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Zoo Celebrates Birth of Extremely Rare Przewalski’s Horse Foal Previously Extinct in the Wild

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Przewalski’s Horse Foal by Ken Bohn / San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance
Przewalski’s Horse Foal by Ken Bohn / San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance

The San Diego Zoo Safari Park announced the birth of a critically-endangered Przewalski’s Horse—sometimes called ‘the Last Wild Horse’.

Conservationists say this species of wild horse was categorized as Extinct in the Wild until 1996.

The foal is the first Przewalski’s horse born at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park since 2014, and is one of only four individuals born in North America over the past year.

“Every birth is a tremendous moment, so we are elated by this new foal,” said Kristi Burtis, wildlife care director at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. “They are an important wild horse species, and this new foal, along with each individual that was born at our parks, bolsters their fragile population—and represents our commitment to conserving them for future generations.”

The youngster was born as part of a program that ensures genetic diversity among Przewalski’s horse populations, which is overseen by conservationists nationwide. The California compound has seen more than 157 Przewalski’s horses born at the Zoo and the Safari Park.

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Formerly extinct in the wild, the Przewalski’s horse has survived for the past 40 years almost entirely in zoos around the world, and nearly all of the surviving horses are related to 12 Przewalski’s horses born in native habitats. Ongoing reintroductions of Przewalski’s horses into their native habitats have established several herds in grasslands in China and Mongolia to maintain genetic variation.

Newly-born Przewalski’s Horse with its mom – Ken Bohn / San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance

In the past few years, scientists have started using new tools, such as San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance’s Biodiversity Bank, to expand the strength of the species’ population.

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Through a collaborative effort, science teams from the nonprofit Revive & Restore, the animal cloning company ViaGen Pets & Equine, and San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance were able to achieve the world’s first successfully cloned Przewalski’s horse in 2020. Named Kurt, he was born to a surrogate mother—a domestic quarter horse—and is the clone of a male Przewalski’s stallion whose living cell line was cryopreserved 43 years ago, as part of the Wildlife Biodiversity Bank.

“Kurt is significant to his species because he offers the hope of bringing back lost genetic diversity to the population,” said Nadine Lamberski, chief conservation and wildlife health officer for San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance.

WATCH: In This Family, The Dogs Take the Horse for a Walk

The colt was named Kurt in honor of Kurt Benirschke, M.D., who joined the Zoo’s research committee in 1970, and worked as the Zoo’s director of research from 1974 to 1986. Before his death at age 94, he was instrumental in founding the conservation research program at San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, including the Frozen Zoo®, a critical component of San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance’s Wildlife Biodiversity Banking efforts.

Safari Park guests can visit Kurt in the Central Asia savanna habitat; and see the rest of the herd—including the new foal, who has not been named yet—in the Przewalski’s horse habitat next door.

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Six Lifestyle Choices to Slow Memory Decline Identified in 10-Year Study of Aging

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Marcus Aurelius on Pexels
Marcus Aurelius on Pexels

A 10-year study of Chinese adults over the age of 60, showed that a healthy lifestyle, in particular a nutritious diet, is associated with the slowing of memory decline in older people.

The major new research published in The BMJ, showed that the benefits of healthy living were even seen in those with a gene making them genetically susceptible to Alzheimer’s disease.

Carriers of the apolipoprotein E (APOE) gene—the strongest known risk factor for Alzheimer’s and related dementia—saw a slowing in memory loss associated with healthy habits, such as refraining from alcohol.

The Chinese research team said that memory continuously declines as people age, but evidence from existing studies was insufficient to assess the effect of a healthy lifestyle on memory in later life.

Given the many possible causes of memory decline, they explained that a combination of healthy behaviors might be needed for the best effect.

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A combination of these 6 healthy habits is best

The researchers analyzed data from 29,000 adults over 60 with normal cognitive function. The group had an average age of 72 and almost half were women.

At the start of the study in 2009, memory function was measured using an Auditory Verbal Learning test (AVLT) and participants were tested for the APOE gene; 20 percent were found to be carriers. Follow-up assessments were then conducted in 2012, 2014, 2016, and 2019.

A healthy lifestyle score combining six factors—diet, regular exercise, active social contact, cognitive activity (such as reading and writing), non-smoking, and never drinking alcohol—was then calculated.

Based on their score, ranging from zero to six, participants were put into favorable (four to six healthy factors), average (two or three), or unfavorable (one or zero) lifestyle groups—and separated into APOE carrier and non-carrier groups.

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After taking into account other health, economic and social factors, the researchers found that each individual healthy behavior was associated with a slower than average decline in memory over 10 years.

“A healthy diet had the strongest effect on slowing memory decline, followed by cognitive activity and then physical exercise,” said study lead author Professor Jianping Jia.

“Compared with the group that had unfavorable lifestyles, memory decline in the favorable lifestyle group was 0.28 points slower over 10 years based on a standardized score of the AVLT, and memory decline in the average lifestyle group was 0.16 points slower.

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“Participants with the APOE gene with favorable and average lifestyles also experienced a slower rate of memory decline than those with an unfavorable lifestyle.

“What’s more, those with favorable and average lifestyles were almost 90 percent and almost 30 percent less likely to develop dementia or mild cognitive impairment relative to those with an unfavorable lifestyle—and the APOE group had similar results.”

He said the research was observational so can’t establish cause, but it was a large study with a long follow-up period, allowing for evaluation of individual lifestyle factors on memory function over time.

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The researchers say their results provide “strong evidence” that sticking to a healthy lifestyle with a combination of positive behaviors is associated with a slower rate of memory decline, even for people who are genetically susceptible to memory decline.

