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First 3D Printed Neighborhood is Providing 100 Sturdy Affordable Solar Homes Near Austin For $400K+

By
Andy Corbley
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Out in Austin, a 3D-printed neighborhood is taking shape, where 100 homes are being simultaneously made to start next year for around 30% less than comparabley-sized homes.

They will be built between 2 and 4 bedrooms and to much higher codes, and in addition will include solar paneled roofs.

Lennar, one of the nation’s largest home builders will be partnering with ICON, a 3D-printing firm to create what they’ve termed The Genesis Collection. Lennar was an early investor in ICON, which they saw as having the potential to bring down construction costs significantly.

ICON’s machines are fully-automated, and each building needs the attention of just three workmen. The printing can go on 24-hours a day, and the firm say they can print the entire wall system with electrical, plumbing and ventilation at around a third of what a normal team of builders would need.

All of this contributes to both low costs and timeframe.

ICON 3D-printed homes being printed on-site for Wolf Ranch Community in Texas

“This is the first 100 homes, but we expect to be able to bring this to scale, and at scale we really bring cycle times down and we also bring cost down,” Stuart Miller, executive chairman of Lennar, told NBC.

A floor plan is loaded into the Build OS on a computer, after which layer upon layer of cement is squeezed out like toothpaste to make the walls, leaving holes for all the necessary utilities.

Lennar 3BD home interior – ICON

Reporting on the builds, NBC staff described the proprietary mixture of cement as appearing like taffy, and having a texture like “cement corduroy.”

More energy efficicent than wood, they are also far sturdier homes, and are about 4x above the regulatory code for resistance to various elements like wind and water.

Expected to be available for reservations by next year in the first entirely 3D-printed community, the lack of strong commodity pricing means that even as mortage rates rise in conjuction with inflation and housing prices, Lennar hope to keep them priced at around 400K.

TAKE a video tour of the build site…

SHARE This Radical Housing Innovation With Your Friends… 

“Holiness is an infinite compassion for others.” – Olive Schreiner

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Good News Network
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Quote of the Day: “Holiness is an infinite compassion for others.” – Olive Schreiner

Photo by: Zac Durant

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?

Chimpanzees Share Experiences With Each Other ‘Just Because’–A Trait Once Thought to Be Only Human (WATCH)

By
Andy Corbley
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Screenshot of video from Comparative BioCognition at the University of Osnabrück
Screenshot of video from Comparative BioCognition at the University of Osnabrück

When you’re out with your friends, how often do you want to share an experience by saying something like, ‘Wow, look at that’?

Now we know that chimpanzees do this too—a behavior once thought unique to humans.

Scientists recently observed a young chimp nagging its mom for attention for the sole purpose of showing her a leaf—for no reason other than to say something like, “Look, isn’t this a cool leaf?”

In their study, the scientists called it “declarative referential gesturing,” showing something for the sake that another chimp can see it, and no more. They observed this in a mother-daughter pairing at the Ngobo Chimp Community at Kibale National Park in Uganda.

“Critically, she didn’t seem to want her mom to do anything with the leaf. … She seems to be showing it just for the sake of showing it. It’s like, ‘look, look, this is cool, isn’t it?’ And that is very humanlike and something that we thought was fairly unique to our species,” study coauthor Katie Slocombe, a professor of psychology at the University of York in the United Kingdom, told CNN.

RELATED: Chimps Show Researchers They’d Cook if Given the Chance (WATCH)

They contrasted this incident with the leaf to 84 other events all centered around the use of leaves, which the scientists detail are often the focus of groomers.

Chimps tend to pluck leaves from trees while grooming each other, which garners a lot of attention in the community. The generally-accepted belief is that since it happens during inter-indivudal grooming, they use the leaf as a sort of petri-dish to inspect the parasites they pull off each other.

Always however, with the study of our closest relatives, the video footage is the really convicncing argument. The video of daughter Fiona plucking a leaf and showing it to her mother Sutherland is a gesture we have all seen a hundred million times in the age of social media—a youth passing a phone infront of another’s face to direct their attention towards it.

SIMILAR: Birds Have Self Control Just Like Humans–And Some Have a Lot of It

“When Fiona was doing this, (Sutherland) didn’t really seem interested; she wasn’t watching and wasn’t giving her any attention. Fiona is then showing her the leaf to say, ‘look at it,’” Slocombe said.

“She is really persistent with trying to get her mom to look at it, and it’s only when her mom really visibly dropped her whole head to orient to the leaf that (Fiona) then seems satisfied.”

The study is the first recorded observation of this behavior in the wild and in any other animal, and Slocombe et al. hope their work will encourage the community to keep their eyes peeled for more displays like this so that a body of observational evidence can emerge.

WATCH and tell us you’ve not done that with your smartphone…

GRAB Your Friends Attention With This Awesome Story On Social Media… 

Oregon Pardons 45,000 People of Cannabis Possession Charges While Forgiving $14 million in Fines

By
Andy Corbley
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Oregon Governor Kate Brown - Flickr, CC license
Oregon Governor Kate Brown – Flickr, CC license

Oregon Governor Kate Brown has announced she will be issuing pardons for 45,000 people that have been convicted of felony cannabis possession in the state.

