Quote of the Day: “There is always one moment in childhood when the door opens and lets the future in.” – Graham Greene
Photo by: Chris Burgett
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?
Just in time for Mother’s Day, this week’s Miracle Monday column showcases a heartwarming family reunion for a woman who had been living on the streets for 28 years, and finally got the chance to return home to Wisconsin.
“We waited 28 years. Every year, every day, every hour, just wondering where she was and if we were ever going to find her—afraid of that phone call that something happened to her and no one knew who her family was,” said Angie, Linda’s younger sister, when they all gathered at the backyard picnic table.
Her life was about to change when Linda met Gabby, who worked for Miracle Messages in South Florida.
Gabby had spoken with her several times before, but on a Tuesday night in January, Linda finally decided to share one of her dreams: although she felt scared and apprehensive of what might happen, she would like to try to reconnect with her mother and children.
“Gabby sat with me on the ground that night, and it was cold. She took down my information. I will never forget that,” Linda recalled.
“Gabby. I love you. You are going to be part of this family forever.”
Struggling with addiction and chronic illnesses, Linda was living unsheltered under the 14th Street Overtown bridge in Miami. She asked Gabby and Miracle Messages to help her reconnect with her mother and her kids, who she hadn’t seen since they were small children, and who were now in their 30’s.
Gabby explained to her how the Miracle Messages reunification program worked, and asked Linda if she had a message that she would like us to pass along to her kids if we were able to find them. Her message to them was, “I miss you. I love you.”
In less than a week, an internet sleuth who volunteers for the team found her mother, Darlene, who immediately said she wanted to reconnect with Linda. She called the rest of her family to let them know Linda had been found.
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“The only way I can explain it is that it’s a miracle,” Darlene told Gabby. “I never gave up hope [of finding her].”
Linda’s children, Evelynn and Marcos, hadn’t heard any updates from their mom in over two years when they got the call from Miracle Messages and immediately booked a flight to Miami.
Gabby drove the siblings around the neighborhood where she had last talked to Linda. Even though they struggled to find her, the day was full of hope—and soon Linda was located and agreed to go back home with them.
Shortly after arriving in Wisconsin, Linda enrolled in a treatment program.
A few months later, Linda’s family invited Gabby to a family reunion to thank her for bringing their family back together—and Miracle Messages captured an emotional video that was posted on YouTube.
During the reunion, Gabby had the opportunity to ask Linda what she missed most while she was away.
LAST WEEK’S MIRACLE MONDAY: MIRACLE MONDAY–A New Weekly Column: Homeless Uncle Inspired Him to Reunite the Unhoused with Families Before it’s Too Late
She responded, “Being together with my sisters and my mom. I am so grateful. There are not words to describe it. I didn’t know how they were going to respond. Thank you, Gabby and Miracle Messages.”
“There’s always been a missing link in this family and Linda brought us back together,” said Angie, Linda’s sister. “I feel like we are whole again.”
Miracle Messages is an award-winning 501(c)3 nonprofit that helps people experiencing homelessness rebuild their social support systems and financial security, primarily through family reunifications, a phone buddy program, and basic income pilots. Volunteer today!
Christian Bowers has Down Syndrome, but likes to do normal guy stuff like go bowling and play video games.
Making friends was never hard for the young man, now 24, until he finished school and found, as many people without Down Syndrome do for that matter, it’s not as easy and straightforward to maintain a social life.
Bowers’ mother, Donna Herter, watched her son sink further and further into the dumps because he didn’t have any friends to visit him.
Eventually, Herter put up a post on Facebook asking if any local guys near Rochester, Minnesota, would be interested in coming to hang out with Christian for two hours, a service for which she was willing to offer $80,00 in compensation.
A nurse on the night shift, she put the post up at 4:00 AM before ending her workday and going to sleep. When she woke up, it had amassed 5,000 comments.
“I was freaking out. My hands were shaking, I was sweating. I was just looking for some local guys, I didn’t want to invite like the entire world into our house,” she told CBS News.
Her friends encouraged her to calm down and take a closer look at the comments, in which she found parents offering suggestions and others volunteering to help.
She eventually found 7 fellows from Wentzville, Minnesota, who visit Christian once a week on a rotating schedule. Herter says her son goes to sleep with a smile on his face now, and is excited about life in general, and of the future as well.
Friendships are important for people born with Down Syndrome, and associations urge parents to plan for the eventuality of their child exiting school and needing to take a more precise attitude towards socializing.
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Christian occasionally attends gatherings and groups of other special needs men and women his age, but craves friendship with the rest of the population as well.
“And I’ve never asked him, but I assume because it kind of makes him feel normal, just for an hour or two. ‘Hey, somebody who doesn’t have Down syndrome wants to hang out with me,'” she said.
