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Mexico City’s Ban on Bullfighting Could be Death Knell to the ‘Sport’

By
Andy Corbley
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Marcus Obal, CC license
Marcus Obal, CC license

Bullfighting is a romantic Spanish tradition that is said to be a tragedy ballet between the man and the bull. However richly that culture is ingrained in the traditions and histories of Spain, and by extension, Mexico, there’s no escaping the fact that for the bulls, who almost always lose the “fight,” it’s just a tragedy, without any romance.

For that reason, a majority of Mexican citizens recently polled supported a total moratorium on bullfighting in Mexico because the “animals are subject to mistreatment and cruelty that result in their death,” according to the Mexican assembly’s Animal Welfare Commission.

Bullfighting organizations have said they will appeal and contest the ban in Mexico City, however a higher court has already upheld a ban ruling against an appeal. Four states have already totally banned bullfighting, which historians believe may have passed the half-millennial anniversary in the country last year.

ABC news reports that a judge originally decreed a temporary ban in May, based on complaints that bullfights violated resident’s rights to a healthy environment free from violence. The decision will now be made on whether or not the ban should be permanent.

Currently, La Plaza Mexico in the capital is the world’s largest bullfighting venue, where matadors, toreadors, and picadors attempt to evade the fury of the bull, while repeatedly stabbing it with slightly-chemically-treated javelins to slowly weaken the animal before the toreador can finish it off with a thrust of his sword.

MORE: 100 Nations Take Action To Save Oceans from Illegal Fishing and Plastic Pollution

Throughout history, the peoples of the Mediterranean and Mesopotamia have been fascinated with antagonizing uncastrated male bovines. In ancient Mycenae, the “bull leapers” fresco dates this tradition back at least 3,400 years. Along with the Running of the Bulls in Pamplona, the Spanish brought about bullfighting at least as early as 1128 CE, when the general El Cid was said to be exceptional.

The bullfight we know today, done on foot with the red curtain, was first held at the turn of the 19th century, by Francisco Romero, in Ronda, Spain.

Bullfighting advocates say that it’s a kind of shared or intangible world heritage.

LOOK: Thailand Announces Ban on Coral-Damaging Sunscreens in Marine National Parks

In the documentary Gored, about one of the most famous of recent matadors, advocates say the tragedy about the “ballet” between the bull and the matador, which ends at the thrust of a sword, is that the matador loves the animal, and that in order for the show—bordering on a ritual, to be executed perfectly, the matador in fact must love the bull with all his heart. Therefore when it ends, there is chiefly sorrow for him.

Perhaps it’s correct then that the tradition itself, like the bull, and the ballet, ends.

SPREAD This Good News in the Name of Animal Welfare Far and Wide…

Boy Asked Frank Lloyd Wright to Design Him a Dog House – And He Did

By
Andy Corbley
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Letter received by Frank Lloyd Wright, asking him to design a dog house – Courtesy of Marin County Civic Center
Letter received by Frank Lloyd Wright, asking him to design a dog house – Courtesy of Marin County Civic Center

Designer of some of the most celebrated buildings in American history—including Falling Water and the Guggenheim Museum—Frank Lloyd Wright, as it turns out, helped fulfill the housing needs of other animals too.

In 1956, a 12-year-old boy asked the famous architect if—seeing as he was already designing a house for his family, the Bergers—the great designer wouldn’t be troubled to include a dog house to go with it.

Penning a reply, Wright said building a dog house for Eddie the Labrador retriever was an “opportunity,” but that on account of a packed schedule, young Jim Berger would have to wait about 18 months.

Marin County Civic Center

Jim was the son of Robert and Gloria, who had recently contracted Wright to build them one of his “Usonian style” homes for the American family.

Just as he had intended, Wright got around to the “opportunity” and provided plans for the four-square-foot doghouse the next year, written on the back of an envelope and at no charge.

The triangular structure was designed in keeping with the main house and included signature Wright details, such as the low-pitched roof with exaggerated overhang. Wright even suggested that Jim use scrap pieces of Philippine mahogany and cedar left over from the home’s original construction.

The youth never got around to building it, but eventually his brother and father built the doghouse, only to find that Eddie never used it and preferred to sleep inside where it was warmer. The roof leaked too, which was somewhat typical of Wright’s work. This led Jim’s mother Gloria to toss the thing in the landfill.

Doghouse designed by Wright in new exhibit / Marin Civic Center

But in 2010, the documentary Designed by Frank featured Jim and his brother rebuilding the doghouse according to the original plans, and, after they were finished, they donated it to Marin County for display at another of Wright’s buildings, the Marin County Civic Center.

