Headache-inducing plastic waste such as printer cartridges and plastic bags are being turned into aggregate material for asphalt road mixtures around the country.
Plastic roads have built up a head of scientific steam recently, with scientists and regulators seeing roads as a decent place to reutilize plastic that is difficult to recycle in a cost-effective manner.
Pilot programs are ongoing in Missouri, Pennsylvania, Virginia, California, and Hawai’i, with transportation regulators monitoring performance and durability of the roads, and environmental regulators on the lookout for potential microplastic contamination.
All in all plastic roads could be a big part of future societies, as the programs all show good results, and for the moment at least, no microplastic pollutant runoffs in several states.
A stretch of road in Hawai’i between Kilaha Street and the beginning of Fort Weaver Road near Cormorant Avenue is testing a recycled polymer mixture in its asphalt that contains the equivalent of 150,000 water bottles.
Virginia officials are testing plastic in six different stretches of roads around Richmond. Results were monitored between summer of 2021 and summer of 2022.
Pennsylvania are testing two quarter-mile road stretches within Ridley Creek State Park using a mixture that contains 150,000 plastic bags.
A shoulder of Highway 99 in Elk Grove near Sacramento, California, is being paved with an asphalt mixture that contains 10% recycled plastic from printing ink cartridges. After looking and performing better than expected, a spokesperson for the CA DoT told the Pew Trust, they have expanded its coverage for further testing.
Likewise, this year’s $3.8 million budget for paving roads in Missouri included a $200,000 extra for the utilization of plastic in the asphalt mixtures.
SHARE This Awesome Use Of Recycling On Social Media…
While many were enjoying their Christmas holiday, 10 skiers in Austria were feared dead after a video went viral of an avalanche overtaking them on the slopes.
News came out the following day however that all 10 are alive and well. The Austrian Press Agency reported that 4 of the skiers were injured, one seriously so, and that a final search operation of the area took place Monday.
Seeing the video one skier took of the event, rescue workers feared the worst as they moved out from the mountainous towns of Lech and Zurs in the Austrian Alps.
Call it a Christmas miracle or sheer dumb luck, but all of the skiers survived, and are now recovering at a hospital at Innsbruck.
Quote of the Day: “Seeing the best in your situation is the key to happiness.” – Marie Forleo
Photo by: Maria
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?
The Lesson: Numbers don’t speak untruths, and for a female minority in a bro-business like Hollywood movie production, they’re sexy that way. Saga Elmohtasen has produced hundred million dollar productions, but regardless of how successful she is, she doesn’t let it go to her head, remembering that it’s her roots and natural attitude that lead her to be successful.
Notable Excerpt: “I don’t take any of my work seriously, with all due respect, but I’m serious about my work. Do you see the dichotomy here? At the end of the day I’m a daughter, I’m a sister, I’m an auntie, I’m way more than a producer, and I don’t take any of it seriously but I’m so dang serious about the job. Being able to sever those two has been a lifesaver.”
The Guest: Saga Elmohtaseb is a seasoned Hollywood producer, consultant and professor.With a passion for film, Saga has worked on box office hits such as The Devil Wears Prada, A Good Year,Eragon, Just Go With It, Jack & Jill, and Iron Man 2.
Saga is the president of Hollywood-Consulting.com where she works closely with clients on productions from development to completion. She has been a professor at Chapman University’s Dodge School of Film & TV for over 6 years now and teaches film & TV.
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.
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. Use Promo Code:
Israel Antiquities Authority's Zvi Firer at the cave in Lachish dedicated to Jesus's midwife, Salome.
Israel Antiquities Authority’s Zvi Firer at the cave in Lachish dedicated to Jesus’s midwife, Salome.
Recent excavations in Israel will soon open to the public a tomb that’s venerated as the resting place of Jesus’s midwife, Salome.
