Quote of the Day: “Learn how to select your thoughts the same way you select your clothes every day. This is a power you can cultivate.” – Elizabeth Gilbert
Photo by: Amanda Vick
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?
While tourists visiting Mexican beaches complain about piles of smelly seaweed, one Mexican gardener reckoned it was something like a gift.
The governments in places like Cancun have been required to clear away as much as 40,000 tons of sargassum seaweed, which smells like rotten eggs, but Omar de Jesús Vazquez Sánchez is steering it away from the landfills and into a kiln, where he makes adobe-like blocks that pass regulation as a building material.
He started SargaBlock to market the bricks, which are being highlighted by the UN Development Program as a stroke of brilliance, and a sustainable solution to a current environmental problem.
His story begins back in 2015 when, like any experienced laborer, he found rich people were stuck with a job they didn’t want to do. In this case, it was cleaning up the sargassum on the beaches of the Riviera Maya.
Omar grew up in poverty, immigrated to the US as a child to become a day laborer, and eventually dropped out of school and became a substance abuser. The American dream never appealed to him as much as a “Mexican dream”—a mix of memories from his childhood and dreams of being a gardener back home, so he moved back.
His time feeling unwanted as an addict and immigrant gave him a unique perspective on the smelly seaweed.
“When you have problems with drugs or alcohol, you’re viewed as a problem for society. No one wants anything to do with you. They look away,” Omar told Christian Science Monitor in a translated interview.
“When sargassum started arriving, it created a similar reaction. Everyone was complaining, I wanted to mold something good out of something everyone saw as bad.”
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His cleanup crew provided work for 300 families, and it was not long after that he found the sargassum could be used to make blocks. The blocks contain 40% sargassum, and from 2021 to present day, he’s used almost 6,000 tons of the stinky stuff to fire blocks which he’s used to build structures all around the state of Jalisco.
The ecology and environment offices of Quintana Roo, the legislative area that includes the city of Cancun, approved the SargaBlocks for use, and similar organic-based blocks have been reckoned as being capable of enduring 120 years.
The UN Development Program selected Omar’s work to be featured in their Accelerator Lab global broadcast to alert the world of its value and ingenuity.
There are all kinds of naturally-occurring pollutants or burdens that could be used in construction, and the UNDP hoped that by sharing Omar’s vision of the future of the Caribbean’s sargassum problem, it would inspire others to act in similar ways.
MORE SEAWEED SOLUTIONS: Compostable Plastic Wrap Made from Seaweed Can Withstand Heat–and Biodegrade in Weeks
Bricks and cement can be great sources to use up naturally-occurring material that’s dangerous or burdensome—like this Filippino community using the ash from volcanic eruptions to make bricks.
Omar has been fortunate enough to be able to donate 14 “Casas Angelitas,” or homes made of SargaBlock, to families in need, and seems to be exceedingly close to achieving his “Mexican dream.”
WATCH a bit of the story below…
SHARE This Inspiring Human And Ecosystem Story With Your Friends…
According to a recent study, researchers found that, for senior citizens, every 500 additional daily steps reduces the risk of heart trouble.
Compared to those who took less than 2,000 steps per day, adults who took around 4,500 steps per day had a 77 percent lower risk of experiencing a cardiovascular event such as a heart attack or stroke.
Only about 3.5 percent of the participants who took around 4,500 steps per day suffered a cardiovascular event, compared to 11.5 percent of those who took less than 2,000 steps per day, over the 3.5-year study period.
“Steps are an easy way to measure physical activity, and more daily steps were associated with a lower risk of having a cardiovascular disease-related event in older adults,” says lead researcher Dr. Erin Dooley, assistant professor of epidemiology at the University of Alabama.
“Most studies have focused on early-to-midlife adults with daily goals of 10,000 or more steps, which may not be attainable for older individuals.”
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Participants were part of a larger study group of more than 15,700 adults originally recruited for the ongoing Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study. The research team evaluated health data for any potential association between daily step counts and cardiovascular disease.
They analyzed information from 452 participants with an average age of 78 who used an accelerometer device similar to a pedometer, worn at the hip, that measured their daily steps. The devices were worn for three or more days, for 10 or more hours, and the average step count was about 3,500 steps per day.
Over the 3.5-year follow-up period, 7.5 percent of the participants experienced a cardiovascular disease event, such as coronary heart disease, stroke or heart failure.
The analysis found that, compared to adults who took less than 2,000 steps per day, those who took around 4,500 steps each day—about a quarter-mile more walking—had a 77 percent lower risk of experiencing a cardiovascular event.
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Nearly 12 percent of older adults with less than 2,000 steps per day suffered a cardiovascular event, compared to 3.5 percent of the participants who walked about 4,500 steps per day.
Every additional 500 steps taken per day was incrementally associated with a 14 percent lower risk of cardiovascular disease.
“We were surprised to find that every additional quarter of a mile, or 500 steps of walking, had such a strong benefit to heart health,” Dooley told the American Heart Association.
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“While we do not want to diminish the importance of higher intensity physical activity, encouraging small increases in the number of daily steps also has significant cardiovascular benefits,” she added.
“If you are an older adult over the age of 70, start with trying to get 500 more steps per day.”
The findings were presented last month at the American Heart Association’s Epidemiology, Prevention, Lifestyle and Cardiometabolic Health Scientific Sessions in Boston, Massachusetts.
SHARE The Important Health Tip With Seniors on Social Media…
The couple behind one of the UK’s most-booked Airbnb properties says the innovative construction only took ten days to construct.