RELATED: This Cabin’s Flexible Design Can Open To Nature or Enclose into Cozy Space Again (Watch)

Displayed only briefly, it was placed in storage in 2016, but the people who saw it never forgot, and so as of late May, the smallest building he ever designed is now on permanent display inside the largest existing building he ever designed.

Marin County Civic Center – copyright GWC

“The people love it,” Libby Garrison of the Marin County Department of Cultural Services, told the Marin Independent.

MORE: Visit ‘Fortlandia’ Where Designers Have Built Odes to Childhood Fort-Building in Austin, Texas

“We are a pet-loving community and I think it’s an intimate kind of lovely building and I feel like it tells a bigger Frank Lloyd Wright story. The doghouse adds further dimension to Frank Lloyd Wright in Marin County, and it’s a fun family story.”

SHARE This Fab Story of True Generosity With Chums…

“A shower can bestow a temporary taste of being born again. It’s fine to have one for that purpose alone with no further justification.” – William Sebrans

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Good News Network
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Quote of the Day: “A shower can bestow a temporary taste of being born again. It’s fine to have one for that purpose alone with no further justification.” – William Sebrans

Photo by: Laura Marques

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?

What Did Albert Einstein, Da Vinci, and Steve Jobs Have in Common: Dyslexia – Why They’re Top Achievers

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Good News Network
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Photo by Jorge Alejandro Rodríguez Aldana
Photo by Jorge Alejandro Rodríguez Aldana

Dyslexia has affected some of history’s greatest minds—including Leonardo da Vinci, Albert Einstein, Pablo Picasso, and Sir Stephen Hawking.

The list also includes billionaire entrepreneurs—like Sir Richard Branson and Steve Jobs—who’ve built some of the world’s top companies, like Virgin and Apple.

Now scientists have discovered that people with dyslexia have special skills. They are better at solving problems and adapting to challenges.

Such skills enabled our species to survive, and could hold the key to tackling climate change.

Those with dyslexia (a common learning disability) actually specialize in exploring the unknown.

The findings published in the journal Frontiers in Psychology have implications both at the individual and societal level.

“The deficit-centered view of dyslexia isn’t telling the whole story,” said lead author Dr. Helen Taylor, of the University of Cambridge. “This research proposes a new framework to help us better understand the cognitive strengths of people with dyslexia.”

CHECK OUT: This Font is Designed Specifically For Dyslexia – and it Really Works

It is estimated that one-in-five have the condition. It mainly causes problems with reading, writing and spelling.

Other Celebrities

Celebrities known to have dyslexia range from Walt Disney and John Lennon to Jamie Oliver and Keira Knightley.

George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and John F. Kennedy left an indelible mark on the world as presidents of the United States—regardless of their spelling ability.

“We believe the areas of difficulty experienced by people with dyslexia result from a cognitive trade-off between exploration of new information and exploitation of existing knowledge,” added Dr. Taylor.

“The upside is an explorative bias that could explain enhanced abilities observed in certain realms like discovery, invention and creativity.”

It is the first study to look at dyslexia from an evolutionary perspective, shedding fresh light on its prevalence among high achievers.

LOOK: 9-Year-old Boy With Dyslexia Uses His ‘Superpower’ to Make John Cena Portrait Out of Rubik’s Cubes

“Schools, academic institutes and workplaces are not designed to make the most of explorative learning,” insists Taylor. “But we urgently need to start nurturing this way of thinking to allow humanity to continue to adapt and solve key challenges.”

Dyslexia is found in up to 20% of the general population irrespective of country, culture, and world region.

It is defined by the World Federation of Neurology as “a disorder in children who, despite conventional classroom experience, fail to attain the language skills of reading, writing and spelling commensurate with their intellectual abilities.”

The study is based on a theory of evolution called “complementary cognition” which suggests humans evolved to specialize in different but supportive ways of processing information. Combining these abilities enables us to achieve more than the sum of parts—increasing creativity.

RELATED: New LED Lamp Has Helped 90% of Its Dyslexic Users to Read ‘Effortlessly’

For example, if you eat all the food you have, you risk starvation when it’s all gone. But if you spend all your time exploring for food, you are wasting energy you don’t need to waste. We must ensure a balance between ‘exploitation’ of known resources with exploration of new resources to best survive.

Exploration refers to activities that involve experimentation, discovery, and innovation, which dyslexia enhances.

Exploitation is concerned with using what’s already known including refinement, efficiency, and selection—and this includes tasks such as reading and writing.

“It could also explain why people with dyslexia appear to gravitate towards certain professions that require exploration-related abilities such as arts, architecture, engineering and entrepreneurship,” Taylor said.