Found in 1982 by antiquities robbers, excavations have always been ongoing, but recent breakthroughs have proved the site to be far more grandiose than previously expected, and much of the tomb will soon be open to pilgrims and tourists alike.
A mosaic-floored courtyard spanning 350 square meters (almost 4,000 square feet) counted chief among the latest finds, and it was decorated with soaring arches and intricate stone carvings.
The team from the Israeli Antiquities Authority also found what appears to be a merchant’s stall for selling small oil lamps to pilgrims—the kinds that archaeologists have dug up by the dozens inside the tomb, and that would have lighted their penitent footsteps in the dark interior.
The earliest chamber dates to the Second Temple Period, between 500 BCE and 70 CE.
“According to a Christian tradition, Salome was the midwife from Bethlehem, who was called to participate in the birth of Jesus,” said IAA archaeologist Zvi Firer.
“She could not believe that she was asked to deliver a virgin’s baby, and her hand became dry and was only healed when she held the baby’s cradle.”
The outermost rooms of the tomb date to the Byzantine period, or between 300 to 600 CE, making it a little avant-garde for Salome’s time, but Firer has a theory.
In the tomb’s excavations which turned up relics as recently as last Tuesday, stone funerary boxes called ossuaries were uncovered in the older chambers, which Firer believe could have had the name Salome or “Schlomitt” on them, which fooled the early Christian pilgrims into believing it was the midwife of legend.
These were common names for Jewish people living in the area during the Second Temple Period.
However there are some inscriptions in Greek that seem to dedicate the whole complex to “Holy Salome” so perhaps there’s more to the legend after all.
The site, located in the Lachish region in central Israel, is soon to be part of a 60 mile tourist trail running along the historic spine of Israeli history, a sort of Valley of the Kings, but for the Jews rather than the Pharaohs.
SHARE This Amazing Archaeology News On Social Media…
Good News Network’s top animal stories and moments from 2022 is a celebration of the majesty of our planet, the incredible four-legged or winged pals we share our homes with, and of the heroes who dedicate their lives to ensuring future generations can connect with endangered animals the way we can.
Whether featuring a snapshot of nature in action or a moment of human-to-animal connection, animals are never far from the front page. 2022 was no exception.
Photos: (Left) Ingrid Moyle, (right) Kay McCall
Ginger Cat is Local Star for Stealing Hundreds of Toys and Presenting Them Sweetly to Neighbors
Cats are always going viral for these or those antics. In February GNN reported that Kay McCall and her husband were moving into a new apartment last year in Ferny Hills, near Brisbane, when they met a ginger cat who hopped over the fence looking for a head pat and chin scratches.
It became an enjoyable daily encounter, but as the visits continued they began to notice an accumulation of toys in their yard.
The 41-year-old said that strawberries were dotted down the aisle for ‘always hungry’ Tom to follow before the pair tied the knot last year at Tohono Chul Botanical Gardens in Arizona.
The mom-of-one said that everything ran smoothly and he even became the ‘center of attention’ on her big day.
A Pod of Whales Adopted a Young Stray Narwhal – and They May Have Little ‘Narwhales’
Drone footage indicates this unique black sheep was a male, and well-fed, indicating that he’s been adopted into the pod.
Biologists are fascinated to see if the adopted narwhal has integrated enough to breed, and produce a hybrid known colloquially as a “narluga,” though GNN feels an opportunity has been missed to call them “narwhales.”
SWNS
Sloth Is Friends With Zookeeper and Won’t Get Out of Bed Until They’ve Had Morning Cuddles
Amelia the zookeeper’s nerves around working with sloths are what she believes encouraged Gordon the sloth to show affection towards her in an attempt to make her feel at ease.
Gordon is now at the point where he’ll pick up a bucket and sponge as if helping Amelia clean his cage.
