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

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Our partner Rob Brezsny provides his weekly wisdom to enlighten our thinking and motivate our mood. Rob’s Free Will Astrology, is a syndicated weekly column appearing in over a hundred publications. He is also the author of Pronoia Is the Antidote for Paranoia: How All of Creation Is Conspiring To Shower You with Blessings. (A free preview of the book is available here.)

Here is your weekly horoscope…

FREE WILL ASTROLOGY – Week of 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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“Something unexpected: The heart cannot actually break, it can only break open.” – John Welwood

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Quote of the Day: “Something unexpected: The heart cannot actually break, it can only break open.” – John Welwood 

Photo by: Isaac Quesada

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?

Small Town is Giddy With Excitement That it Appears in Background of World’s Most Famous Portrait–the Mona Lisa

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Andy Corbley
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Mona Lisa with Approximate original colors CC 4.0. Dianelos
Mona Lisa with approximate original colors CC 4.0. Dianelos

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.

MORE HISTORIC DISCOVERIES: Renovation Unearths Paintings Behind Kitchen Walls Nearly 400-Years-old

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.

La Rocca Cultural Association – credit

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.

SIMILAR NEWS:  Teen Started Painting in Lockdown and is So Good She’s Exhibiting in Galleries, and Getting $10,000 For One Canvas

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.”

SHARE This Cool Discovery In The Famous Painting With Your Friends… 

Formerly Homeless Hero Stops Runaway Baby Stroller Moments Before it Rolls into Traffic

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Andy Corbley
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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.

MORE RESCUE STORIES: Hero Honeymooners Rescue Sleeping Babies from Burning Nursery in Spain: ‘Instinct Took Over’

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… 

CELEBRATE This Fine Man’s Awareness And Quick Thinking… 

World’s Tallest ‘Hempcrete’ Building in South Africa Captures More Carbon than it Emits

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Andy Corbley
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The Hemp Hotel - credit Harrington, retrieved from SA People
The Hemp Hotel – credit Harrington, retrieved from SA People

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.

MORE ALTERNATIVE SKYSCRAPERS: The New Green Building Revolution Uses Timber to Build ‘Plyscrapers’ That Save Tons of CO2

“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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African Psychedelic Plant Medicine Inspires Two New Drugs to Treat Addiction and Depression

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Andy Corbley
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Tabernanthe iboga - Giorgio Samorini CC 2.0
Tabernanthe iboga – Giorgio Samorini CC 2.0

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.

MORE PSYCHEDELLIC NEWS: MDMA and Psilocybin-Assised Psychotherapy Approved in Australia for Treatment-Resistant Depression and PTSD

“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.

MORE DRUG DEVELOPMENTS: Drugs From Mark Cuban’s Pharmacy Could Save Medicare Billions Every Year, Harvard Says

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.

SHARE This Potentially-Lifesaving Drug Finding With Your Friends… 

“Let the pain visit. Allow it to teach you. But you must not allow it to overstay.” – Ijeoma Umebinyuo

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Quote of the Day: “Let the pain visit. Allow it to teach you. But you must not allow it to overstay.” – Ijeoma Umebinyuo

Photo by: Paola Chaaya

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?

Looking for a Beautiful Mom’s Day Gift? Check Out this Wonderful Book That Benefits Charity

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Good News Network
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It’s been a tough year for everyone, and extra stress always seems to fall on our moms. No matter how old you are, if mom is alive, she’s probably still there for you, and she probably still worries. Well, here’s an inspiring Mother’s Day idea that will make her day.

Inspired by the life-changing impact small acts of kindness had on his family during a very difficult time in their lives, author Brad Aronson decided to start collecting real-life stories about moments when a small act of kindness changes a life or has a ripple effect transforming thousands of lives.

Read the story about a $20 gift that gave birth to thousands of Secret Santas who have given away over $1.5 million to people in need. And the story about Gabriel Aljalian, who at six years old created a “Day of Kindness” that inspires thousands of kind acts around the world every year.

And the one about Pamela Rainey Lawler, who saw opportunity in the food that restaurants threw away. Although experts told her she was crazy, she started delivering that food to nonprofits in her station wagon with her kids in tow, and her efforts sparked a movement that now feeds more than 90,000 people a week.