All associated fines will also be wiped away, clearing more than $14 million in criminal charges. The state courts will now begin working to seal all possession charge records to ensure those that had been convicted won’t face economic or employment impediments.

It’s been several years since Oregon decriminalized simple possession of cannabis, yet many people continue to carry a felony charge on their record despite its current legality.

“No one deserves to be forever saddled with the impacts of a conviction for simple possession of marijuana—a crime that is no longer on the books in Oregon,” Brown said in a press release. 

“Oregonians should never face housing insecurity, employment barriers, and educational obstacles as a result of doing something that is now completely legal, and has been for years.”

SIMILAR: New Yorkers With Pot Convictions Will Now Be the First to Get the Opportunity to Sell It

The clemency comes weeks after President Biden issued presidential pardons for a few thousand possession charges that were held on the federal law books. The vast majority of such convictions however are done at the state level.

Brown also expressed an interest in opening up Oregon to the import and exportation of cannabis to and from other states—a bold vision, since cannabis is still classified by the federal government as a Schedule 1 drug.

RELATED: President Biden Pardons Thousands Convicted of Cannabis Possession Under Federal Law

The U.S. Constitution gives the federal government jurisdiction to regulate inter-state commerce, and they would need to change the laws so cannabis produced in one state could be sold in another state—which is currently illegal, even if the plant has been deemed legal to possess and sell in both states.

SHARE The Act Of Clemency On Social Media… 

Pacific Salmon Will Regain Access to Hundreds of Miles of Spawning Grounds as Historic Dam Removal Gets Green Light

By
Andy Corbley
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The Iron Gate Dam - Klamath River Renewal Corporation
The Iron Gate Dam – Klamath River Renewal Corporation

It’s been twenty years of advocacy and legal challenges, but the decision was made to carry out the largest dam removal in history to return the Klamath River in California to its natural state.

Led by the Yurok, Klamath, and Karuk tribal nations, the demolition of four hydroelectric dams will allow wild salmon from the Pacific to run upstream and spawn again as they haven’t done for 100 years.

Last Thursday, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approved a license to allow the Klamath River Renewal Corporation (KRRC) to decommission and remove the four dams and implement related restoration activities.

These four dams deny salmon access to hundreds of miles of historical habitat, degrade water quality, and foster the spread of fish diseases. Scientific studies and dam removal efforts in other watersheds demonstrate that removing dams can reverse these trends.

Demolition work is expected to begin next year, promising not only the return to ancestral ways of life for the various tribes on the Klamath River, but a robust increase in commercial salmon fishing.

“The Klamath salmon are coming home,” proclaimed Yurok Chairman Joseph James. “The people have earned this victory and with it, we carry on our sacred duty to the fish that have sustained our people since the beginning of time.”

SIMILAR: Chinook Salmon Introduced to Mountain Streams Not Inhabited for 100 Years

Today’s Klamath River salmon returns are less than 5% of their historical abundance with some runs of salmon completely eliminated by the dams. Potential production increases for fisheries, who were involved in the efforts to remove the dams, could be 10x-20x over the long run.

Upstream of the dams, the Karuk, the Yurok, and California, the Klamath Tribes of Oregon are eager to see salmon return.

RELATED: Conservation Groups Celebrate Dam Removal on Green River – Restoring Health of Fish and Humans After 70 Years 

“Our people have been without c’iyaals (salmon) for over a century. We welcome the fish home to the Upper Klamath Basin with open arms,” said Klamath Tribes Chairman Clayton Dumont.

The demolition is slated to be finished by the end of 2024 using funding from PacifiCorp, the Berkshire Hathaway Energy subsidiary company that manages the dams, and a California bond measure.

SHARE And Celebrate This Long Fought Victory For Native Rights…

“To be sensual is to respect and rejoice in the force of life …from the effort of loving to the breaking of bread.” – James Baldwin

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Good News Network
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Quote of the Day: “To be sensual is to respect and rejoice in the force of life …from the effort of loving to the breaking of bread.” – James Baldwin 

Photo by: Yael Hofnung

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?

Livin’ Good Currency Ep. 21: Zoe Chance on How to Make Friends and Influence Others–and Embrace Intuition

By
Andy Corbley
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The Lesson: Making friends and influencing people, as Carnegie described it, can be approached in several ways, but Zoe Chance feels that the modern influential person is the one that people want to say yes to—achieved in part by influencing others, and in part by influencing the self; influencing our inner dialogue between the intuitive mind and the rational mind, which she calls the Gater and the Judge.

Notable Excerpt: “Almost all of us struggle with trying to influence other people or trying to be influential, and many of us have mixed feelings because when we think of influence tactics, we think of the really super creepy used car salesman archetype. What we want is to have an influence on the world, ideally a good influence, and honestly we don’t want to have to work so hard that we feel like we’re pushing people, we ideally want to be in relationships with people who like us, and who want to say yes to each other. We have a good idea and we bring these good ideas to each other.”