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“The older I grow the more I distrust the familiar doctrine that age brings wisdom.” – H. L. Mencken

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Quote of the Day: “The older I grow the more I distrust the familiar doctrine that age brings wisdom.” – H. L. Mencken

Photo by: charles deluvio

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?

 

Toddler is Best Friends With a Frog: They Eat Together, Watch TV, and Go on Walks–LOOK

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Juliana Allon (SWNS)
Juliana Allon (SWNS)

Meet the toddler whose best friend is a pet frog.

Little Juliana Allon begged her mom for a pet white tree frog from the pet store in Panama City, Florida after it had been given-up by its previous owner.

The mother-of-three eventually caved and purchased the frog for $40 last August.

“He was so fat and squishy-looking, and she wanted to hug him straightaway,”

“The store let her pick him up and hold him,” recalled Brandie. “Then she said, ‘Mommy, please, please, please!’ and I couldn’t say no.”

The two-year-old named it George—and the pair are now inseparable, doing everything together.

The frog perches happily on Juliana’s shoulder as she watches TV and eats breakfast, and sits in her stroller as she takes him on walks around the house. She’s even taken him in a car to her grandmother’s house to show him off.

“He just crawls to the top of her shoulder, and they walk around together. He manages to hang on somehow.”

Juliana Allon – SWNS

They already own a dog and a cat, but George sleeps in Juliana’s bedroom in a cage with a heat lamp, and gets fed with plenty of worms.

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The family is unsure where the adopted frog is from or how old he is, but his species is found in Australia and New Zealand.

“She wakes up and the first thing she says is ‘baby frog’—and she wants to hold him right away.

“When she’s eating breakfast, he sits calmly next to her on the table, and before we leave the house, she always says ‘bye bye baby frog, I’ll be back’.”

When white tree frogs feel threatened or stressed, they turn dark brown. But when Juliana picks him up, he turns green and turquoise, so they know he’s happy.

SWNS

Looking after a frog has led to one or two sticky situations.

“Frogs can carry salmonella, so I had to teach Juliana not to kiss him. Hugging is fine, but she washes her hands afterwards because she knows the rules.”

He peed on Juliana once, which she “didn’t like very much,” said Brandie, who is quite amazed by the duo’s unbreakable bond.

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“I never thought we would get a frog, but if you find an old soul like George, I’d definitely recommend getting a pet frog. He’s just a happy little fellow.”

WATCH the cute family video…

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Over 50s Say They’ve Become More Daring –Trying Skiing, Skydiving, Marathons, and Even Getting a Tattoo

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Staysure / SWNS
Staysure / SWNS

A new survey revealed that seniors are becoming more daring with their hobbies and interests—adding marathons, hang-gliding—and even getting a tattoo—to their bucket list.

The poll, of 2,000 adults over 50, found that 62 percent are keen to embrace things now, more than they used to.

47 percent have a new outlook on life. Writing a book, taking up skiing, or conquering a mountain are among the things on their list—confirming that 53 percent of respondents believe ‘age is just a number’.

Many want to become fluent in a new language and others want to finally learn how to play an instrument they’ve always wanted to try.

Ryan Howsam, founder and CEO at Staysure, which commissioned the survey, said, “It’s great to see people of this age adopting a zest for life and fulfilling life-long ambitions.”

“As the research suggests, this is because they now have more time for themselves and feel ready to take on new challenges.”

More than half (52 percent) think it’s important to have aspirations, and three in 10 are more likely to fulfill these now that they are at a later stage in life.

Reasons for this include having more spare time (62 percent), retirement (43 percent) and no longer having children who live at home (37 percent).

It’s also important for 73 percent to have these ambitions so there is something for them to aim for, while 35 percent are keen to show people that there are no restrictions once you turn the big 5-0.

Only 14 percent were able to achieve the ambitions they had during their 20s.

Since getting older, half have pointed to a new perspective that made them more driven to achieve their ambitions and try new experiences.

The OnePoll study also found a third are considered by others as someone who embraces life and are not afraid to do something new. 71 percent still consider themselves ‘young’— even 82 percent aged 75 or older agreed.

More than three in ten now find themselves feeling less bored compared to when they were younger, with 67 percent confident that time is still on their side to fulfill life-long goals.

Staysure / SWNS

When it comes to winter sports, 19 percent believe there is no age limit when taking up such activities—with one-tenth feeling liberated when they got on a pair of skis.

With ski season in full swing, Staysure decided to trial a ski school for the over-50s to promote its ‘no upper age limit’ beliefs.

“Age shouldn’t stop anyone or block them from trying out new things.”

WATCH the fun video below, showing seniors skiing for the first time…

TOP 30 ACTIVITIES ON THE BUCKET LISTS OF SENIORS

1. Travel more
2. Retire
3. Make new friends
4. Pay off the mortgage
5. Go to more gigs and concerts
6. Downsize my home
7. Master a foreign language
8. Overcome a fear
9. Move to the countryside
10. Write a book
11. Take up yoga
12. Eat in a Michelin-starred restaurant
13. Learn a musical instrument
14. Move abroad
15. Move to a different city
16. Upsize my home
17. Join a gym
18. Buy my dream car
19. Take up painting
20. Start dating again
21. Climb a mountain
22. Get a tattoo
23. Choose a new career
24. Run a marathon
25. Learn how to ballroom dance
26. Buy a motorbike
27. Get a personal trainer
28. Do a skydive
29. Drive on a racetrack
30. Try surfing

INSPIRE Your Silver Senior Friends By Sharing This on Social Media…

Huge Meteorite Found in Antarctica–One of the Biggest Ever Recovered

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Newly found 17-pound meteorite – Dr. Maria Valdes via SWNS
Newly found 17-pound meteorite – Dr. Maria Valdes via SWNS

A meteorite containing the oldest material in the solar system has been discovered in Antarctica.