Brad’s book, HumanKind: Changing the World One Small Act At a Time is a national bestseller that has been called “the most uplifting and life-affirming book in years” (Forbes) and has been lauded by Deepak Chopra, People magazine and many others.

“The most satisfying part of writing my book has been the emails I’m getting from people who tell me how much better they feel after reading it and how they’re inspired to take action,” Brad told GNN.

Brad Aaronson and family

It’s the perfect antidote for these times. The stories will remind you that despite the crises that seem to hit us one after another, there’s also a powerful force of good in the world.

And on a practical level, HumanKind provides the tools to be part of that force. Every chapter includes suggestions for improving your own community through small acts of kindness, and the comprehensive resources section lists avenues for aiding and donating to just about any cause devoted to filling the massive needs out there.

The book will touch your heart and leave you grateful for what you have. You’ll also shed a few happy tears when you read the beautiful stories. It’s a great gift for someone who has been a source of kindness in your life.

And, on top of that, all proceeds from sales of HumanKind go to the nonprofit Big Brothers Big Sisters, so consider the book for your next gift or graduation purchase, available for under $15.

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WWII Hero of Dunkirk Who Was Still Pumping Weights at 100-yo Shares His Secret Reaching 105: ‘I’m So Full of Life’

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Andy Corbley
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John Hamilton at Harridges Gym at 100 – SWNS
John Hamilton (Right, 100 years old) – SWNS

One of Britain’s last remaining Dunkirk veterans still walks a mile every day after celebrating his 105th birthday.

John Hamilton said the secret to staying young was keeping fit, and despite now living in a care home he continues to live an active lifestyle.

To wit, the retired army major and great-grandfather spends 90 minutes in the gym daily and smashed the world rowing record for 1000 meter time trial at 95 years old.

“I feel good but it’s confusing—I’m so full of life and almost waiting for something to go wrong,” Hamilton said. “The key to a long life is exercising—it makes you physically well but is mentally stimulating too. If I didn’t go (exercising) I think my last days would be long gone by now.”

John was a keen sportsman and regularly played cricket, rugby, golf, tennis, squash, and polo during and around his 25-year career in the Royal Army.

MORE VETERAN NEWS: 105-Year-old WWII Veteran With No Surviving Relatives Receives 3,000 Birthday Cards

During World War II, he like so many others was stranded on the beach at Dunkirk, France, in 1940 with his unit, the 1st King’s Dragoon Guards. They were rescued in one of the more memorable operations for the British, when dozens of civilian industrial and recreational ships crossed the English Channel to help the soldiers stranded there.

He met his wife that same year, sheltering under a storm in London’s Hyde Park. He eventually retired at age 39 having served in Palestine, Jordan, and Germany.

Hamilton now lives in a bungalow on the grounds of a nursing home where he is regularly visited by a caretaker as well as friends and family. But apart from that, he is entirely self-sufficient, and still walks a mile a day to keep fit.

John Hamilton at Harridges Gym at 100 – SWNS

“I gave up smoking my pipe six months ago because I went to buy some tobacco from the shop but I lost it,” he said, explaining his state of health. “I took it as a sign and quit after that—I feel better without it—after rowing I used to gasp for air but now I’m full of breath.”

The sire of three children, eight grandchildren, and 10 great-grandchildren, he nevertheless continues drinking a glass of wine every other night.

MORE SPRITLY OLD TIMERS: 80-Year Old Powerlifter Can Still Pump 800 Pounds And Inspire Seniors to Hit the Gym

Reporters heard a close friend of his, Adela Forestier-Walker, suggest he was “probably more alert than most people half his age,” and that he still read “voraciously.”

As part of his 105th birthday celebrations, Hamilton’s former school, Clifton College, flew a flag in his honor while members of his regiment were present.

His memories of Dunkirk, despite being more than three-quarters of a century in the past, were “clear as [a] bell,” and they involved his time as an anti-aircraft gunner defending the retreating British from German bombers during the evacuation.

SHARE and CELEBRATE The Life Of This Aged British Soldier With Your Friends… 

A Pair of the World’s Rarest–and Most Adorable—Piglets Are Born in a UK Zoo

By
Andy Corbley
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Pair of Visayan warty piglets born at Newquay Zoo – SWNS
Pair of Visayan warty piglets born at Newquay Zoo – SWNS

A pair of the world’s rarest piglets have been born at the Newquay Zoo in Cornwall.

