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German Shepherd Becomes a Surrogate Dad to Abandoned Ducklings

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(SWNS)
(SWNS)

A German Shepherd has taken a clutch of abandoned ducklings under his wing and become their ‘very protective’ surrogate dad.

The dog named Ben recently had a BFF relationship with an adult duck that flew away unexpectedly, so perhaps he sensed that the newly-hatched ducklings were related.

Ben and the fledgling brood bonded immediately and now he spends most of his days watching over them as they sleep, eat, play, or have a bath.

He even barks at the family tabby cat if it dares get too close to his fluffy little family.

Julie McGuire lives in Motueka, New Zealand where the ducklings were found abandoned in a stream by orchard workers who watched for eight hours but the mother duck never returned.

So the 35-year-old woman agreed to care for them in her home until they could survive outdoors on their own.

Julie says their dog Ben is “extremely curious” and immediately wanted to know what was going on in the room where the newborns were being fed and napping in a cage.

“He’s very protective. He watches over them and makes sure the cat doesn’t get too close.”

“They deserve the best life and I am just happy we could help some of them survive, and Ben has had fun with them growing up.”

Now that their bigger, Julie lets the ducklings roam free on her property.

“If they decide to fly away. I’m happy with that,” she says.

We can’t believe the same about Ben.

PRETTY FUNNY: Dog Learns the Hard Way Not to Mess With Porcupines–or Disagree With Dad on Car Ride to Vet (WATCH)

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Geothermal Power is Finally a Reality After Next-Generation Breakthrough of Carbon-Free Energy in Nevada

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Fervo Energy
Fervo Energy

A commercial pilot project confirmed a record production of geothermal energy in northern Nevada this week.

Fervo Energy announced it had successfully completed the well test at its full-scale commercial pilot, ‘Project Red’, accelerating the deployment of next-generation geothermal power.

The successful well test confirms the commercial viability of Fervo’s drilling technology and establishes Project Red as the most productive enhanced geothermal system in history.

The 30-day well test, a standard for geothermal, achieved a flowrate of 63 liters per second at high temperature that enables 3.5 MW of electric production, setting new records for both flow and power output from an enhanced geothermal system.

Fervo is the first company to successfully drill a horizontal well into thermal reservoirs of heat to produce commercial geothermal energy, thus “reducing drilling risks”.

“By applying drilling technology from the oil and gas industry, we have proven that we can produce 24/7 carbon-free energy resources in new geographies across the world,” said Tim Latimer, Fervo Energy CEO and Co-Founder.

ALSO CHECK OUT: Researchers Successfully Turn Abandoned Oil Well into Giant Geothermal Battery

“The incredible results are the product of many years of dedicated work and commitment from Fervo employees and industry partners, especially Google.”

In 2021, Fervo and Google signed an agreement to develop the next-gen plant with the goal of powering Google’s Cloud servers in Las Vegas with an “always-on,” carbon-free resource that will reduce the company’s hourly reliance on fossil fuels.

According to a company statement, Fervo achieved lateral lengths of 3,250 feet, reaching a temperature of 191 °C.

Fervo implemented an induced seismicity mitigation protocol following best practices established by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and completed the project without incident. Data collected through the course of this pilot will enable rapid advancement in geothermal deployment, with Fervo’s next horizontal well pair planned to achieve more than double the power output of the pilot design.

Google’s Senior Director for Energy and Climate, Michael Terrell, said, “Achieving our goal of operating on 24/7 carbon-free energy will require new sources of firm, clean power to complement variable renewables like wind and solar.”

Fervo says their results show that geothermal energy could supply over 20% of U.S. power needs and compliment wind and solar to achieve a fully decarbonized grid. “With Fervo’s breakthrough, no technological barriers to geothermal deployment remain.”

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Jesse Jenkins, leader of the Zero-carbon Energy systems Research and Optimization (ZERO) lab at Princeton University, said, “Fervo’s successful commercial pilot takes next-generation geothermal technology from the realm of models into the real world and starts us on a path to unlock geothermal’s full potential.”

United Downs Geothermal Well in the UK

Currently used in 26 countries, geothermal technology produces electricity by pumping cold water underground, where it is heated up by the Earth’s temperature, and brought back to the surface without emitting carbon or other harmful pollutants.

RELATED: UK Debuts Geothermal Plant Using Heat From the Earth to Power 10,000 Homes

This summer, Fervo broke ground on its first greenfield development in southwest Utah, adjacent to the DOE’s Frontier Observatory for Research in Geothermal Energy (FORGE). Revenue and learnings from Fervo’s Utah project will go toward the development of other projects in new geographies.

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

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Our partner Rob Brezsny 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 July 29, 2023
Copyright by Rob Brezsny, FreeWillAstrology.com

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22):
There are two kinds of holidays: those created by humans and those arising from the relationship between the sun and earth. In the former category are various independence days: July 4 in the US, July 1 in Canada, July 14 in France, and June 2 in Italy. Japan observes Foundation Day on February 11. Among the second kind of holiday is Lammas on August 1, a pagan festival that in the Northern Hemisphere marks the halfway point between the summer solstice and autumn equinox. In pre-industrial cultures, Lammas celebrated the grain harvest and featured outpourings of gratitude for the crops that provide essential food. Modern revelers give thanks for not only the grain, but all the nourishing bounties provided by the sun’s and earth’s collaborations. I believe you Leos are smart to make Lammas one of your main holidays. What’s ready to be harvested in your world. What are your prime sources of gratitude?