The Guest: Zoe Chance is a writer, teacher, researcher, and climate philanthropist. She’s obsessed with the topic of interpersonal influence and her science-based but fun and life-changing book is called Influence Is Your Superpower: The Science of Winning Hearts, Sparking Change, and Making Good Things Happen. It’s being published in more than 20 languages.

Zoe earned her doctorate from Harvard and now teaches the most popular course at Yale School of Management (Mastering Influence and Persuasion). Her research is published in top academic journals and covered in global media outlets. She speaks on television and around the world, and her framework for behavior change is the foundation for Google’s global food policy.

Before joining academia, Zoe managed a $200 million segment of the Barbie brand, helped out with political campaigns, and worked in less glamorous influence jobs like door-to-door sales and telemarketing. She lives with her family in New Haven, CT.

The Podcast: Livin’ Good Currency explores the relationship of time to our lives. It focuses on learning how super-successful people align their purpose with their passions to do good for themselves and others daily, and features a co-host who knows better than anyone the value of time (see below). How do you want to spend your life? This hour can inspire you, along with upcoming guests, to be sure you are ‘Livin’ Good Currency’ and never get caught running out of time.

The Hosts: Good News Network fans will know Tony (Anthony) Samadani as the co-owner of GNN and its Chief of Strategic Partnerships. Co-host Tobias Tubbs was handed a double life sentence without the possibility of parole for a crime he didn’t commit. Behind bars, he used his own version of the Livin’ Good Currency formula to inspire young men in prison to turn their hours into honors. An expert in conflict resolution, spirituality, and philosophy, Tobias is a master gardener who employs ex-felons to grow their Good Currency by planting crops and feeding neighborhoods.

Subscribe to the Pod:  On iTunes… On Spotify… On Amazon Music… Or Google Play.

Episode Resources:

Are you ready to start your health journey today? Go to viome.com/goodcurrency to get $50 off Viome’s Full Body Intelligence test or bundle, the most advanced at-home health test currently available to consumers.

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Danish Artist Hides Enormous Trolls in Forests Around the World Using Recycled Wood—LOOK

By
Andy Corbley
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Thomas Dambo Troll in Breckenridge, Colorado by Isak Heartstone / Courtesy of FORM
Thomas Dambo’s Troll in Breckenridge, Colorado by Isak Heartstone / Courtesy of FORM

Far out in Western Australia, the tranquil wetland forests are about to shake with the footsteps of giants.

That’s because a Danish artist has built a community of giant trolls out of recycled natural material for an exhibit that weaves Aboriginal tradition, modern eco-consciousness, pure childhood creative expression and joy together.

Thomas Dambo is the mastermind behind ‘Giants of Mandurah’, a cultural tourism attraction set in the Mandurah region of Western Australia about an hour south of Perth. The giant trolls, named Little Lui, Vivi Cirklestone, Seba, and Santi Ikto, are all made of recycled wood, just like the dozens of other giants that Dambo has built in forests around the world.

Their limbs are made of pallet wood, their bodies and other more detailed features are chopped up cast away furniture. Together they tell the creation story of the Bindjareb Noongar people, and the waterways and wetlands of their home.

“I grew up surrounded by fairytales and stories, and the troll is an important part of Danish folklore,” Dambo told The Guardian.

“For me, trolls represent the voice of nature. Sometimes they can be gentle and quiet. Other times they can be really violent and brutal, and that’s how nature is. If you’re not careful, nature will knock your whole house over.”

Santi Ikto, one of the Giants of Mandurah by Thomas Dambo – Photo by Duncan Wright, courtesy of FORM
Vivi Cirklestone, Giants of Mandurah by Thomas Dambo, photo by Duncan Wright courtesy of FORM.

Each one took about 750 hours of work to construct, but Dambo had the hand of some volunteers, and completed all the work on site to allow the inspiration and energy of nature to drive the team on.

KEEP EXPLORING: Artist Makes the Most Amazing Animal Sculptures From Trash – LOOK

“Why build in a warehouse if you can build here? It’s the best office in the world,” he said. “And coming from Denmark, the nature here is so different, it’s almost a bit trippy and unreal, like being in a fairytale.”

Stemming from a childhood spent obsessively building things in the yard, amongst his theater seamstress mother and blacksmith father, Dambo’s adult creations can be found in China, Wyoming, Colorado, Maine, Copenhagen, Chile, and beyond.

But it was the beautiful natural scenery of Mandurah that drew him in particular to this spot.

“Mandurah is a city renowned across Australia for its natural beauty, making it the perfect home for Thomas Dambo’s celebrated artworks,” said Mayor Rhys Williams.

Mamma Mimi, Jackson Hole WY. Photo by FORM.

“Thomas’ unique approach to promoting the protection of the natural world fits beautifully with our Mandurah story, and we feel very privileged to be part of such a special project.”

SIMILAR: Monumental Animal Sculptures Made From 35 Tons of Plastic Collected on Oregon Coast by Volunteers–LOOK

He’s even fashioned it into a game, called the Rhythm of Raindrops which is a little like the plotline of an Indiana Jones movie, involving searching for clues to the location of a hidden giant.