SWNS
Rare ‘Dinosaur Bird’ Patiently Awaits a Lifelong Mate to Populate the Magnificent Species
Pamichen, a GROWLS member, captured 14 minutes of incredible nest cam footage of the nail-biting phenomenon, when on several occasions it seems for all the world like the eagles are going to just start ripping this little fluffy red-tailed hawk baby to pieces.
But hour after hour, eaglet and baby hawk just continue to shift around in the nest, eating scraps of leftover food. Just before dark, “it really [seemed] like they were going to go in for the kill,” Pamichen can be heard saying in the video. But as darkness falls, the two babies crawl under mama’s wings, and the next afternoon, she even feeds her hostage.
SWNS
Family Left Stunned When Their Dog Escaped–Only to Return Later With a Ribbon From a Dog Show
Peter and Paula Closier became sick with worry when their five-year-old beagle-mix Bonne vanished on Sunday morning.
Soon after, the family’s fears were eased when Paula spotted a Facebook post by John Wilmer, who was running late for the dog show and asked, ‘does anyone know this dog’?
John then decided to enter Bonnie into the competition. He thought “I might as well enter her into the ‘best rescue dog’ category.”
– SWNS
Amazing Spectacle as Rare White Risso’s Dolphin Leaps Above the Water For Photographer – LOOK
Jay Spring was enjoying a Californian boat tour last month when he found himself lucky to be facing the right way as the distinctive creature breached.
“I could not believe what I was seeing and luckily I was looking the right way at the right time and was able to get some pictures of him,” he said.
As it turns out the whale watchers have a name for this individual, “Blanco”. He has leucism, a condition separate from Albinism, that results in an irregular distribution of melanin pigments. Spring was told there are no existing photographs of Blanco, and that his are the first ones on the internet.
Owl Visits 98-Year-old Grandma Every Week–And Family Believes it’s a Sign From Her Late Husband–WATCH
The owl visits Ranna almost every day and sits on her balcony for hours. It even tries to hop on her lap and “chats” back to her when she hoots at it.
Granddaughter Shai Ward captured the wholesome footage when she visited the home in Phoenix, Arizona and saw the unique bond with the animal—and strongly believed he represented something truly special.
bonobo cuddles a mongoose – Christian Ziegler/Natural History Museum
Magnificent Picture of Ape Cuddling Another Species is Finalist in Wildlife Photographer of the Year – SEE Photos
The photo won “Highly Commended Image,” and captures a moment of gentleness in a Hobbsian world that is the Congo Rainforest.
“I was so surprised to see how he carried the mongoose with such care. I immediately started to follow him and document it,” photographer Christian Ziegler told the BBC.
Ziggy the Cat – Emma Roberts Facebook
Cat Who Sneaks into School Gets His Class Photo Taken – And Portrait Packet is Sent Home to Mom
10 and 7-year-olds Meghan and Chloe Roberts were all dressed up and excited to have their picture taken at Drury Primary School, but their excitement couldn’t compare with that of Ziggy, their orange and white cat who regularly visits the school.
When Ziggy the “honorary student,” felt it was his turn, the 4-year-old effortlessly jumped up on the photo chair, looked straight at the camera, got his snap, and promptly left, leaving mom Emma Roberts calling him “ridiculously embarrassing.”
– credit Atlantic Naturalist.
World Record Giant Sunfish is Heaviest Fish Ever Weighed–at 6,000 Pounds–and a ‘Sign of Hope’
After towing it ashore and availing themselves of the help of a forklift to hoist the behemoth bony fish onto a hanging scale, they found it broke the Guinness World Record for heaviest bony fish, and weighed more than an entire NFL football team’s roster.
José Nuno Gomes-Pereira, the biologist that spotted the giant fish and who described it in the Journal of Fish Biology, says its discovery is a sign of hope.
“It means that the marine ecosystem is still healthy enough to sustain these large animals,” he says.
SHARE All These Good News Stories Together Ahead Of New Years…
A group of South Korean tourists narrowly avoided a ruined vacation, with good fortune swapping it for an unforgettable experience waiting out a blizzard and cooking with a New York family.
