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Nature’s Famous Spiral is Coded into 400 Million Years of Plants–But Not in This New Fossil

By
Andy Corbley
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It’s the most famous mathematical sequence in biology—the description of a spiral with a particular ratio found in the evolution of plants going back millions of years, and that is seen today in succulents like this aloe, but also in pineapples, sunflowers, and pinecones.

Named for the Italian mathematician that discovered it, the Fibonacci Sequence, or Fibonacci Spiral, is also known as nature’s secret code, as it also predicts the spiral of invertebrate shells like ammonites and snails.

Now though, scientists have just discovered where its spiral ends, and one would have to go back 407 million years ago.

The Early Devonian Period produced a plant known as the clubmoss, which arranged its leaves in a spiral, but which doesn’t follow the Fibonacci Sequence.

“Spirals are common in plants, with Fibonacci spirals making up over 90% of the spirals,” University of Edinburgh paleontologist Alexander Hetherington and colleagues wrote in their paper describing the discovery. 

MORE MATHEMATICS IN LIFE: The Mind-Blowing Mathematics of Snowflakes

“Based on their widespread distribution it has long been assumed that Fibonacci spirals were an ancient feature that evolved in the earliest land plants and became highly conserved in plants.”

Asteroxylon mackiei. Image credit: Turner et al., doi: 10.1126/science.adg4014.

They characterize the Fibonacci spiral as being found in the arrangement of their organs around their stems. In most existing plant species, organs emerge at 137.5° from the previous organ. This results in continuous spirals of organs, with the number of clockwise and anticlockwise spirals forming consecutive numbers in a Fibonacci sequence.

The Fibonacci Sequence has also been found in spiral galaxies and large hurricanes. Fans of the band Tool probably know that band leader Maynard James Keenan wrote a song with the lyrics and time signature arranged in the numbers of the Fibonacci Sequence.

Asteroxylon mackiei was a clubmoss that featured among the world’s oldest leaf-bearing plants. The exceptionally preserved fossil subjected to 3D imaging for the study was found in the famous fossil site the Rhynie chert near the Aberdeenshire village of Rhynie in Scotland.

MORE MATHEMATICS IN LIFE: The Mind-Blowing Mathematics of Sunflowers …From Scientific American Magazine on Their 175th Birthday

“The clubmoss Asteroxylon mackiei is one of the earliest examples of a plant with leaves in the fossil record,” said Holly Anne-Turner, the study’s first author. “Using these reconstructions we have been able to track individual spirals of leaves around the stems of these 407 million-year-old fossil plants. Our analysis of leaf arrangement in Asteroxylon shows that very early clubmosses developed non-Fibonacci spiral patterns.”

“This transforms our understanding of Fibonacci spirals in land plants,” the researchers said. It indicates that non-Fibonacci spirals were common in ancient clubmosses and that the evolution of leaf spirals diverged into two separate paths.”

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

By
Andy Corbley
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(left) Byran Pfeiffer - retrieved from Facebook (right) an Eastern pine elfin Judy Gallagher CC 2.0.
(left) Byran Pfeiffer – retrieved from Facebook (right) an Eastern pine elfin Judy Gallagher CC 2.0.

At times it can seem that some humans are just born to play the piano or run long distances, but natural talent isn’t limited to beauty or competition, some talent comes in subtler ways.

Take 65-year-old Bryan Pfeiffer, a man born seemingly for the purpose of hunting a little brown butterfly the size of a penny in the bogs of Vermont for 21 years.

Pfeiffer attempted, almost certainly in vain, to communicate what his final accomplishment meant when he wrote in his substack, Chasing Nature, that “Vermont is now a better place for having Bog Elfins—up there in the spruce where they belong.”

If Vermont is a better place for having bog elfins, then Earth is a better place—humanity is in better condition—for having people like Bryan Pfeiffer, who sought this tiny brown insect—not because he was discovering a new species he could name Pfeiffer’s elfin, but merely to confirm that it indeed inhabited his native Vermont; just that, and nothing more.

An entomologist, Pfeiffer has been compiling a butterfly species atlas for the state of Vermont, and he had a hunch that the elusive bog elfin could be found within its borders. The elusive insect dwells up among the high canopy of spruce trees most hours of the day, which has meant 21 years of wading through knee-deep bog water and clouds of biting, swarming insects.

He began his quest for the bog elfin at age 44 when his knees worked and his back was strong. Every year that passed, he told the Boston Globe, he wondered if his window was closing.

Then, after several years of looking in a single bog, he noticed a little brown butterfly coming down from the trees to alight on a juvenile spruce 20 feet from the man, who raised his binoculars and said to himself “I’ve been looking for you, for a very long time.”

But just like that, he couldn’t take a picture before it launched back up into the canopy. There are pine elfins in the bog too, so he couldn’t be sure he had found his prize without a photo. Scouring the rest of the bog in a bit of anxiety, he saw another brown butterfly alight nearby, and he didn’t wait for the optics—he swung his butterfly net, and inside was a bog elfin, the first ever seen in the state of Vermont.

MORE LIFE’S WORK FROM DEDICATED PEOPLE: Wildlife Sound Recordist Releases Treasured Audio Collection for Free – to Awe and Inspire the World

He took a few pictures and released the insect back into the trees.