RELATED: Explorer Who Found Many Iconic Shipwrecks Like the Titanic Credits Dyslexia For His Success

Educators, academics and policy makers consider people with dyslexia as having a developmental disorder. But its ubiquity suggests they have an advantageous form of cognition passed on to us from our ancestors over thousands of generations.

The results align with evidence from several other fields. An explorative bias in such a large proportion of the population indicates our species evolved during a period of high uncertainty and change.

Collaboration between people with different abilities might have aided the exceptional capacity of our species to adapt.

SHAER This Inspiring Study With Aspiring Friends on Social Media… 

Unique Initiative Trains Homeless Folks to Drive Vans to Rescue Food For Distribution Back in the Shelter

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Good News Network
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Salvation Army Food Waste Program with Feeding San Diego
Salvation Army Food Waste Program with Feeding San Diego

A unique collaboration between a trio of organizations in San Diego, California, reached a milestone in providing food and employment to those who need it most.

They also rescue perfectly-viable food that would’ve otherwise ended up in the landfill, while serving up a creative model that could be replicated across the country.

With funding from the Lucky Duck Foundation, The Salvation Army hires residents of its homeless shelter and trains them to be food rescue route drivers, who then operate routes for Feeding San Diego to pick up tasty food before it’s wasted.

The heartwarming partnership hit a milestone in June, announcing it had saved more than half a million pounds of food so far (227,000 kg), and every one of The Salvation Army residents who has participated in the program has secured full-time employment and is still housed.

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Daniel Rocha who had been homeless for nine months jumped at the job opportunity to be a route driver. He picks up the food three times per week from grocery stores, like Costco and Vons, from Starbucks, and Amazon warehouses, among other businesses.

The food is then distributed to those in need—often to the residents back at The Salvation Army shelter.

RELATED: Realtor Transforms Abandoned Properties into Tiny Home Villages That Give Permanent Housing to Chronic Homeless

“The uplifting program can potentially inspire similar collaborations elsewhere,” Foundation spokesperson Brian Hayes told GNN.

Watch the Salvation Army video featuring Daniel, below…

MULTIPLY The Good By Sharing the Win-Win Program to Inspire Others on Social Media….

Baby Girl Adorably Tries to Prank Mom With Fake Cough – WATCH

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Good News Network
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An adorable toddler learned that she gets extra love from mom when she’s sick—so she tries faking it ’til she makes it.

Kaitlin Moore shared the video of her daughter’s fake coughing, which became a little game between them.

As soon as the baby realized it was funny, she continued doing it, and mom captured the cuteness on her phone.

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You might say the youngster was practicing for the future: “Mom, I can’t go to school today. I feel sick…”

SHARE The Giggles With Moms and Dads on Social Media…

Video Games Can Help Boost Children’s Intelligence; TV and Social Media Had No Negative Effect Says New Study

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Good News Network
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Children have been spending more and more time in front of screens—and whether it has a negative impact on their well being is being hotly debated.

Researchers in Sweden have now studied how the screen habits of U.S. children correlates with their intelligence, and how it develops over time.

The study found that children who spent an above-average time playing video games increased their intelligence more than the average, while TV watching or social media had neither a positive nor a negative effect.

Over 9,000 boys and girls in the USA participated in the study. At the age of nine or ten, the children performed a battery of psychological tests to gauge their general cognitive abilities (intelligence). The children and their parents were also asked about how much time the children spent playing video games, watching TV or videos, and scrolling on social media.

In a follow-up two years later, over 5,000 of the children were asked to repeat the psychological tests. This enabled the researchers from Karolinska Institute and Vrije University Amsterdam to study how the children’s performance on the tests varied from the first testing session to the other, and to control for individual differences in the first test. They also controlled for genetic differences that could affect intelligence and differences that could be related to the parents’ educational background and income.

MORE: Want Students to Do Better in Class? Take Them on Culturally Enriching Field Trips

The average child in the study spent 2.5 hours a day watching TV, half an hour on social media and 1 hour playing video games.

The results showed that those who played more games than the average increased their intelligence between the two measurements by approximately 2.5 IQ points more than the average. No significant effect was observed, positive or negative, of TV-watching or social media.

“We didn’t examine the effects of screen behavior on physical activity, sleep, wellbeing or school performance, so we can’t say anything about that,” says Torkel Klingberg, professor of cognitive neuroscience at the Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institute.

RELATED: Pokémon GO May Alleviate Some Depression, Says Study

“But our results support the claim that screen time generally doesn’t impair children’s cognitive abilities, and that playing video games can actually help boost intelligence. This is consistent with several experimental studies of video-game playing.”