Traveling from Niagara Falls to Washington DC, a tour group of 10 South Koreans got stuck in a blizzard near Buffalo. Two of the group went to a local house to ask for a shovel to dislodge their vehicle.
It was Christmas Eve when Alex Campagna heard their frantic knocking on his door. Outside, he recounted on Facebook, was “the worst blizzard I’ve experienced” and knowing the folly of trying to carry on, he invited them all inside, putting them up on couches, air mattresses, and sleeping bags.
Eager to repay his kindness, the guests cooked several South Korean meals like jeyuk bokkeum, stir-fried pork, and dakdori tang, a spicy chicken stew. As it turns out Campagna and his wife really like Korean food and actually happened to have some of the more extravagant ingredients on hand.
Quote of the Day: “The really important kind of freedom involves being able truly to care about other people and to sacrifice for them.” – David Foster Wallace
Photo by: Kelly Sikkema
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?
Kim Richardson with Betty, Mary and the penguins – Colne View care home / SWNS
Kim Richardson with Betty, Mary and the penguins – Colne View care home / SWNS
Residents of a senior home got a flippin’ good surprise last week, after two charming feathered guests arrived to deliver some Christmas cheer.
Seniors at the Colne View facility in Halstead, Essex, woke up to find two penguins outside.
Accompanied by introductions using their adorable names, Pringle and Widget waddled through the halls, exploring the Care UK home.
Charming photos were soon shared on social media, showing delighted residents petting and holding the penguins on their laps.
Ruth Silverlock said it was “wonderful seeing the penguins.”
“I was surprised at how tame they were,” said the 86-year-old. “They were quite happy just sitting on my lap and they seemed to enjoy the attention from everyone.”
Residents including Ruth were joined by friends and family for the festive affair.
Freda, Ruth, Kim Richardson, John, and Jack – Colne View care home / SWNS
“How lovely to see mum smiling and holding a penguin!” said Anita Griggs. “Thank you for organizing this, it was a lovely day!”
One staff member, Tracie-Ellen Cornhill, wrote on the home’s Facebook page: “This was absolutely the best time ever! I loved the looks on our wonderful family of residents’ faces.”
Several photos showed the penguins sizing up the many indoor Christmas trees. One photo shows a woman locking eyes with a penguin standing on the floor from her bed—presumably wondering if she was still dreaming.
The black and white African penguins were provided by Amazing Animals.
Everyone at Colne View was soon feeling truly ready for Christmas.
Polaris the black shepherd dog had 30 people lining up to sign adoption papers and give him a new home after he was left at San Francisco International Airport.
The airline industry has had one of the most disrupted years on record, and customer service departments have been pushed to the absolute limits. But when a dog arrived along with an Asian traveler and was left behind at SFO, United Airlines knew they had seen it all.
“Sometimes we deal with the craziest of situations,” United Director of Customer Service Vincent Passafiume said. “This was probably one of the oddest we’ve ever dealt with and also one of the most challenging.”
Abandoned in the international terminal, Passafiume teamed up with the San Francisco SPCA to complete all the procedures necessary to bring Polaris into the country.
“To be able to get the outcome that we did as a team and see that Polaris will go home to a family that will give him a good life is really a special moment for me.”
30 United Airlines employees applied for adoption, but there could ultimately be only one home for the handsome hound: United Captain William Dale and his family.
Quote of the Day: “Coming back to where you started is not the same as never leaving.” – Terry Pratchett
Photo by: Zane Lee
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?
Quote of the Day: “Christmas is the spirit of giving without a thought of getting. It is forgetting self and finding time for others.” – Thomas S. Monson
Photo by: Roberto Nickson
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?
Stone projectile points discovered in Idaho – OSU / SWNS
Stone projectile points discovered in Idaho – OSU / SWNS
Archaeologists have uncovered weapon points that are thousands of years older than any others previously found in the Americas.