It is one of the biggest ever found—and sheds new light on the evolution of the sun and the planets.

The 17-lb cosmic treasure (7.6kg) was easy to find, as its black composition contrasted starkly against the snow-white ground.

Wilderness with dry cold weather is the best place to search for surviving space rocks because of the perfect conditions for preservation. Active glaciers can also churn up ancient ones buried beneath the ice.

“To find such a large meteorite like this is very rare,” said Dr. Maria Valdes, of The Field Museum in Chicago. “Even tiny micro-meteorites can be incredibly valuable from a scientific point of view.”

In the past century more than 45,000 meteorites have been found on the cold continent, but only about 100 as large as this one.

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Dr. Maria Valdes via SWNS

Expedition members rode snowmobiles to reach promising landing sites previously mapped using satellite images. They discovered five new specimens near the Princess Elisabeth Antarctica research station.

A computer neural network helped reveal several locations relatively free of snow, where it might prove easier to find them uncovered—and one of them contained the meteorites.

“To find such a big one, this is kind of lucky to be honest,” admitted Professor Maria Schonbachler, of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich.

She says the space rock appears to be a chondrite, the most common type.

These objects contain the oldest material in the solar system and probably originated from the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.

LOOK: China’s New Moon Rock Samples Contain A Beautiful Crystal New to Geology

The meteorite is being kept in a cool box to prevent thawing that could damage its delicate chemical structure. It will be sent to a lab in Belgium for further analysis.

Dr. Ashley King, of the Natural History Museum in London, said, “We don’t tend to find too many meteorites in Antarctica that are as big as this. (But) he more we have, the more we learn about the early solar system.”

RELATED: New Evidence Shows Giant Meteorites Created the Seven Continents When Impacting Earth

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Your Inspired 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 January 28, 2023
Copyright by Rob Brezsny, FreeWillAstrology.com

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18):
Greek writer Nikos Kazantzakis (1883–1957) was nominated nine times for the prestigious Nobel Prize in Literature, but never won. He almost broke through in the last year of his life, but French author Albert Camus beat him by one vote. Camus said Kazantzakis was “a hundred times more” deserving of the award than himself. I will make a wild prediction about you in the coming months, Aquarius. If there has been anything about your destiny that resembles Kazantzakis’s, chances are good that it will finally shift. Are you ready to embrace the gratification and responsibility of prime appreciation?

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20):
Piscean educator Parker Palmer has a crucial message for you to meditate on in the coming weeks. Read it tenderly, please. Make it your homing signal. He said, “Solitude does not necessarily mean living apart from others; rather, it means never living apart from one’s self. It is not about the absence of other people—it is about being fully present to ourselves, whether or not we are with others. Community does not necessarily mean living face-to-face with others; rather, it means never losing the awareness that we are connected to each other.”

ARIES (March 21-April 19):
Noah Webster (1758–1843) worked for years to create the first definitive American dictionary. It became a cornucopia of revelation for poet Emily Dickinson (1830-1886). She said that for many years it was her “only companion.” One biographer wrote, “The dictionary was no mere reference book to her; she read it as a priest his breviary—over and over, page by page, with utter absorption.” Now would be a favorable time for you to get intimate with a comparable mother lode, Aries. I would love to see you find or identify a resource that will continually inspire you for the rest of 2023.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20):
“The aspects of things that are most important for us are hidden because of their simplicity and familiarity.” So declared Taurus philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein in his book Philosophical Investigations. Luckily for you Tauruses, you have a natural knack for making sure that important things don’t get buried or neglected, no matter how simple and familiar they are. And you’ll be exceptionally skilled at this superpower during the next four weeks. I hope you will be gracious as you wield it to enhance the lives of everyone you care about. All of us non-Bulls will benefit from the nudges you offer as we make our course corrections.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20):
Poet Carolyn Kizer said the main subject of her work was this: “You cannot meet someone for a moment, or even cast eyes on someone in the street, without changing.” I agree with her. The people we encounter and the influences they exert make it hard to stay fixed in our attitudes and behavior. And the people we know well have even more profound transformative effects. I encourage you to celebrate this truth in the coming weeks. Thrive on it. Be extra hungry for and appreciative of all the prods you get to transcend who you used to be and become who you need to be.

CANCER (June 21-July 22):
If you have any interest in temporarily impersonating a Scorpio, the coming weeks will be a favorable time to play around. Encounters with good, spooky magic will be available. More easily than usual, you could enjoy altered states that tickle your soul with provocative insights. Are you curious about the mysteries of intense, almost obsessive passion? Have you wondered if there might be ways to deal creatively and constructively with your personal darkness? All these perks could be yours—and more. Here’s another exotic pleasure you may want to explore: that half-forbidden zone where dazzling heights overlap with the churning depths. You are hereby invited to tap into the erotic pleasures of spiritual experiments and the spiritual pleasures of erotic experiments.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22):
The circle can and will be complete—if you’re willing to let it find its own way of completing itself. But I’m a bit worried that an outdated part of you may cling to the hope of a perfection that’s neither desirable nor possible. To that outdated part of you, I say this: Trust that the Future You will thrive on the seeming imperfections that arise. Trust that the imperfections will be like the lead that the Future You will alchemically transmute into gold. The completed circle can’t be and shouldn’t be immaculate and flawless.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22):
Shakespeare’s work has been translated from his native English into many languages. But the books of Virgo detective novelist Agatha Christie have been translated far more than the Bard’s. Let’s make Christie your inspirational role model for the next four weeks. In my astrological estimation, you will have an extraordinary capacity to communicate with a wide variety of people. Your ability to serve as a mediator and go-between and translator will be at a peak. Use your superpower wisely and with glee!