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22):
For many of us, a disposal company regularly comes to our homes to haul away the garbage we have generated. Wouldn’t it be great if there was also a reliable service that purged our minds and hearts of the psychic gunk that naturally accumulates? Psychotherapists provide this blessing for some of us, and I know people who derive similar benefits from spiritual rituals. Getting drunk or intoxicated may work, too, although those states often generate their own dreck. With these thoughts in mind, Virgo, meditate on how you might cleanse your soul with a steady, ennobling practice. Now is an excellent time to establish or deepen this tradition.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22):
I’m wondering if there is a beloved person to whom you could say these words by Rumi: “You are the sky my spirit circles in, the love inside love, the resurrection-place.” If you have no such an ally, Libra, the coming months will be a favorable time to attract them into your life. If there is such a companion, I hope you will share Rumi’s lyrics with them, then go further. Say the words Leonard Cohen spoke: “When I’m with you, I want to be the kind of hero I wanted to be when I was seven years old.”

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21):
Your theme for the coming weeks is “pleasurable gooseflesh.” I expect and hope you’ll experience it in abundance. You need it and deserve it! Editor Corrie Evanoff describes “pleasurable gooseflesh” as “the primal response we experience when something suddenly violates our expectations in a good way.” It can also be called “frisson”—a French word meaning “a sudden feeling or sensation of excitement, emotion, or thrill.” One way this joy may occur is when we listen to a playlist of songs sequenced in unpredictable ways—say Mozart followed by Johnny Cash, then Edit Piaf, Led Zeppelin, Blondie, Queen, Luciano Pavarotti, and Yellow Magic Orchestra. Here’s your homework: Imagine three ways you can stimulate pleasurable gooseflesh and frisson, then go out and make them happen.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21):
“Fire rests by changing,” wrote ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus. In accordance with astrological omens, I ask you to meditate on that riddle. Here are some preliminary thoughts: The flames rising from a burning substance are always moving, always active, never the same shape. Yet they comprise the same fire. As long as they keep shifting and dancing, they are alive and vital. If they stop changing, they die out and disappear. The fire needs to keep changing to thrive! Dear Sagittarius, here’s your assignment: Be like the fire; rest by changing.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19):
There’s ample scientific evidence that smelling cucumbers can diminish feelings of claustrophobia. For example, some people become anxious when they are crammed inside a narrow metal tube to get an MRI. But numerous imaging facilities have reduced that discomfort with the help of cucumber oil applied to cotton pads and brought into proximity to patients’ noses. I would love it if there were also natural ways to help you break free of any and all claustrophobic situations, Capricorn. The coming weeks will be a favorable time to hone and practice the arts of liberation.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18):
“Silent gratitude isn’t very much use to anyone,” said Aquarian author Gertrude B. Stein. She was often quirky and even downright weird, but as you can see, she also had a heartful attitude about her alliances. Stein delivered another pithy quote that revealed her tender approach to relationships. She said that love requires a skillful audacity about sharing one’s inner world. I hope you will put these two gems of advice at the center of your attention, Aquarius. You are ready for a strong, sustained dose of deeply expressive interpersonal action.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20):
According to the International Center for Academic Integrity, 95 percent of high school students acknowledge they have participated in academic cheating. We can conclude that just one of 20 students have never cheated—a percentage that probably matches how many non-cheaters there are in every area of life. I mention this because I believe it’s a favorable time to atone for any deceptions you have engaged in, whether in school or elsewhere. I’m not necessarily urging you to confess, but I encourage you to make amends and corrections to the extent you can. Also: Have a long talk with yourself about what you can learn from your past cons and swindles.

ARIES (March 21-April 19):
You are about to read a thunderbolt of sublime prophecies. It’s guaranteed to nurture the genius in your soul’s underground cave. Are you ready? 1. Your higher self will prod you to compose a bold prayer in which you ask for stuff you thought you weren’t supposed to ask for. 2. Your higher self will know what to do to enhance your love life by at least 20 percent, possibly more. 3. Your higher self will give you extra access to creativity and imaginative powers, enabling you to make two practical improvements in your life.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20):
John Kilcullen began publishing books with “for Dummies” in the title: for example, Time Management for Dummies, Personal Finance for Dummies, and my favorite, Stress Management for Dummies. There are now over 300 books in this series. They aren’t truly for stupid people, of course. They’re designed to be robust introductions to interesting and useful subjects. I invite you to emulate John Kilcullen’s mindset, Taurus. Be innocent, curious, and eager to learn. Adopt a beginner’s mind that’s receptive to being educated and influenced.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20):
“I could be converted to a religion of grass,” says Indigenous author Louise Erdrich in her book Heart of the Land. “Sink deep roots. Conserve water. Respect and nourish your neighbors. Such are the tenets. As for practice—grow lush in order to be devoured or caressed, stiffen in sweet elegance, invent startling seeds. Connect underground. Provide. Provide. Be lovely and do no harm.” I advocate a similar approach to life for you Geminis in the coming weeks. Be earthy, sensual, and lush. (PS: Erdrich is a Gemini.)

CANCER (June 21-July 22):
I hereby appoint myself as your temporary social director. My first action is to let you know that from an astrological perspective, the next nine months will be an excellent time to expand and deepen your network of connections and your web of allies. I invite you to cultivate a vigorous grapevine that keeps you up-to-date about the latest trends affecting your work and play. Refine your gossip skills. Be friendlier than you’ve ever been. Are you the best ally and collaborator you could possibly be? If not, make that one of your assignments.