Researchers from Oregon State University have dated the “projectile points” discovered in Idaho to around 16,000 years ago.
Rather than outfitting arrows or spears, they were likely attached to darts, which were “deadly” hunting weapons, despite their small size.
The 13 full and fragmentary projectile points are razor sharp and range from one-half to two inches long.
Carbon dating shows they are 3,000 years older than the Clovis fluted points found throughout North America, and 2,300 years older than the points previously found at the same Cooper’s Ferry site on the Salmon River.
The site is on traditional Nez Perce land (a spot known as the ancient village of Nipéhe), and the team works closely with the tribe to provide field opportunities for tribal youth and share all their findings.
“From a scientific point of view, these discoveries add very important details about what the archaeological record of the earliest peoples of the Americas looks like,” said Professor Loren Davis, who led the dig.
Cooper’s Ferry site in the lower Salmon River canyon of western Idaho – SWNS
“It’s one thing to say, ‘We think that people were here in the Americas 16,000 years ago;’ it’s another thing to measure it by finding well-made artifacts they left behind.”
Previously, Davis’s team had found simple flakes and pieces of bone at the site that indicated human presence around that time.
Even more fascinating, the points are revelatory not just in their age, but in their similarity to projectile points found in Hokkaido, Japan, dating from 16,000 to 20,000 years ago.
He says their presence in Idaho adds more detail to the hypothesis that there are early genetic and cultural connections between the ice age peoples of North East Asia and North America.
“By comparing these points with other sites of the same age and older, we can infer the spatial extents of social networks where this technological knowledge was shared between peoples,” explained Davis.
He says the slender projectile points are characterized by two distinct ends, one sharpened and one stemmed, as well as a symmetrical beveled shape if viewed head-on.
“There’s an assumption that early projectile points had to be big to kill large game; however, smaller projectile points mounted on darts will penetrate deeply and cause tremendous internal damage. You can hunt any animal we know about with weapons like these.”
Prof. Davis says the discoveries add to the emerging picture of early human life in the Pacific Northwest, adding: “Finding a site where people made pits and stored complete and broken projectile points nearly 16,000 years ago gives us valuable details about the lives of our region’s earliest inhabitants.”
The newly discovered pits are part of the broader Cooper’s Ferry record, for which the team had previously researched a 14,200-year-old fire pit and a food-processing area. They even found the remains of an extinct horse.
The scientists have found and mapped more than 65,000 items and published their findings in the journal Science Advances.
All excavation and recording work has been completed and the site is now covered—but the data continues to rewrite the history of how early humans crafted and used stone weapons.
MAKE A POINT by Sharing This Fascinating Research on Social Media…
Half of Americans anticipated that it would be “harder than ever” to find the perfect gifts for people in their lives this holiday season.
A new poll of 2,000 US adults found 65% compare looking for the right gifts to hunting for treasure.
71% said it’s exciting to hunt for the right gifts, with 52% claiming the hunt is just as fun as purchasing. Fifty-five percent find it “extremely satisfying” to find what they’ve been looking for.
Commissioned by BJ’s Wholesale Club and conducted by OnePoll, the random double-opt-in survey study found the average person is willing to wait three weeks for their hard-to-find items before giving up. In that case, 57% have a backup gift in mind.
The items deemed to be the hardest to find this holiday season include gaming consoles (31%), video games (29%), smartphones (23%), clothing (20%) and food items (20%).
Four in five (80%) have been successful in getting hard-to-find items—and finding these rarities creates a sense of happiness (55%), satisfaction (54%), relief (52%) and pure bliss (20%).
For 56%, hard-to-find items aren’t just thrilling to look for—they’re also more meaningful.
“There’s an undeniable amount of excitement that is associated with holiday shopping,” said Rachael Vegas, Chief Merchandising Officer, at BJ’s Wholesale Club. “It goes beyond just getting a great deal. People seem to really enjoy the process of selecting a special gift for everyone on their list.”