In his essay, published on his exceptional substack (he writes with the adoranze of Aldo Leopold at least, John Muir at best) he questions, looking back on his 21-year search, why it mattered so much, and how it’s almost certain to be just a footnote in the scientific record.

Indeed, with the focus paid to the decline of biodiversity, large newspapers are often publishing stories about the loss or recovery of some small colored newt in Asia, or a brown warbler in South America—almost begging the question of what degree of importance they have in the world, and why should we care about them?

MORE STORIES LIKE THIS: He Finally Located Source of Mysterious Sound–A New Frog Species Named After His Rewilding Quest in Costa Rica

“Here in the United States we protect speech we don’t necessarily care for, or that might lack obvious intrinsic value. It is a foundational doctrine—it makes us stronger, more open to ideas,” writes Pfeiffer.

“In our safeguarding little brown butterflies, like protecting speech, we show reverence not only for the popular and charismatic and profitable, but for the obscure and the vulnerable as well.”

Bravo Pfeiffer, bravo.

SHARE This Inspiring Story of The Old Man and the Bog… 

400-Year-old Ming Dynasty Table Worth $80k Inherited From Relative Who Loved Anything Asian

By
Andy Corbley
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SWNS / Hansons Auctioneers
SWNS / Hansons Auctioneers

While modest, this simple table has a special secret—the artisans who crafted it lived more than 400 years ago.

The rare rosewood table, standing 31 inches (79cm) tall was made around 1,600CE during the Ming Dynasty. Known colloquially for their vases and porcelain, there was nothing the Ming Dynasty artisans couldn’t craft.

British Auctioneer, antiquities expert, and occasional television presenter Charles Hanson discovered the remarkable piece in a country home in Derby.

Reports place its value at between $70,000 and $100,000 but is likely to spark a bidding war at Hanson’s Auctioneers in October.

“Hanson’s Asian works of art consultant Adam Schoon has dated the table to around 1,600,” said Hanson, referring to the piece as a Banzhou side table. “To put that into historical context, that was the end of the Tudor period in England and Wales.”

“It is a work of art. It was crafted during the Ming Dynasty period which dates back to 1,368 – 1,644. Its simplicity defines modern style.”

Mr. Schoon was able to give Hanson a rich background in the use of the table, which thanks in no small part to the Chinese civilization’s immaculate record keeping, will give any potential bidders the complete history of its use.

Made of fine huanghuali wood, the unique floating panel construction is supported by three dovetail transverse stretchers underneath.

“Items like this are mentioned in 16th-century Chinese novels about life in grand houses. Its design has been seen in wall murals relating to the Jinyuan Dynasties [sic] of 1,115-1,368,” said Hanson, referring to the two dynasties preceding the Ming.

“Banzhuo literally means ‘half table’ and is so-called for its size, which is half that of an ‘eight immortals table,'” he continued. “The banzhuo was mainly used for serving wine and food and is also sometimes referred to as a jiezhuo, meaning extension table.”

SWNS / Hansons Auctioneers

“The simplicity of its construction is impressive too. It has mortise and tenon joints, which have been used by woodworkers around the world for thousands of years.”

The sellers inherited it from a relative who was an avid collector of Asian artifacts and was genuine ‘head-over-heels for anything Asian.’

Emperor Longqing lifted a ban on maritime trade which allowed huanghuali, a tropical hardwood, to be imported from Southeast Asia.

Due to the wood coming from slow-growing, small trees, the availability of furniture made from it is extremely rare.

“The wood itself is a thing of beauty. Its dense, beautifully-figured grain displays a broad range of colors from pale honey to rich mahogany,” Hanson continued. “It polishes to a translucent golden sheen. The finest huanghuali has a translucent shimmering surface with abstract patterns.”

“Today huanghuali furniture is in demand at auction. It appeals to wealthy collectors from the Far East due to its elegance and historical significance because they’re keen to repatriate works of art to their homeland to celebrate and honor their culture.”

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First Recorded Birth of Critically-Endangered Burmese Peacock Turtle Hatchlings (WATCH)

By
Andy Corbley
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Credit: Fauna & Flora www.fauna-flora.org
Credit: Fauna & Flora www.fauna-flora.org

This little fellow is the Burmese peacock softshell turtle, and he’s sitting here in the hands of one of the first humans to ever hatch them in captivity.

As one of the most endangered freshwater turtle species on the planet, it’s hoped the 15 hatchlings will go a long way towards preserving these beautiful reptiles for future generations of Myanmar’s people.

The breeding program was undertaken by the conservation group Flora and Fauna International along with support from local volunteers and knowledge keepers around Myanmar’s Indawgyi Lake, one of the largest freshwater lakes in Southeast Asia.

The locals, trained by FFI, nominated “turtle guardians” to patrol the shores and look for nesting areas—of which they found 5 in the 2022 breeding season. They fenced them off and kept regular watch over them.

According to the conservation group, the video of the turtles hatching is the first known recording of the species born in the wild.

FFI has worked around Indawgyi for many years, and was instrumental in its designation as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in 2017. Home to 160 endemic birds, the lake also hosts fish, reptiles, primates, and mammals unique to the area.