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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“Ultimately love is everything.” – M. Scott Peck

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Quote of the Day: “Ultimately love is everything.” – M. Scott Peck

Photo by: Paul Cusick

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?

 

She Quit Her Job to Create Personal Jewelry from Ashes and Breast Milk

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Andy Corbley
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Rachel Heinze, and her boys Lucas and Michael - SWNS
Rachel Heinze, and her boys Lucas and Michael – SWNS

Rachel Heinze has an unusual side hustle, on top of her preferred work as a stay-at-home mom of 2.

After an exhausting, problem-filled first year of breastfeeding her oldest Lucas, she got a ring set with a pale-white stone made from a powdered form of her own breast milk and thought it was so cool she decided to take up the activity herself.

Working after her children are put to bed, she makes $30,000 a year since 2021 selling breastmilk jewelry.

She turns clients’ breast milk into powder before making it into the item—and can combine ashes and colored stones into designs too, with the average piece running $200.

“I thought it was weird,” said Heinze. “But having that journey myself, I can definitely see why people want to carry that little part of the journey with them. When I hit that one year of breastfeeding mark I wanted to celebrate.”

Without overly elaborating personal details, breastfeeding Lucas was a struggle in almost all the ways fellow moms have heard of.

“I did everything to continue breastfeeding for a year. It was exhausting,” said Heinze.

She wasn’t trained as a jeweler, designer, metalworker, or in any kind of craft. She was a professional neuroscientist that specialized in concussions before quitting her job to stay at home with the kids. Nevertheless, she jumped at the opportunity to launch a new venture.

“I didn’t know it would be such a big thing—I just thought it would be a little here and there to make a sale,” said Heinze, from Florida. “I had one video on social media, it kicked off, and that’s when it started becoming a big thing.”

MORE UNORTHODOX JEWELRY: Meteorite Hunter Finds Space Debris and Crafts it into Jewelry–Millions and Billions of Years Old

“I was getting breast milk given to me from all over the world. I thought: ‘I can actually make this into something big.'”

Rachel spends eight weeks making her designs while juggling her family life, explaining that her background in science helped with the preservation process for the breast milk.

MORE AT HOME CRAFTS: Making Terrariums at Home: They’re Beautiful AND Good for the Mind

She turns it into powder before allowing it to totally dry over several days, then grinds it into the piece. She has also expanded her business to make jewelry out of ashes.

“I think every stay-at-home mom can vouch for how difficult it is to both work and look after your kids. But it is so worth it to me,” she says. “My business is just a nice thing on top. Mother first, business second. If that means staying up later with a little less sleep, I am OK with that.”

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Airbnb Will Chip In for Its Hosts’ Green Upgrades

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Andy Corbley
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In May, Airbnb began helping its hosts in Massachusetts afford climate-friendly or energy-efficient home improvements, such as insulation, rooftop solar arrays, or heat pumps.

Airbnb is partnering with Abode Energy Management to offer a $2,000 rebate on heat pump installation and $500 for weathering upgrades.

The chief aim of Airbnb is to utilize recent legislation passed in the state to make it financially feasible for homeowners to install heat pumps. The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) includes a 30% tax credit for up to $2,000 spent on heat pumps.

50% of Massachusetts homes are heated by natural gas, while 25% rely on expensive heating oil for space heat. As well as being cheaper to operate, heat pumps emit 3 to 5 times less carbon dioxide and equivalents than the burning of heating oil.

“It’s an opportunity to expose so many guests to these kinds of improvements,” said Abode CEO Travis Estes. “It’s really exciting — it means we’re to helping to convert our society as a whole to be more electrified and decarbonized.”

To make these home improvements affordable, Abode will help Hosts access rebates of up to $10,000 to convert to air-source heat pumps and additional rebates for weatherization upgrades, depending on eligibility.

MORE CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY: Veterinary Conference Turns into Free Clinic to Care for the Pets of Denver’s Homeless

The rebates are available through Mass Save, a collaborative of Massachusetts’ electric utilities and energy efficiency service providers working to empower residents, businesses, and communities to make energy-efficient upgrades. On top of the rebates that Hosts may be eligible for through Mass Save, Airbnb will provide additional grants of up to $2,500.

In 2022, Airbnb launched similar programs in the UK and France. Massachusetts marks the first home energy efficiency program in the US for the company. Two-thirds of hosts, says the company, use their earnings from Airbnb to make ends meet.

The partnership with Abode is all about helping these hosts get ahead of the cost curve and install energy-efficient features they would otherwise not be able to afford at any single moment in time.

MORE CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY: The First Cargo Ship Running on Green Methanol Weighs Anchor Amidst Merchant Shipping Decarbonization

There are plenty of reasons to host on Airbnb in Massachusetts, whether that’s Cape Cod, Boston, Nantucket Island, Martha’s Vinyard, or the Berkshire Mountains. It’s nice to know that visiting these areas, and staying in an Airbnb, is a more sustainable choice than before.

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Pre-Incan ‘Floor of Thunder’ Found Where Ritual Dances Atop Stone Platform Made Booming Footsteps Like Thunder

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Andy Corbley
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The floor was 10 meters, or about 30 feet in diameter - ORP-PIACI Project
The floor was 10 meters, or about 30 feet in diameter – ORP-PIACI Project

Dancers in a pre-Incan civilization of Peru built specially designed dance floors to honor a nearby god of mountains and lightning, a new study shows.

The floor could accommodate 26 dancers, and was hollow underneath with layers of resonant material on the underside of the cavity that would’ve aided in creating a booming noise like thunder.