Little Lui, Giants of Mandurah by Thomas Dambo, photo by Duncan Wright courtesy of FORM

The entire art installation was produced by FORM — Building a State of Creativity Inc., which has produced and deliver cultural projects all around Western Australia for decades.

Here’s another troll hiding in the U.S., in the state of Maine—because we just can’t get enough of these creations!

Thomas Dambo sculpture in the Coastal Maine Botanical Garden – Photo by RØSKVA (via FORM)

MUST-SHARE These Exciting Giants With Friends On Social Media… 

Best Friends Win Million Dollar Lottery and Spread the Wealth in Hometown to Help Others

By
Andy Corbley
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Lottery winners Joann MacQueen and Marlisa Mercer - released.
Lottery winners JoAnn MacQueen and Marlisa Mercer – released.

Besties JoAnn MacQueen and Marlisa Mercer won a million dollars playing the lottery, and immediately decided to keep the good vibes rolling by giving heaps and heaps of it away to the community.

Identifying several causes and charities in their hometown of Orillia, in the Canadian province of Ontario to give fat checks to, local news reports it making a huge difference.

First of all, MacQueen describes the moment that she scanned her ticket at the Lotto Max machine at her neighborhood Shoppers Drug Mart. There was no ring-a-ding-ding, indeed there were no sounds at all. The screen simply read $1,000,000,00 and a free play.

She recalls being stunned, and that she began to shake; “it was pretty cool,” she remembers.

They donated varying amounts to places that MacQueen’s brother, who died recently due to alcoholism, might have accessed during his life, which included Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital, the Orillia SPCA, and the Farley Foundation, an Ontario-based charity that helps low-income pet owners take care of their animals.

They also donated to the Salvation Army, the Royal Canadian Legion poppy campaign in Orillia, Mariposa House Hospice, the Comfie Cat Shelter, and the Sharing Place Food Center, which helps the economically disadvantaged get access to nutrient dense fruits and vegetables.

RELATED: Man Wins 200 Million on the Lottery and Donates Almost All of It to Save the Earth

“They are completely focused on how can they help to make this community a better place through this win,” Chris Peacock, executive director of the Sharing Place, told local news. “Not many people win a million bucks and have the core goal of spending it on others and improving this community.”

For the Comfie Cat Shelter, the $10,000 check they received was the fifth highest donation in this no-kill shelter’s history.

“It covers our vet bill for October, and it gives us money for more spay and neuters,” said shelter manager and founder Barb MacLeod, who described it as “fantastic” and bringing her to tears.

SIMILAR: Irish Woman Who Won $145M Lottery Has Given Over Half: ‘I’m Addicted to Helping People’

Orillia Matters reports that the pair plan to split the remainder among their family and friends, as well as take care of some renovations.

REVEL In These Two Generous Souls—Share Their Kindness With The World… 

A Baby Boom For Cutest Animal Not Seen in Australia for Decades: ‘Feels Like a Modern Jurassic Park’

By
Andy Corbley
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Aussie Ark on YouYube
Aussie Ark on YouYube

Though it’s still found in the wild on the island of Tasmania, an adorable animal that became extinct on the mainland of Australia in the 60s is now springing back to life in the outback—with 63 babies born in the wild this mating season alone.

It’s the ultimate sign of success, resilience and hope—that eastern quolls, a native marsupial predator that was once gone from the mainland, can have a baby boom like this in Barrington Wildlife Sanctuary, where they’re protected from threats.

It’s all down to the team at Aussie Ark, an organization that like the prophet whose name and deeds put the theme to theirs, is helping the most endangered of Australian animals recover from the brink.

“This quoll baby boom is truly incredible!” said Dean Reid, Aussie Ark Operations Manager. “It’s significant not only for our organization, but also Australia and the world.”

“You need to remember that eastern quolls have been extinct on mainland Australia since 1967! So, the birth of these joeys feels like a modern Jurassic Park; bringing a species back from the brink, to reclaim the Australian bush.”

Eastern quolls were part of the Australian landscape for millions of years, serving an important role as carnivores. But predation by feral animals as well as poisoning, trapping and land clearing resulted in its demise.

However a population remained on Tasmania, and the individuals bread in the 1,000 acre (400 hectare) Barrington Wildlife Sanctuary came from those island populations. They’ve now grown to number 250 quolls.

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

These animals, totally unique to Australia, breed in early winter and have a gestation period of 21 days. Females can raise up to six young, called “Joeys” the same as kangaroos. They remain suckling for about 10 weeks after which they detach and are nurtured by mom. Towards the end of November, when the quolls are between 18 to 20 weeks of age, they are weaned and become independent.

Aussie Ark Supervisor Tyler Gralton oversaw the pouch checks that revealed the record number of baby quolls.

“This is what our work is all about, this is the ultimate reward for all the years of care,” Mr. Gralton said in a statement. “To open pouch after pouch and see so many joeys is a sight I’ll never forget.”

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE: Bandicoots Return to Australian National Park After Being Locally Extinct For More Than a Century

GNN recently reported that the first-ever Manning River turtles bred in captivity were just released by Aussie Ark in the Manning River, the only place on Earth they are found.

Two years ago, these hard working conservationists reintroduced the Tasmanian devil to mainland Australia for the first time in over 3,000 years.