Burmese Peacock Softshell Turtle hatchlings – Credit: Nyein Chan & Yae Aung / Fauna & Flora

The Burmese peacock turtles are named for the orange spots on their shells reminiscent of peacock feathers. They are considered a delicacy in the poverty-stricken country, and have been overhunted.

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“Don’t forget to love yourself today.” – Soren Kierkegaard

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Good News Network
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Quote of the Day: “Don’t forget to love yourself today.” – Soren Kierkegaard

Photo by: pmv chamara

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?

Sweden Is Trying to Build a Whole City Borough Out of Wood to ‘Show What is Possible’

By
Andy Corbley
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Stockholm Wood City - Atrium Ljungberg
Stockholm Wood City – Atrium Ljungberg

A Stockholm development company has a dream contract in its hands—the construction of a whole new city borough entirely of lumber that aims to be a sustainable ballast to an unbalanced city.

Spanning 25 blocks, 30 sustainable mass timber buildings will add 7,000 new offices and 2,000 new homes, with construction slated to begin in 2025, and the first buildings to be completed in 2027.

Known as Stockholm Wood City, the borough is not just an exercise in Swedish woodworking or sustainability, it’s a much-needed re-structuring of the urban landscape since most people live south of the historic center, but most offices are north of the historic center.

The development company in charge is called Atrium Ljungberg, and it appreciates the concept of a “15-minute city” where everything is a 15-minute walk from one’s front door.

“We are proud to introduce Stockholm Wood City. This is not only an important step for us as a company, but a historic milestone for Swedish innovation capability,” Annica Ånäs, CEO of Atrium Ljungberg, said in a statement.

“From tenants, there is a strong demand for innovative, sustainable solutions—a demand that we meet with this initiative.”

Timber construction of large buildings came about in the 90s with the invention of cross-laminated timber, known shorthand as “mass timber.” Consisting of multiple boards of lumber fused together using sophisticated machinery, the mass timber could bear much greater loads and forces. Additional applications made this special lumber fire-resistant.

MORE ON MASS TIMBER: The New Green Building Revolution Uses Timber to Build ‘Plyscrapers’ That Save Tons of CO2

The company alleges that studies have shown living around wooden buildings increases well-being by decreasing stress and increasing focus, though no such studies were cited.

What they undoubtedly do offer however is a massive reduction in CO2 emissions, since cement and steel emit more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere than any other aspects of manufacturing, and together just over 10 times what is emitted from air travel.

Stockholm Wood City – Atrium Ljungberg

The timber is harvested in Sweden, made into CLT, and erected in Stockholm.

“Our industry leaves a big mark, and it is important for us to make a positive difference in both the shorter and longer term,” said Ånäs. “The new development will create a dense, green city area with circular and sustainable principles built into the whole ecosystem.”

MORE SWEDEN NEWS: Sweden’s First EV-Charging Road Will Power Electric Vehicles as They Drive

Recently, Sweden built the world’s tallest wooden skyscraper as a demonstration to the world what mass timber can do. This is perhaps a more sustainable and realistic open invitation to cities around the globe.

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‘Nature Prescriptions’ Improve Both Physical and Mental Health –28 Studies to Date

By
Andy Corbley
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A suite of studies shows that time spent in nature, particularly around tree cover, improves mental and physical health.

The researchers believe that their presentation shows that nature “prescriptions” merit wider use in the medical profession.

Suggesting that spending time in nature walking with friends is good for mood and blood pressure will surprise pretty much no one, especially no one reading GNN. But the idea of time in nature as a prescription, just as a doctor might prescribe an SSRI for depression, hasn’t been widely evaluated scientifically, particularly in Australia.

A meta-analysis conducted in the country and published in The Lancet, shows that nature prescriptions as defined, benefitted daily step counts, depression and anxiety scores, and blood pressure.

“This study is built upon a long-term program of research that we are doing, where we show contact with nature—and trees especially—is really good for strengthening mental and physical health across our lives,” said Professor Xiaoqi Feng from UNSW Medicine & Health.

Nature prescriptions are emerging as a supplement to standard medical care. For example, the UK Government recently invested £5.77 million in a pilot program for ‘green social prescribing’ and Canada has a national nature prescription program.

In Australia, there is growing public interest in nature prescriptions. A recent survey of Australian adults led by Prof. Feng showed that over 80% of people were receptive to the idea.

MORE WELLNESS NEWS: Man’s Biological Clock Set Back 10 Years After 93 Days Living Under the Ocean in a Research Station

“If we want nature prescriptions to become a national scheme, we really need to provide the evidence.”

One of the 28 studies analyzed included 47,000 people in Australia’s New South Wales state and found greater reported well-being in those living in the upper thirtieth percentile of tree-covered areas, suggesting the role of trees in any nature prescription scheme.

MORE STUDIES LIKE THIS: Yoga Can Help Cancer Patients Cut the Risk of Disease Spreading or Returning: Study

“The evidence shows that nature prescriptions can help to restore and build capacities for better physical and mental health. What we need now is to work out how to make nature prescriptions happen in a sustained way for those people with high potential to benefit, but who currently spend little time in nature,” said Prof. Feng.

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Apple Watch Saves Woman from Pulmonary Embolism While She Slept

By
Andy Corbley
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News oulets, and indeed, GNN, have reported multiple times that smart watches and their ability to monitor heart rate have saved lives.