Known as Visayan warty piglets, one of the rarest breeds of pig in the world, there are thought to be as few as 200 of them left in the wilds of the Philippines.

The pair of pigs is the second successful litter born at Newquay Zoo following the birth of their older siblings, Kevin Bacon and Amy Swinehouse last year.

Their mother, May, and her partner, Randy, are part of a breeding program to help increase the number of Visayan warty pigs worldwide.

“After our breeding success with two warty piglets last year, we are so pleased to welcome these new arrivals and to continue helping increase the Visayan warty pig population,” said Dave Rich, Keeper Team Leader at the Newquay Zoo.

“Our warty pigs are full of character, and the new arrivals are no exception! They have already been exploring their enclosure under mum, May’s, watchful eye.”

RELATED STORIES: Conservation Zoos Have Powerful Potential to ‘Reverse Extinction’ Study Shows

Though the species are called ‘warty’ pigs, it’s only the males that sport the characteristic three pairs of warts on their faces to protect them while fighting.

Visayan warty piglets and their mom – SWNS

Males also grow impressive long manes during the mating season, which help to attract mates and also intimidate other males.

MORE ENDANGERED BIRTHS: Critically-Endangered Amur Leopard Twins Born at San Diego Zoo: ‘A Glimmer of Hope’

Unlike domesticated or feral pigs, litters of piglets for this species tend to be small, likely a result of them evolving on the six Visayan islands of the Philippines, Cebu, Panay, Masbate, Negros, Guimaras, and Siquijor.

Dozens of zoos in Europe and North America have captive breeding programs for this Critically Endangered species that’s also the first swine ever to be recorded using tools—when a female was recorded using a piece of bark at a French zoo to dig a nest.

SHARE These Adorable Squeelers With Your Friends… 

Skyscraper Bursting with 80,000 Plants Opens to the Public in Singapore–LOOK

By
Andy Corbley
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Credit Courtesy Finbarr FallonBjarke Ingels Group
Credit Courtesy Finbarr FallonBjarke Ingels Group

In case you’re planning a trip to the other side of the world’s richest city-state, the “biophilic” CapitaSpring tower in Singapore is now fully bursting with a publicly accessible urban forest.

In Singapore’s business district, you have to go 17 to 20 stories above street level to find wide open greenery.

On CapitaSpring’s “Green Oasis” floor, accessible to the public, a spiral path winds through gardens and small replicants of tropical forests, like the kind that stood there before Singapore came to be.

On the roof, three rooftop market gardens supply fruits, vegetables, herbs, and flowers to three on-site restaurants, and trees grow in nooks in the building’s facade as often as windows.

Ground broke in 2018, under the supervision of two of Europe’s greatest architecture firms—Carlo Ratti Associati and the Bjarke-Ingels Group.

“Due to the unique character of Singapore’s urbanism—both extremely dense and green—we decided to make the design a vertical exploration of tropical urbanism,” founder, Bjarke Ingels said in a statement.

Courtesy of Finbarr Fallon / Bjarke Ingels Group

They say the tower is “like a vision of a future in which city and countryside, culture and nature can coexist.”

In total, the 51-story building houses over 80,000 trees and plants across 90,000 square feet of landscaped area.

Credit Courtesy Finbarr FallonBjarke Ingels Group

It’s a reflection of the belief of the nation’s founder, Lee Kuan Yew, who referred to the city-state as a “garden city.” Despite 6 million people filling an area smaller than Greater London, plants are easy to come by and are, in fact, a legal requirement in building local regulations.

MORE BIOPHILIC BUILDINGS: When Architect Asks AI to Design Futuristic Skyscrapers It Proposed a Vertical Forest

Take a tour with the video below…

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Mars Rover Discovers Evidence of Liquid Salt Water on the Red Planet For the First Time

By
Andy Corbley
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The Zhurong rover - credit CNSA
The Zhurong rover – credit CNSA

The Chinese Zhurong Martian rover recently found evidence of salty liquid water droplets that indicate it may have had snow and frost as recently as 400,000 years ago.

To put that into perspective, scientists believe that Homo sapiens evolved around 300,000 years ago, meaning our earliest modern ancestors might have walked at the same time that water was flowing on Mars.

Though calculations have previously demonstrated that conditions for water are possible on Mars today, this is the first occasion in which evidence of liquid water has been found on our neighboring planet.