One of the 7 friends, James Hasting, said he felt terrible that Herter had reached the point where she was trying to pay people to visit her son. Hasting, who volunteers with special needs folks, said hanging out just for a few hours to watch a movie or play video games with Christian has changed the way he looks at the world.
SHARE This Inspiring Turn Of Kindness For A Lonely Young Man…
If someone asked you what Rick Fox was famous for, you would have to say the three NBA Championships he won with the Lakers, but the next generation might know him instead as the face of sustainable concrete.
Believing that tropical storms are becoming more intense due to carbon content in the atmosphere, Fox went all in and became the co-founder and CEO of Partanna which manufactures concrete that absorbs more carbon from the air than it contributes during manufacturing.
It all happened back in 2019 when Fox received a call from his manager just after Hurricane Dorian smashed into Fox’s home on the Bahamas, the country where he grew up. His manager, who was also displaced by a natural disaster—the fires in California in 2018, said she had met an architect called Sam Marshall who was developing carbon-negative concrete.
Fox, whose post-NBA career has included dozens of acting credits, as well as production work, and even the sponsoring of an esports team, was nevertheless able to find time to team up with Marshall to launch Partanna. The firm just received $12 million in seed funding from Cherubic Ventures.
“I’ve been a part of a lot of amazing journeys and industries, from entertainment to movies and TV. I’ve been on sets with Oscar-winning actors and directors, and I’ve been on championship NBA teams. There’s been nothing more rewarding for me in my life than to be a part of this team where we’re leaving something behind,” Fox told TechCrunch+, reporting on the funding announcement.
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Every part of the concrete process is designed to reduce its environmental impact.
Instead of using Portland cement, which is a major source of carbon emissions, they use a special mixture of natural and recycled ingredients that’s cured at ambient temperature rather than the high temps that make concrete and cement responsible for the largest share of the manufacturing emissions pie chart.
The binder components consume CO2 as they cure, which means they actually remove carbon from the atmosphere. They use a brine activator that’s found in natural pozzolans, which helps avoid using the energy-intensive clinkering process.
What this means for the bottom line is that a 1,250 square-foot home made with Partanna absorbs 22.5 tons of CO2, rather than emitting 77 tons, which is what a house that large would otherwise do.
Fox sees Partanna as offering the most to those in disaster-prone areas—such as his native Bahamas, where Partanna and the Government of the Bahamas announced their intent to develop the world’s first carbon-negative affordable housing development.
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“Convincing the industry that Partanna is a viable alternative to cement—we hope that the successful delivery of homes in The Bahamas, and our growing project pipeline, will help to evidence the strength of our technology,” Fox said in a statement.
Because the company captures carbon in their buildings, they started selling carbon credits—a product that companies can buy to offset the emissions from their operations. In this case, the credits are buildings for poor people in the Bahamas or Saudi Arabia—where they recently signed an agreement with development company Red Sea Global to build a manufacturing facility on Saudi’s Red Sea coast.
SHARE Rick Fox’s Important Project With Your Friends…
A European firm is hoping to revive the dream of commercial hypersonic travel with a prototype that will reduce flight times by 75%.
Unlike several other supersonic startups that have come and gone, this is their third prototype, with two others having already succeeded in test flights, proving critical systems can work on a design that would allow one to travel from Frankfurt to Sydney in around 4 hours 15 minutes, or Memphis to Dubai in 3 hours 30.
Headquartered in Switzerland, but with a team of over 100 people working across several European countries, Destinus has received tens of millions from private and public funds looking to fund renewable innovation.
Destinus is now preparing its third prototype—the one meant to test the fuel systems, since for their design, sustainable hydrogen is the only reasonable option.
This isn’t due to a question of emissions, but a question of weight. Kerosene is much heavier than hydrogen, and if the machine is hoped to be able to reach across oceans with room for luggage and passengers, it needs to be as light as possible.
The design of the jet itself is very standard, and can be seen on the Concorde jet and hypersonic cruise missiles used in the large militaries of the world—a shape known as the “Waverider” because of its ability to “ride” the “waves” of the breaking sound barrier.
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In the lead-up to their third test flight, slated for takeoff in late 2023, the company is understandably tense.
“This is a pretty massive vehicle,” Martina Löfqvist, Destinus’ business development manager, told CNN. “It’s about the same size as the previous prototype in terms of being around 10 meters (long), but it’s 10 times heavier, and probably 20 times more complex as well, in terms of the structure and in terms of the propulsion system.”
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Last month, Destinus acquired Dutch company OPRA to become their in-house hydrogen department—Destinus Energy. This has also allowed them to raise more money for the project by selling OPRA’s already-marketable gas turbines for hydrogen fuel.
The timeline for the growth of this bold attempt is to have a smaller-scale version ready for commercial flight in the 2030s, that could hold around 25 passengers, and full-scale versions ready in the 2040s.
