: Bruno Aguirre

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?

24 Prison Inmates Get College Degrees, Graduate Together Thanks to UC Program: ‘I literally feel free’

By
Andy Corbley
-
credit - ABC 7, Fair Use
credit – ABC 7, Fair Use

In California, prison inmates are preparing to make their second chance count by studying towards a college degree while incarcerated.

Yesterday, 24 inmates in caps and gowns at the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego graduated with associates degrees in sociology and liberal arts before a ceremony honoring their commitments.

The degrees were provided and issued by Southwestern College via the Restorative Justice Program of California state, which allows prisoners to study face-to-face with teachers while incarcerated.

So far the program has helped over 1,500 people better their chances for a successful societal re-entry by increasing their employability, skill sets, and knowledge.

“I never had the dreams or aspirations to even think about higher education so it’s truly an honor to be able to pursue education and find purpose and meaning for my life despite my environment,” program graduate Derek Adams told NBC 7. Adams is serving a life sentence with the possibility of parole.

“I literally feel free through the pursuit of my education already, so that’s why the concept of a life sentence doesn’t really apply anymore,” he added.

ANOTHER PROGRAM LIKE THIS: First-of-its-Kind Commencement Inside Prison Celebrates 25 Inmates That Earned Bachelor’s Degrees Behind Bars

“Being system-impacted myself, I understand first-hand the importance of the Restorative Justice Program and its power to truly shape the lives of incarcerated individuals seeking to better themselves,” said Raquel Funches, interim director of restorative justice, who added that almost all 24 graduates are transferring to four-year degree programs for the University of California Irvine.

OTHER GOOD SECOND CHANCE STORIES: Georgia State University Hails First Class of Inmate Graduates: ‘A degree to utilize when they come home’

“While incarcerated at RJ Donovan, these students now have the amazing opportunity to transfer to UC Irvine’s Leveraging Inspiring Futures Through Educational Degrees program, the first in-prison BA-degree completion program in the University of California system.”

NBC 7 reports that prisoners re-entering society are 48% less likely to return to prison over a three-year period.

WATCH the story below from NBC 7… 

1...251252253...1,721Page 252 of 1,721
© Copyright 1997–2026 GNN, LLC