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22):
Libran musician Franz Liszt (1811–1886) was a prolific and influential genius who created and played music with deep feeling. He was also physically attractive and charismatic. When he performed, some people in the audience swooned and sighed loudly as they threw their clothes and jewelry on stage. But there was another side of Liszt. He was a generous and attentive teacher for hundreds of piano students, and always offered his lessons free of charge. He also served as a mentor and benefactor for many renowned composers, including Wagner, Chopin, and Berlioz. I propose we make Liszt your inspirational role model for the next 11 months. May he rouse you to express yourself with flair and excellence, even as you shower your blessings on worthy recipients.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21):
This may risk being controversial, but in the coming weeks, I’m giving you cosmic authorization to engage in what might appear to be cultural appropriation. Blame it on the planets! They are telling me that to expand your mind and heart in just the right ways, you should seek inspiration and teaching from an array of cultures and traditions. So I encourage you to listen to West African music and read Chinese poetry in translation and gaze at the art of Indigenous Australians. These are just suggestions. I will leave it to your imagination as you absorb a host of fascinating influences that amaze and delight and educate you.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21):
“All the world’s a stage,” Shakespeare wrote, “and all the men and women merely players.” That’s always true, but it will be even more intensely accurate for you in the coming weeks. High-level pretending and performing will be happening. The plot twists may revolve around clandestine machinations and secret agendas. It will be vital for you to listen for what people are NOT saying as well as the hidden and symbolic meanings behind what they are saying. But beyond all those cautionary reminders, I predict the stories you witness and are part of will often be interesting and fun.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19):
In this horoscope, I offer you wisdom from Capricorn storyteller Michael Meade. It’s a rousing meditation for you in the coming months. Here’s Meade: “The genius inside a person wants activity. It’s connected to the stars; it wants to burn and it wants to create and it has gifts to give. That is the nature of inner genius.” For your homework, Capricorn, write a page of ideas about what your genius consists of. Throughout 2023, I believe you will express your unique talents and blessings and gifts more than you ever have before.

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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“Community does not necessarily mean living face-to-face with others; it means never losing the awareness that we are connected to each other.” – Parker Palmer

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By Nick Page

Quote of the Day: “Community does not necessarily mean living face-to-face with others; it means never losing the awareness that we are connected to each other.” – Parker Palmer 

Photo by: Nick Page

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?

 

6 ‘Memory Bears’ Sewn With Love and Grandpa’s Flannels For Widow’s Grandchildren

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Andy Corbley
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AccentCare hospice
AccentCare hospice

A hospice care volunteer who sews together teddy bears for patients who’ve lost loved ones recently completed a monumental task of teddy bear sextuplets bearing a loving grandfather’s flannels.

Patrice Travis works as a volunteer seamstress at AccentCare Hospice care in Boston, sewing a “memory bear” anytime one of their wards passes away. Thomas Lennon was a patient there before he died in August 2022 due to complications with Parkinson’s disease.

Thomas’ widow, Mary was asked by AccentCare’s community outreach manager Christina if she wanted a memory bear in Thomas’ honor, but she requested six—one for each of his grandchildren, to be made out of his flannel shirts and in time for Christmas.

Travis started right away and researched Thomas for details about him. She decided to make the bears look like “Pom-Pom,” grandpa’s nickname. She found eyes that matched his eye color, glasses similar to his, and put them on the bears.

She learned he always said, “Peace” when leaving a place. So, she found a patch with “Peace” on it and added it to the paw. Thomas played guitar, so she found guitar pick holders and sewed them onto the bear, and placed Pom Pom’s used guitar picks in each special pocket. Diligently, she worked. Left with extra shirt material, Patrice decided Mary needed a bear, too.

The impossible task of finishing seven bears was completed in three months.

Teddy Bear with bandana and grandpa’s flannel -AccentCare hospice

“They took on a life of their own here at our home,” Travis said. “Each ended up with a different personality in the face. I earnestly loved working on the project!”

Two days before Christmas, Mary visited the hospice care center for the big bear transfer and was simply astonished at what one volunteer had managed to accomplish.

MORE HEARTWARMING STORIES: Volunteers Are Soothing Senior Loneliness, Giving Free Rides on ‘Couch Bikes’ Worldwide – Find One Near You

Outreach manager Christina said “I’m astounded by how much the Bears captured the essence of [Mary’s] husband” adding simply that “Patrice is just remarkable.”

The grandkids received their bears, each having been added to with one of Pom Pom’s hats, on Christmas morning.

AccentCare hospice

The grandkids call the bears “Grandpy.” They take “him” everywhere. Mary glows as she talks of how the bears do activities with the grandkids daily. At night, they take off his glasses and set him nearby while they sleep. In the morning, the glasses go back on him.

In a way, Grandpy continues to watch over them as their “Bear Angel.”

Mary said the idea “has morphed into something I could never have imagined and has made everything so much more beautiful.”

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Editor’s note: This story has been altered to reflect the fact that Thomas was a patient, not a worker, at the hospice care center. 

New Study of Triassic Fossils Reveal the Origins of Living Amphibians Through a Tiny “Funky Worm”

By
Andy Corbley
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An illustration of Funcusvermis gilmorei credit Ben Kligman
Artistic reconstruction of Funcusvermis gilmorei (foreground) in the tropical forest of Petrified Forest National Park about 220 million years ago. Artwork by Andrey Atuchin. Image courtesy of the National Park Service, and the Petrified Forest Museum Association

For 3 years, paleontologists working in Petrified Forest National Park have been unearthing the remains of perhaps the oldest known amphibian.