WATCH a company explainer below…
SHARE This Second-Crack At The Concorde’s Crown With Your Friends…
Quote of the Day: “Problems are not the problem; coping is the problem.” – Virginia Satir
Photo by: Asa Rodger
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?
A stranded dog’s tail would not stop wagging with joy as fire crews reached his perilous perch, and rescued him from a sheer cliff face.
The video below captured the heartwarming moment.
Firefighters at Temple Fire Station in Bristol, England, were called out to Yate Quarry after the spaniel fell into the quarry.
Assisting was the Avon & Somerset Police’s drone squad, which could find the dog and transmit pictures back to the crews up at the top of the cliff. Eventually, a firefighter was winched with a harness and lowered halfway down the side of the steep quarry to rescue the stranded pup.
Footage captured from the drone shows the 9-month-old black and white springer spaniel perched precariously on a steep ledge, where it had fallen after tumbling down from the walking path while on an evening stroll with its owners.
A photo of the scene shows how the dog had fallen at least 30 feet—forcing firefighters to employ a large winching system to support a rappelling rescue worker.
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Thankfully, the dog only suffered minor injuries with a broken leg.
Avon & Somerset Police’s drone squad posted a video of the April incident on its @AFRSTemple social pages, saying.
“Look at that tail wagging.”
“Wishing the little pup a swift recovery.”
LIFT UP Your Friends With This Sweet Moment By Sharing on Social Media…
Brain surgery has been performed on a baby still inside the womb in order to fix potentially deadly damage to vessels and saved the infant from suffering heart failure or stroke after birth.
It was the first treated patient in a clinical trial that is underway at Boston Children’s Hospital and Brigham and Women’s Hospital, performed with oversight from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Fetuses with the rare pre-natal condition known as Vein of Galen malformation (VOGM) have arteries carrying high-pressure blood that are connected to one of the main veins deep at the base of the brain. In normal fetal development, they should link to smaller capillaries, thus slowing the flow and delivering oxygen to surrounding tissue.
The U.S. team used ultrasound to carry out the successful procedure for a woman who was 34 weeks pregnant.
The unnamed child was delivered two days later during a normal birth after her labor was induced, due to broken membrane. The child was kept in the neonatal intensive care unit for several weeks, but mother and baby are now together at home.
“In our first treated case, we were thrilled to see that the aggressive decline usually seen after birth simply did not appear,” said lead author Professor Darren Orbach of Boston Children’s Hospital.
Repeated echocardiograms after birth displayed marked improvement in cardiac output. Scans showed normal heart and brain function.
“We are pleased to report that at six weeks, the infant is progressing remarkably well, on no medications, eating normally, gaining weight and is back home,” said Dr. Orbach in a statement.
“There are no signs of any negative effects on the brain.”
Experts described the method and outcome as “pioneering” in Stroke, the peer-reviewed journal of the American Stroke Association. The premature newborn did not require any cardiovascular support or surgery following the treatment. It had a normal neurological exam and showed no strokes, no fluid buildup, and no hemorrhage on brain MRI scans.
“This approach has the potential to mark a paradigm shift in managing Vein of Galen malformation where we repair the malformation prior to birth and head off the heart failure before it occurs, rather than trying to reverse it after birth.
“This may markedly reduce the risk of long-term brain damage, disability, or death among these infants.”
The high blood flow usually has an even more serious effect on the heart and brain after birth, putting enormous pressure on the newborn’s heart and lungs. This may lead to pulmonary hypertension, heart failure or other life-threatening conditions.
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It is estimated that VOGM, the most common congenital vascular brain malformation, occurs in as many as one in every 60,000 births. It’s most often detected on a pre-natal ultrasound scan (then diagnosed by MRI) during the late second or third trimester of pregnancy.
Current standard of care is treatment after birth with embolisation, a catheter-based procedure to close off the direct artery-to-vein connections and block excess blood flow to the brain and heart. However, embolisation itself is high risk and is not always successful at reversing heart failure. Additionally, severe brain damage may have already occurred at birth, which may lead to life-long cognitive disabilities and life-threatening conditions for the infant, or even to death.
Professor Gary Satou, a fetal cardiologist at the University of California, Los Angeles, who was not involved with the study, said the intervention may be “very impactful” in a specific group of patients.
“As always, a number of these fetal cases will need to be performed in order to establish a clear pattern of improvement in both neurologic and cardiovascular outcomes. Thus, the national clinical trial will be crucial in order to achieve adequate data and, hopefully, successful outcomes.”
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Prof. Colin Derdeyn, a neuro-interventional radiologist at the University of Iowa, who was not involved with the study, also cautiously welcomed the breakthrough.