Architect Roderick James and his interior designer wife Amanda Markham, designed and built the AirShip 002 in 2018.
The “remote, cozy, compact, aluminum-clad capsule structure” looks like a futuristic air ship and features breath-taking Highland views from floor to ceiling.
The $205 per night accommodation in Drimnin, Scotland (£165), was the most wish-listed Airbnb rental in the UK in 2020 and secures bookings over a year in advance.
The project built as part of their company Out of the Blue Ltd costed £100,000 to build ($124,000), but it has already made its money back since its creation five years ago.
“We designed the AirShip 002 just for fun at first, but then a perfect plot came up and we decided to build it,” said the 75-year-old architect.
“At first we weren’t intending to rent it. We just thought it would be an ideal location, but then it became incredibly popular.
“It was a brand new design and it had never been done before. We wanted to build something that could be built anywhere—and any part of the structure can be carried by two people.
“It has over 3000 components which were computer laser cut in the factory which took three to four months.
“But then the actual structure went up in ten days on site. In the future, all housing will become increasingly modular.”
“The structure has everything you could need. It can even be off-grid with a compost toilet and rainwater can be collected from the roof and stored under the floor panels.
“The dragonfly window breaks up the view in such an extraordinary way. Everyone who stays here wishes they could stay for longer. It really is a special place.”
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Following the success of the AirShip, the couple have embarked on two other tiny house projects to rent on Airbnb.
The Pilot House PH5, an aluminum structure with 360 degree views, was completed after just six months of building in September 2020. The couple lives nearby in another house they designed themselves, called Eagle Rock.
LOOK: Van Gogh Painting Recreated As Actual Bedroom to Rent on Airbnb
Their latest and smallest project, The Captain’s Cabin, was completed in January 2021. This stay even comes with the gift of a novel titled The Captain’s Cabin by Alexander McCall Smith. The Captain’s Cabin, sits on the large balcony deck on the roof of an old chapel building on the same site as the other projects and is also proving very popular.
All profits from the book, published by Roderick and Amanda’s company Out of The Blue, go directly to the “transformational” charity Jamie’s Farm which hosts disadvantaged children for residential farm stays.
All of their quirky builds feature stunning views and fresh spring water, but their unique shape is what Roderick attributes some of their success to.
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He said: “One of the key things we work on, even in our own house, is that they’re all based on elliptical, oval, shapes.
“We have discovered that people feel very comfortable in these plan shapes. Sandi Toksvig described it as ‘like a womb with a view!’ There are no sharp corners and as a result people feel very secure.
“The views add an enormous amount too. If you have a very small space, but a big view, it works very well.”
Want to book a stay at the AirShip. Visit their Airbnb page here. Or, rent Winnie the Pooh’s Tree House in the original Hundred Acre Wood at this ‘Bearbnb’.
Take a tour of the Airship…
SHARE The Exquisite Adventure With Traveling Pals on Social Media…
Criminal justice reforms signed three years ago in the U.S. state of Michigan took effect last week, with nearly 850,000 residents seeing at least one conviction automatically set aside.
The bipartisan “Clean Slate” legislation, as advocates call it, triggered an automatic expungement process starting last Tuesday, wiping clean a range of convictions from people’s records following a defined waiting period.
Michigan has about 2.8 million people with criminal records. Many of those convictions are low-level, nonviolent offenses, while others were committed as juveniles. Before the new expungement laws, those offenses stuck to records and acted as barriers to housing and employment opportunities.
“We’re celebrating a historic step forward as Michigan becomes just the third state to implement automatic expungement,” said John Cooper, executive director of Safe & Just Michigan. “This reform will deliver immediate and automatic impact for more than a million people, all of whom are likely to see their access to housing and jobs improve overnight.”
On April 11 alone, when the automatic expungement program began, 252,417 Michiganders became conviction-free as their criminal records were sealed.
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Other states that offer relief for criminal records include Louisiana, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Utah, Florida, Georgia, Montana, and Maine.
“We are encouraged and hopeful that the State of Michigan will continue to advance meaningful second chances in the future,” said Antoniese “Tony” Gant, director of policy and program operations for the Lansing-based Nation Outside. “We know all too well how difficult, expensive, and embarrassing the expungement petition process (used to) be.”
The new program’s algorithm automatically searches the state’s criminal record database every day to find convictions newly eligible for expungement.
Offenses not eligible for expungement include arson, child abuse, first-degree criminal sexual conduct, first-degree murder, felonious assault, manslaughter, stalking, and others.
For misdemeanors punishable by less than 93 days in jail, courts will seal those records instead of the state police.
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“This groundbreaking, nation-leading reform will be transformational for thousands of our neighbors in West Michigan, and for our member businesses who have thousands of job openings to fill,” said Josh Lunger, vice president of government affairs with the Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce.
“Building sustainable talent pipelines and creating economic opportunity for more people is a critical piece of supporting a thriving and prosperous West Michigan for all.”
Research has shown favorable outcomes for employment and income for people whose records have been expunged, along with a lower re-offense rate than compared to the general public.
Safe & Just estimates that going forward, the program will expunge between 100,000 to 200,000 low-level, nonviolent criminal records annually.
Convictions will be eligible for permanent sealing after seven years for up to four misdemeanors; and after either 10 years for up to two nonviolent felonies or the completion of a prison term.