Intelligence is not constant

The results are also in line with recent research showing that intelligence is not a constant, but a quality that is influenced by environmental factors.

“We’ll now be studying the effects of other factors and how the cognitive effects relate to childhood brain development,” says Torkel Klingberg.

One limitation of the study, published in the journal Scientific Reports, is that it only covered U.S. children and did not differentiate between different types of video games, which makes the results difficult to transfer to children in other countries with other gaming habits. Also, the accuracy of screen time and habits could not be confirmed since they were self-reported by families.

CHECK OUT: The Average American Has Made 5 New Friends Through Video Gaming in the Past Year

LEVEL UP Your Social Media With Positivity; Share This Story…

“We wish to make rage into a fire that cooks things rather than a fire of conflagration.” – Clarissa Pinkola Estés

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Good News Network
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Quote of the Day: “We wish to make rage into a fire that cooks things rather than a fire of conflagration.” – Clarissa Pinkola Estés

Photo by: Armando Ascorve Morales

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?

Renaissance Masterpiece Found Hanging in 90-Year-Old Woman’s Bedroom

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Good News Network
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Dawsons
Dawsons

It’s every auctioneers’s dream to find an exquisite item among the thousands of items in someone’s estate that the family is ready to put up for auction.

One potential estate in London recently wasn’t revealing anything of much value until the estimator from Dawsons Auctions finally went up to the bedroom.

The owner of the home, a 90-year-old woman, had left Italy as a young girl and inherited a painting from her father. It had been in her possession for more than 30 years.

“I was utterly shocked when I saw this early religious painting hanging above her bed,” said Siobhan Tyrrell, Dawsons Head of Valuations in London. “It literally glowed with quality!”

Upon inspection, it was found to be painted by a follower of Renaissance artist Filippino Lippi.

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“I’m not a painting specialist, however I recognized that it was an exceptional work from the 16th century. I immediately told the family of its potential high worth, and they were keen for me to take it to be consigned to our Fine Art sale.”

In the case of this important painting—called The Depiction of the Madonna and Child—the result was “fantastic”. It sold for $320,000 (£255,000), and it delighted auctioneers for more reasons than one.

The seller is suffering from dementia and her family has been keen to provide improved care and accommodations to make her life more comfortable, but increased costs had made this impossible—until now.

RELATED:  101-Year-old Woman Is Amazed After Being Reunited with Her Lost Painting Looted by Nazis

As a direct result of the incredible sale price achieved, she will not have to worry about her ongoing nursing care, much to the relief of her family.

Fittingly, given the subject matter of the painting itself (a holy mother and child), this wonderful oil canvas has really turned out to be a godsend to them all.

(WATCH the video from Dawsons, below.)

Inspire Your Friends With This Lucky Find on Social Media—SHARE IT…

Mechanic Smashes World Record for Most Push-ups in an Hour – A Whopping 3,183 – All While in Pain

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Good News Network
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SWNS
SWNS

An Australian mechanic has smashed the world record for most push-ups in an hour—completing a staggering 3,182.

Daniel Scali took on the Herculean task in April and managed to surpass the previous total by 128—cranking out 51 push-ups every minute for a solid hour.

His feat has been officially confirmed as the second Guinness World Record achieved by the 28-year-old, following his record-breaking stint last year when he spent nine hours and 30 minutes in an abdominal plank position.

And, incredibly, he has done all this while suffering from a condition which can cause excruciating pain.

Daniel, from Henley Beach, has suffered from a condition called Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) since he was 12.

It developed when he broke his arm and it’s virtually his brain telling his left arm that there’s pain there.

“Anything from a soft touch, wind, or a slight movement can cause unbearable pain,” he says. “I wanted to prove to myself that I have learnt how to deal with and manage pain, which lead me to my attempts.”

Daniel’s efforts to beat the push-ups record took three attempts, but meanwhile he has also raised $61,000 for the Australian Pain Management Association.

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“For me breaking these records has been about raising awareness for chronic pain sufferers and inspiring belief in others.

“If you convince yourself that pain is a fuel to keep you going… I believe anyone is capable of anything they put their self out there to achieve.

“I wanted to show that you don’t have to be sheltered by the pain and it doesn’t have to be a barrier to success.

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“Although at times it might be hard and the days may seem longer, if you continue to pursue your goal, you are guaranteed a better outcome than those who don’t.

“I’m extremely happy and grateful to everyone that supports me with my achievements and I’m already looking forward to what comes next!”