It was discovered at a pre-Incan site of Viejo Sangayaico, about 120 miles south of Lima, after archaeologists walked over an open space and realized it was hollow underneath, which is exactly like something out of an Indiana Jones movie when you think about it.

It was quite near at hand to a temple dedicated to the Incan god of lightning, even though the construction of the dance floor took place around 1,000 CE, before the heyday of the Incas.

This, archaeologists believe, suggests that like their own footsteps tripping over it in our time, Incan people would have found it, realized the floor made a sound like thunder, and incorporated it into their rituals by building a temple nearby.

“We know that in pre-Hispanic Andean rituals dance was a big part of the proceedings. I believe that this specially constructed platform was built to enhance the natural sounds associated with dance,” Kevin Lane, an archaeologist with the Instituto de las Culturas (IDECU) of the Universidad de Buenos Aires who helped carry out the fieldwork, told Art News.

MORE ANCIENT MUSIC: Tiny Bone Flutes Discovered May Have Been Used for Calling Birds 12,000 Years Ago

“I believe that these open platforms would have been used during the pre-Hispanic period as a stage on which to venerate the nearby mountain gods, in this case those of Huinchocruz,” Lane says. “This would likely have been accompanied by drums and possibly Andean wind instruments.”

The platform was made by carving out a cavity under the rock and layering it with the dung of an animal, possibly a guanaco, and silty clay. These materials gave resonance to the noise created within the hollow as the dancers above performed their rituals.

MORE SOUTH AMERICA STUDY: Incredible Discovery Beneath the Southern Amazon Reveals Urban-Agrarian Society Never Seen Before

The study authors raise the question of whether this was a common feature of Incan and pre-Incan settlements, and perhaps that completed excavations should be reexamined for such thunder dancefloors.

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‘A Blessing’ For Wounded Soldiers Who Help Scientists Save Coral Reefs

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Andy Corbley
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Wounded US Army veterans are being enlisted to restore coral reefs of the Florida Keys, giving them a new mission and purpose.

Feeling like they have no purpose is a common despair from veterans of several generations, and the work under the waves is helping combat that sense of listlessness, not to mention putting them in an environment where a lost leg is not nearly as impeding.

The work is part of a collaboration between the Mote Marine Laboratory and the non-profit Combat Wounded Veteran Challenge (CWVC).

For a week every year, a team of veterans comes down to help Michael Crosby “re-skin” coral reefs below the waves off the southern tip of Florida.

Crosby has been breeding corals of specific phenotypes that demonstrate tolerance and resilience to rising temperatures and more acidic water, representing conditions that may arise during the next 50 years as the climate changes.

Taking the nursery-raised coral down with them, this year’s work saw a team of 31 veterans seed 1,040 new corals in a reef called Higgs Head. This takes the total of such corals planted by the Mote Laboratory to over 200,000.

They dive down to first clean the dead or dying corals of algae, then use an epoxy resin to glue new, lab-grown coral fragments.

MORE GOOD CORAL NEWS: $25 Million Donation Launches Largest Coral Restoration Project in Hawaii to Renew 120 Miles of Reef

“They have been instrumental in my recovery, helping me learn what I was going to be able to do after losing my leg,” said 41-year-old Army veteran Billy Costello. “It’s great for the heart and the soul, especially when you’re around a group of veterans that have gone through very similar situations and have beat the odds and recovered in such a positive way… It is such a blessing.”

“The coral planting gives the wounded, ill, or injured service member a new found sense of purpose, they get to help the environment and work as a team with other military members who have been what they have been through,” said Lt. Col. (Ret) Andrew Lourake, CWVC Vice President of Operations. “The challenge, camaraderie, and knowing they are making a difference is the highlight of the year for almost all our participants.”

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“Laughter is the closest distance between two people.” – Victor Borge

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Quote of the Day: “Laughter is the closest distance between two people.” – Victor Borge

Photo by: Bagas Muhammad

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?

Pacific Garbage Patch Is Teeming With Life–An Ecosystem Older Than Plastic But No One Saw it

By
Andy Corbley
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By Denis Riek via The Global Ocean Surface Ecosystem Alliance, CC license
By Denis Riek via The Global Ocean Surface Ecosystem Alliance, CC license

In the northern Pacific Ocean, a powerful ocean ‘gyre’ pulls together several ocean currents into a single region—the site of the infamous Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP).

However, longer before there was plastic waste in these waters, and in spite of it, the Northern Pacific ocean gyre is teeming with specially-adapted marine organisms that drift through the sea.

Take this beautiful violet snail above, constructing floating bubble rafts by dipping its body into the air and trapping one bubble at a time, which it then wraps in mucus and sticks to its floater.

Scientists recently documented hundreds of different life forms all concentrated within the center of the GPGP, where 1.8 trillion pieces of plastic have created an environmental feature like no other on Earth.

A swimmer named Benoît Lecomte completed a swim of 389 miles across the GPGP in 2019 and asked the scientists at Georgetown University to accompany the support crew in order to document the sea life.

The work they did has now been published in the journal PLOS One. They found greater concentrations of wildlife inside the GPGP than on its periphery. This is not because of, but in spite of, the trillions of pieces of plastic, as these living ocean hitchhikers evolved to use ocean gyres and currents to get around over thousands of years.

Violet snails, blue button jellies, by-the-wind sailor jellies, and sea slugs called blue sea dragons that hunt the tentacles of man o’ wars to use as makeshift protection, are all found there in large numbers.