Written by Laina G. Stebbins and republished under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 license from Michigan Advance
The tell-tale sign of aging—gray hair—is something that many women and men have tried to hide for generations. Now, researchers have found that certain stem cells have a unique ability to move within hair follicles, which could maintain the original pigment in the strands.
They found that as our hair ages, sheds, and repeatedly grows back, more of these stem cells become stuck in a compartment called the hair follicle bulge. They remain here and fail to travel back to their original location in the compartment, where proteins would have helped them regenerate into pigment cells—thus helping hairs keep their color.
The study, led by researchers at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine, observed the physically-aged hairs of mice and found that more and more stem cells became stuck when aging. These cells were also found to remain incapable of regenerating or maturing into pigment-producing hairs that keep their color.
The scientists hope the new research may lead to the necessary answers for keeping hair healthy and colored long into old age.
The study focused on cells in the skin of mice which can also be found in humans, called ‘melanocyte stem cells’ or McSCs.
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Our hair color is controlled by whether non-functional—but continually multiplying—pools of McSCs within hair follicles receive the signal necessary to become mature cells responsible for making the protein pigments.
The NYU study published this week in Nature found the McSCs are ‘plastic’ or adaptable, meaning that during normal hair growth, they continually move back and forth on the maturity axis as they move between compartments of the developing hair follicle.
It is inside these compartments that the McSCs are exposed to differing levels of maturity-influencing protein signals, which transform the cells between their most primitive stem cell state to the next stage of their maturation.
The scientists found that increasing numbers of McSCs get stuck—and once stuck, the McSCs remain in the bulge and fail to mature into the transit state that would help them travel back to their original location in the germ compartment where proteins could help them to regenerate into pigment cells.
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The researchers say McSC adaptability is not present in other self-regenerating stem cells, such as those making up the hair follicle itself, which are known to move in only one direction along an established timeline as they mature, which helps explain in part why hair can keep growing even while its pigmentation fails.
“Our study adds to our basic understanding of how melanocyte stem cells work to color hair,” said the study’s lead investigator, Dr Qi Sun, a postdoctoral fellow at NYU Langone Health. “The newfound mechanisms raise the possibility that the same fixed-positioning of melanocyte stem cells may exist in humans.”
“If so, it presents a potential pathway for reversing or preventing the graying of human hair by helping jammed cells to move again between developing hair follicle compartments.”
Earlier work by scientists at NYU showed that “WNT signaling was needed to stimulate the McSCs to mature and produce pigment”. That study had also shown that McSCs were many trillions of times less exposed to WNT signaling in the hair follicle bulge than in the hair germ compartment, which is situated directly below the bulge.
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In the latest experiments, the NYU team ‘physically’ aged the hair of mice by plucking them out and forcing them to regrow. The number of hair follicles with McSCs lodged in the follicle bulge increased from 15 percent before plucking to nearly half afterward.
These cells remained incapable of either regenerating or maturing into pigment-producing melanocytes.
The stuck McSCs were found to have ceased their regenerative behavior as they were no longer exposed to enough WNT protein signaling and were unable to produce pigment in new hair follicles, which continued to grow.
In contrast, McSCs which continued to move back and forth between the follicle bulge and hair germ retained their ability to regenerate as McSCs, mature into melanocytes, and produce pigment over the entire study period of two years.
“It is the loss of chameleon-like function in melanocyte stem cells that may be responsible for graying and loss of hair color,” added Dr Mayumi Ito, a Langone Health professor.
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“These findings suggest that melanocyte stem cell motility and reversible differentiation are key to keeping hair healthy and colored.”
The team now plans to investigate the potential means of restoring the motility of McSCs or physically moving them back to their germ compartment where they can produce pigment—thus stopping hairs from turning gray.
IF YOU HATE Gray Hair, Share The Good News With Friends on Social Media…
Quote of the Day: “Beauty is pointless wonder—and as vital as oxygen or B vitamins.” – William Sebrans
Photo by: Patti Black
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?
“You make it, you recycle it.” A new poll found that half of Americans believe major companies need to be accountable for the waste their products generate—and five of the biggest corporations on the planet are doing just that.
One company leading the way is Apple. Since 1994, Apple has operated its own green gadget recycling program and soon began collecting devices, computers, and printers in many countries—even Android models and Windows computers, not just iPhones and Macs—diverting tons of electronic waste from landfills, and saving precious materials.
By 2010, they were recycling 19 million pounds of e-waste annually—nearly 30% of the product weight sold seven years earlier, which is considered the device’s lifecycle.
Apple not only recycles for free, they offer trade-in value if your devices are worth any money.
All the e-waste Apple collects in North America is processed in the US, and nothing is shipped overseas for disposal.
Other companies, like Google, offer credits or free recycling in exchange for trading-in used gadgets. Google gives you an option to request a free shipping label to mail in some used gadgets and electronics for recycling.
Staples will recycle lots of devices, regardless of the brand, condition, or store where you originally purchased them. They offer an expanded list of items eligible, not only your old desktop, laptop, tablet computers, and peripherals, but also eReaders, shredders, monitors, GPS devices, battery backups, digital cameras, MP3 players, ink and toner, external hard drives, cordless phones, wireless routers, and more, according to PC Magazine. Their green collections since 2012 have totaled nearly 166 million pounds.
Walmart Gadgets to Gift Cards program will pay you for phones, tablets, game controllers, speakers, laptops, and wearables as long as they have enough value—but no matter what condition the items are in, they’ll be recycled. Some electronics are even reused, repaired, and refurbished. To participate in the program, fill out an online form, and you’ll get a free prepaid shipping label from FedEx Ground. If your item has monetary value, you’ll also receive a Walmart e-gift card.