It’s not a frog, nor a salamander, but the early-Triassic version of what today are called Caecilians: a family of legless, salamander-adjacent, burrowing critters.

The fossils extend the record of this small, burrowing amphibian by roughly 35 million years. The find also fills a gap of at least 87 million years in the known historical fossil record of the creature.

The fossil was first co-discovered by Ben Kligman, a doctoral student in the Department of Geosciences, part of the Virginia Tech College of Science, at Arizona’s Petrified Forest during a dig in 2019.

Prior to this new study, published recently in the journal Nature, only 10 fossil caecilians were known, dating back to the Early Jurassic Period, about 183 million years ago. However, previous DNA studies estimated evolutionary origins of caecilians back to the Carboniferous or Permian eras, some 370 million to 270 million years ago, according to Kligman, marking that 87-million-year gap. However, no such fossils had been found.

“Fossil caecilians are extraordinarily rare, and they are found accidentally when paleontologists are searching for the fossils of other more common animals,” said Kligman. “Our discovery of one was totally unexpected, and it transformed the trajectory of my scientific interests.”

Whatever his scientific interests were, music was certainly among the others. The name of the amphibian ancestor, Funcusvermis, is a Latinized way of saying “Funky Worm” after an Ohio Players’ 1972 song of the same name from their album Pleasure.

Modern caecilians are limbless amphibians with cylindrical bodies and a compact, bullet-shaped skull that helps them burrow underground. Now exclusively home to South and Central America, Africa, and southern Asia, caecilians spend their lives burrowing in leaf litter or soil searching for prey such as worms and insects. This underground existence has made studying caecilians difficult for scientists.

Microscopic photograph of a lower jaw from Funcusvermis gilmorei soon after it was recovered during microscopic sorting of sediment from the Thunderstorm Ridge fossil site in the Petrified Forest National Park Paleontology Lab. Photo by Ben Kligman.

Some believe they’re related to Dissorophoidea, a family of medium-sized amphibians in the order Temnospondyli—one of the largest orders of amphibians. However, it’s also argued that Temnospondyli all died out, leaving no living relatives.

MORE FROM PALEONTOLOGY: A Fossil Found in Museum’s Storeroom Cupboard Has Shifted the Origin of Modern Lizards Back 35 Million Years

Funcusvermis actually shares skeletal features related more with early frog and salamander fossils, strengthening the evidence for a shared origin and close evolutionary relationship between caecilians and these two groups.

“Unlike living caecilians, Funcusvermis lacks many adaptations associated with burrowing underground, indicating a slower acquisition of features associated with an underground lifestyle in the early stages of caecilian evolution.”

At the Petrified Forest National Park, where the initial discovery was found in 2019, the lower jaws of at least 70 individuals of Funcusvermis have been recovered as of summer 2022, making the area “the most abundant fossil caecilian-producing bonebed ever discovered,” Kligman said.

MORE FROM PALEONTOLOGY: At Long Last, Paleontologists Find Remains of a Swimming Dinosaur—’a Cretaceous Cormorant’

Only a handful of bones of Funcusvermis have been found, including upper and lower jaws, a vertebra, and part of a hind limb, Kligman said, all coloring in the picture of what was tiny animal.

“This find clearly demonstrates that some fossils that you can barely see can greatly change our understanding of entire groups that you can see today,” said co-author Sterling Nesbitt, an associate professor in the Virginia Tech Department of Geosciences, who added it could “reset the board on paleontology.”

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Delta Flight Attendant Consoles Fearful Passenger and Photo Goes Viral

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Andy Corbley
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Credit Molly Simonson Lee - Facebook
Credit Molly Simonson Lee – Facebook

Everyone has their phobias—spiders, elevators, loneliness, but unfortunately for one Delta Airlines passenger, hers was flying.

Molly Simonson Lee was flying from Charlotte near her home in Raleigh, North Carolina, to New York when it became clear that a passenger in front of her was not comfortable flying.

The frightened woman began to cry, and that’s when Lee witnessed a touching act of humanity when a flight attendant posted up on the floor next to her and explained he would be there for her every step of the way.

“He just was so reassuring, so calming, and said, ‘you know what? I got you,'” Lee explained to ABC 7. “‘I’m gonna be there for you, just anything you need to let me know.’ And he was so wonderful and reassuring. With every little noise, she’d be like, ‘what’s that?’ He’s like, ‘that’s okay. That’s just the jet bridge pulling away’ or whatever the case may be. And that really helped her.”

The flight attendant was Floyd Dean-Shannon, and a photo of him holding the woman’s hand, snapped by Lee, went viral on her Facebook wall, racking up nearly 12,000 shares.

MORE FROM AIRLINES: Southwest Airlines Workers Looked After a Passenger’s Pet Fish for 4 Months After it was Banned From Flight

“He didn’t have to do that, you know, and to just see someone extend their heart in that way to a stranger was just beautiful to me, and I wanted to capture it,” she said. “I just really hope that Floyd gets what he deserves, which is everyone’s love, everyone’s praise, everyone’s admiration. I’m so happy that he’s getting that recognition. And I really hope it leads to good things for him.”

Good things indeed, as her GoFundMe set up to “show Floyd some love” has raised $2,250 so far—a nice little end-of-year bonus.

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Watch This Cargo Ship Fly a Giant Kite to Save Fuel and Cut Emissions

By
Andy Corbley
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Trial with the cargo vessel Ville de Bordeaux – Airseas
Trial with the cargo vessel Ville de Bordeaux – Airseas

Using an ancient solution for a modern problem, a firm successfully tested how a giant kite can be used to tug shipping vessels across the ocean and significantly reduce the amount of diesel fuel they use.