But a Cincinnati woman was having a pulmonary embolism while she slept and the Apple Watch was able to detect it because unlike similar devices it measures heart rate also while the wearer is sleeping.

Not feeling well, 29-year-old Kimmy Watkins woke to find her watch beeping loudly.

It had recorded a resting heart rate of 178-beats per minute—equivalent to the high-intensity running or swimming for her age group.

Her doctors diagnosed her the next day with a pulmonary embolism, occuring when a blood clot gets stuck in an artery in the lung and blocks blood flow to part of the lung—a condition with a 50% fatality rate.

“I’m very lucky, and if my sleep hadn’t been disturbed, my partner would have found me asleep on the couch or not really asleep,” Watkins said.

Readers interested in turning on the heart rate tracker will find it under “Privary & Security” in settings, because the health data collected by apps on smartwatches and phones is not protected under law like traditional medical records.

Last September, an Apple Watch detected that a Englishman’s heart was in process of stopping—he was susceptible to suffering “sudden cardiac death” which as the same sounds, is very dangerous.

MORE STORIES LIKE THIS: Hero Cat Saves Owner Who was Having a Heart Attack by Pounding its Paws on Her Chest

He was rushed to the hopsital after an MRI discovered the issue, afterwhich he underwent life-saving surgery to fit a pacemaker.

“My wife keeps saying that she saved my life, and she’s not wrong,” said David. “If she hadn’t had bought me my Apple watch for my birthday, I wouldn’t be here.”

SHARE These Stories Of Lives Saved By Technology With Your Friends… 

Scientists See Red Planet in New Light, Unveiling Two Incredible New Images

By
Andy Corbley
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Summer on Mars – NASA MAVEN's Imaging Ultraviolet Spectrograph
Summer on Mars – NASA MAVEN’s Imaging Ultraviolet Spectrograph

NASA’s MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution) mission acquired “stunning views” of Mars in two ultraviolet images taken at different points along our neighboring planet’s orbit around the Sun.

By viewing the planet in ultraviolet wavelengths, scientists say they can gain insight into the Martian atmosphere and view surface features in remarkable ways.

MAVEN’s Imaging Ultraviolet Spectrograph (IUVS) instrument obtained these global views of Mars in 2022 and 2023 when the planet was near opposite ends of its elliptical orbit.

The IUVS instrument measures wavelengths between 110 and 340 nanometers, outside the visible spectrum.

To make these wavelengths visible to the human eye and easier to interpret, the images are rendered with the varying brightness levels of three ultraviolet wavelength ranges represented as red, green, and blue.

In this color scheme, atmospheric ozone appears purple, while clouds and hazes appear white or blue.

The surface can appear tan or green, depending on how the images have been optimized to increase contrast and show detail.

The first image was taken in July 2022 during the southern hemisphere’s summer season, which occurs when Mars passes closest to the Sun.

The summer season is caused by the tilt of the planet’s rotational axis, similar to seasons on Earth.

Argyre Basin, one of Mars’ deepest craters, appears at the bottom left filled with atmospheric haze (depicted as pale pink). The deep canyons of Valles Marineris appear at the top left filled with clouds (colored tan in the image).

The southern polar ice cap is visible at the bottom in white, shrinking from the relative warmth of summer.

Summer on Mars in Argyre Basin, one of the deepest craters, filled with atmospheric haze (NASA MAVEN’s Imaging Ultraviolet Spectrograph)
Mars in Winter, when rapidly changing seasons in the north polar region cause an abundance of white clouds (NASA MAVEN’s Imaging Ultraviolet Spectrograph)

The second image is of Mars’ northern hemisphere and was taken in January 2023 after Mars had passed the farthest point in its orbit from the Sun.

MORE MARS NEWS: Mars Rover Discovers Liquid Salt Water on the Red Planet For the First Time

The rapidly changing seasons in the north-polar region cause an abundance of white clouds. The deep canyons of Valles Marineris can be seen in tan at the lower left, along with many craters.

Ozone, which appears magenta in the UV view, has built up during the northern winter’s chilly polar nights. It’s then destroyed in northern spring by chemical reactions with water vapor, which is restricted to low altitudes of the atmosphere at this time of year.

MAVEN launched in November 2013 and entered Mars’ orbit in September 2014. The mission’s goal is to explore the planet’s upper atmosphere, ionosphere, and interactions with the Sun and solar wind to explore the loss of the Martian atmosphere to space.

MORE VIEWS OF MARS: 3,000 Orbiter Images Produce Unprecedented Atlas of Mars–Perfect for the Wall of a Bedroom or Classroom

Understanding atmospheric loss gives scientists insight into the history of Mars’ atmosphere and climate, liquid water, and planetary habitability.

The MAVEN team is preparing to celebrate the spacecraft’s 10th year at Mars in September 2024.

SHARE This Particularly Beautiful Interplanetary Weather Forecast Below… 

“The cure for an obsession: Get another one.” – Mason Cooley

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Good News Network
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Quote of the Day: “The cure for an obsession: Get another one.” – Mason Cooley

Photo by: KAL VISUALS

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 Only Piece of Roman Pottery Inscribed with Poet Virgil’s Verse Discovered

By
Andy Corbley
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A piece of Roman pottery inscribed with the poet Virgil's verse – SWNS
A piece of Roman pottery inscribed with the poet Virgil’s verse – SWNS

Although popular, his works have never been found as decoration before and they believe the inscription on the bottom of an olive oil amphora is a world first.