The study team found important morphological features on the dune surfaces such as crusts, cracks, granulation, polygonal ridges, and a strip-like trace. Salts in these dunes, which are estimated to be between 0.4 and 1.4 million years old, cause frost or snow to melt at low temperatures to form salty liquid water.

“We inferred that these dune surface characteristics were related to the involvement of liquid saline water formed by the subsequent melting of frost/snow falling on the salt-containing dune surfaces,” said Qin Xiaoguang, a geophysicist at the Chinese Academy of Sciences and first author of the new study.

The discovery was hailed by the IGG team as providing key observational evidence of liquid water at Martian low latitudes, where surface temperatures are relatively warmer and more suitable for life than at high latitudes.

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

The Zhurong rover, which is part of China’s Tianwen-1 Mars exploration mission, landed on Mars in 2021 at a landing site at the southern edge of the Utopia Planitia plain—the largest impact basin in our solar system.

It was the first time that a spacefaring nation’s inaugural mission to Mars contained an orbiter, lander, and rover, and all three succeeded in deployment.

OTHER CHINA NEWS: ‘Vast Canyon of Books’ Splits Open in Stunning New Public Library in China

Currently, Zhurong has yet to wake up from hibernation during the Martian winter, and the scientists believe that a layer of dust has coated the solar panels and prevented it from recharging—a common fate for Martian equipment, including most recently NASA’s Insight Lander.

“This is important for understanding the evolutionary history of the Martian climate, looking for a habitable environment and providing key clues for the future search for life,” said Dr. Qin.

SHARE This Historic Moment In Martian Discovery With Your Friends… 

“Age is not important unless you’re a cheese.” – Helen Hayes

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Good News Network
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Quote of the Day: “Age is not important unless you’re a cheese.” – Helen Hayes

Photo by: Max Nayman (Bologna, Italy)

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?

Man Summits Highest Peaks of England, Scotland and Wales with Fridge on his Back For Mental Health–WATCH

By
Andy Corbley
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Michael Copeland during his challenge - SWNS
Michael Copeland during his challenge – SWNS

A man who attempted to summit the highest mountains in England, Scotland, and Wales to raise money for charity has now completed the challenge—with a refrigerator strapped to his back.

The 38-year-old former soldier Michael Copeland conquered the three peaks challenge in just under 24 hours to raise money for the mental health charity Mind.

He started with the Scottish peak Ben Nevis at 6:54 AM last Saturday before scaling Scafell Pike in the Lake District, and then Snowdon in Wales with just 10 minutes to spare.

“The fridge represents the burden that mental health can have on us all,” said Copeland. “I’m a massive overthinker and always think I’m not good enough. I always want to be doing more.”

The daredevil had to overcome grueling weather conditions including heavy rain, snow, and 40mph winds. He ended up running downhill with the fridge from the summit of Snowdon to complete the challenge just in time.

“The whole challenge felt like a movie with the changing weather conditions… 30-40mph winds as we were going up Snowdon so it almost felt like a grown adult was trying to push me over,” he said.

Michael Copeland summiting Scafell Pike – SWNS

“Climbing Ben Nevis and Scafell Pike was okay as there wasn’t any wind however, when we got to the top of Ben Nevis we were met with 12 inches of snow and minus conditions.”

“I was running with the fridge on my back, it was banging against my back and it was very uncomfortable, but I couldn’t not finish it,” he said. “I felt like Forrest Gump.”

Copeland wasn’t always a mountain-goer. He took up the hobby during his country’s strict and total lockdowns as a means to help with his struggles against depression and anxiety.

Dedicated to the army, when he left after the birth of his second child, he said he found it difficult to reintegrate with society. He directed his discipline and physical fitness into a bodybuilding passion, which he continued for 10 years.

ALSO CHECK OUT: Hero Passerby Scales Building in China to Save Boy Who Fell Out Window Onto a Ledge

With gyms closing during lockdowns, he had to find another outlet for his energy and dedication. And, he’s impressing everyone now…

WATCH Michael’s Herculean hiking below… 

SHARE This Man’s Inspiring Battle For Mental Health With Your Friends…

See 40 Shooting Stars Per Hour Under the Aquariid Meteor Shower in May Night Sky

By
Andy Corbley
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By Bill Dickinson, CC license
By Bill Dickinson, CC license

Three stargazing events in the month May stand out as the best chances to connect with the cosmos.