Results also found 44% often plan ahead for pre-released items they call “worth” the wait.
HARDEST ITEMS TO FIND THIS HOLIDAY SEASON
• Gaming consoles – 31%
• Video games – 29%
• Smartphones – 23%
• Clothing – 20%
• Food items – 20%
• Smart home devices – 19%
• TVs – 17%
• Accessories (i.e., hats, gloves, watches, etc.) – 16%
• Large home appliances – 15%
• Shoes – 15%
FREE WILL ASTROLOGY – Week of December 24, 2022
Copyright by Rob Brezsny, FreeWillAstrology.com
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19):
To inspire your self-inquiry in 2023, I have chosen a passage from Herman Hesse’s fairy tale, A Dream Sequence. It will provide guidance as you dive further than ever before into the precious mysteries in your inner depths. Hesse addressed his “good ardent darkness, the warm cradle of the soul, and lost homeland.” He asked them to open up for him. He wanted them to be fully available to his conscious mind. Hesse said this to his soul: “Just feel your way, soul, just wander about, burrow into the full bath of innocent twilight drives!”
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18):
Cardiovascular surgeon Michael DeBakey lived till age 99. He almost died at 97, but was able to capitalize on an invention that he himself had created years before: a polymer resin that could repair or replace aging blood vessels. Surgeons used his technology to return him to health. I am predicting that in 2023, you, too, will derive a number of benefits from your actions in the past. Things you made, projects you nurtured, and ideas you initiated will prove valuable to you as you encounter the challenges and opportunities of the future.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20):
I decided to divine the state of your financial karma. To begin, I swirled a $10 bill through the flame rising from a green candle. Then I sought cosmic auguries in the burn patterns on the bill. The oracle provided bad news and good news. The bad news is that you live on a planet where one-fifth of the population owns much more than four-fifths of the wealth. The good news is that in 2023, you will be in decent shape to move closer to the elite one-fifth. Amazingly, the oracle also suggests that your ability to get richer quicker will increase in direct proportion to your integrity and generosity.
ARIES (March 21-April 19):
Aries author Eric G. Wilson has written a book that I might typically recommend to 40 percent of the Aries tribe. But in 2023, I will raise that to 80 percent of you. The title is How to Be Weird: An Off-Kilter Guide to Living a One-of-a-Kind Life. According to my analysis of the astrological omens, it will make sense for you to stop making sense on a semi-regular basis. Cheerfully rebelling against the status quo should be one of your most rewarding hobbies. The best way to educate and entertain yourself will be to ask yourself, “What is the most original and imaginative thing I can do right now?
TAURUS (April 20-May 20):
One of your potential superpowers is cultivating links between the spiritual and physical worlds. If you develop this talent, you illuminate the ways that eternity permeates the everyday routine. You weave together the sacred and the mundane so they synergize each other. You understand how practical matters may be infused with archetypal energies and epic themes. I hope you will be doing a lot of this playful work in 2023, Taurus. Many of us non-Bulls would love you to teach us more about these mysteries.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20):
Here are fun and useful projects for you to cultivate in 2023: 1. Initiate interesting trends. Don’t follow mediocre trends. 2. Exert buoyant leadership in the groups you are part of. 3. Practice the art of enhancing your concentration by relaxing. 4. Every Sunday at noon, renew your vow to not deceive or lie to yourself during the coming week. 5. Make it your goal to be a fabulous communicator, not just an average one. 6. Cultivate your ability to discern what people are hiding or pretending about.