“The key advance here is to intervene before the physiologic events of birth can cause life-threatening heart failure. There are caveats; one successful case is not enough experience for us to conclude that the risks of this procedure are worth the benefits.
“However, the positive hemodynamic changes that they observed in utero and after birth —reduction in flow, reduction in size of the draining vein, reversal of the abnormal reversed flow in the aorta—are really encouraging.
“These are some of the most exciting and surprising aspects of this case report. This is pioneering work being done in a very careful and responsible way.”
REVEAL This Ultrasound News To Your Friends By Sharing on Social Media…
A sheep that thinks it’s a dog simply loves cavorting with a trio of pooch pals.
The video shows Rolo the sheep giving chase to the dogs as they play in a farmer’s field—jumping around like a BFF canine companion.
The ‘sheep dog’s’ owner, who lives in Entre Rios, Argentina, can be heard laughing and exclaiming in Spanish:
“Careful Rolo. You’re not a dog, darling!”
GNN doesn’t have any more details, such as the age of the frisky sheep, but definitely thought the video was worth sharing to deliver a chuckle, along with the other good news stories this week…
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SHARE The ROMP and Herd a Few Smiles From Pals on Social Media…
A handful of walnuts three times a week is enough to boost attention and brain growth in secondary school kids, according to a new study of students in Spain.
The nuts contain a type of omega-3 oil that is particularly beneficial to growing brains.
Scientists who studied 700 kids aged 11-16 found the cognitive development and psychological maturation increased in those that ate the nuts regularly.
They also found a big difference in those diagnosed with ADHD wherein the walnut-munchers were much more able to concentrate in class than before and were less hyperactive.
Students from 12 different schools in Barcelona were randomly divided into two groups. A control group, which received no intervention of any kind and the experimental group, which received packages containing 30 grams of walnut kernels that they were told to consume every day for a period of six months.
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The research team from the Barcelona Institute for Global Health, the Institut d’Investigació Sanitària Pere Virgili (IISPV), and the Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute, found the benefits even in those who only ate them 100 times in the 182 days.
Walnuts are rich in alpha-linolenic fatty acid (ALA), a type of omega-3 that plays a fundamental role in brain development—especially at this life stage when kids’ bodies are changing a lot as they grow.
“Adolescence is a time of great biological changes,” said Principal investigator Dr. Jordi Julvez from the IISPV.
“Hormonal transformation occurs, which in turn is responsible for stimulating the synaptic growth of the frontal lobe—the part of our brain that enables neuropsychological maturation, i.e., more complex emotional and cognitive functions.
“Neurons that are well nourished with this type of fatty acids will be able to grow and form new, stronger synapses.”
They also found an increase in functions relating to fluid intelligence, which is less influenced by learning. It is inherent to the person’s biology.
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“We assessed (fluid intelligence) with increasingly complex tests, such as having adolescents figure out what pattern a row of letters followed,” explained Dr. Julvez.
While there have been previous studies on the effect of nuts on our health, the impact of their consumption at such a critical stage for cognitive development as adolescence has never been examined.
Ariadna Pinar, a doctoral student from IISPV and first author of the study published in the journal eClinicalMedicine, said their findings demonstrate that following a healthy diet is as important as maintaining these habits over time.
“Adolescence is a period of great brain development and complex behaviors that requires a significant amount of energy and nutrients.
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“If boys and girls would heed these recommendations and actually eat a handful of walnuts a day, or at least three times a week, they would notice many substantial improvements in cognitive abilities and it would help them face the challenges of adolescence and entering adulthood.”
DOLE OUT This Fantastic Food Tip to Friends on Social Media–SHARE IT!
Quote of the Day: “I‘m learning how to grow into the space I was always meant to occupy.” – Jane Shore
Photo by: Belinda Fewings
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?
A research team that analyzed black holes determined they are a bit like a messy toddlers when they swallow up wayward stars—taking a few bites before flinging the leftovers across the galaxy.
The protracted and violent meals were unveiled in remarkable detail using computer simulations, because black holes are invisible—and their gravity is so strong that even light can’t escape.
“We obviously cannot observe black holes directly because they don’t emit light,” said lead author Fulya Kıroglu, a PhD student at Northwestern University in Illinois. “Instead, we have to look at the interactions between black holes and their environments.”
“We found that stars undergo multiple passages before being ejected. After each passage, they lose more mass, causing a flair of light as it’s ripped apart. Each flare is brighter than the last, creating a signature that might help astronomers find them.”
Finding black holes is important because they may be the source of a mysterious force known as dark energy. It has even been posited that they are tunnels between universes, a type of wormhole.
The findings apply to medium-sized black holes (between 100 to 10,000 solar masses), which are much harder to detect than their supermassive counterparts.