“This just goes to show that once you can get these animals back to where they belong in this 400 hectares of feral-free sanctuary, they can do all this hard work on their own,” said Gralton.

WATCH the conservationists in action…

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Scientists Have Used Mushrooms to Make Biodegradable Computer Chip Parts

By
Andy Corbley
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Ganoderma Lucidum - or Reishi - CC 2.0. GLJIVARSKO DRUSTVO NIS
Ganoderma Lucidum – or Reishi – CC 2.0.
GLJIVARSKO DRUSTVO NIS

The skin off the legs of a mushroom could potentially offer a sustainable alternative to insulative substrates in computing chips.

As production of electronic devices continues to increase, scientists are looking to insert a bit of nature and biodegradability into common components like the microchip, and believe it or not, peeling the skin off the mycelium of a mushroom can protect chips from heat up to 392°F (200°C.)

Once it’s dried out, scientists working on the project from Johannes Kepler University in Austria found that it’s not only heat resistant, but will last for years, and can withstand being bent and folded thousands of times without wearing or tearing.

The particular species of fungus is the Ganoderma lucidum, which grows on dead rotting wood in European mountains. As it reaches maturity, it creates a fibrous skin to protect its own substrate (the wood in this case) which if peeled off can instead protect microchips.

The substrate under a computing chip tends to be made with unrecyclable material like non-reusable plastic. The authors point out that the increase in the proliferation of electronics in modern times has not been paired with an increase in their lifespan, and throwing them away is much more economical for users than replacing individual parts.

“The vast number of devices produced every day along with the decrease of their lifetime inevitably results in the generation of enormous amounts of electronic waste,” the authors write in their paper, published in Science Advances.

MORE MUSHROOM NEWS: Processors in Tech Wearables like Fitbits Could Be Replaced Using Mushroom Mycelium

“Circular economy and recycling concepts alone cannot solve the growing waste crisis. Electronics research, and especially electronic materials research, thus must shift its focus from strictly high-functionality concepts to sustainable, cost-effective approaches.”

The mycelium skin, which protects the mushroom from the ingress of bacteria, breaks down in a normal compost pile even after being dried, in just about 10 days.

According to the researchers, the skin is slightly less-insulative than plastic, but can still withstand high temperatures, even at the same thickness as paper. Furthermore, it can be grown from the loads of cast off wood from lumber production.

RELATED: Stanford Designer is Making Bricks Out of Fast-Growing Mushrooms That Are Stronger than Concrete

At the moment, the team believe their mycelium could excel in products that don’t require a long-lasting electrical circuit such as wearable health monitors and near-field communication (NFC) tags for electronic devices. However more development time and work is needed.

SHARE This Wild Use Of Mushrooms In Tech With Your Friends… 

“Your past is over! Forgive yourself for what you think you did or didn’t do, and focus on what you will do, starting now.” – Caroline Myss

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Good News Network
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Quote of the Day: “Your past is over! Forgive yourself for what you think you did or didn’t do, and focus on what you will do, starting now.” – Caroline Myss

Photo by: Marcos Paulo Prado

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?

Utah Man Jumps Into Icy River to Save Woman Attempting Suicide at the Same Spot Where he First Dated His Wife

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Good News Network
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Courtesy of Dane Entze
Courtesy of Dane Entze

A Utah man’s heroic decision to jump into a freezing river has saved a woman after she attempted to end her life on the morning of November 12.

Dane Entze and his wife were returning from a weekend getaway to celebrate their anniversary. They were crossing John’s Hole Bridge in Idaho Falls, Idaho—the very spot where the couple had their first date—when they came upon the scene of what would be another “life-altering moment”.

“Upon looking down from the bridge above, looking down at the boat ramp below, my wife noticed a car driving down the boat ramp and entering the water,” the 36-year-old told Fox Weather.

While his wife called 911, Dane jumped out of the car, climbed a barbed wire fence, and ran to the boat launch.

He said he saw the car sinking into the Snake River, which is known for its dangerous undertow. But the woman emerged and he hollered to her asking if she was okay.

She then began swimming away from shore after telling Dane, ‘I’m committing suicide, and I don’t want to live anymore.’

Dane told her, ‘I don’t know who you are, but I’m here, and I love you, and I’m going to help you.

While the river swallowed up her car, he quickly swam approximately 120 feet from the shore to pull the woman back to the bank, risking freezing water conditions and outdoor temperatures of 19-degrees.

Entze said the woman didn’t have enough strength to resist him and wanted to be left alone, but he ignored her request.

WATCH: Florida Paramotor Pilot Helps Save Woman Clinging to Submerged Car That Crashed into Canal

“I knew we were out of time,” he told the Fox digital team.

The first responders arrived to render aid and transported the patient to the hospital in stable condition for a mental health evaluation and additional assistance. They also pulled out the submerged car.

“We would like to express our gratitude to the Good Samaritan who risked their own life to save another,” said the Idaho Falls Fire Department Public Information Officer. “We are incredibly thankful both parties were able to make it out of the freezing water.”