PCmag.com reports that Best Buy has, arguably, the best recycling program going. “Its website details exactly what the store will take, and a drop-down menu in each category gets specific for your state. You can bring in up to three items per day. Most of them can be recycled for free; others might make you eligible for a discount or get you a trade-in deal.”
The new poll of 2,000 adults commissioned by Covanta, a resource in sustainable materials management, found over half of Americans (56%) are more likely to shop from a company that uses recycled materials in its products.
The majority of respondents answered the survey by OnePoll saying they wanted to see companies take responsibility of their waste stream: safely and securely destroy hazardous materials (59%), reuse and recycle materials when possible (58%), and make products with recyclable materials (53%)—which is another reason to salute Apple.
This week, ahead of Earth Day, the consumer giant announced “a major acceleration of its efforts to expand recycled materials”, including a new 2025 target to use 100 percent recycled cobalt in all Apple-designed batteries and entirely-recycled rare earth elements in its magnets. All printed circuit boards will use 100% recycled tin soldering and gold plating. The company already sources over two-thirds of its aluminum, nearly three-quarters of all rare earth metals, and more than 95% of all tungsten, from 100 percent recycled material.
“Corporations have a massive impact on the environment,” said Chief Sustainability Officer Tequila Smith at Covanta. “And it’s in their favor to be responsible for the waste they generate. They can achieve this by utilizing sustainable service options that maximize product reuse that contributes to the circular economy.”
53 percent of those polled said they’d be more inclined to be sustainable in their own home or neighborhood if they saw a large company take a stronger stance on climate action.
“There is a clear ‘want’ people have for products made sustainably and a level of inspiration that people gain when they see a company they like doing something good for the environment,” Smith concluded.
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Regardless of what other companies are doing, we can all celebrate Earth Day by taking a few minutes to recycle our old electronics, rather than hoarding them in a drawer and later tossing them in the trash.
EASY EARTH DAY ACTION: Share This on Social Media With Friends Who Need a Nudge to Recycle…
Scientists have discovered extensive, ancient deep-sea coral reefs within the Galápagos Marine Reserve in Ecuador—the first of their kind ever to be documented inside the marine protected area since it was established in 1998.
The reef supports a breathtaking mix of deep marine life found at a depth of nearly 2,000 feet below the surface (400-600 meters deep).
Cresting the ridge of a submerged volcano, and stretching over several kilometers, the impressive reef structure was discovered by Dr. Michelle Taylor (University of Essex, UK) and Dr. Stuart Banks (Charles Darwin Foundation, Ecuador) while diving in the human-occupied vehicle known as Alvin. It was the first time Alvin had explored this region of the Reserve.
“The reef is pristine and teeming with life – pink octopus, batfish, squat lobsters and an array of deep-sea fish, sharks, and rays,” said Taylor. “This newly discovered reef is potentially an area of global significance – a canary in the mine for other reefs globally – a site we can monitor over time to see how a pristine habitat evolves with our current climate crisis.”
The submersible vehicle recently received an ultra-high definition 4K video imaging system, as well as enhanced sampling capabilities, which allowed for the stunningly clear video of the newly discovered reef sites, as well as the delicate sampling required of the reef.
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Prior to this discovery, Wellington Reef off the coast of Darwin Island in the far north of the archipelago was thought to be among the few structural shallow coral reefs in the Galápagos Islands to have survived the 1982-83 El Niño event. The new discovery shows that sheltered deep-water coral communities have likely persisted for centuries in the depths of the marine reserve, supporting rich, diverse, and potentially unique marine communities.
A marine geologist and researcher at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Daniel Fornari, co-led the expedition. Fornari, Taylor, and Banks, are part of an international group of scientists on the Galápagos Deep 2023 expedition aboard the US Navy research vessel Atlantis, mapping the mysteries with Alvin (also owned by the Navy, but operated by Woods Hole).
“21st-century seafloor mapping technologies and imaging techniques reveal the beauty and complexity of the volcanic and biological processes that makes the Galápagos so unique,” said Fornari, who has mapped and sampled the marine environment in the Galápagos for over 20 years. (See some of the video below.)
“The captivating thing about these reefs is that they are very old and essentially pristine, unlike those found in many other parts of the world’s oceans,” said Dr. Banks. “This gives us reference points to understand their importance for marine natural biodiversity heritage, connectivity with regional marine preserves (MPAs), as well as their role in providing goods and services such as carbon cycling and fisheries. It also helps us reconstruct past ocean environments to understand modern climate change.”
Taylor noted the importance of this discovery for deep sea habitats: “The discovered reef is novel for several reasons – in shallow reefs where finding 10-20% of coral cover would be considered a relatively unhealthy reef, in the deep-sea this is the norm. Dead coral skeletons making up the remaining 80-90% still provide homes for a huge diversity of life, which is less reliant on the live sections of coral. However, the reefs we’ve found in the last few days have 50-60% live coral in many areas, which is very rare indeed.”
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And, it’s very likely there are more reef structures across different depths waiting to be explored.
Scientific findings such as this help inform effective management and conservation actions. The discovery also comes at a time when the Eastern Tropical Pacific countries of Panama, Costa Rica, Colombia, and Ecuador are actively collaborating to create protected marine corridors that cross borders.
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Newly protected sea territories, such as the Hermandad Marine Reserve, now connect seamounts in Ecuadorian waters to offshore marine environments such as Costa Rica’s Cocos Island National Park—all to protect foraging grounds and migratory routes for marine life, and enforce responsible fisheries.