During the pre-dawn hours of May 7th, the Earth will pass through the Eta Aquariid Meteor Shower, when 40 meteors may be seen per hour, with those closest to the Equator seeing more than those closer to the poles.

The “radiant point,” that is, the place in the sky where the meteors seem to radiate from, will be the constellation Aquarius and will be hanging low in the southern sky (or northern sky if you’re in the Southern Hemisphere).

The morning of May 7th is predicted to be the peak, but the meteors can be seen several weeks either side of the peak.

The full moon of May will happen two nights before the meteor shower’s peak. On Cinco de Mayo, in Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia/Oceania, there will be a penumbral lunar eclipse. For those in the US, UK, many islands in the Pacific, and the Kamchatka Peninsula, it will be too bright and sunny to see.

The Earth’s partial shadow—known in stargazing as the “penumbra,” will shade the full “Flower moon” or “Budding moon” a dusty brown color that’s usually not noticeable by the naked eye. However, the magnitude of this penumbral eclipse is well above the degree to which the human eye can see the changes.

The next such deep penumbral lunar eclipse will be in September 2042.

Valerie at Space Tourism Guide explains in her May stargazing chart that 2023 is a big year for “lunar occultations” or events when the moon as we see it passes in front of other objects.

She notes that, for example, a few people on Earth will be positioned correctly on the night of May 17th-18th to see the moon pass in front of Jupiter, the solar system’s largest planet.

For most of Earth, they will be seen making a close approach, just like the Moon will do with Saturn on the night of May 13th-14th.

SHARE This Stargazing Schedule With Your Friends… 

Parrots Kept as Pets Were Taught to Video Call Each Other—and They Loved It

By
Andy Corbley
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Credit - Matthew Modoono - Northwestern
Credit – Matthew Modoono – Northwestern

Over 20 million parrots are kept as pets in American households, and a study wanted to see if these social birds would enjoy video calling each other just like humans.

The Birds of a Feather study recruited more than a dozen parrot owners and their birds, to see if parrot loneliness, a real danger to the birds’ mental health, could be improved through access to video calling.

It’s no word of a lie to say that platforms like Zoom, Skype, and Facetime saved lives during the strict lockdowns during COVID-19, but humans aren’t the only creatures capable of utilizing and benefiting from video calls to friends.

The study, organized by Northwestern University in collaboration with scientists from MIT and the University of Glasgow, taught the parrots to initiate video calls with other parrots by instructing them to ring a bell, and then touch the picture of another parrot on a tablet screen to start the call.

The owners were experienced parrot keepers who knew how to identify signs of fear, aggression, or disinterest with the video call, which might lead to damage to the cages or the birds.

In the first phase of the study, the 18 parrots initiated 212 video calls with a maximum allowed time of 5 minutes. Some dropped out of the study, leaving just 15 going into the second phase.

In the “open call” period that followed, the 15 birds made 147 video calls with each other over the next two months. The birds were also able to select which individual they wanted to call.

Not only did the birds initiate calls freely and seem to understand that a real fellow parrot was on the other end, but caretakers overwhelmingly reported the calls as positive experiences for their parrots, according to a statement from Northwestern.

Some caregivers watched their birds learn skills from their video friends, including foraging, new vocalizations, and even flying. Some wanted to show the other bird on the line their toys. “She came alive during the calls,” reported one caregiver.

A few significant findings emerged. The birds engaged in most calls for the maximum allowed time. They formed strong preferences—in the preliminary pilot study, Northwestern researcher Jennifer Cunha’s bird, Ellie, a Goffin’s cockatoo, became fast friends with a California-based African grey named Cookie. “It’s been over a year and they still talk,” Cunha told the univ. press.

MORE ANIMALS NEWS: New Research Shows Why Crows Are So Intelligent and Even Self-Aware—Just Like Us

Two older, weaker macaws also formed a fast friendship that carried on long after the end of the study, and would frequently call to each other, saying “Hi, hello, come here.”

Also, the birds that initiated the most calls were the birds that received the most requests to chat from other birds, a finding mirrored in humans.

The researchers caution that the findings don’t mean parrot owners should fire up a Zoom call and assume it will go well. The participant parrots had experienced handlers who had time to introduce the technology slowly and to carefully monitor their parrots’ reactions.