“Astrophysicists have uncovered evidence that they exist,” said Ms. Kiroglu. “But that evidence can often be explained by other mechanisms. For example, what appears to be an intermediate-mass black hole might actually be the accumulation of stellar-mass black holes.”
Her team developed new hydrodynamic models including a large star, which was sent towards it. Then they calculated the gravitational force acting on its particles during the approach.
They were able to calculate specifically which particle was bound to the star and which particle was disrupted, and flung loose.
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The study showed stars could orbit an intermediate-mass black hole as many as five times before finally being ejected. With each pass around, the star loses more and more of its mass as it’s ripped apart.
The black hole kicks the leftovers back out into the galaxy, moving at searing speeds.
The repeating pattern would create a stunning light show that should help astronomers recognize, and prove, the existence of intermediate-mass black holes.
“It’s amazing the star isn’t fully ripped apart,” she added. “Some stars get lucky and survive the event.
“The ejection speed is so high that these stars could be identified as hyper-velocity stars, which have been observed at the centers of galaxies.”
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She next plans to simulate giant and binary stars to explore their interactions with black holes.
Supermassive black holes are believed to power their galaxies—and one currently sits at the heart of the Milky Way.
The findings were presented at a virtual meeting of the American Physical Society.
FLING This Fascinating Research Toward Stargazers on Social Media…
A giant armor-plated fish once so popular King Edward II declared it ‘royal’ is being reintroduced to British waters.
Conservationists are bringing back the critically-endangered native sturgeon decades after the ancient species was nearly wiped from UK rivers.
A team led by the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) has launched the UK Sturgeon Conservation Strategy and Action Plan—a science-based guide developed by experts that outlines the actions needed to recover numbers of both the Atlantic and European sturgeons in the UK.
Growing up to 16 feet in length (5m), the fish has long whisker-like barbels and diamond-shaped armored plates along their backs.
“Sturgeons look like they’ve swum straight out of a paleontologist’s textbook,” said Hannah McCormick, ZSL’s conservation project officer for estuaries and wetlands.
“These impressive and ancient animals were once common in UK rivers and along our coastline. Fast-forward 700 years, and sturgeons have all but disappeared from our waters, after dam construction in rivers blocking their migration routes and overfishing caused numbers to plummet in the latter half of the 20th century.”
This UK-wide plan follows successful conservation in France and Germany that helped save European sturgeons from the brink of extinction. In 2020, juvenile sturgeon of two different species, both of which were feared extinct, were spotted in a river in the Republic of Georgia.
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After increased sightings in British waters. the team will be identifying essential habitats, restoring migratory passages, and trying to keep the fish from being accidentally caught by fishermen.
“These ancient fish outlived the dinosaurs and in fact still closely resemble their ancestors, which swam in Earth’s seas and rivers 100 million years ago,” McCormick said.
Both European and Atlantic sturgeons are fully migratory species—beginning their lives in rivers, before traveling out to the sea.
Once at sea they live most of their 60-year-long lives in coastal and marine waters, only returning to freshwater as adults every few years to reproduce.
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Jenny Murray, Blue Marine Foundation’s senior restoration projects manager, said: “The development of this Action Plan has been an exciting first step that contributes to the European efforts of restoring sturgeons.
The public can support the sturgeon’s return by raising awareness of this beautiful species and reporting any sightings to UK’s Save the Sturgeon website.
LOOK: Holy Mackerel! Fish Really Is Brain Food – Even if You Only Eat a Small Amount
REEL IN This Story to Share With Your Fish-Loving Pals On Social Media…
To mark National Pet Week which begins May 7, a pair of dog experts compiled the top things you should and shouldn’t be doing with your senior pooches—including, keeping them mentally stimulated, but not expecting them to run for more than 60 minutes.
A dog’s life cycle runs much quicker than a human’s, so older pups may not be able to keep up with their owner’s multi-mile walks. The same goes for expecting them to run long distances or climb steps with slippery flooring.
A survey of 2,000 dog owners, commissioned by Forthglade (a British company that makes natural dog food) found that 43 percent believe you can’t teach an old dog new tricks.
But veterinarian Dr. James Greenwood and dog behaviorist Caroline Wilkinson agree that teaching your old dog new tricks is a great idea when it comes to keeping your pet healthy–and their brains active—in their golden years.
“It’s absolutely possible to teach an old dog new tricks, to keep it mentally stimulated later in life, and reduce cognitive decline,” said Wilkinson, who believes a dog is considered senior when they’re 8-10 years old.
“We know that half the time spent on mental activity is just as stimulating for your dog as double the time on physical activity, and so this is a really easy way to keep their life enriched and happy as they get older.”
Respondents in the poll listed the top ways they spend ‘quality time’ with their dog: 65 percent cited playing games, 55 percent said taking their dog to their favorite walking spots and 53% said treating their pup to their favorite foods.