Velella blue jellies (known as by-the-wind sailors) By Denis Riek via The Global Ocean Surface Ecosystem Alliance, CC license

“We saw just massive amounts of life at the surface,” study senior author Rebecca Helm, a marine biologist at Georgetown University, told National Geographic. “We’ve seen so many pictures of plastic from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, but we’ve never seen any pictures of life there.”

“These places that we’ve been calling garbage patches are really important ecosystems that we know very little about.”

MORE SURPRISING OCEAN LIFE: Scientists Discover Pristine Deep-Sea Coral Reefs in Galápagos Marine Reserve ‘Teeming With Life’

The technical term for all this floating sea life is called neuston, and much of it is colored blue atop, and white beneath—a sort of camouflage Helm and her team believe.

Most of our children will never be able to see the GPGP, because it’s currently on track to be totally cleaned down to the microplastic level over the next 20 years.

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Hero Teen Saves Brother Being Swept Away: ‘Mom…I Might Not Be Back’

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Andy Corbley
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The Gamage boys - supplied
The Gamage boys – supplied

In New Zealand, a young boy has become the world’s youngest recipient of the Mountbatten Award after saving his younger brother from a treacherous stretch of coastal water last year.

The hero was Kalya Gamage, 14, who must have paralyzed his mother with fear when he saw his brother Kithmi being pulled out to sea by 3-meter waves and said to her ‘Ok Mum, I’m going out. I might not be back.’’

12-year-old Kithmi was a good swimmer in his own right, but couldn’t resist being ripped off his feet by several large waves that broke ashore on Chrystalls Beach in South Otago. Quickly tiring himself out trying to fight his way back to land, he was out around 60 meters (180 feet) treading water in a “notoriously-dangerous” patch of coastal ocean where the Royal Life Saving Society (RLSS) notes “no one survives.”

Kalya jumped into the frigid water and had little difficulty reaching his brother, but became nervous about whether he could reach the shore.

But he was relieved that they did, cold and tired, but alive.

“Undoubtedly, Kalya’s brave response saved his brother’s life that day,” said the RLSS.

MORE RESCUE STORIES: 7-Year-Old Massiah Is Hero After Rescuing a Drowning 3-Year-Old – All on His Own

Kalya wants to start a business or be an engineer when he grows up, but has spent time specifically improving his swimming skills. Those skills, and the rescue they afforded, won Kalya the 2022 Mountbatten Award, given to a single member of the whole British Commonwealth per year—over 2 billion people in 56 countries.

While his high school and even the Kiwi government expressed their pride at Kalya’s bravery and presence of mind, the greatest reward will of course be having his brother around for many decades to come.

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Paris District Declared the ‘Republic of Good-Neighbors’ Reviving Conviviality and Cutting Loneliness

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Andy Corbley
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Bonjour on the Rue de L'Aude - Credit Hyper Voisins Facebook
Bonjour on the Rue de L’Aude – Credit Hyper Voisins Facebook

In the south of Paris’ city center, the 14th arrondissement is conducting a neighborhood-wide experiment on deliberate living by consciously choosing to be good neighbors.

It’s an effort aimed at combatting the paradox of the big city: millions of people crammed together, many of whom suffer from social isolation as their millions of neighbors take on endless shades of anonymity.

This is true of many cities in the world, but unique to Paris is the brusqueness that develops from a city of perpetual hustle and hordes of tourists.

Unwilling to let the City of Light, their City of Love, dim under this curtain of curtness, the self-proclaimed “Republic of Good Neighbors” (Republique des Hyper Voisins) is on a mission to transform their neck of the woods into a vision of Paris from the past, full of ‘bonjours,’ of greenery and promenading, and of taking every opportunity to chat with passersby.

In the first effort of the collaboration, a 215-meter-long table (715 feet) was set out on the Rue de L’Aude, where the entire 14th arrondissement was invited to a special lunch event entitled “Bonjour.”

The Guardian newspaper, reporting from the event, called it “distinctly un-Parisian,” and local cafe owner Benjamin Zhong said, “I’d never seen anything like it before. It felt like the street belonged to me, to all of us.”

“The stereotype of a Parisian is brusque and unfriendly,” added Patrick Bernard, the former journalist and local resident who launched the project. “But city living doesn’t have to be unpleasant and anonymous. We want to create the atmosphere of a village in an urban space.”

Since 2018, the Republic has been the site of hundreds of small events celebrating conviviality, including brunches, aperitifs, cultural outings, bake-a-thons, children’s activities, and group exercise meets. The airwaves are filled with communications from dozens of WhatsApp groups, for people trading and selling handmade goods, people repairing electronics or mechanical equipment, or sharing referrals to various professional services.

Many residents say the deliberate shift to good neighborliness has changed their lives. This includes not only Frenchmen, but immigrants to the area as well, who feel they’re living the Paris they always imagined.

Musique on the Rue de L’Aude – credit Hyper Voisins Facebook

A French Revolution

Once the good neighbor republic realized it could organize the citizenry in camaraderie, it began doing so for other causes, including improving local access to healthcare services and electric transportation.

Mr. Bernard has petitioned for, and received, several grants from city hall to pursue civic improvements like electric bike rentals and charging stations. The Hyper Voisins actually opened a medical clinic, staffed by ten people, that targets its facilities and services around the needs of people in the 14th arrondissement.

The Republique has lobbied city hall to levy a tax on businesses deemed undesirable by those in the neighborhood, such as banks that no one uses, or delivery hubs.

It’s also hired local green entrepreneurs to design a variety of collection points for organic waste which is then turned into compost for the neighborhood trees and flower boxes.