WATCH: World’s Tallest Man and Shortest Woman Meet For the First Time

The previous men’s push-up record was held by Jarrad Young, a fellow Australian, since 2021. See the new Guinness World Record broken in the video below…

INSPIRE Your Friends With the Incredible Feat By Sharing on Social Media…

Rare Orchid Thought to Be Extinct in Vermont For 120 Years is Rediscovered – Biologists Call it ‘Astonishing’

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Good News Network
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Robert H. Mohlenbrock / USDA
Robert H. Mohlenbrock / USDA

Botanists with the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department confirmed that they’ve discovered a population of small orchids believed to be extinct in Vermont since 1902.

“Discovering a viable population of a federally threatened species unknown in our state for over a century is astounding,” said Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department Botanist Bob Popp. “It’s Vermont’s equivalent of rediscovering the ivory-billed woodpecker.”

The small whorled pogonia is a globally-rare orchid that, in the past, had bloomed across the eastern US states and Ontario. Previous searches for the species in Vermont have been unsuccessful, but now have been documented as growing on Winooski Valley Park District conservation land in Chittenden County

As with many orchids, little is understood about the species’ habitat needs.

“A challenge of locating rare orchid populations for conservation is that so much of where they grow is determined by things we can’t easily see or measure, like networks of fungi in the soil,” said Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department Assistant Botanist Aaron Marcus.

Populations in Maine and New Hampshire are found in areas of partial sun including forest edges and openings—and the latest discovery was thanks to wildflower enthusiasts reporting their findings on an app.

Marcus says the department was first notified of a possible small whorled pogonia population in Vermont thanks to the observations of two community scientists: John Gange of Shelburne and Tom Doubleday of Colchester.

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Small Whorled Pogonia by John Gange / VT Fish and Wildlife

“John is a passionate and skilled botanist who specializes in orchids and closely follows the sightings people report on the community science app iNaturalist,” said Marcus. “John noticed that a birder, retired greenhouse manager Tom Doubleday, had used iNaturalist to ask for help identifying an unfamiliar wildflower last July and reached out to us with the news that the orchid had very likely just been discovered in Vermont.”

Popp, Marcus, Doubleday, and Gange returned to the site together this spring and confirmed the presence of small whorled pogonia, which was in bloom at the time.

Rare orchids are at high risk from illegal collection and accidental trampling by passive visitors, according to Marcus. To protect the pogonia’s location from potential disturbances, Doubleday removed the public coordinates from his post using iNaturalist’s privacy settings.

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The department’s next steps will be to work with the Winooski Valley Park District to look for the small whorled pogonia on nearby conservation land and monitor the population to make sure this species has the best possible opportunity to flourish in Vermont’s portion of its native range.

“We’re incredibly fortunate that this small whorled pogonia population is on land protected by the Winooski Valley Park District,” said Popp. “It speaks to the importance of habitat conservation.

RELATED: Woman Races to Save World’s Largest–and Stinkiest—Flower, the 3-ft Wide ‘Corpse Flower‘

“When we conserve a piece of land, we rarely know all the species that are there, but we do know that conserving intact natural communities yields the best odds for supporting Vermont’s biodiversity, from common species to rare ones.”

GROW Some Hope on Social Media By Sharing the Good News…

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

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Good News Network
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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 June 25, 2022
Copyright by Rob Brezsny, FreeWillAstrology.com

CANCER (June 21-July 22):
Author John Banville wrote what might serve as a manifesto for some of us Crabs: “To be concealed, protected, guarded: that is all I have ever truly wanted. To burrow down into a place of womby warmth and cower there, hidden from the sky’s indifferent gaze and the harsh air’s damagings. The past is such a retreat for me. I go there eagerly, shaking off the cold present and the colder future.” If you are a Crab who feels a kinship with Banville’s approach, I ask you to refrain from indulging in it during the coming months. You’re in a phase of your long-term astrological cycle when your destiny is calling you to be bolder and brighter than usual, more visible and influential, louder and stronger.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22):
“We wish to make rage into a fire that cooks things rather than a fire of conflagration,” writes author Clarissa Pinkola Estés. That’s good advice for you right now. Your anger can serve you, but only if you use it to gain clarity—not if you allow it to control or immobilize you. So here’s my counsel: Regard your wrath as a fertilizing fuel that helps deepen your understanding of what you’re angry about—and shows you how to engage in constructive actions that will liberate you from what is making you angry.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22):
Virgo author Jeanette Winterson was asked, “Do you fall in love often?” She replied, “Yes, often. With a view, with a book, with a dog, a cat, with numbers, with friends, with complete strangers, with nothing at all.” Even if you’re not usually as prone to infatuation and enchantment as Winterson, you could have many experiences like hers in the coming months. Is that a state you would enjoy? I encourage you to welcome it. Your capacity to be fascinated and captivated will be at a peak. Your inclination to trust your attractions will be extra high. Sounds fun!