When it comes to exercise, a quarter of dog owners believe elderly dogs should be walked for 30 minutes a day on average, according to the survey by market research company OnePoll.
Dr. Greenwood confirmed that as a dog ages, it’s important to keep them moving, but only within their individual capabilities.
“If stiff joints or mobility problems do start to become an issue, speaking to a vet should always be the first step, as lots can be done to keep older dogs mobile”.
Wilkinson says a nutritious diet should be at the top of the list for senior dog care, yet 37% of those polled feel unsure if they should even change their dog’s diet as it ages.
“Like us humans, not only does a diet boost their long-term health physically, but the stomach is the second brain, so it also affects how the dog is feeling. A healthy diet helps with everything from energy to play and good behavior, right through to improving sleep.”
Look for natural dog foods made specifically for elderly canines.
DO: Keep an eye out for any changes to your dog both physically but also mentally—anything that differs from the norm.
DON’T: Put your own agenda and lifestyle before the dog. Ensure their walks are tailored to their age and try and minimize drastic changes to their lifestyle or routines.
DO: Remember your dog’s abilities may be changing. Older dogs may struggle on hardwood floors and steps for example, so putting runners and rugs down will help them with mobility.
MORE DOG POLLS: Vast Majority of Dog Owners Believe They Can Read Their Pooch’s Mind
DON’T: Don’t dismiss an older dog by presuming they don’t want to still be active, or thinking that once an old dog gets a condition, we can’t do anything with them anymore.
DO: Keep their brain active by engaging with them in simple training exercises, which could have both a physical and mental element. Consider teaching these tricks (and use healthy treats as a reward for completing the task):
• Running through your legs
• Speaking
• High five or waving
• Dancing – great for dogs with wiggly butts
• Shaking with its paw
• Walking backwards
• Putting away their toys
• Bowing down
CONSIDER Sharing This Advice With Aging Pets and Their Owners…
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 May 6, 2023
Copyright by Rob Brezsny, FreeWillAstrology.com
TAURUS (April 20-May 20):
I’ve selected a passage to serve as one of your prime themes during the rest of 2023. It comes from poet Jane Shore. She writes, “Now I feel I am learning how to grow into the space I was always meant to occupy, into a self I can know.” Dear Taurus, you will have the opportunity to grow ever-more assured and self-possessed as you embody Shore’s description in the coming months. Congratulations in advance on the progress you will make to more fully activate your soul’s code.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20):
Georges Rouault (1871-1958) was a Gemini painter who bequeathed the world over 3,000 works of art. There might have been even more. But years before he died, he burned 315 of his unfinished paintings. He felt they were imperfect, and he would never have time or be motivated to finish them. I think the coming weeks would be a good time for you to enjoy a comparable purge, Gemini. Are there things in your world that don’t mean much to you anymore and are simply taking up space? Consider the possibility of freeing yourself from their stale energy.
CANCER (June 21-July 22):
Britain occupied India for almost 200 years. It was a ruthless and undemocratic exploitation that steadily drained India’s wealth and resources. Mahatma Gandhi wasn’t the only leader who fought British oppression, but he was among the most effective. In 1930, he led a 24-day, 240-mile march to protest the empire’s tyrannical salt tax. This action was instrumental in energizing the Indian independence movement that ultimately culminated in India’s freedom. I vote to make Gandhi one of your inspirational role models in the coming months. Are you ready to launch a liberation project? Stage a constructive rebellion? Marshal the collaborative energies of your people in a holy cause?