MORE BRILLIANT BIRDS: Male or Female, Old or Young, New Survey Show Parrots Can All Speak at the Same Level

As the study underscored, parrots are finicky about which fellow birds they will respond to—unmediated interactions could lead to fear, even violence, and property damage; larger parrots have beaks more than capable of cracking an iPad into pieces.

Still, it’s deeply moving to watch—in the documentary below—these brilliant birds feel a connection with new friends hundreds of miles away, especially knowing that a social life is key to a parrot’s health.

WATCH the 5-minute doc below… 

SHARE This Inspiring Study Of Animal Welfare With Your Flock… 

Life-Saving Breakthrough for Antibiotics Uses Shapeshifting Chemistry that Won 2022 Nobel Prize

By
Andy Corbley
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VRSA (Staphylococcus Aureus), a kind of medically-resistant infection, under a microscope
VRSA under a microscope

New shape-shifting antibiotics could fight deadly medically-resistant bacterial infections responsible for more than 1.2 million deaths worldwide every year, according to a new study.

The antibiotic can shape-shift by rearranging its atoms, using new “click” chemistry, a discovery that won the 2022 Nobel Prize.

The drug’s creator, Professor John Moses at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL), New York, found that bullvalene, a fluxional hydrocarbon molecule where atoms can swap positions to form around 1 million combinations, could be used as the molecular center of an antibiotic that would confer such shape-shifting abilities to the drug as well.

Bacterial infections like Vancomycin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (VRSA) have developed resistance to the potent antibiotic vancomycin, used to treat diseases from skin infections to meningitis.

“The reengineering of clinically approved antibiotics to evade resistance mechanisms offers a potential near-to short-term solution that takes advantage of established supply chains and clinical success,” Moses and his co-authors wrote in their demonstration paper in PNAS. 

Dr. Moses used new click chemistry—where chemical reactions can “click” molecules together reliably—to combine bullvalene with vancomycin.

MORE POTENTIAL CURES: Plant Toxins Fatal to Sugarcane Hailed as the ‘New Weapon’ Antibiotic in Fight Against Bacteria

Professor Moses created a new antibiotic with two vancomycin “warheads” and a fluctuating bullvalene center, before giving the drug to a VRSA-infected wax moth larvae, a common test dummy for antibiotics.

The shape-shifting antibiotic was significantly more effective than vancomycin at clearing the deadly infection, and the bacteria did not develop resistance to the drug.

MORE DRUG DEVELOPMENTS: These Flabby Gel Robots Could Deliver Life-Saving Drugs by Inching Along Using Changes in Temperature

Dr. Moses believes click chemistry can create a host of new shape-shifting drugs “key to our species’ survival.”

“It gives you certainty and the best chance you’ve got of making complex things,” said Moses. “If we can invent molecules that mean the difference between life and death. That’d be the greatest achievement ever.”

SHARE This Interesting Attempt To Roll Back Antibiotic Resistance… 

“Life without love is like a tree without blossoms or fruit.” – Khalil Gibran

By
Good News Network
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Quote of the Day: “Life without love is like a tree without blossoms or fruit.” – Khalil Gibran

Photo by: saad mahmud

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?

Freed After 28 Years of Wrongful Conviction, Man Meets Pen Pal Who Never Stopped Affirming His Innocence

By
Andy Corbley
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Courtesy of Ginny Schrappen
Courtesy of Ginny Schrappen

Lamar Johnson served 28 years for a murder he didn’t commit—when he was finally released after years of work by an advocacy group, there was one person he knew he wanted to see first.

It was a pen pal who wrote to him faithfully through nearly all the years of his imprisonment and came to all his court proceedings, pleading for his release on the strongly-held belief he was innocent.

Rewinding 20-some years back, one day a letter arrived in the hands of a congregant of Mary, Mother of the Church in St. Louis County named Ginny Schrappen. It was a letter addressed from the Jefferson City Correctional Center, to whomever at the church decided to open it.

Schrappen described herself as being “blown away” by Johnson’s elegant longhand script, and she decided to reply; with small details at first, but to say hello to a human who was obviously intelligent.

That reply spawned a more-than-two-decade snail mail relationship, with each letter revealing more and more about one to the other.

Johnson was convicted in 1994 of the first-degree murder of 25-year-old Marcus Boyd, one of his best friends. He had a simple alibi—he was at his girlfriend’s house that night, but the sole witness identified him as one of the shooters.