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22):
Libran lexicographer Noah Webster (1758–1843) worked hard to create his dictionary, and it became highly influential in American culture. He spent over 26 years perfecting it. To make sure he could properly analyze the etymologies, he learned 28 languages. He wrote definitions for 70,000 words, including 12,000 that had never been included in a published dictionary. I trust you are well underway with your own Webster-like project, Libra. This entire year is an excellent time to devote yourself with exacting diligence to a monumental labor of love. If you haven’t started it yet, launch now. If it’s already in motion, kick it into a higher gear.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21):
“Shouldn’t the distance between impossible and improbable be widened?” asks poet Luke Johnson. I agree that it should, and I nominate you to do the job. In my astrological view, you now have the power to make progress in accomplishing goals that some people may regard as unlikely, fantastical, and absurdly challenging. (Don’t listen to them!) I’m not necessarily saying you will always succeed in wrangling the remote possibilities into practical realities. But you might. And even if you’re only partially victorious, you will learn key lessons that bolster your abilities to harness future amazements.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21):
Sagittarian novelist George Eliot wrote, “It is very hard to say the exact truth, even about your own immediate feelings—much harder than to say something fine about them which is not the exact truth.” I believe you will be exempt from this rule during the next seven weeks. You will be able to speak with lucid candor about your feelings—maybe more so than you’ve been able to in a long time. And that will serve you well as you take advantage of the opportunity that life is offering you: to deepen, clarify, and refine your intimate relationships.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19):
Author bell hooks (who didn’t capitalize her name) expressed advice I recommend for you. She said, “Knowing how to be solitary is central to the art of loving. When we can be alone, we can be with others without using them as a means of escape.” As you enter a phase of potential renewal for your close relationships, you’ll be wise to deepen your commitment to self-sufficiency and self-care. You might be amazed at how profoundly that enriches intimacy. Here are two more helpful gems from bell hooks: “You can never love anybody if you are unable to love yourself” and “Do not expect to receive the love from someone else you do not give yourself.”

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18):
In April 2005, a 64-year-old Korean woman named Cha Sa-soon made her first attempt to get her driver’s license. She failed. In fairness to her, the written test wasn’t easy. It required an understanding of car maintenance. After that initial flop, she returned to take the test five days a week for three years—and was always unsuccessful. She persevered, however. Five years later, she passed the test and received her license. It was her 960th try. Let’s make her your role model for the foreseeable future. I doubt you’ll have to persist as long as she did, but you’ll be wise to cultivate maximum doggedness and diligence.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20):
In the eighth century, Chinese poet Du Fu gave a batch of freshly written poems to his friend and colleague, the poet Li Bai. “Thank you for letting me read your new poems,” Li Bai later wrote to Du Fu. “It was like being alive twice.” I foresee you enjoying a comparable grace period in the coming weeks, Pisces: a time when your joie de vivre could be double its usual intensity. How should you respond to this gift from the Fates? Get twice as much work done? Start work on a future masterpiece? Become a beacon of inspiration to everyone you encounter? Sure, if that’s what you want to do. And you could also simply enjoy every detail of your daily rhythm with supreme, sublime delight.

ARIES (March 21-April 19):
Aries actor Marilu Henner has an unusual condition: hyperthymesia. She can remember in detail voluminous amounts of past events. For instance, she vividly recalls being at the Superdome in New Orleans on September 15, 1978, where she and her actor friends watched a boxing match between Leon Spinks and Muhammad Ali. You probably don’t have hyperthymesia, Aries, but I invite you to approximate that state. Now is an excellent time to engage in a leisurely review of your life story, beginning with your earliest memories. Why? It will strengthen your foundation, nurture your roots, and bolster your stability.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20):
Poet Elizabeth Bishop noted that many of us are “addicted to the gigantic.” We live in a “mostly huge and roaring, glaring world.” As a counterbalance, she wished for “small works of art, short poems, short pieces of music, intimate, low-voiced, and delicate things.” That’s the spirit I recommend to you in the coming weeks, Taurus. You will be best served by consorting with subtle, unostentatious, elegant influences. Enjoy graceful details and quiet wonders and understated truths.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20):
In the coming weeks, you will need even more human touch than usual. Your mental, physical, and spiritual health REQUIRE you to have your skin in contact with people who care for you and are eager to feel their skin against yours. A Tumblr blogger named Friend-Suggestion sets the tone for the mood I hope you cultivate. They write, “I love! human contact! with! my friends! So put your leg over mine! Let our knees touch! Hold my hand! Make excuses to feel my arm by drawing pictures on my skin! Stand close to me! Lean into my space! Slow dance super close to me! Hold my face in your hands or kick my foot to get my attention! Put your arm around me when we’re standing or sitting around! Hug me from behind at random times!”