The 1,800-year-old fragment was found near Cordoba in Spain, the epicenter of the Roman olive oil trade.

Although famous for his poem The Aeneid, the 2-inch-long fragment actually has verse from The Georgics which he wrote in 29 BCE.

The poem is dedicated to agriculture and life in the countryside which is fitting for the area in which it was found.

Translated the fragment reads “Earth changed Chaonia’s acorn for the rich corn ear, and blended draughts of Achelous with the newfound grapes.”

The archaeologists from the University of Cordoba were able to get the text by overlaying the Latin with the partial inscription.

“The magnitude and exceptionality of the discovery has left the European archaeological community flabbergasted,” said study author Iván González Tobar. “There were some spelling mistakes that held us back from seeing what it was straight away but we did eventually get there.”

The fragment was not unusual and many amphorae have inscriptions detailing the contents. It was only when they deciphered the words and realized they were part of Virgil’s poem that they became excited at the discovery.

Strangely, the verses were written on the underside of the amphora where few people would notice them, suggesting a curious cultural appreciation and a certain level of literacy in the fertile plain of the Guadalquivir area where it was found.

Virgil was the most popular poet of his time, and still many centuries later.

OTHER ROMAN DISCOVERIES: “Incredibly Rare” Roman Mausoleum Uncovered Beneath London Construction Site

The Aeneid was taught at schools, and its verses were routinely written as a teaching exercise for many generations.

It’s common to find them on the remains of ceramic construction materials, with many experts saying these tablets had educational and funeral functions as Virgil’s verses served as an epitaph on many occasions.

As to why it was on the bottom of the olive oil amphora and who put it there, the authors of the study, published in the Journal of Roman Archaeology, have no answers.

MORE ARCHAEOLOGY NEWS: Dazzling Ancient Bronze Sword Found in Germany ‘Still Shines’ After 3,400 Years

They could only deduce that it was written by a specialized worker with a certain degree of literacy or someone from the nearby villages related to an aristocratic family owning the factory.

One other theory is that a child worker wrote it, as the regular use of young workers at this type of establishment has been previously documented.

“Maybe a worker there wanted to show them to a colleague or they could have been done by an adult or a child,” said Dr. Tobar. “What we do know is that this was done inside an amphora factory, and that the lines were probably written from memory.”

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Earless Dragon Feared Extinct is Rediscovered After 50 Years in Australia

By
Andy Corbley
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Victoria grasslands earless dragon. Photograph: Melbourne Zoo
Victoria grasslands earless dragon. Photograph: Melbourne Zoo

Last sighted in 1969, a tiny lizard from the Australian state of Queensland has been rediscovered by scientists who now hope to act fast to ascertain its numbers.

Not all dragons can be fearsome firebreathers. Indeed, the Victorian grassland earless dragon, Tympanocryptis pinguicolla, is just 15 centimeters long (6 inches).

Once commonly found in grasslands west of Melbourne, the little drake diminished at the paws of invasive predators like foxes and cats, and potentially from the fragmentation of habitat.

Considerable effort had been made to locate one of these tiny animals, though they never succeeded. Zoos Victoria, a coalition of zoos in Victoria state that runs many conservation programs, took up the hunt in 2017.

“The extraordinary rediscovery of this critically endangered and cryptic lizard inspires optimism for the recovery of this Victorian species,” said Dr. Jenny Gray, Zoos Victoria’s chief executive.

MORE CONSERVATION NEWS: Baby Galápagos Pink Iguanas Seen for the First Time Ever—Offering So Much Hope to Scientists

Tympanocryptis pinguicolla has no external ear opening or eardrum, hence the name “earless.”

The Guardian reports that the state and federal governments are pooling AU$188,000 for an expedition to assess the current population using sniffing dogs to locate them.

MORE AUSTRALIA NEWS: Endangered Manning River Turtles Released into Wild After Egg Rescue During ‘Black Summer’

“I want to protect our precious creatures for our kids and grandkids. It’s such exciting news that the Victorian grassland earless dragon has been rediscovered. It’s a reminder about why it’s so important to invest in habitat restoration and the eradication of feral species like cats and foxes,” said Tanya Plibersek, the federal environment minister.

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Newborn Left in a Florida Rescue Station Adopted by the Firefighter Who Found Her

By
Andy Corbley
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Courtesy Zoey's family
Courtesy Zoey’s family

Firefighters are famous in society for their lifesaving efforts, but it’s not always by pulling people out of burning buildings, as it turns out.

One firefighter was pulling an overnight shift at his station in Ocala, Florida, when he heard an alarm go off. It wasn’t the sign to jump into the engine and rev up the sirens, rather it was the alarm that someone had abandoned a child in the Save Haven Baby Box outside.

Believing it might be a false alarm the man went outside to check, and lying there wrapped in a pink blanket was a little baby girl.

“She had a little bottle with her, and she was just chilling,” he said. “I picked her up and held her. We locked eyes, and that was it. I’ve loved her ever since that moment.”