Several years later, the true culprits confessed to the crime, but this did not amount to an overturning of Johnson’s sentence. It took years of advocacy from the Innocence Project, a non-profit that investigates shut cases to try and get innocent people released from prison.

Innocence Project wasn’t alone in Johson’s advocacy—Schrappen always wrote letters to him ahead of his court appeal dates saying she would be there for him—all despite being a mother of three and eventual grandmother of two.

MORE PEN PAL STORIES: World’s Oldest Pen Pals Turn 100, After 84 Years of Transatlantic Letters–And Now They’re Meeting on Zoom

Despite several failed appeals, Schrappen never stopped coming, and over the years of letter writing their relationship became more important—she visited him occasionally in prison, which created a feeling of joy she described to the Washington Post as sending her “almost out of my skin.”

The Innocence Project eventually got Johnson freed after 28 years of time served, and a GoFundMe set up in the aftermath has raised nearly $600,000 at the time of publishing to give the man a new start.

He now enjoys spending regular face-to-face time on equal footing with his long-time friend Schrappen, but isn’t angry about the course of his life.

MORE STORIES LIKE THIS: New Evidence Unearthed by Podcasters Frees 2 Men Wrongfully Imprisoned for 25 Years

MORE STORIES LIKE THIS: Thousands Have Donated $1.6 Million to Innocent Man Freed From Prison After 43-Year Wrongful Conviction

“If you hold onto anger, you’re just going to swap one prison for another,” Johnson told the Post. “As much as there was a lot of setbacks over the years, there is a lot to be happy and grateful for.”

“Reach out to somebody that might need a friend,” Schrappen said. “It could mean more than you know.”

SHARE This Inspiring Story Of Connection With Someone Inside…

Sweden’s First EV-Charging Road Will Power Electric Vehicles as They Drive

By
Andy Corbley
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Provided by Electreon
Provided by Electreon

The “E-20” highway stretch in Sweden will soon become the nation’s first functioning charging road to juice the batteries of heavy vehicles carrying freight around the nation.

E-20, (the E actually stands for Europe, rather than electric) runs between Hallsberg and Örebro in the middle of the country’s three major cities, Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö.

Construction is slated to begin in 2025 along a whopping 21 kilometers of road (13 miles), but it hasn’t been decided which method of charging will be used. Previously-constructed charging roads in Europe have used methods that require outside equipment—overhead wires like a city tram line or undercarriage-mounted arms that attach to an electrified rail along the roadway.

These are highly impractical for regular motorists, who can neither reach the cables nor afford to mount a robotic arm on their car.

The last option, and the only sensible one for cars as well as trucks, is to build wireless charging infrastructure down the center of the lanes that send out an electromagnetic signal to a coil on the underside of the vehicle small enough to be fitted to a sedan or a tractor-trailer.

In any case, in order to conduct long-haul trucking in the larger European countries, there has to be sensible charging infrastructure to prevent the trucks from becoming overloaded with the battery packs necessary to drive long distances.

“If you are going to have only static charging full battery solution for heavy-duty vehicles, you will get vehicles with a huge amount of batteries that the vehicles need to carry,” said Jan Pettersson, Director of Strategic Development at Trafikverket, the Swedish transport administration.

MORE CHARGIN TECH: Not Science Fiction: Can We Charge EVs With Car-to-Car Mobile Recharging?

Euronews cited a recent study which found that 412 privately driven cars on parts of Swedish national and European roads could have their battery capacity reduced by more than 50% through a combination of access to electrified roads and  home charging.

Furthermore, only 25% of all roads would need to be electrified for the system to work.

GNN has closely followed charging road developments. In 2021, GNN reported that the Indiana Department of Transportation built a wireless charging road designed by the German firm Magment.

MORE FUTURE INFRASTRUCTURE: Switzerland’s Brilliant Plan For Underground Cargo Delivery Tunnels to Reduce Traffic is Now Underway

In Michigan a year later, Governor Gretchin Witmer announced a 1-mile stretch of road in Detroit would be electrifed—and she contracted the same company that built Sweden’s first wireless charging road pilot program on the Island city of Visby.

Germany, Israel, and Italy have all implemented similar projects.

SHARE Sweden’s Plans For The Future Of Roads On Social Media…

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