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22):
As crucial as it is to take responsibility, it is also essential to recognize where our responsibilities end and what should be left for others to do. For example, we usually shouldn’t do work for other people that they can just as easily do for themselves. We shouldn’t sacrifice doing the work that only we can do and get sidetracked doing work that many people can do. To be effective and to find fulfillment in life, it’s vital for us to discover what truly needs to be within our care and what should be outside of our care. I see the coming weeks as a favorable time for you to clarify the boundary between these two.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22):
Virgo-born Marie Laveau (1801–1881) was a powerful herbalist, activist, and midwife in New Orleans. According to legend, she could walk on water, summon clairvoyant visions, safely suck the poison out of a snake’s jowls, and cast spells to help her clients achieve their heart’s desires. There is also a wealth of more tangible evidence that she was a community activist who healed the sick, volunteered as an advocate for prisoners, provided free teachings, and did rituals for needy people who couldn’t pay her. I hereby assign her to be your inspirational role model for the coming weeks. I suspect you will have extra power to help people in both mysterious and practical ways.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22):
What are the best methods to exorcize our personal demons, ghosts, and goblins? Or at least subdue them and neutralize their ill effects? We all have such phantoms at work in our psyches, corroding our confidence and undermining our intentions. One approach I don’t recommend is to get mad at yourself for having these interlopers. Never do that. The demons’ strategy, you see, is to manipulate you into being mean and cruel to yourself. To drive them away, I suggest you shower yourself with love and kindness. That seriously reduces their ability to trick you and hurt you—and may even put them into a deep sleep. Now is an excellent time to try this approach.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21):
As she matured, Scorpio poet Sylvia Plath wrote, “I am learning how to compromise the wild dream ideals and the necessary realities without such screaming pain.” I believe you’re ready to go even further than Plath was able to, dear Scorpio. In the coming weeks, you could not merely “compromise” the wild dream ideals and the necessary realities. You could synergize them and get them to collaborate in satisfying ways. Bonus: I bet you will accomplish this feat without screaming pain. In fact, you may generate surprising pleasures that delight you with their revelations.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21):
Some primates use herbal and clay medicines to self-medicate. Great apes, chimpanzees, bonobos, and gorillas ingest a variety of ingredients that fight against parasitic infection and help relieve various gastrointestinal disturbances. Our ancestors learned the same healing arts, though far more extensively. And many Indigenous people today still practice this kind of self-care. With these thoughts in mind, Sagittarius, I urge you to spend quality time in the coming weeks deepening your understanding of how to heal and nurture yourself. The kinds of “medicines” you might draw on could be herbs, and may also be music, stories, colors, scents, books, relationships, and adventures.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19):
The mythic traditions of all cultures are replete with tales of clashes and combats. If we draw on these tales to deduce what activity humans enjoy more than any other, we might conclude that it’s fighting with each other. But I hope you will avoid this normal habit as much as possible during the next three weeks, Capricorn. I am encouraging you to actively repress all inclinations to tangle. Just for now, I believe you will cast a wildly benevolent magic spell on your mental and physical health if you avoid arguments and skirmishes. Here’s a helpful tip: In each situation you’re involved in, focus on sustaining a vision of the most graceful, positive outcome.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18):
Is there a person who could serve as your Über Mother for a while? This would be a wise and tender maternal ally who gives you the extra nurturing you need, along with steady doses of warm, crisp advice on how to weave your way through your labyrinthine decisions. Your temporary Über Mother could be any gender, really. They would love and accept you for exactly who you are, even as they stoke your confidence to pursue your sweet dreams about the future. Supportive and inspirational. Reassuring and invigorating. Championing you and consecrating you.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20):
Congratulations on acquiring the Big New Riddle! I trust it will inspire you to grow wiser and kinder and wilder over the coming months. I’ve compiled some clues to help you unravel and ultimately solve this challenging and fascinating mystery. 1. Refrain from calling on any strength that’s stingy or pinched. Ally yourself solely with generous power. 2. Avoid putting your faith in trivial and irrelevant “benefits.” Hold out for the most soulful assistance. 3. The answer to key questions may often be, “Make new connections and enhance existing connections.”
ARIES (March 21-April 19):
Before forming the band called The Beatles, John Lennon, George Harrison, and Paul McCartney performed under various other names: the Quarrymen, Japage 3, and Johnny and the Moondogs. I suspect you are currently at your own equivalent of the Johnny and the Moondogs phase. You’re building momentum. You’re gathering the tools and resources you need. But you have not yet found the exact title, descriptor, or definition for your enterprise. I suggest you be extra alert for its arrival in the coming weeks.
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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The Tuscan-town of Laterina is thrilled to see news that an Italian historian has determined a ruined Etruscan-Roman era bridge in their area was the backdrop of Leonardo Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa.
Using drone photographs and historical records of da Vinci’s whereabouts, including those owned by the De Medici family, historian Silvano Vinceti says he feels very sure that the bridge over Mona Lisa’s left-shoulder is the Romito di Laterina bridge.
The most telling clue was the number of arches. Three candidates for the bridge depicted in the Mona Lisa all have different numbers of arches. The Ponte Buriano near Laterina has 6 arches, while the Ponte Gobbo, in the town of Bobbio near Piacenza, has more than 6.
The bridge in the Mona Lisa, however, has 4. Using drone photographs and by measuing the distance between the two banks of the river in Laterina, as well as the size of the single arch that remains from the historic bridge, Vinceti came to a mathematical conclusion that the Romito di Laterina surely had 4 arches.
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Laterina, in the province of Arezzo, sits on a river called the Arno in a valley where Da Vinci worked at the pleasure of the cardinal Cesare Borgia, and then for Piero Soderini, a statesman of the Republic of Florence—both of whom lived near the river. It was at this time that he painted the Mona Lisa in Florence in the early 16th century.
The Romito di Laterina bridge across the Arno was a shortcut to a town called Fiesole, where Da Vinci also stayed, and then on to Florence, cutting travel times by 3 hours compared to other routes.