CANCER (June 21-July 22):
In 2023, I hope you will refine and deepen your relationship with your gut instinct. I will be ecstatic if you learn more about the differences between your lucid intuition and the worry mongering that your pesky demons rustle up. If you attend to these matters—and life will conspire to help you if you do—your rhythm will become dramatically more secure and stable. Your guidance system will serve you better than it ever has. A caveat: Seeking perfection in honing these skills is not necessary. Just do the best you can.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22):
Psychiatrist and author Irvin Yalom wrote, “The question of meaning in life is, as the Buddha thought, not edifying. One must immerse oneself into the river of life and let the question drift away.” But Holocaust survivor and philosopher Viktor Frankl had a radically different view. He said that a sense of meaning is the single most important thing. That’s what sustains and nourishes us through the years: the feeling that our life has a meaning and that any particular experience has a meaning. I share Frankl’s perspective, and I advise you to adopt his approach throughout 2023. You will have unprecedented opportunities to see and know the overarching plan of your destiny, which has been only partially visible to you in the past. You will be regularly blessed with insights about your purpose here on earth.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22):
As a young woman, Virgo-born Ingeborg Rapoport (1912–2017) studied medicine at the University of Hamburg in Germany. But in 1938, the Nazis refused to let her defend her PhD thesis and get her medical degree because of her Jewish ancestry. 77 years later, she was finally given a chance to finish what she had started. Success! The dean of the school said, “She was absolutely brilliant. Her specific knowledge about the latest developments in medicine was unbelievable.” I expect comparable developments for you in 2023, Virgo. You will receive defining opportunities or invitations that have not been possible before. Postponed breakthroughs and resolutions will become achievable.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22):
Of the 2,200+ humans quoted in a 21st-century edition of Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations, 164 are women—a mere seven percent! At least that’s more than the four females represented in 1855’s first edition. Let’s take this atrocious injustice as our provocation for your horoscope. In accordance with astrological omens, one of your assignments in 2023 will be to make personal efforts to equalize power among the genders. Your well-being will thrive as you work to create a misogyny-free future. Here are possible actions: If you’re a woman or nonbinary person, be extra bold and brave as you say what you genuinely think and feel and mean. If you’re a man, foster your skills at listening to women and nonbinary people. Give them abundant space and welcome to speak their truths. It will be in your ultimate interest to do so!
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21):
To prepare you for 2023, I’m offering you wisdom from mythologist Michael Meade. Of all the signs in the zodiac, you Scorpios will be most likely to extract riches from it. Meade writes: “Becoming a genuine individual requires learning the oppositions within oneself. Those who fail or refuse to face the oppositions within have no choice but to find enemies to project upon. ‘Enemy’ simply means ‘not-friend’; unless a person deals with the not-friend within, they require enemies around them.”
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21):
“I will always be as difficult as necessary to achieve the best,” declared Sagittarian opera singer Maria Callas (1923–1977). Many critics say she was indeed one of the 20th century’s best. The consensus is that she was also a temperamental prima donna. Impresario Rudolf Bing said she was a trial to work with “because she was so much more intelligent. Other artists, you could get around. But Callas you could not get around. She knew exactly what she wanted and why she wanted it.” In accordance with astrological omens, Sagittarius, I authorize you, in your quest for success in 2023, to be as “difficult” as Callas was, in the sense of knowing exactly what you want. But please—so as to not undermine your success—don’t lapse into diva-like behavior.
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
Quote of the Day: “Do you really want to look back on your life and see how wonderful it could have been had you not been afraid to live it?” – Caroline Myss
Photo by: Roberto Nickson (cropped)
With a new inspirational quote every day, atop the perfect photo—collected and archived on our Quotes page—why not bookmark GNN.org for a daily uplift?
A new space-based surveyor that will help catalog millions of near-Earth objects is now ready for budgeting and building after passing a rigorous technical review.
This year NASA completed its first-ever mission organized entirely for the purpose of planetary defense, when the DART probe slammed into an asteroid to see if it could be redirected away from a potential collision course with Earth.
Now, the NEO Surveyor mission will discover and characterize at least 90% of the near-Earth objects more than 140 meters (460 feet) across that come within 30 million miles of our planet’s orbit.