Bonneville County Sheriff’s Office

Dane said it caused him to appreciate the hardships others are going through, and has since spoken to the woman’s family who hopes to meet him soon.

LOOK: Young Man Makes Wrong Turn, Then Saves Sleeping Family From Fire: ‘They’re safe because of him’

BUOY People’s Faith in Humanity By Sharing The Hero Story on Social Media…

Machine Recycles Plastic Bottles into 3D Printer Filament–And the Design was Released, Instead of Patented

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Good News Network
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James Dyson Award
James Dyson Sustainability Award winners

The mission of the James Dyson Award is simple: Design something that solves a problem.

No one will be surprised, then, that the Polyformer machine won a grand prize because it expertly solves two problems at once.

The young co-inventors, Reiten Cheng and Swaleh Owais, designed the Polyformer to achieve two goals: to tackle plastic waste, and figure out how to turn it into low-cost filament for 3D printing, which would be a boon for developing countries.

3D printer filament can be a costly purchase for many creators and hobbyists, but this is particularly true for those who live in developing countries—where plastic waste is plentiful.

Owais, who studied at McMaster University in Canada, said the cost of importing a standard roll of 3D printer filament into Rwanda was retailing for over $60, whereas the same 1kg / 2.2-lb roll can be purchased in Canada for a fraction of that price.

The Polyformer machine can convert a standard 500ml plastic bottle (1/2 quart size) into 3/4 ounce of print filament (20 grams).

Another fantastic part of this story is the fact that Polyformer’s design itself is an open-source project. Instead of applying for a patent, Cheng and Owais released all the CAD, code, and building instructions, offering it to the public on the team’s discord website, so anyone can put it together.

RELATED: Sustainable 3D-Printed Ranch House Wins Award and Takes Just Two Weeks to Construct (Watch Time Lapse)

“We want people from around the world to be able to access Polyformer, which is why we’ve made it open to all,” said Cheng, who studied in California at the ArtCenter College of Design. “We’ve also designed it so that you can use a 3D printer to print many parts of the machine, or if desired, purchase the parts as needed.”

There are about 1,500 people inside the Polyformer community around the world, and about 30+ machines that have been built in countries like Rwanda, Argentina, Spain, France, Germany, Mexico, Paraguay, Canada and the USA.

Using the custom bottle cutter mechanism, the user cuts a plastic bottle into a continuous strip, which is then fed into the Polyformer extruder. After the filament is extruded from the nozzle, it is cooled and wrapped around the spool, which can then be inserted into any FDM 3D printer.

Sir James Dyson, the Founder and Chief Engineer at Dyson who reinvented the vacuum decades ago, chose the award winners himself.

“By turning used plastic bottles into 3D printer filament, Polyformer helps reduce the amount of waste going to landfill,” said Dyson. “Their idea will provide new opportunities for other inventors to prototype their ideas using 3D printing.”

CHECK OUT: How to Turn Plastic Waste From Your Recycle Bin Into Profit by 3D-printing it into valuable products

James Dyson Award

The Polyformer team will use their prize money of $40,000 to deploy several Polyformers at their partner maker-spaces in Rwanda. With these machines, local students, designers and makers will have access to low-cost 3D printer filament, all while keeping plastic bottles out of potential landfill.

“James Dyson is a personal hero to both of us,” said Cheng. “We have been actively following the James Dyson Award for our entire academic career, and are keen to follow in his footsteps of designing elegant and useful products”

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Planting Trees in a City 30 Years Ago May Have Lowered the Risk of Deaths From Diseases

By
Andy Corbley
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Planting trees destined to live long healthy lives is believed to be a good way to save the planet, but what about ourselves?

30 years after a mass tree-planting event in Oregon, research has shown those who live near them are at lower risks of death from cardiovascular disease, as well as other non-accidental deaths.

The study took advantage of a unique opportunity, namely that the non-profit Friends of Trees planted nearly 50,000 street trees in Portland, and kept detailed records of when and where they were planted.

A research team made up of scientists from the Barcelona Institute for Global Health and the United States Department of Agriculture looked at the number of trees planted per census tract (blocks of 4,000 inhabitants) in the following 5, 10, and 15 years, and compared them with mortality data provided by the Oregon Health Authority.

In neighborhoods where more trees were planted, mortality rates were lower; 6% lower for cardiovascular disease, and about 20% for non-accidental excess mortality. Furthermore, the association was higher the older the trees were, suggesting that preserving mature trees in neighborhoods perhaps should be considered a public health issue.

To compare, the 6% lower risk is more than the absolute risk reduction of cardiovascular disease in patients taking statin inhibitors, one of the first treatment choices most people receive for elevated risks of CVD, according to a meta analysis of 21 studies consisting of 140,000 people.

“We observed the effect both in green and less green neighborhoods, which suggests that street tree planting benefits both,” said Geoffrey H. Donovan, from the USDA Forest Service and first author of the study.

RELATED: Increasing Tree Cover on City Streets May Be Like Community ‘Superfood’ —Improving Health by 33%

Finally the authors included a financial assessment of the cost of upkeep for street trees versus the cost of years of life lost as a result of having no trees and therefore no risk reductions.