Her name is Zoey; his name is anonymous for family privacy reasons. As it happened, this firefighter had been trying to have a baby with his wife for a decade without any luck, and he had a feeling she’d be on board with the idea his bursting heart was concocting on that fateful early morning.

However, the protocol for the Safe Haven Baby Box, a device that allows someone to safely and anonymously abandon a child—no questions asked, is that any infants found inside should be taken to the hospital.

The firefighter wrote a note explaining his desire to adopt the little one, attached it to Zoey’s blanket, and turned her over to the hospital.

“I explained that my wife and I had been trying for 10 years to have a baby. I told them we’d completed all of our classes in the state of Florida and were registered to adopt,” he told NBC News. “All we needed was a child.”

His wife cried when she heard the news, and despite his pleas to remain calm, it was January 4th, just 2 days after finding her in the box, that she was at home with them—en route for an official April adoption. The hospital explained that Zoey’s umbilical cord had been tied off with a shoelace.

These baby boxes are present in more than a dozen states and have been used 32 times since their debut not too long ago.

MORE NEWS LIKE THIS: 22-Year Old Man Found a Baby Abandoned in a Trash Can in Haiti and Decides to Become its Father

“The first thing that we want is we want to address the parents who legally surrendered this infant. And right now I’m going to talk directly to her or him,” said Safe Haven Baby Boxes Founder Monica Kelsey, at a recent press conference, explaining that Zoey was the 23rd baby taken care of in this way.

“Thank you. Thank you for keeping your child safe. Thank you for bringing your child to a place that you knew was going to take care of this child. And thank you for doing what you felt was best.”

MORE ADOPTION NEWS: ‘Gift of Adoption’ Marks 5,000th Child Given a Home–Covering the Fees to Keep Siblings Together

There are no national surveys for this, but one adoption information website claims that experts believe between one and two million couples are currently waiting to adopt.

It’s difficult for most people to imagine what it would feel like to leave one’s newborn in a box at 2:00 a.m. in the morning, but it’s an inspiring site to see the comment section on the Facebook post announcing Zoey’s discovery—completely full of compassion and understanding.

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German Museums Work Year-Round to Find Rightful Heirs to Hundreds of Stolen Jewish Silver Pieces

By
Andy Corbley
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via Naomi Karp and Bastian Krack for the Bavarian National Museum
via Naomi Karp and Bastian Krack for the Bavarian National Museum

In Germany, a small handful of dedicated people are, without any invitation or request, gradually reuniting silver and gold objects with the Jewish families who once owned them.

While it’s well-known that fine art was confiscated from Jews living within the Third Reich, what’s less talked about is the assortment of candelabras, kiddush cups, and other important objects that were taken and usually sold to fund the regime.

Museums in Stuttgart, Munich, Hamburg, and Berlin are all on the hunt for public records that can prove rightful ownership on behalf of the descendants of those whose possessions were confiscated, many of them now living in the US, Israel, and elsewhere.

“I started looking for heirs of looted silver following an exhibition titled ‘Silver for the Reich — Silver Objects from Jewish Property in the Bavarian National Museum,’ which consisted of many of the 112 stolen items stored in the museum,” Matthias Weniger, a curator and head of provenance research at the Bavarian National Museum in Munich, told the New York Times in an email. 

Weniger has had some success—he managed to return a silver kiddush cup, used to honor the Sabbath in the Jewish tradition, that belonged to a Jew named William Bergman who survived the Holocaust and moved to the US where his son, Steven, was able to accept the cup on his behalf almost 80 years later.

He also managed to, quite ironically, return a 300-year-old, gold and silver baptismal cup to the family of the Jew Hermine Bernheimer who perished in Theresienstadt concentration camp in 1939. Her great niece, Naomi Karp, donated the cup to the Jewish Museum in the town of Göppingen where Bernheimer was born.

Bastian Krack from the Bavarian National Museum

“The key to success in the search for heirs,” Weniger said, “is multiple databases and archives. Some cases take several years. Others take months, often many months. It took many months to find Steven Bergman.”

Irene Krauss, Weniger’s colleague and historian, uses multiple archival sources to look for the heirs of these silver objects, including ancestry.com, findagrave.com, and newspapers.com.

MORE FAMILY HEIRLOOM STORIES: Singapore Sleuth Spends 8 Months Tracking Down a Man to Return Family Heirlooms–And Finally Succeeds

With findagrave, Krauss was able to locate a tombstone of Bergman’s which showed he had children, and then used newspapers.com to find an obituary.

Weniger’s Bavarian National Museum has 110 silver and gold objects confiscated during the Third Reich, a number which pales in comparison to the Berlin City Museum, which acquired 4,700 pieces of gold and silver tableware, jewelry, and other heirlooms from a pawnshop, of which only around 10% had any documentation at all showing who had previously owned them.

Many of the heirs, the Times reports, choose to donate the heirlooms to museums. In one case, 31 relatives had to sign off on such a donation. Others choose to lend them for various periods.

MORE LOST FAMILY HISTORY: 101-Year-old Woman Is Amazed After Being Reunited with Her Lost Painting Looted by Nazis

Famously, and quite possibly erroneously, Joseph Stalin was supposed to have described 1 death as a tragedy and 1 million as a statistic.