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Tuscany is no stranger to rivalries; the rivalry between Florence and Siena went back and forth for hundreds of years. The Mayoress of Laterina Simona Neri joked with the Guardian that the nearby town of Buriano, who boast about their bridge being used in the Mona Lisa, and who have posters and signposts up, will undoubtedly be unhappy to hear the news.
“There’ll be some rivalry; we’ll need to put a poster up, too,” she said, adding that “We need to try to protect what’s left of the bridge, which will require funding.”
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In the town of Hesperia, California, a great aunt watched helplessly as a baby stroller was carried by a gust of wind toward a busy street.
It was then that a good samaritan loitering outside a car wash named Ron Nessman reacted quickly to avert the disaster—all the while his heroics were being captured by a surveillance camera from the car wash.
The speed limit on Bear Valley Road in Hesperia is 40 miles per hour, but with three lanes in each direction, it’s hardly pedestrian friendly.
“Didn’t even have time to think about it, you just react,” Nessman told local news. “She sees the child going into the street, and that’s all she sees, she can’t do nothing.”
Indeed, in trying to catch the stroller she fell hard on the blacktop. Though homeless, Nessman has nieces and nephews whom he loves, and couldn’t imagine the lady must have been feeling.
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But a personal tragedy in his life allowed him to relate. Nessman’s girlfriend passed away in 2018, and the heartback derailed him a little bit. He had only recently moved back to Hesperia to reconnect with his family, and had just finished a job interview when he jumped into action.
“I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I did nothing,” he said. “I’m just glad I realized it and was on it.”
WATCH the rescue below from KHOU 11…
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With breathtaking views over Table Mountain, the world’s tallest building made of industrial hemp is set to open in Cape Town this June.
At 12 stories tall, the Hemp Hotel at 84 Harrison st. used carbon-negative materials that captured more carbon in the walls of the building than it emitted manufacturing them.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa believes that the cannabis and hemp industry could create 130,000 jobs in places like Afrimat Hemp—the producer of the so-called “HempCrete” blocks which went into the hotel.
Made from water, lime, hemp, and a cement binder, the blocks from Afrimat Hemp are made of entirely South African hemp, which along with selling to corporate clients, are also used to build a number of social housing projects in South Africa and neighbouring Mozambique.
For the Hemp Hotel, Afrimat Hemp partnered with Wolf Architects in Cape Town for the build.
The company admit that hemp construction is 20% more expensive than traditional materials, but the urgency with which some corporations want to help tackle climate change offers them a unqiue opportunity: selling carbon credits—but with buildings, rather than trees.
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“We can fund forests, or we can fund someone to live in a hemp house. It’s the same principle,” Afrimat Hemp’s carbon consultant Wihan Bekker told African News.
Company data shows that a 430 square foot house (40 square meters) produces 30 fewer tons of carbon than traditional methods, around what a mature tree can sequester in its roots across its lifetime.
WATCH the story below from Africa News…
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A traditional African psychedelic plant medicine has inspired two new drugs to treat addiction and depression.
Ibogaine has been used for thousands of years during shamanistic rituals as a hallucinogen, to suppress hunger and tiredness, and even as an aphrodisiac.
But ibogaine, the main active ingredient of Tabernanthe iboga, a West African shrub that grows in the Congo and Angola, can be fatal and even in smaller doses can cause heart problems.
Now scientists at the University of California, San Francisco, (UCSF) have developed two new drug candidates for potentially treating addiction and depression, modelled on the pharmacology of ibogaine.
The “addiction” part is very interesting. Rates of addiction to opioid pain medication in the US are extremely high. Sales of these drugs have tripled since the 1990s, alonside a commensurate increase in overdose deaths.
There is serious interest in the US for studying ibogaine as a way to reverse opioid withdrawal symptoms, as one observational study found it “was associated with substantive effects on opioid withdrawal symptoms and drug use in subjects for whom other treatments had been unsuccessful.”
The UCSF team took inspiration from ibogaine’s impact on the serotonin transporter (SERT), to screen over 200 million chemical compounds that have the same effect on SERT as ibogaine.
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“Our compounds mimic just one of ibogaine’s many pharmacological effects, and still replicate its most desirable effects on behaviour, at least in mice,” said lead-author Dr. Brian Shoichet.
In the 19th and 20th centuries, doctors in Europe and America experimented with ibogaine’s use in treating a variety of ailments, but the drug never gained widespread acceptance and was ultimately made illegal in many countries.
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Dr. Shoichet explained that part of the problem is that ibogaine interferes with many aspects of human biology, but that dropping the dose 200-fold could be of a benefit to patients.
Shoichet has submitted the structures of both new molecules to Sigma Aldrich, the chemical manufacturing company, aiming to make the them available for further testing by other scientists, while he continues to hunt for more precise molecules.
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