Its most recent civic engagement project was when the Republique turned its attention to the Place des Droits L’Enfant, a plaza that had become a largely lifeless road junction. By working together, the neighbors pedestrianized it, cleaned up litter and broken pavement, planted a variety of garden beds along the roads and plaza, and inaugurated the new space with a big party of music and board games.

While there, the Guardian met with Patrick Touzeau, who moved to the area with his three kids in 2018. Touzeau believes the concept should be implemented everywhere on Earth.

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Pterosaur Dubbed ‘Elvis’ Because of Quiff-like Bony Crest on its Head 145 Million Years Ago

By
Andy Corbley
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(SWNS)
(SWNS)

This flying reptile, found in a German rock quarry, wasn’t fully grown when it was embedded in the sediment, but it nevertheless sported a two-meter wingspan and a neatly-parted pompadour reminiscent of Elvis Presley, paleontologists suggest.

In life, it would have waded the shore of shallow seas but might have ventured into estuaries or to lakes. Its long jaw with many small teeth would have been good for grabbing at small fish, shrimp, and other aquatic prey.

It has the biggest crest for its sub-group and is one of the largest pterosaurs from the late Jurassic period.

This beast belonged to a clade of pterosaurs called Ctenochasmatidae, but unlike its closest relatives, it had an expansion at the back of the skull to attach large jaw muscles and give it a stronger bite than many of its contemporaries.

“The animal was nicknamed ‘Elvis’ when the fossil was first unearthed in Bavaria, Germany because of the giant pompadour-like bony crest on its skull,” said study co-author Bruce Lauer of the Lauer Foundation.

Lauer was part of a team of British, American, and German paleontologists who officially named it Petrodactyle wellnhoferi which translates as ‘Wellnhofer’s stone-finger’ honoring legendary German paleontologist Peter Wellnhofer who spent his career working on German pterosaurs, rather than Petrodactyle presleyi. 

A BIZARRE DINO: New Dinosaur With Rows of Bristles On its Head Like a Toothbrush Has Been Discovered

“Petrodactyle is a member of a group of pterosaurs called the ctenochasmatids that were mostly small filter feeders,” explains Lauer. “The specimen was located in a quarry which is producing scientifically important fossils that provide additional insights into Late Jurassic Pterosaurs.”

It is thought that pterosaurs used their bony crests primarily as sexual signals to other members of the species, but Pterodactyle has by far the largest crest ever seen in a ctenochasmatid.

MORE COOL FOSSIL DISCOVERIES: Fossil Preserves Dinosaur Being Attacked and Eaten by Mammal as Mudslide Entombs them Both

“Big though this crest is, we know that these pterosaurs had skin-like extensions attached to it, so in life Petrodactyle would have had an even larger crest,” said study lead author Dr. David Hone, of Queen Mary University. “[I]t is one of the largest pterosaurs known from the Late Jurassic period.”

It’s bizarre to think that such a giant mouth and fearsome appearance were attached to a filter feeder, not unlike a duck. Giant animals were everywhere during the Jurassic Era, and so presumably, while the strategies to find food were the same as animals we share the Earth with today, the prerequisite for survival was a large body to be able to prey on and defend oneself from the large animals alive during the time.

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“Nature is an infinite sphere of which the center is everywhere and the circumference nowhere.” – Blaise Pascal

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Good News Network
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Quote of the Day: “Nature is an infinite sphere of which the center is everywhere and the circumference nowhere.” – Blaise Pascal

Photo by: Leon Liu, in Horseshoe Bend, Arizona 

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Eight Habits to Take Up by Age 40 if You Want to Live Decades Longer

By
Andy Corbley
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Rike Dohmen - Unsplash
Rike Dohmen – Unsplash

Researchers who studied the lifestyles of 700,000 Americans found men who had adopted all eight by age 40 lived around 24 years longer than those who had none.

Women who did so lived 21 years longer, according to the findings.

The eight habits are: being physically active, being free from opioid addiction, not smoking, managing stress, having a good diet, not regularly binge drinking, having good sleep hygiene, and having positive social relationships.

While literally not one of those is likely to surprise any individual who has taken even a single cursory glance at a recommendation for how to improve their health, 24 years does encapsulate the importance of basic, well-researched habits.

“We were really surprised by just how much could be gained with the adoption of one, two, three, or all eight lifestyle factors,” said study author Dr Xuan-Mai Nguyen, of the Department of Veterans Affairs at Carle Illinois College of Medicine, emphasizing exactly that point.

“Our research findings suggest… the earlier the better, but even if you only make a small change in your 40s, 50s, or 60s, it still is beneficial.”

The team used data from medical records and questionnaires collected between 2011-2019 from 719,147 people enrolled in the Veterans Affairs Million Veteran Program.

The analysis included data from adults aged 40-99 and included 33,375 deaths during follow-up.

Low physical activity, opioid use, and smoking had the biggest impact on lifespan with around a 30% to 45% higher risk of death.

MORE NEWS LIKE THIS: 8 Weeks of Lifestyle Changes Reduced Biological Age by 3 Years In Groundbreaking Proof-of-Concept Study

Stress, binge drinking, poor diet, and poor sleep hygiene were each associated with around a 20% increase in the risk of death.

A lack of positive social relationships was only associated with a 5% increase.

The findings, presented at the annual meeting of the American Society for Nutrition in Boston, Massachusetts, emphasize the role of lifestyle factors in contributing to chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes and heart disease.