It’s tempting to call the product a sail, and the activity sailing. However even the word kite belies the technological sophistication of the “Seawing,” built by AirSeas.

Retrofitted onto the front of any container ship, this massive “parafoil” can generate 20% of the vessel’s total propulsion. This was recently confirmed as part of a test with a French container ship—the Ville de Bordeaux—as it moved aircraft parts from the US to France.

AirSeas makes the Seawing in 2,700-square-foot and 5,400-square-foot models. The startup is also developing a 10,800-square-foot version, all of which are housed in consoles at the front of the ship.

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The company is thrilled to have reported that the Ville de Bordeaux reduced its consumption of a dirty diesel composite called “bunker fuel” by 20% over the course of its journey.

“The last few months have seen major players like COSCO, BHP, and MOL join the ranks of wind propulsion backers alongside K-Line, Louis Dreyfus Armateurs, Oldendorff, Scandlines, and Cargill,” Stephanie Lesage, Corporate Secretary of AirSeas, wrote in a recent op-ed.

“Cargo owners, charterers, shipowners, and shipyards alike are all coming to realize the benefits of wind-assisted propulsion in shipping’s journey towards a lower carbon future.”

MORE FROM SHIPPING: Major Turning Point in 2021 Saw Global Shipping Take Massive Steps to Reduce Emissions

The industry generates about 2% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions, but 15% of sulfur dioxide and nitrous oxide emissions, which can be toxic to breathe for both man and fish.

Meant to be fully automatic, it’s one of the most hi-tech sails you’re likely to see. At the push of a button, the parafoil is evenly deployed from its command console into a sharp breeze by a series of tethers. Once deployed, the tethers are programmed to gather information about yaw, pitch, and wind directions to constantly shift the position of the parafoil to catch the greatest amount of wind energy.

Once the kite is no longer needed, or the wind goes flat, it evenly retracts back into its command console.

“We are launching a flying object from a sailing object, compensating for movement on all sides, such as waves in high seas and turbulence at low altitude,” Vincent Bernatets, CEO of Airseas told Canary Media, explaining the difficulties.

​“After the flight, we have to ensure that the Seawing lands smoothly and precisely on a moving target: the ship bow, which is oscillating on waves and generating heavy turbulence and movement.”

Depending on what you classify as merchant shipping, the world uses between 50,000 and 100,000 merchant vessels to transport goods and materials around the globe, so the scaling-up potential is large.

AirSeas already has several buyers lined up. Japanese shipper K Line could outfit as many as 50 ships in the next few years with Seawings.

WATCH the test onboard the Ville de Bordeaux… 

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“Ocean is more ancient than the mountains, and freighted with the memories and the dreams of Time.” – H. P. Lovecraft

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Good News Network
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Quote of the Day: “Ocean is more ancient than the mountains, and freighted with the memories and the dreams of Time.” – H. P. Lovecraft

Photo by: gail

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For the First Time Since 1977, Zero Rhinos Were Poached In India’s Parks

By
Andy Corbley
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Greater one horned rhino - CC 4.0. Nejib Ahmed
Greater one horned rhino – CC 4.0. Nejib Ahmed

In May 2021, a new Chief Minister of the Indian state of Assam set out to thoroughly put an end to poaching in the state’s protected areas.

Now 20 months later, the forestry and police departments of the state have reported that 2022 saw no rhinos lost to poaching, the first time that’s happened since 1977.

Located on the borders of Tibetan China to the north and Myanmar to the east, Assam is one of the richest biodiversity zones in the world and contains Kaziranga, Manas, and Orang national parks as well as Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary.

Together these four protected areas make up most of the one-horned rhinoceros’ range in the country, and of the 2,895 rhinos in the state, nearly all of that number can be found inside them.

Chief Minister Sarma put together a special anti-poaching task force led by Special Director General of Police G. P. Singh. The task force created a database of past incidents of rhino poaching with details of when, how, and where they took place. Convicted poachers had their phones monitored, and local fishermen and villagers were brought on as informants.

MORE FROM INDIA: Religious Practices Have Preserved 125,000 Sacred Groves in India, Growing a Conservation Success

When the work came to inside the park, the rhinos were treated like presidents. Sophisticated police commando teams patrolled the parks with night vision equipment and drones, and the number of teams increased on full moon nights.

When flooding in Kaziranga drove the rhinos to higher ground during the 2022 monsoon season, the teams stayed in the field 24-7 until the animals could disperse again after the waters receded.

“If we continue with this pressure, rhino poaching will stop completely,” Singh told the Hindustan Times. “For this, the cost to poachers has to be higher than the profit they earn.”

MORE ON POACHING: India Deploys Super-Sniffer Dogs to Protect Newly-Introduced Cheetahs from Poachers

A colleague notes that the coordination has become so thorought that poacher arrest rates are now being measured weekly, rather than monthly as before.

It’s this kind of devotion that has seen the numbers of one-horned rhinos climb from just around 100 individuals in 1910, to almost 3,000 today.

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These ‘Invisible’ Solar Panels Appear Just Like Historic Italian Terracotta Roofs and Can Help Green Historic Buildings

By
Andy Corbley
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Invisible Solar, released by Dyaqua
Invisible Solar, released by Dyaqua

In the historic Italian city of Vicenza, Veneto, a typically-Italian family business of artisans is handmaking not-so-typical solar panels.

Designed to be indistinguishable by the naked eye from regular terracotta roof tiles, “Invisible Solar” tiles are made to improve the energy efficiency of heritage buildings without compromising their historic appearance.