“This groundbreaking discovery reaffirms our determination to establish new marine protected areas in Ecuador and to continue promoting the creation of a regional marine protected area in the Eastern Tropical Pacific,” declared Ecuador’s Minister of Environment, Jose Antonio Dávalos.
“The richness of the yet explored depths of our ocean is another reason to strive towards achieving the commitments of the Global Ocean Alliance 30×30, which aims to protect at least 30% of the world’s oceans by 2030, aligning sustainable economic activities with conservation.”
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SAIL the Reef Discovery to Ocean Lovers on Social Media…
We don’t celebrate Earth Day by wasting paper, creating garbage, or needlessly using electricity. We do it by supporting our planet—and we make it fun, so it actually feels good.
No matter where you live or what your beliefs are, you can do something to honor and enhance the environment. Here are some ideas for celebrating Earth Day in a natural way—giving more and consuming less:
– Email or call a friend to say “Happy Earth Day!” and schedule a walk with them in any natural setting.
– Buy a packet of sunflower seeds, then give them to a child to plant.
– Turn off your lights and appliances which you are not using, for as long as you can. Every small effort counts. If it has a little LED light shining, it is using electricity.
– Bring some gloves and a bag to a roadside or shoreline and pick up some trash. You are cleaning up the planet just like you clean up your house. (And, you may find treasures. We always do.)
– Sprinkle some wildflower seeds in a place that needs a smile. Some ideas are on a bike path, athletic field, at a school, or along a public sidewalk.
– Plant something. Start with a potted tomato plant or some lettuce seeds and see how wonderful it is to grow your own food and nurture another living thing.
– Make a choice to buy organic food. After all, our choices send a powerful message.
– Stop using household chemicals. Dish soap, baking soda and white vinegar are ALL you need for an easy spring cleaning.
– Start using canvas bags when you shop. Keep some in your car.
– Vow to end chemical treatments on your lawn and plants. These can leach into our watershed and harm bees.
– Decide to organize an Earth Day party or festival next year—but, you gotta Plan-et!
We hope these tips can help you have an Earth Day to remember.
By Marilyn El-Abidin
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 April 22, 2023
Copyright by Rob Brezsny, FreeWillAstrology.com
TAURUS (April 20-May 20):
Satirical Taurus author Karl Kraus defined “sentimental irony” as “a dog that bays at the moon while pissing on graves.” Please avoid that decadent emotion in the coming weeks, Taurus. You will also be wise to reject any other useless or counterproductive feelings that rise up within you or hurtle toward you from other people, like “clever cruelty” or “noble self-pity” or “sweet revenge.” In fact, I hope you will be rigorous about what moods you feed and what influences you allow into your sphere. You have a right and a duty to be highly discerning about shaping both your inner and outer environments. Renewal time is imminent.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20):
In his poem October Fullness, Pablo Neruda says, “Our own wounds heal with weeping, / Our own wounds heal with singing.” I agree. I believe that weeping and singing are two effective ways to recover from emotional pain and distress. The more weeping and singing we do, the better. I especially recommend these therapeutic actions to you now, Gemini. You are in a phase when you can accomplish far more curative and restorative transformations than usual.
CANCER (June 21-July 22):
After careful analysis of the astrological omens and a deep-diving meditation, I have concluded that the coming weeks will be a favorable time for you to indulge in an unprecedented binge of convivial revelry and pleasure. My advice is to engage in as much feasting and carousing as you can without completely ignoring your responsibilities. I know this may sound extreme, but I am inviting you to have more fun than you have ever had—even more fun than you imagine you deserve. (You do deserve it, though.) I hope you will break all your previous records for frequency and intensity of laughter.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22):
In 1886, Vincent van Gogh bought a pair of worn-out shoes at a Paris flea market. When he got home, he realized they didn’t fit. Rather than discard them, he made them the centerpiece of one of his paintings. Eventually, they became famous. In 2009, a renowned gallery in Cologne, Germany, built an entire exhibit around the scruffy brown leather shoes. In the course of their celebrated career, six major philosophers and art historians have written about them as if they were potent symbols worthy of profound consideration. I propose that we regard their history as an inspirational metaphor for you in the coming weeks. What humble influence might be ready for evocative consideration and inspirational use?