TAKE ACTION NOW: Free Quiz Designed by Functional Medicine Doctor Rates Your Risk of Nutritional Deficiencies

“Lifestyle medicine is aimed at treating the underlying causes of chronic diseases rather than their symptoms,” said Dr. Nguyen. “It provides a potential avenue for altering the course of ever-increasing health care costs resulting from prescription medicine and surgical procedures.”

Nguyen stressed that it is never too late to adopt a healthy lifestyle, which is even true for those who are already living healthy lifestyles. In a multi-faceted lifestyle intervention trial on healthy middle-aged men, just 8 weeks of a few targeted lifestyle alterations, such as deep-breathing exercises and a phytonutrient supplement, were able to shed 3 biological years of their clocks.

 

Simple Test for Children with Sinusitis Could Slash Antibiotic Use

By
Andy Corbley
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Taking a nasal swab—similar to what we all did a hundred times during COVID—to check for three types of bacteria in youngsters believed to have a sinus infection can indicate whether antibiotics are likely to be effective or not, say American scientists.

Sinusitis, which is an inflammation or swelling of the sinuses, can cause congestion, runny nose, discomfort and difficulty breathing. Doctors often prescribe antibiotics, which target only bacterial infections, to treat the condition—even though it may be caused by viruses.

“Five million kids in the U.S. get prescribed antibiotics for sinusitis each year,” said study lead author Professor Nader Shaikh of the University of Pittsburgh.

“Our study suggests that only half of these kids see an improvement in symptoms with antibiotic use, so by identifying who they are, we could greatly reduce unnecessary antibiotic use.”

He adds that’s is difficult to properly diagnose the nature of a sinus infection.

“For an ear infection, we can look inside the ear; for pneumonia, we listen to the lungs. But for sinusitis, we have nothing to go on from a physical exam. That was very unsatisfying to me.”

With the target of developing a better tool to diagnose bacterial sinusitis, Prof Shaikh and his team enrolled around 500 children with sinusitis symptoms from six centres across the U.S. and randomly assigned them to receive either a course of antibiotics or placebo.

The research team also took swabs from inside the nose of each child and tested for the three main types of bacteria involved in sinusitis.

Youngsters who tested positive for the bacteria had better resolution of symptoms with antibiotic treatment compared to those who did not have bacteria.

The findings, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), suggest that testing for bacteria could be a simple and effective way to detect children who are likely to benefit from antibiotics and avoid prescribing the drugs to those who wouldn’t.

“If antibiotics aren’t necessary, then why use them?” said Dr. Shaikh. “These medications can have side effects, such as diarrhoea, and alter the microbiome, which we still don’t understand the long-term implications of.”

MORE IMPORTANT DISCOVERIES: World’s First ‘Tooth Regrowth’ Medicine Moves Toward Clinical Trials in Japan

“Overuse of antibiotics can also encourage antibiotic resistance, which is an important public health threat.”

He says a common belief among parents and doctors is that yellow or green snot signals a bacterial infection.

“But we found no difference, which means that colour should not be used to guide medical decisions.”

MORE USEFUL DIAGNOSES: Free Quiz Designed by Functional Medicine Doctor Rates Your Risk of Nutritional Deficiencies

The study shows how important “basic science” as it’s generally referred to, still is. This was as simple a trial as one could imagine but with incredibly serious consequences. The knowledge regarding the importance of the human microbiome, as Dr. Shaikh explained, continues to grow rapidly, while antibiotic-resistant infections occur in 2.8 million Americans every year, and there is a gradual slowing down in the development of new antibiotics.

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Texas Oak Tree Thought to Be Extinct Discovered in Big Bend National Park

By
Andy Corbley
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Michael Eason - released
Michael Eason – released

America’s national parks are more than just places of rest and relaxation or protective zones around our country’s most bizarre, unique, and delicate landscape features, they are bastions of biodiversity.

Case and point, Big Bend National Park in Texas, where a species of oak unique to the state’s western mountain ranges was rediscovered having been declared extinct for some time.

Quercus tardifolia or the late-leaf oak, is a living relic of a bygone climactic period in Texas’ history when the Lone Star State was wetter and cooler. The tardifolia keeps its leaves all winter and regrows them very late into spring.

As such, the only place it can thrive is in north-facing canyons in Big Bend National Park’s Chisos Mountains where there is plenty of shade and moisture.

Michael Eason, a scientist with the San Antonio Botanical Garden’s Rare Plants and Conservation program, went into Big Bend with a team of botanists in order to try and find a late-leaf oak.

“The Tardifolia, the one that nobody could ever find, was sort of a—I wouldn’t say a missing link—but we were trying to figure out ‘where does this sit?’” Eason told NPR. 

OTHER TEXAS TALES: Texas Lists Two Critical Pollinator Flowers as Endangered Species, Practically Guaranteeing Milkweed Recovery

Getting a hold of some leaf samples in a location called Boot Canyon, Eason sent them to the Morton Arboretum to be analyzed. When the microscopy results came back, it confirmed Eason’s suspicions that Quercus tardifolia was still out there.

credit – Bartlett Tree Research Laboratories And Arboretum

Fanning out along the slopes of Boot Canyon, Eason and his team were able to locate two of these supposedly extinct oaks, take off some branches, and graft them onto oak rootstock back at the San Antonio Botanical Garden.

“It’s definitely a highlight of the career finding something that was presumed extinct,” he said. “There’s definitely elation when we found it that first day, I was pretty emotional. I don’t think anyone thought that we would find two, and I don’t think anyone ever thought that we would be looking at other populations on private land.”