They make each tile out of a non-toxic and recyclable polymeric compound they themselves developed, and the tiles allow for sunlight to pass into a hidden bank of photovoltaic cells without the human eye being able to tell they are translusent.

This gives them the appearance of regular handmade clay tiles that cover most of the roofs in Italy and almost all of the roofs in their native, UNESCO-listed Vicenza.

The company is called Dyaqua, and their founder, Giovanni Battista Qualiato says that just like regular roofing tiles, Invisible Solar can be installed by roofers without any special training or equipment.

Vicenza panorama CC 3.0. Alessandro Vecchi

In 2015 Invisible Solar was mentioned by the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities and Tourism (MiBACT) as a solution to improve energy efficiency in cultural heritage across the country, and they are already installed in Pompeii.

READ MORE: Inflatable Floodgates in Venice Named After Moses Save the City for a Second Time

“They look exactly like the terracotta tiles used by the Romans, but they produce the electricity that we need to light the frescoes,” said Gabriel Zuchtriegel, director of the Pompeii Archaeological Park.

“Since we needed an extensive lightning system, we could either keep consuming energy, leaving poles and cables around and disfiguring the landscape, or choose to respect it and save millions of euros.”

A pilot program will see Invisible Solar terracotta tiles installed in the Portuguese city of Evora, and the Qualiato hope that soon there will be an interest in Dyaqua’s other products, because the same technology and materials that allow them to make solar panel terracotta tiles allows them to mimic natural stone, concrete, and wood exteriors, in not only the roof of a building, but also their walls and courtyards.

MORE FROM ITALY: Italy Bans Cruise Ships from Entering Historic Venice City Center

About 90 square feet (9 square meters) of tiling will generate about 1 kilowatt hours of electricity, which isn’t much, but it does offer the choice between some solar power on historic buildings, and no solar whatsoever.

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Labeled a Replica by Chicago Museum, It Turns Out to Be 3,000-Year-Old Warrior’s Sword

By
Andy Corbley
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The 3,000 y.o. Bronze Age sword at the entrance to the exhibit - Credit: Field Museum Chicago
The 3,000 y.o. Bronze Age sword at the entrance to the exhibit – Credit: Field Museum Chicago

Nearly 100 years ago, the Chicago Field Museum acquired a bronze sword from Europe, but it was thought to be a well-made replica.

Now a new analysis has revealed that the sword is the real deal, dating back 3,000 years to the Bronze Age, and likely belonging to a warrior in the upper strata of society.

While preparing for First Kings of Europe, a special exhibition opening at the Field Museum in March 2023, Hungarian archaeologists working alongside Field Museum scientists asked to see the “replica” sword that had been retrieved from the Danube River in Budapest, Hungary in the 1930s.

János Gábor Tarbay, a Hungarian expert in Bronze Age metal artifacts thought it could be real as soon as he saw it. A team at the Field Museum on Tarbay’s recommendation then used an X-ray fluorescence detector, an instrument that looks like a ray gun, to compare the sword’s chemical makeup to other known Bronze Age swords in Europe.

Their contents of bronze, copper, and tin were nearly identical, and the newly-authenticated sword will be installed in the Field Museum’s main hall as a preview for the new exhibition.

MORE ARCHAEOLOGY NEWS: Rare Bronze Age Coffin Has Been Accidentally Discovered in a Golf Course Pond Along With Perfectly Preserved Ax

Found at the bottom of the Danube, it may have been thrown in as part of an ancient ritual 3,000 years ago to commemorate lost loved ones or a battle.

“It’s a very specific ritual tradition from this time period that speaks to the evolution of a ruling warrior class that was starting to emerge at that point in time,” Bill Parkinson, a curator of anthropology at the Field who helped create the upcoming First Kings of Europe exhibition, told Hyper Allergic.

MORE FROM THE BRONZE AGE: Historians Stunned: Uzbekistan Nomads Supplied a Third of the Bronze Used Across Ancient Mediterranean

“Usually this story goes the other way round,” he adds in a press release. “What we think is an original turns out to be a fake.”

Had this sword been known to be authentic earlier in the planning of the exhibition, it would have been included in the Bronze Age era section of the show, which will showcase items from southeastern Europe, spanning thousands of years.

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Incredible Drone Video of a Moose Shedding Its Antlers – WATCH

By
Andy Corbley
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credit: Derek Burgoyne
credit: Derek Burgoyne

Derek Burgoyne puts the phenomenon at 1 in a million.

He accidentally found a bull moose with his drone and clicked record 16 seconds before the great beast, shaking the loose snow from its body, shed its antlers on the spot.

“Never in my wildest dreams would ever imagine catching this on film,” Burgoyne told CBC news. “This is winning the lottery when it comes to wildlife photography for sure.”

Working as a woods operation supervisor in Canada’s New Brunswick province, Burgoyne has captured a lot of footage of moose engaged in various activities. He’s recorded moose cows with their calves, groups of moose bedded down together, and even a pair of bull moose jousting during the rut.

It’s an endearing coincidence for him to have caught such a split-second moment in a moose’s life, because ever since he was a child he’s gone out into the forest looking for shed moose antlers.

“What they’ll often do after being bedded in the snow is they’ll shake their body to rid themselves of the snow and water,” Burgoyne explains. “As he shook himself, I was recording, and you seen what happened.”

MORE FROM THE ANIMAL KINGDOM: Adult Elephants React to Birth in the Herd Just Moments After Adorable Baby is Born (WATCH)

Derek posted it to his YouTube channel Adventure in the Wild, where he sometimes shares these experiences he records during the course of his work.

Because the area was one he was working at, the lucky man got to retrieve the shed antlers, which were 17 points at a 45-inch ‘spread.’ No doubt they will maintain a place of honor among his extensive shed collection.