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22):
Gliding away from the routine for rendezvous with fun riddles? I approve! Delivering your gorgeous self into the vicinity of a possibly righteous temptation? OK. But go slowly, please. Size up the situation with your gut intuition and long-range vision as well as your itchy fervor. In general, I am pleased with your willingness to slip outside your comfortable enclaves and play freely in the frontier zones. It makes me happy to see you experimenting with AHA and WHAT-IF and MAYBE BABY. I hope you summon the chutzpah to find and reveal veiled parts of your authentic self.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22):
The German word Sehnsucht refers to when we have a profound, poignant yearning for something, but we don’t quite know what that something is. I suspect you may soon be in the grip of your personal Sehnsucht. But I also believe you are close to identifying an experience that will quench the seemingly impossible longing. You will either discover a novel source of deep gratification, or you will be able to transform an existing gratification to accommodate your Sehnsucht. Sounds like spectacular fun to me. Clear some space in your schedule to welcome it.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21):
Most of us have at some time in the past been mean and cruel to people we loved. We acted unconsciously or unintentionally, perhaps, but the bottom line is that we caused pain. The coming weeks will be a favorable time for you to atone for any such hurts you have dispensed. I encourage you to be creative as you offer healing and correction for any mistakes you’ve made with important allies. I’m not necessarily suggesting you try to resume your bond with ex-lovers and former friends. The goal is to purge your iffy karma and graduate from the past. Perform whatever magic you have at your disposal to transform suffering with love.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21):
The blues singer-songwriter B. B. King wasn’t always known by that name. He was born Riley B. King. In his twenties, when he began working at a Memphis radio station, he acquired the nickname “Beale Street Blues Boy.” Later, that was shortened to “Blues Boy,” and eventually to “B. B.” In the spirit of B. B. King’s evolution and in accordance with astrological omens, I invite you to identify areas of your life with cumbersome or unnecessary complexities that might benefit from simplification.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19):
Proboscis monkeys live in Borneo and nowhere else on earth. Their diet consists largely of fruits and leaves from trees that grow only on Borneo and nowhere else. I propose we make them your anti-role model in the coming months. In my astrological opinion, you need to diversify your sources of nourishment, both the literal and metaphorical varieties. You will also be wise to draw influences from a wide variety of humans and experiences. I further suggest that you expand your financial life so you have multiple sources of income and diversified investments.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18):
It’s challenging to track down the sources of quotes on the Internet. Today, for instance, I found these words attributed to the ancient Greek philosopher Plato: “I enjoy the simple things in life, like recklessly spending my cash and being a disappointment to my family.” That can’t be right. I’m sure Plato didn’t actually say such things. Elsewhere, I came upon a review of George Orwell’s book Animal Farm that was supposedly penned by pop star Taylor Swift: “Not a very good instructional guide on farming. Would NOT recommend to first-time farmers.” Again, I’m sure that wasn’t written by Swift. I bring this up, Aquarius, because one of your crucial tasks these days is to be dogged and discerning as you track down the true origins of things. Not just online quotes, but everything else, as well—including rumors, theories, and evidence. Go to the source, the roots, the foundations.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20):
In accordance with astrological omens, I’m turning over this horoscope to Piscean teacher Esther Hicks. Here are affirmations she advises you to embody: “I’m going to be happy. I’m going to skip and dance. I will be glad. I will smile a lot. I will be easy. I will count my blessings. I will look for reasons to feel good. I will dig up positive things from the past. I will look for positive things where I am right now. I will look for positive things in the future. It is my natural state to be a happy person. It’s natural for me to love and laugh. I am a happy person!”
ARIES (March 21-April 19):
In English, the phrase “growing pains” refers to stresses that emerge during times of rapid ripening or vigorous development. Although they might feel uncomfortable, they are often signs that the ongoing transformations are invigorating. Any project that doesn’t have at least some growing pains may lack ambition. If we hope to transcend our previous limits and become a more complete expression of our destiny, we must stretch ourselves in ways that inconvenience our old selves. I’m expecting growing pains to be one of your key motifs in the coming weeks, dear Aries. It’s important that you don’t try to repress the discomfort. On the other hand, it’s also crucial not to obsess over them. Keep a clear vision of what these sacrifices will make possible for you.
WANT MORE? Listen to Rob’s EXPANDED AUDIO HOROSCOPES, 4-5 minute meditations on the current state of your destiny — or subscribe to his unique daily text message service at: RealAstrology.com
(Zodiac images by Numerologysign.com, CC license)
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Quote of the Day: “Great men are like eagles, and build their nest on some lofty solitude.” – Arthur Schopenhauer
Photo by: Ray Hennessy
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 user of the online bulletin board Reddit got hold of a great little video to uplift the heart and remind all parents of those special moments of immense pride.
In the video, a relatively new father has a toddler resting in his arms and is attempting to talk with him.
Clearly not of talking age yet, the little boy seems confused at first, until he picks up on his father’s attempts to sound out the words “I love you.”
With all the effort he can manage he contorts his mouth to imitate his dad—and the room erupts with joy.
“It’s moments like these that make all the sleepless nights and diaper changes worth it, LOL,” one commenter noted.
Watch the moment of elation below…
Baby boy says "I love you" to Dad copying his lip movements.
by u/lonely_fucker69 in MadeMeSmile
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A ground-breaking contraceptive pill for men could be just around the corner after scientists identified a gene that, once removed, temporarily renders sperm infertile.
The potentially historic breakthrough contraceptive pill would also have no hormonal side effects and could be additionally used on animals to quell overpopulation and replace castrations.
The research team discovered a protein encoded by this gene, found solely in the testicular tissue of most mammals, which reduced sperm counts and deformed remaining sperm to make them incapable of fertilizing an egg when altered.
Crucially, and exactly like the female contraceptive pill, the destabilization of the infertility protein is not permanent, meaning sperm will recover once the person or animal stops taking the pills.
The team from Washington State University (WSU) observed that male mice lacking the gene called Arrdc5 located in testicular tissues produced 28% less sperm which moved 2.8 times slower than in normal mice.
The results of the study appear to indicate that the protein encoded by this gene is essential for normal sperm production.
Study authors Dr. Jon Oatley and Dr. Mariana Giassetti have already filed a provisional patent for the development of a male contraceptive based on this gene and the protein it encodes.
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The WSU team next plans to work on designing a drug that would inhibit the production or function of this protein.
But disruption will not require any hormonal interference; a key hurdle considering the multiple roles testosterone plays beyond sperm production in men, including the building of bone mass and muscle strength as well as red blood cell production.