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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“6 minutes of walking outdoors solves more problems than 60 minutes of labored thinking.” – William Sebrans

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Good News Network
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Credit: Professor Habits

Quote of the Day: “6 minutes of walking outdoors solves more problems than 60 minutes of labored thinking.” – William Sebrans

Photo by: Professor Habits

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?

If You Can Stand on One Leg for 10 Seconds in Middle Age Your Heath Risk Plummets

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Good News Network
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Middle-aged people unable to stand on one leg for 10 seconds are almost twice as likely to die within the next decade, according to new research.

Scientists say the simple and safe balance test should become part of a routine health check for older adults.

Unlike aerobic fitness, muscle strength and flexibility, balance tends to be reasonably well preserved until the sixth decade of life when it starts to wane relatively rapidly.

Yet testing for balance isn’t normally included in health checks of middle-aged and older people, possibly because there is no standardized test and there is little hard data linking it to injuries or disease beyond falling, the researchers said.

The team in Brazil wanted to know whether a balance test might be a reliable indicator of a person’s risk of death from any cause within the next decade and whether a test should therefore be included in routine health checks.

They used participants from the CLINIMEX Exercise study, which was set up in 1994 to assess links between various measures of physical fitness and the risk of ill health and death from cardiovascular problems.

MORE: Hope for Migraine Sufferers: Clinical Trial Shows Benefits of Yoga and Meditation

The current study included more than 1,700 participants aged 51 to 75 (average age 61) at their first check-up, between February 2009 and December 2020. Around two-thirds (68 percent) were men.

Weight and several measures of skinfold thickness plus waist size were taken as were details of medical history. Only those with stable gait were included.

As part of the check-up, participants were asked to stand on one leg for 10 seconds without any additional support.

They were asked to place the front of the free foot on the back of the opposite lower leg, while keeping their arms by their sides and their gaze fixed straight ahead. Up to three attempts on either foot were permitted.

Around one in five (348 total or 20.5 percent) failed to pass the test and this rose in tandem with age, more or less doubling at five-year intervals from 51 to 55 onwards.

Among those 51-55, nearly five percent failed; for 56–60-year-olds, eight percent; for 61–65-year-olds, 18 percent; and for 66 to 70-year-olds, 37 percent.

LOOK:  Yoga Could Be A Lifesaver For People With a Common Heart Condition

More than half of those aged 71 to 75 were unable to complete the test, meaning people in this age group were more than 11 times as likely to fail as those 20 years younger.

During a monitoring period of seven years, 123 (seven percent) people died.

Those deaths included: cancer (32 percent), cardiovascular disease (30 percent), respiratory disease (nine percent) and COVID complications (seven percent).

There were no clear temporal trends in the deaths, or differences in the causes, between those able to complete the test and those who weren’t able to do so.

However, the proportion of deaths among those who failed the test was significantly higher: 17.5 percent against 4.5 percent, an absolute difference of just under 13 percent.

In general, those who failed had poorer health. Many were obese and/or had heart disease, or had high blood pressure and too much fat in the blood.

Type two diabetes was three times as common in this group, around 38 percent against 13 percent in those who passed the test.

After accounting for age, sex, and underlying conditions, an inability to stand unsupported on one leg for 10 seconds was associated with an 84 percent heightened risk of death from any cause within the next decade.

“This is an observational study, and as such, can’t establish cause,” study author Dr. Claudio Gil Araujo, of Clinimex Medicina do Exercicio, Brazil, said.

RELATED: People Are Happier After Yoga Classes, But Try These Quirky Yoga Themes for Extra Fun

“As participants were all white Brazilians, the findings might not be more widely applicable to other ethnicities and nations.

“And information on potentially influential factors, including recent history of falls, physical activity levels, diet, smoking and the use of drugs that may interfere with balance, wasn’t available.”

“The 10 second balance test provides rapid and objective feedback for the patient and health professionals regarding static balance,” Dr. Araujo added.

“The test adds useful information regarding mortality risk in middle-aged and older men and women.”

This study was published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.