As statistical as the Holocaust can seem sometimes, it’s inspiring to know that the dead are remembered and honored, not only by their kin but by others as well, others like Weniger who feel inclined to delve into whatever is left accessible of their lives into order to right past wrongs, and maybe even help their souls to rest more easily.

SHARE These Museums Powerful Gestures Of Provenance On Social Media… 

“To affect the quality of the day, that is the highest of arts.” – Henry David Thoreau

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Credit: Alex Sheldon

Quote of the Day: “To affect the quality of the day, that is the highest of arts.” – Henry David Thoreau 

Photo by: Alex Sheldon

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MIRACLE MONDAY: Father is Reunited With His Son After Years of Homelessness

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Shay and family – Miracle Messages
Shay and family – Miracle Messages

Miracle Messages worked its magic again this year when the nonprofit helped reunite a father and son who had been separated for over ten years.

The exciting reconnection happened after Eddie Thompson Ⅲ, who has struggled with housing insecurity for a decade, reached out for help.

He spent years longing to reunite with his son, Shay, but then he heard about the volunteers and team at Miracle Messages. They specialize in reuniting families dealing with the added burden of homelessness.

Eddie wrote a note that he desperately wanted to be delivered to his Shay: “I love you to death and have been trying to get in contact with you for years.” – Eddie.

In an effort to bring the two together, volunteer Lindsay Pfeiffer took on Eddie’s case—and after some days of persistence, she was able to locate Shay and inform him that his father had been actively looking for him.

Shay was awestruck.

For the entirety of his adult life, he had been searching for his father. The pair had been separated since Shay’s high school graduation. With each passing year, the young man felt the reality of any reunion with his dad slipping away.

Serendipitously—through what felt like magic—Shay found out that in all the years he spent looking for Eddie, Eddie had been searching for him.

MORE MIRACLE MONDAY: Dealing With Cancer and Homelessness, Former Teacher Now Has an Apartment and Lifelong Friend

The two were reconnected and given a second chance at their relationship—and Shay was beyond grateful to end the years spent apart.

After learning about his father’s whereabouts, he felt like he was on Oprah, because the experience felt “too miraculous to be real”.

MORE MIRACLE MONDAY: Homeless For 28 Years, Linda is Offered Miracle Reunion With Her Family and Moves Back Home

Through Lindsay’s coordination, the two finally met in person. Eddie not only found his son, but discovered he has a beautiful granddaughter, as well.

Now, they’re catching up on all the time they missed. The pair continue to maintain their relationship and are a testament to the indispensable role Miracle Messages plays in bringing families back together.

Visit their website to donate or become a volunteer for Miracle Friends.

SHARE This MONDAY MIRACLE With Your Friends On Social Media… 

Man Jumps in During Freak Storm to Rescue 4 People From Sinking Florida Houseboat

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Andy Corbley
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After Gulf conditions off the Florida panhandle changed rapidly, one resident attempted to rescue three people trapped in a capsized houseboat.

Another boat saw what was happening and came to help—and even rescue—the rescuer, demonstrating the diffusion of heroism among the folks of the Florida Gulf community.

It started last Friday when Travis Brady and his friends left the Panama City marina on the opening day of red snapper season with storm clouds coming fast behind them. Loathe to miss the chance for a big catch, they nevertheless decided to call it a day early when the water became smattered with 5-6 foot waves.

On the way back to the marina, they saw a houseboat—a floating general store that served watermen near a sandbar, had broken free from its moorings. As Brady and his friends approached they saw another boat had already arrived, and its owner was attempting to rescue three people trapped in the houseboat.

That rescuer, later identified as Boyd Jordan, jumped in the water, smashed the window, and helped all three people out after the houseboat capsized.

“He is the true hero of this story,” Brady told WJHG. “Without hesitation, he was just in the water helping those people.”

That’s when Brady and his friends arrived dodging debris and waves to throw a life jacket to Jordan with a line attached to it; the houseboat’s occupants were already wearing life jackets.

Hauling Jordan aboard their already overcrowded fishing boat, they then guided the stranded individuals to the sandbar where they were able to walk ashore. Brady then took Jordan his own boat before it crashed into the seawall.

MORE WATER RESCUES: Florida 3-Year-Old Rescued from Sunken Vehicle After Police Perform CPR: ‘Best cry I’ve ever heard’

Not one injury was sustained, and there were no damages to either boat—all in all it was a miraculous escape.

MORE TEAM RESCUES: New York Cop Grabs Suicidal Passenger in First Rescue of its Kind on Staten Island Ferry

“All glory be to God, man. He put us in the right place at the right time. I’ve never been super religious, but [Friday] was just an eye-opening moment for me, I just feel like divine intervention puts you in the right place at the right time.”

WATCH the story below from local news… 

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Scientists Are Recycling Wastewater to Reclaim Valuable Phosphorous to Put Back in Soil

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Andy Corbley
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Wastewater plant (left) by Montgomery County Planning Commission, CC license; New biochar from phosphorous (right) by Canadian Light Source
Wastewater plant (left) by Montgomery County Planning Commission, CC license; New biochar from phosphorous (right) by Canadian Light Source

Scientists have taken pollutant phosphorus from wastewater and infused it into a soil superfood called biochar to really “close the loop” on several widespread agricultural practices.