“You don’t want to wipe out the ability to ever make sperm—just to stop the sperm that are being made from being made correctly,” said Dr. Oatley, senior author and a professor in WSU’s School of Molecular Biosciences. “Then, in theory, you could remove the drug and the sperm would start being built normally again.”
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The scientists analyzed available data on DNA and protein sequences in mammals and found this particular gene in nearly every known mammal species.
This, Oatley said, has the potential to open up development for male contraception in animals which could replace cruel castrations in livestock populations and help manage the overpopulation of some wild animals.
However, the WSU scientists insist they are for now focused on producing an effective contraceptive pill for men to hand them more control over their reproduction.
“Right now, we don’t really have anything on the male side for contraception other than surgery, and only a small percentage of men choose vasectomies,” said Dr. Oatley. “If we can develop this discovery into a solution for contraception, it could have far-ranging impacts.”
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An invasive seaweed species from the Caribbean has been turned into a compostable plastic wrap that has the potential for mass production.
Furthermore, it may have the properties to transform the whole supply chain of this ubiquitous product used in huge quantities every day in restaurants around the world.
The breakthrough comes from the University of Leeds, in the UK, where Keeran Reed and his colleagues were looking to turn the brown seaweed species called sargassum, (Sargassum natans) which inundates the shores of Reed’s home of Trinidad and Tobago, into a sort of biopolymer.
Sargassum is made up of long chains of molecules similar to those found in conventional plastic. the researchers found that mixing it with acid, salt, and some chemicals rendered it thicker and pliable.
They then turned it into sheets of film like normal plastic wrap to study how it held up in heated conditions, and when thrown into the compost bin. Existing biodegradable plastics can take months, even more than a year, to break down in a compost heap. By contrast, the sargassum needed two to three weeks.
Despite this rapid decomposition, the films were robust and held together at temperatures of around 450°F (230°C). Also, the film didn’t leach out any of the chemicals when left in water over a period of 10 days, meaning it can be safely used to cover moist containers of food like chopped fruit.
“Studying the whole supply chain really is where ideas for sustainable materials make it or don’t. We want to find one best application for our material and study the environmental impact of pursuing it from the lab to the consumer,” Koon-Yang Lee at Imperial College London, part of the research team, told New Scientist.
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For that, they would need to test just how flexible and stretchy the material could be when subjected to the conditions of mass production. In factories that produce plastic clinging wrap, the plastic is formed into sheets by being blown into huge bubbles.
If that existing production method couldn’t be utilized as is, then the researchers would need to determine how much water and energy new methods might take.
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Seaweed is ridiculously versatile, and countries around the world are testing it out as a material for all sorts of applications.
These diapers are made out of seaweed and are good for a baby’s skin, while Turkey and Denmark are using seaweeds like algae as a fuel for cars and planes. Scientists in Australia are using it to clear methane from cows’ stomachs, others in the Netherlands are using it to clean up harbor pollutants in Rotterdam, and a Baltic-to-Caribbean startup is harvesting invasive algae for all manner of products like packaging, foodstuffs, and cosmetics.
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When a woman texted an uplifting Bible verse to the wrong number, she couldn’t have imagined what this small mishap would lead to.
It was 2009, and Brenda Rivera hoped merely to cheer up her friend with the Lord’s council of “do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit,” but instead cheered up a total stranger named Isiah Stearns.
Isiah replied, “Amen to that, who is this?” and Brenda quickly realized she had the wrong number, and so apologized. But Isiah saw it differently.
He told TODAY he saw someone trying to help with his walk with god, and resolved not to let the happening pass quietly.
The next day he called her, which left Brenda “a little creeped out” but who nevertheless hoped the stranger would leave a voicemail—which he did—saying the Bible verse really brightened up his day.
“I could just tell he was very genuine. So I decided OK — I’m gonna call him back,’” Brenda said, adding that she learned he lived just 50 minutes away from her parents and sister in Ohio. “I said maybe we could meet up when I visited my family. We had an immediate connection.”
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So began a little long-distance romance with a type Brenda never thought she would be with—a bare-shaven white guy who didn’t know how to dance.
But love works in mysterious ways, and after Brenda offered to set up a sort of interview with Isiah and her mom, he sportingly agreed.
Her mom came back from lunch with an 11 out of 10 rating for the suitor, telling her daughter she would “marry this guy.”
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Today, Isiah and Brenda Stearns have had 13 years of marriage and 6 children: Victoria, 11, Veronica, 10, Samuel, 9, Vanessa, 7, Benjamin, 4, and Ezra, 1. Isiah meanwhile ditched the skinhead look for a thick head rug of salt and pepper.
The Lord works in mysterious ways, and Brenda said that she could never imagine having such a brood without Isiah beside her.
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Quote of the Day: “Love sought is good, but given unsought, is better.” – William Shakespeare
Photo by: Becca Tapert
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?
Entrepreneurs in Jordan have created a sophisticated machine that pulls water from the desert air at a rate that could cure the country’s water woes.
1,000 units of their flagship device have already been pre-ordered by the Jordanian government, and the success of the invention has allowed the innovators to attract dozens of promising scientists who can hopefully expand on their success and bring water resources up to speed in the relatively-stable Near Eastern nation.
Jordan has an interesting contradiction of celebrating the highest academic involvement in the Arab world, but also suffering in one of its least-successful entrepreneurial landscapes and from a problem with water insecurity that ranks among the highest in the world.
Stepping up to address this problem is Aquaporo, a relatively straightforward, air conditioning-sized machine that can harvest 35 liters of water every day in a desert climate of 20% humidity.