MORE SPECIES RECOVERIES: After 20 Years He Finally Spotted the Elusive North American Butterfly Beauty in a Nearby Bog

Other individuals were found in canyons on privately-owned ranch land in the surrounding area.

Eason now has quite a few oaks in his greenhouse and is shipping seedlings to botanic gardens across the country in order to preserve the species.

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Sydney Resident Watches with Joy as Surfer Paddles out to Save Drowning Magpie

By
Andy Corbley
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credit Amanda Williams
credit Amanda Williams

In the Australian state of New South Wales, a surfer cut his surf trip short to save a struggling magpie that had somehow managed to dump itself in the ocean waves several dozen yards from shore.

Watching it all from an observation deck was Amanda Williams, the only reason the still-anonymous surfer’s good deeds are known to the world, because she described this “beautiful” rescue to local news.

Walking along the headland above South Cronulla beach in NSW, Williams noticed there was something struggling in the water. At first she wasn’t sure what it was, but the fear it might have been a human led her to take out her phone’s camera and zoom in.

That’s when she saw that it was a magpie—this small bird was flapping about, getting swooped by seagulls no less, with no ability to save itself.

Williams wanted to help, but there was no one around, and with her 6-month-old infant strapped to her chest, there was nothing she could do.

After 10 minutes, some surfers went out to catch some of the waves, and one of them noticed the magpie was there. Paddling his board under the exhausted bird, he lifted it out of the water. The waves though sent his board bobbing up and down, and eventually the surfer just had to pick the magpie up in his hand.

MORE AUSSIE NEWS: Big White Dogs Save the World’s Smallest Penguin in Australia

“He was just holding this thing like it was a pet bird, it just sat in his hand,” Mrs. Williams said. “It was so beautiful, he could’ve just left it or ignored it but he went and cut his surfing trip short for this poor little magpie. He went out of his way and took it to the vet, it was beautiful.”

She watched, touched, until bird and brawn were out of sight. She then went home and posted the episode to her local Facebook page where it accumulated a big reaction.

MORE ANIMAL RESCUES: Migrating Turtles and Tiny Hatchlings Get a Boost from Workers at a Connecticut Dry Cleaners

“I have no idea who he is, he just did it on his own. No one was watching, there was no-one on the shore cheering. He just did it for this poor little bird that was drowning in the surf,” she said, adding that she wanted to thank him for “showing me that there are still good people around”.

Williams did manage to contact the veterinary hospital, who said the bird was rapidly improving.

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“We all have ability. The difference is how we use it.” – Charlotte Whitton

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Good News Network
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Quote of the Day: “We all have ability. The difference is how we use it.” – Charlotte Whitton

Photo by: Alexandre Pellaes

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Probiotics Enhances Cognitive Abilities Through the Gut: A Key to Aging Brain Health

By
Andy Corbley
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Lactobacillus rhamnosus LSU lab CC 2.0. (Dr. Karen Sullivan)
Lactobacillus rhamnosus LSU lab CC 2.0. (Dr. Karen Sullivan)

It’s not correct to tell someone you are what you eat, because you’re also what the trillions of microbes that live inside your GI tract and brain eat.

A study looking to see if taking a probiotic could improve symptoms of mild cognitive impairment found that the above refrain is correct—even when it’s related to cognitive decline associated with aging.

Specifically, participants with cognitive decline who were given Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG (LGG) for three months had increased cognitive scores associated with specific and measurable changes to the composition of their gut microbiome.

“The implication of this finding is quite exciting, as it means that modifying the gut microbiome through probiotics could potentially be a strategy to improve cognitive performance, particularly in individuals with mild cognitive impairment,” said Mashael Aljumaah, a microbiology doctoral candidate at the University of North Carolina.

“This adds a new layer to our understanding of the microbiome brain-gut connection and opens up new avenues for combating cognitive decline associated with aging.”

On account of the microbes, including viruses, bacteria, and other creatures that live in the gut, the gut is both the largest immune center and endocrine organ in the body, meaning more immune system activity is activated and modulated and more hormones are created in the gut than anywhere else.

When factoring in digestion and nutrient absorption, it’s perhaps no surprise that the diversity of microbial species in the gut could affect our biology as far afield as the cognitive centers of the brain.

The trial was double-blinded, meaning neither the patients nor the researchers knew who was given the placebo, and who was given the LGG. Over three months, patients aged 52 and 75 years old with mild cognitive impairment had their neurological markers improve concordantly with a drop in the prevalence of a microbiota genus called Prevotella.

MORE HEALTH NEWS: Men Free of Prostate Cancer Had Guts Fortified By Microbes Found in Yogurt

“By identifying specific shifts in the gut microbiome associated with mild cognitive impairment, we’re exploring a new frontier in preventive strategies in cognitive health,” said Aljumaah. “If these findings are replicated in future studies, it suggests the feasibility of using gut microbiome-targeted strategies as a novel approach to support cognitive health.”

The researchers are now working to understand the specific mechanisms of how microbes like Prevotella influence the gut in a way that improves brain health. Specifically, they are exploring how certain molecules produced by these bacteria modulate the functionality of neuroprotective hormones that can cross the blood-brain barrier.

Commercial probiotics contain many different species, and before running off to the store to buy one, it’s important to remember that this trial used one single species, and that the results were correlated with the drop in a single genus—a genus that may not be present in all gut microbiomes.

MORE NEWS FROM THE GUT: Specific Gut Bacteria Extract More Energy Which Seems to be Associated with Obesity

Nevertheless, it’s a very important finding, but just one in a long, long line of discoveries related to gut health and overall wellness.

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