Astonishingly, they found the annual cost of planting and maintaining one urban tree in each of Portland’s 140 census tract areas would range somewhere between $3,000 and $13,000, but that it would generate around $14.2 million annually in lives saved.

SIMILAR: Tree Corps Has A Green Job For You: Planting the ‘Healing Power’ of Trees in Low-Income Neighborhoods

GNN has reported on similar studies before—in 2019, when a study from the University of Illinois found that Medicare costs tend to be lower in counties with more forests and shrub-lands than in counties dominated by other types of land cover.

A 2021 study from the the University of Wollongong, Australia, found that in neighborhoods with a tree canopy of 30% or more, adults had 31% lower odds of developing psychological distress, and 33% lower odds of rating their general health as “fair” or “poor” over six years.

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“In the small matters, trust the mind. In the large ones, trust the heart.” – Sigmund Freud

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Good News Network
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Quote of the Day: “In the small matters, trust the mind. In the large ones, trust the heart.” – Sigmund Freud

Photo by: Michell Zappa, CC license, Flickr

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?

Tunnel Found in Egypt Could Lead to Lost Tomb of Cleopatra

By
Andy Corbley
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A bust recovered during the excavations/ the main tunnel shaft. - Released.
A bust recovered during the excavations / the main tunnel shaft. – Released.

A major discovery of underground tunnels has been made in Egypt, and archeologists believe they could be part of the lost tomb of Cleopatra.

The tunnels were described as an “engineering marvel” and run for 4,281 feet (1,305 meters). They connect with three religious sanctuaries and a sacred lake, where so far 1,500 artifacts have been found including coins bearing the name Cleopatra.

Found under the Temple of Osiris in the city of Taposiris Magna, outside Alexandria, the tunnels were not located by chance. Dr. Kathleen Martinez started searching for the tomb in 2005, and said this particular site ticked the most boxes of all the temples around Alexandria.

The tunnels run into the waters of the Mediterranean coast, where two dozen earthquakes have struck between 300 BCE and 1,300 CE, the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities stated.

Martinez and her team’s excavations have revealed that the temple of the god Osiris was also dedicated to the goddess Isis, Osiris’ wife. Cleopatra was considered by some to be the living embodiment, the reincarnation of Isis. This fact along with the coins is a promising start.

Next Kathleen and her team will commence underwater excavations on the parts of Taposiris Magna which collapsed into the sea long ago. It’s possible these ruined portions could contain the tomb of Cleopatra, and potentially also that of her husband, Marcus Antonius.

If Cleopatra was Isis herself, Antonius was by extension considered Osiris by some. Burying him in the temple of that god would seem to make sense.

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE: Buried Roman City Mapped in Stunning Detail Using Ground-Penetrating Radar

In addition to the coins bearing her name, other coins were found minted with the names of other Ptolemaic rulers, and of Alexander the great. Statues of the goddess Isis, and busts of unidentified figures were also found. Where the tunnels collapsed into the sea, pottery shards and limestone blocks were discovered.

Cleopatra was the first member of the Ptolemaic Dynasty that could speak the language of the people she ruled over, along with several others. She was out in the countryside in armed rebellion with her brother when Julius Caesar famously arrived in the city.

RELATED: Archaeologists Discover ‘Dazzling’ 3,000-Year-old Egyptian City, Left ‘As if it were yesterday’

After Caesar ordered her and her brother to come before him in the coming weeks, she changed the course of history when, in the middle of the night, she was smuggled into Caesar’s room inside a linen bag.

This romantic fling led to her being proclaimed pharaoh after Rome destroyed her brother’s forces. She bore Caesar’s child, Caesarian, whom she lost, as well as her own life and that of her future husband Mark Antony’s, in a civil war against Gaius Octavius, Caesar’s great nephew and first Emperor of Rome.

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New U.S. Citizen From Cuba Celebrates ‘First Paycheck in America’ in Viral Video-WATCH

By
Andy Corbley
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Istagram@mimaincuba
Istagram@mimaincuba

A video of a recent Cuban immigrant celebrating his first paycheck as a UPS driver has gone viral in celebration of his accomplishment, and of the American dream at large.

Yoel Diaz kissed the perforated paper in an Instagram video shot by his wife, Marissa Diaz, who has been documenting some of Yoel’s experiences since coming to America.

“In Cuba, you would get a paycheck, and you know you never improve,” Yoel Diaz told Fox News Digital in a statement in Spanish, which his wife translated to English.

“It would be the same. This time, I finally can dream—I can help my family and this is the first step in my new life where I can be whoever I want now.”

The handsome 37-year-old worked as a professor in Cuba, where his equivalent pay was around $13 an hour, less than what he now makes as a seasonal UPS driver in Arizona.

He come to the country under a K-1 Visa, and got authority to work in the country with a Social Security number.

RELATED: Immigrant Designer Goes From Sleeping on Park Benches to World Fame

The video of his celebrations went viral, garnering 3 million view. One commentator expounded that it was “so refreshing to see his joy in the mundane aspects of American life that too many of us take for granted.”

At a certain point, his wife points out “look at the taxes,” to which Yoel responds, “I prefer this to Fidel. Fidel took more. Communism took more.”