Much of Jordan’s population may only have access to 200 cubic meters of water per year, and only 36 hours of tap water per week provisioned by the authorities. The WHO warns these levels can create harm to human health and economic development.
Aquaporo CEO Kyle Cordova and engineering director Husam Almassad got their start at Jordan’s Royal Scientific Society with a group of trainees. Their invention looked a bit like a chest freezer, but now more an A/C unit above a normal water cooler.
Inside, rows of nanomaterials formed into tubes and other shapes act like a sieve that filters water out of the air. The physics behind it are much the same as those found in this Classical Indian architectural feature and takes advantage of air’s tendency to speed up as it moves through a narrow passageway; called the Venturi Effect.
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It leaves behind the heavier water vapor, which condenses, drops into a collection apparatus, and is fed then into a reservoir in a Jordanian home, for example.
Research on the efficacy of Aquaporo’s invention shows it can achieve levels of water purity greater than Nestle brand bottled water, and collects it from the air at double the rate of existing moisture capture technology.
Indeed, humans have been harvesting water from the air for thousands of years. More and more, these old ways of doing things are being utilized in desert areas in developing nations. This company is using fog nets, for example, to harvest the water in low-lying clouds coming off the ocean in southern Morocco.
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“This was a Jordanian invention, made for Jordan. Young people in Jordan have great ideas,” Cordova told Fast Company. “My job is to show that research can make it out of the lab.”
You can watch how the unit works by visiting the Aquaporo website here.
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A lightning strike has produced a brand new phosphorus mineral, similar to that found on meteorites and in space.
The bolt created a chemical reaction in a rock, leading to what could be a member of a new mineral group, somewhere between space minerals and minerals found on Earth.
And researchers believe strikes like this one might have produced chemicals that kick-started life on Earth.
The find was made following the strike on a tree in New Port Richey, Florida, when a fulgurite was sold by the landowners to a geoscientist who then had it analyzed.
Fulgurites are formed by the high-energy electrical discharge of lightning through rock, soil, and sand, melting them all together in a small tube—effectively making a fossil out of a lightning strike.
Fulgurites have been studied in the desert landscapes of the Sahara to try and map out the weather patterns of a pre-desertified North Africa.
“When lightning strikes a tree, the ground typically explodes out and the surrounding grass dies, forming a scar and sending electric discharge through nearby rock, soil, and sand, forming fulgurites,” said Professor Matthew Pasek, from the University of South Florida.
“Minerals similar to it can be found in meteorites and space, but we’ve never seen this exact material anywhere.
The study containing the discovery was published in the journal Communications Earth & Environment, and came about after Professor Pasek teamed up with Luca Bindi, a professor of mineralogy and crystallography at the University of Florence in Italy.
Together, the team set out to investigate unusual minerals that bear the element phosphorus, especially those formed by lightning, to better understand high-energy phenomena.
Inside the fulgurite, which formed when lightning not only melted the iron in the tree roots, but also the carbon in the roots, a colorful, crystal-like matter revealed a material never before discovered.
Co-principal investigator Dr. Tian Feng, a graduate of USF’s geology program, attempted to remake the material in a lab but failed.
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This indicates the material likely forms quickly under precise conditions, and if heated too long, will turn into the mineral found in meteorites.
“Previous researchers indicate that lightning reduction of phosphate to have been a widespread phenomenon on the early Earth,” said Dr. Feng.
“However, there is an environmental phosphite reservoir issue in Earth that these solid phosphite materials are hard to restore.”
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Dr. Feng said this research may reveal other forms of reduced minerals are plausible and many could have been important in the development of life on Earth.
Professors Pasek and Bindi plan to further investigate the material to determine if it could be officially declared a mineral and bring additional awareness to the scientific community.
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A duo of third-generation Boeing engineers aimed a little lower than a 757, and designed the world’s best paper airplane.
As one would expect from aerospace engineers, the pair of young men knew what they were doing, and it took 20 minutes to fold the airplane which eventually flew 290 feet—a Guinness World Record.
Boeing engineers Dillon Ruble and Garrett Jensen grew up the sons of Boeing engineers and loved folding paper airplanes at company picnics.
In Middle school, they attended paper airplane contests hosted by the company.
Far from your classic paper airplane design, they used their knowledge of aeronautics and origami to design something with the same characteristics as a supersonic aircraft.
“We tried to mimic the design of various hypersonic vehicles, which travel at speeds over Mach 5 (five times the speed of sound). So, we decided to call our plane Mach 5,” Ruble told Boeing news.
When the day to try for the record came, the pair were carefully watched by witnesses. They selected the A4, or European-size paper, with the maximum weight of 100 grams per square meter, reasoning that the heavier the airplane, the farther one could throw it.
“We found the optimal angle is about 40 degrees off the ground. Once you’re aiming that high, you throw as hard as possible. That gives us our best distance,” Jensen said. “It took simulations to figure that out. I didn’t think we could get useful data from a simulation on a paper airplane. Turns out, we could.”
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Stepping up, Ruble threw the plane as hard as he could. It caught a bit of wind in its wings and sailed for about 6 seconds before striking the ground. They broke the previous world record of 252 feet by 38 feet, but told CNN that they had no intention of touching the record for total air time.
“The design objectives for an air-time record would be vastly different from the low-drag version we built for the longest-distance record,” Ruble said via email. “Increasing the wingspan and decreasing the aspect ratio would be the first steps in producing this type of plane.”
WATCH the record being made below…
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