WATCH the video here, from CBC, or without the story from Derek’s YouTube.

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“You have to create your life. You have to carve it, like a sculpture.” – William Shatner

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Good News Network
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Quote of the Day: “You have to create your life. You have to carve it, like a sculpture.” – William Shatner

Photo by: Miriam Espacio

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Critical Discovery Highlights Weaknesses of Asteroids, Should Earth Ever Need to Destroy One

By
Andy Corbley
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Artistic rendering of the asteroid Itokawa
Artistic rendering of the asteroid Itokawa

Recent surveys of the composition of an asteroid as old as our solar system has revealed a key strength that humanity must work around if it should ever need to defend our planet from a possible impact.

“Rubble pile” asteroids are immune to impact weaponry, the study revealed, and shows that instead planetary defense programs must focus on shockwaves that move them off course.

We’ve entered into the age of planetary defense. Recent NASA budgets have allowed it to create a Planetary Defense directorate, and the administration has proven it can divert the course of potentially-destructive asteroids with the success of its recent DART mission.

Courtesy of the Japanese space agency JAXA, and their Hayabusa 1 mission that sampled an ancient asteroid called Itokawa, an international team at John Curtin University, Australia was able to determine that asteroids can live for billions of years despite being formed very loosely.

Itokawa is about 1.2 million miles from Earth, and about the size of the Sydney Harbor Bridge. But it isn’t its size that gives it durability, but rather its composition.

“Unlike monolithic asteroids, Itokawa is not a single lump of rock, but belongs to the rubble pile family which means it’s entirely made of loose boulders and rocks, with almost half of it being empty space,” lead author Professor Fred Jourdan, Director of the Western Australian Argon Isotope Facility, Curtin Univ.

“The survival time of monolithic asteroids the size of Itokawa is predicted to be only several hundreds of thousands of years in the asteroid belt.”

MORE ON ASTEROIDS: NASA Celebrates World First: Smashing a Spacecraft into an Asteroid to Practice Saving Humanity

“The huge impact that destroyed Itokawa’s monolithic parent asteroid and formed Itokawa happened at least 4.2 billion years ago. Such an astonishingly long survival time for an asteroid the size of Itokawa is attributed to the shock-absorbent nature of rubble pile material.”

Like Rocky Marciano, Itokawa has endured countless impacts but is still standing. To wit, Professor Jourdan called it a “space cushion.”

The team’s self-stated goal was to figure out if rubble pile asteroids could be blown to dust at the slightest knock because of their loose composition. On the contrary, their cushioned surfaces allows them to absorb impact forces, and so the team estimates that the number of rubble pile asteroids in the asteroid belt must be much higher than previously thought, and that any future Earth-endangering asteroids will probably be rubble piles.

RELATED: Work Set to Begin on Asteroid Hunting Observatory—NASA’s New Mission to Protect Earth from Disaster

The good news is that this informs how we might save ourselves in the future from being crushed by one—a close-by nuclear explosion, detonated near, but not on, the asteroid, to send it flying away from a collision course with Earth.

Their paper was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, entitled “Rubble Pile Asteroids are Forever.”

There are no currently-known asteroids that threaten Earth, but geology teaches us we’ve been hit countless times, and occasionally with curtain-closing consequences.

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More Physical Activity is Related to Less Respiratory Infections in Children

By
Andy Corbley
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Robert Collins - Unsplash

Scientists have found that higher levels of physical activity measured by steps taken per day and hours spent playing sports reduced young children’s susceptibility to upper respiratory tract infections (URTIs.)

A secondary finding of note was that the study also took into account whether the house had smokers, pet hair, which vaccines the children had received, whether they had siblings, and what their sleep patterns were like, none of which had any association with susceptibility to URTIs in either direction.

We’ve all heard from our parents or grandparents about how much they played outside compared to the young ones today. Indeed they often make it seem like the doors to their house were locked between the end of school and dinner time.

Scientists from Poland wanted to see what kinds of exposure and activities reduce children’s susceptibility to URTIs, and their results make our grandparents sound all the wiser.

104 Polish children aged 4-7 from Warsaw had their physical activity monitored with pedometers between the fall-winter school year of 2018 and 2019. Their parents filled out scientific questionnaires regarding various details mentioned above, as well as the perception of URTI symptoms such as coughing or a runny nose.

The authors found that as the average daily number of steps taken by children throughout the study period increased by 1,000, the number of days that they experienced symptoms of URTIs decreased by an average of 4.1 days.

MORE ON HEALTH: Teacher’s Powerful Exercise of ‘Leaving Emotional Baggage at the Door’ Has Totally Changed Her Classroom

Additionally, children participating in three or more hours of sport per week tended to experience fewer days with respiratory tract infection symptoms than those not regularly participating in sports.

“Children who achieved a higher number of steps in the first days of observation had fewer days with symptoms of infection in the following days, than the less-active children,” the authors wrote.

The authors did not identify associations between URTI symptoms and sleep duration, siblings, vaccinations, or exposure to pet hair or smoking, despite many of these being hypothesized as reducing or increasing the incidence of URTIs.

MORE ON KIDS: Relief For Kids With Peanut Allergy: Immunotherapy Puts 74% Into Remission in Breakthrough Study

While the study seems an obvious one, especially if you ask your grandparents, the increased prevalence of screens in households decreases the time spent in physical activity and increases the likelihood that children aged 4-7, who are already at a high risk for URTIs, will suffer from infections of increased duration and severity, and at greater frequency.

The authors recommend instilling the values of physical activity or sport from an early age, and by participating in physical activity, if possible, as a family.

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