These objects are capable of causing significant regional harm, while history has shown that larger ones can be catastrophic. Humanity has gotten lucky thus far, but slow-growing wisdom has seen NASA create a Planetary Defense Coordination Office for the purpose of learning how to protect Earth from such events.
You can visualize the scope of the potential danger by looking at the ratio between the number of asteroids and comets in our solar system whose orbits we have mapped and those we haven’t with NASA’s cool Eyes on Asteroids Tool.
“NEO Surveyor represents the next generation for NASA’s ability to quickly detect, track, and characterize potentially hazardous near-Earth objects,” said Lindley Johnson, NASA’s Planetary Defense Officer at PDCO.
“Ground-based telescopes remain essential for us to continually watch the skies, but a space-based infrared observatory is the ultimate high ground that will enable NASA’s planetary defense strategy.”
Sitting around 1 million miles from Earth at the First LaGrange Point, NEO Surveyor will view the solar system in the infrared spectrum of light, lightwaves that are blocked by Earth’s atmosphere and therefore invisible for ground-based telescopes.
With infrared, NEO will be able to see so-called dark asteroids and comets, which don’t reflect light, asteroids that approach Earth from the direction of the Sun, and those that lead and trail our planet’s orbit, where they are typically obscured by the glare of sunlight— objects known as Earth Trojans.
NEO will be designed a little like the James Webb Space Telescope, which also orbits a LaGrange Point and also uses the infrared. As such it will need to be an extremely poor conductor of heat, and have a shield to block light and heat coming from the sun and other bodies.
The launch date is currently proposed for June 2028.
SHARE This Cool New NASA Mission With Your Friends…
A LEGO-loving couple have created a bit of festive cheer by making an entire wall, fireplace and tree from the plastic blocks in their living room.
For the last 28 years Mike Addis and his wife Catherine Weightman have built amazing LEGO sculptures each Christmas.
Previous creations include a 21-foot London Bridge and a 12-foot replica of Ely cathedral.
Inspired by extension work being done on their house in Cambridgeshire, they decided to cover a wall in their living room with a LEGO replica, complete with Christmas tree, festive decorations, and a fireplace with Santa’s feet sticking out.
There also can be found LEGO mince pies, a LEGO matchbox, and LEGO candles that light up on the mantelpiece.
But apart from the incredible ingenuity needed to create the piece, it’s had the side effect of reducing their heating bills through the energy expenditure of stacking bricks all evening.
Addis said they committed between two to four hours each evening for two months to complete it.
“It’s quite a social thing and it keeps us warm too,” said Adids. “You can’t believe building LEGO which doesn’t involve a lot of movement would, but you could actually switch the heating off.”
“It’s all the getting up and down and fiddling around with the pieces.”
“It’s amazing even in this cold weather to not have to put the wood burner on because we’re warm enough.”
The couple used an estimated 400,000 pieces for the structure, a lot of which went into making the ‘brick’ wall stable enough.
Despite the masterpieces they have created in the past, it was the Christmas tree that was the hardest for Mike this year.
Mike and Catherine’s previous creations
“Imagine trying to create the shape of a tree in square blocks,” said the retired economics professor. “In order to stand it upright we had to build it into the wall. The wall itself is quite heavy and is tied to our curtain rod.”
The couple started their passion by creating LEGO sculptures with their children, who are all now adults and have apparently outgrown their LEGO sets.
Mike and Catherine’s previous creations
The family would feature their LEGO builds in Christmas cards each year but now Addis says people expect them to do it.
“We enjoy doing it, it’s the satisfaction of completing something so big and technically interesting. It’s better than watching telly.”
The couple then host a ‘take down’ party each January in which friends with ‘high-pressure jobs’ come with wine and food to help dismantle the structure over some dedicated nights.
WATCH an interview with the intrepid home builders.
SHARE This Fun Christmas Project With Your Friends…