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Golf Buddies Sink Consecutive Holes-in-One on Same Tee-Shot–Beating 17 Million to 1 Odds

By
Good News Network
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Peter John and Jaswant Sidhu - SWNS
Peter John and Jaswant Sidhu – SWNS

Two golfer pals are celebrating a sporting ‘miracle’ after both getting holes-in-one in consecutive shots on the same hole—beating odds of 17 million to 1.

Neither golfers had achieved a hole-in-one in 15 years of playing together, and the feat left themselves and fellow golfers John and Roger gobsmacked.

It was 69-year-old Jaswant Sidhu, stepping up on hole five of his normal Friday four-ball competition, who first achieved the feat on the 145 yard, par three hole, using a 9-wood.

His friend, 72-year-old Peter John, followed suit and the two couldn’t believe what had happened.

“He [Sidhu] teed a lovely shot and got a hole in one. We celebrated and it was absolutely phenomenal,” said John. “I stepped up and them somehow did exactly the same thing. It’s so unique. It’s our first hole-in-one for both of us. You don’t expect to get a hole-in-one in your career.”

Peter John and Jaswant Sidhu – SWNS

John and Sidhu play this way at the Wergs Golf Club in Wolverhampton about every Friday, and they “ran the numbers” to figure a general probability of the phenomenon, to discover they had made a 1 in 17 million achievement.

“On this particular hole you can see the hole and you can see the ball roll along the green into the hole,” he added. “It’s absolutely unheard of. Everyone was wanting to talk about it.”

John explained that it was actually the hardest hole of the whole course, and that their next competition he hit his ball on the same hole right into the bunker.

“Most golfers don’t get a hole in one in their whole life,” he said. “We’d never ever heard of it happening before. Everyone said we should buy lottery tickets.”

RELATED: Cute Dog Walking Around Golf Course has Collected 6,000 Lost Golf Balls Which Are Donated to Charities

The two friends were left shocked at what they had managed to achieve with only one other report of it ever happening before in Yorkshire.

“I knew I’d hit it well but I remember joking I wanted to get to the green first to actually confirm it,” said Sidhu, a retired postmaster. “There were a few celebrations and once that had settled down, Pete hit his shot and it was like an action replay.”

MORE GOOD GOLF NEWS: After 4 Winless Years, He Won the Masters and Became the First Japanese Man to Win a Golf Major

“I said the ball had gone in as well, I could see it go in. None of us knew what to say. I think we were all in shock.”

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‘Like Finding a Unicorn’: Researchers Rediscover Black-Naped Pheasant-Pigeon, a Bird Lost to Science for 140 Years

By
Andy Corbley
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Black-naped pheasant-chicken - John Mittermeier/American Bird Conservatory
Black-naped pheasant-chicken – John Mittermeier/American Bird Conservatory

In the final hours of a month long search through rugged jungles swarming with mosquitos, scientists confirmed the sighting of a bird that hasn’t been seen in 140 years.

A picture of the ground-dwelling black-naped pheasant-pigeon was captured via camera trap, and felt to the team “like finding a unicorn.”

Documented to science in 1882 and not seen since, the black-naped pheasant pigeon is now almost certainly the most endangered bird in New Guinea, and reinforces the need to conserve as much of its home of Fergusson Island off the east coast of the mainland.

With just hours remaining before their search was called off, expedition co-leader Jordan Boersma was catching his breath on a hillside while looking through camera trap photos.

“Suddenly I was confronted with this image of what at that time felt like a mythical creature,” Boersma, a postdoctoral researcher at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, told the Audubon Society. “It was, without exaggeration, the most surreal moment of my life.”

Funding the expedition is The Search for Lost Birds, an initiative to locate 150 avian species lost to science but not declared extinct, organized by BirdLife International, Re:wild, and American Bird Conservancy.

This is normally when a reporter explains a little about the “mythical creature” but so little is known about it beyond its chicken size, and that it carries a plethora of rust-colored back and shoulder feathers which sharply contrast its black nape and tail.

SIMIALR: For the First Time in 170 Years, Asia’s Longest-Missing Bird is Seen in Indonesia

Chief among the expedition’s assets were the indigenous people of Fergusson Island, whose knowledge of the land was key to making the discovery. In fact, it was in the village of Duda Ununa that a hunter named Augustin Gregory told the researchers of a 3,200 foot high ridge he had seen the bird on.

It was on that ridge that their camera traps caught not one, but two separate black-naped pheasant-pigeons passing by. When Jordan Boersma showed his local colleague Doka Nason the images, his reaction, caught on video and viewable here, was priceless.

RELATED: Bird Scientists Need Some Help Finding Species – They’re Turning to Birdwatchers

“This is a huge discovery,” Bulisa Iova, an expedition member and acting chief curator of the National Museum and Art Gallery in Papua New Guinea, told Audubon. “I have studied birds for many years, and to be part of this team to discover this lost species is a highlight for me.”

Now that the species is confirmed to exist, it means not only is there 1 less bird on the Search for Lost Birds‘ 150 bird roster, but 1 less of 20 that haven’t been seen in over 100 years.

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