The biochar itself is made from incinerated organic material inside an oxygen-deprived environment, turning it into charcoal that acts like an underground rainwater sponge that also delivers the necessary phosphorus and other nutrients for plant growth.

Animal life needs energy in the form of the four macronutrients: carbohydrates, fatty acids, amino acids, and ketone bodies.

Plant life operates a bit differently. One of the green kingdom’s macronutrients is phosphorus, and its presence in the soil greatly contributes to healthy crops. Phosphorus runoff into streams is a major problem for sea life because once this basic element reaches the ocean, it causes giant blooms of algae that block light from reaching the seabed.

On its way there, this same problem can occur with riverine plants, and so is also considered pollution in fresh water.

Daniel Strawn, Professor of Environmental Soil Chemistry at the University of Idaho, and his colleagues have demonstrated a method and technology that can use phosphorus collecting in wastewater treatment plants to enrich biochar.

“We’re hitting on many factors,” says Strawn. “We are recycling phosphorus, producing cleaner water, increasing soil health, and are creating a carbon sink that reduces atmospheric greenhouse gases, so it really is a multifaceted technology.”

After getting noticed worldwide as a soil amendment, biochar’s global market presence has greatly expanded, and Strawn hypothesizes that anywhere there’s agriculture, there’s phosphorus runoff that could be used to supercharge the biochar, and put that element back into the next season’s crops where it belongs.

SIMILAR STORIES: This Wonder Tree is a Game-Changer for Rainforest Agriculture in Honduras And Deforested Sites Worldwide

Part of the experiment was done at Canadian Light Source, a national research facility that possesses a synchrotron microscope. With this technology, Strawn and his team were able to compare various materials to see which one could hold the most phosphorus after being turned into biochar.

They detailed in a paper published on the experiment that biochar made from ruminant manure absorbed the most phosphorus, followed by activated carbon. The other material that absorbed reasonably well was pine tree clippings.

While manure itself makes for an exceptional soil amendment, there are times when it doesn’t fall on a field that needs fertilizing. In these cases, manure is typically disposed of in landfills. That material could instead be turned into biochar for this phosphorus extraction method.

MORE GOOD AG NEWS: Nutrient-Rich Human Waste is Poised to Sustain Agriculture and Improve Economies, Say Researchers

Strawn has patented this method and hopes as soon as possible to diffuse knowledge of it to the world in hopes of tackling several major problems and turning them into a big solution.

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Family Adopts Elderly Neighbor as ‘Honorary Grandpa’ for Holidays and Heartwarming Daily Moments (LOOK)

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Andy Corbley
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Paul Callahan, 82, with his neighbors Sharaine and Wilson Caraballo and their five children – SWNS
Paul Callahan, 82, with his neighbors Sharaine and Wilson Caraballo and their five children – SWNS

After moving to Texas from the East Coast, a family “adopted” a neighborhood senior who jumped in to welcome them.

Sharaine Caraballo and her husband Wilson met 82-year-old Paul Callahan in March last year when Wilson began working on their recently purchased home and he offered him a ladder to work with.

From then on, it didn’t take very long for the family of eight and their new neighbor to become close and for Paul to take on the role of de-facto grandpa.

A retired Texas Instruments manager, Paul’s wife sadly passed away six months before the family moved into the neighborhood and Sharaine thinks her family provided an important refuge for Paul.

“One of my biggest fears was meeting our new neighbors. I was wondering who they were going to be and what they were going to be like,” said Sharaine, who is originally from Pawtucket, New England. “When Paul welcomed us into the neighborhood I knew I had made the right choice.”

The Caraballos and Paul now see each other every other day, inviting him to all family cookouts. They spend every holiday together, and this Father’s Day Paul received a new outfit from the family as a present.

MORE NEWS LIKE THIS: 12-year-old Gives Grandpa His Dream of Flying in Spitfire By Sending Heartfelt Notes to Airfields

Sharaine and Wilson were really apprehensive when they moved into the new neighborhood but Paul’s warm welcome really helped put them at ease, offering the new homeowners advice and help with all kinds of issues they were facing with their new home.

– SWNS

“He was coming over with tools. He’d bring screwdrivers and teach Wilson how to fix up the garage and Wilson followed all his advice,” explained Sharaine. “He’s always coming over with little trinkets for the kids. They play with him a lot and call him Uncle Paul. He’s got stories for days.”

OTHER FAMILY STORIES: Heartwarming Moment Ex-Foster Kid Asks to Be Adopted by Family He Sold a Car To

Sharaine’s kids love Paul as much as she does and the elderly man makes great efforts to make them feel at home too. As much as Paul has helped the family, Sharaine thinks her family played an important role in the months that followed the passing of Paul’s wife.

“I asked what drew him to us and he said he was a very social person and that he grew up around lots of kids,” she said. “‘That’s how I grew up, my house was always where everybody hung out.’ He’s also the last of his siblings, who have all passed away.”

WATCH the story below from SWNS… 

SHARE This Inspiring Family Story With Your Friends… 

“Be an encourager. The world has plenty of critics already.” – Dave Willis

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Good News Network
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By Priscilla Du Preez

Quote of the Day: “Be an encourager. The world has plenty of critics already.” – Dave Willis

Photo by: Priscilla Du Preez

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?

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