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Watch These Fascinating Toads That Can Jump Like Champs but Can’t Land on Their Tiny Feet

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Andy Corbley
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Richard Essner / Southern Illinois University
Richard Essner / Southern Illinois University

We think of frogs and toads as hopping machines—but in reality they have to be landing machines as well to control the force they generate in their jumps.

However, a group of high-altitude dwelling Brazilian toads no bigger than a pencil point exhibit the strangest behavior, which biologist Richard Essner has extensively documented.

Pumpkin toadlets (Brachycephalus) can jump, but when it comes to landing, they go limp, spin out of control, and usually land on their tiny toad tushies.

Essner has pinned down this remarkable incompetence to the inner semicircular ear canal—a vital organ for coordination. Pumpkin toadlets have the smallest semicircular ear canal related to body size of any adult vertebrate, which Essner discovered by subjecting 100 of these toadlets to tiny CT scans.

“The inner ear, the semicircular canals in particular, are used to detect angular acceleration, which is key information for the frogs as they prepare for landing,” Essner told CBC News. “And we believe they’re not sufficiently sensitive to make use of that information because their semicircular canals have gotten so small.”

MORE: Wintering Monarch Butterflies Bounce Back in Mexico – Numbers Surge by 35%

Evolution works in mysterious ways. Being small has great benefits—many predators will just pass you by, and for a jumping animal like a toadlet, it essentially grants them immunity to bodily harm from falling, whether down from a leaf or the top of a mountain.

However in the case of Brachycephalus, it may have shrunk their ears a few too many sizes. This might make one imagine that pumpkin toadlets are essentially sitting ducks waiting for anything to devour them, since their jumping escape is limited to a single maneuver, but they’re super poisonous, and their bright colors dissuade predators from targeting them.

CBC news talked with other frog experts, who suggested that their tiny hind legs, or the fewer toes present on their feet, could also explain the difficulty landing, but it would be difficult to pin their strange airborne limb-limpness on.

RELATED: After 10 Year Absence, World’s Most Endangered Sea Turtle Nests on Texas Beach, With a Little Help From Friends

At the end of the day, both scientists are curious if other miniaturized animals have similar mobility problems.

(WATCH the video for this story below.)

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Floating Drones Are Swallowing Tons of Plastic Waste Before it Reaches Ocean

By
Andy Corbley
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Waste Shark
Waste Shark

From Chennai to Trentino alto Adige to Baltimore, inventors are churning out methods of stopping plastic pollution from entering the ocean by picking it out of riverways.

They come in different shapes and sizes, and a Dutch company just added a whale-shark inspired drone that can cobble 160 liters of waste to the mix.

Developed by RanMarine in Rotterdam, the drone project was both straightforward, but with a pretty long checklist. It had to be automated, zero-emissions, easy to use, economic to deploy and maintain, and be able to clean a freshwater environment without harming it.

The result is WasteShark, which is about 4 feet long, and quietly captures trash in a tray between its two pontoons. Like the whale shark that provided its inspiration, a grid stops anything sizeable from entering its mouth, until it detects trash and the grid is lowered.

One the drone is filled, it’s steered back to the water’s edge, where the tray can be easily removed, and emptied into a larger receptacle.

A world of river cleaning devices

All kinds of strategies exist for capturing plastic before it pollutes the ocean. WasteShark is perfect for lakes, and other large ponds where the trash will mostly bob around.

Other challenges and strategies exist in countries around the world. On the river Cooum that runs through the city of Chennai in India, whatever equipment AlphaMERS Ltd. used to plan their cleanup had to be able to withstand the flooding force of the monsoon rains.

MORE: Designer Turns Mussel Shells That Once Clogged London’s Water Pipes into Gorgeous Tile

Their solution was steel mesh that is draped diagonally across the flow of the river, arresting the trash, but allowing boat traffic to pass over undisturbed. The Floating Trash Barrier (FTB) collected 2,200 tonnes of plastic in the first year. AlphaMERS have also developed drones that clean up oil spills by sifting the sludge out and separating it from the water inside their robot bodies.

GNN reported on an innovate Italian solution that is much more portable and affordable, and perfect for smaller rivers and canals. River Cleaning are little buoys anchored to the river bed by tethers. Any passing boat can knock them this way and that, but they will always return to their formation—like FTB, in a diagonal line across the water. They are little cogs that spin in the current and push trash down the line of buoys until they reach the bank where they enter a collection cage.

In Baltimore, Maryland, locals love their neighbor “Mr. Trash Wheel” a simple water mill that picks up trash at the mouth of a river and dumps it into a floating barge. The googly-eyed trash collector has been gobbling up millions of pounds of the city’s river-borne garbage for years, and led to the creation of several water-wheel allies like Capt. Trash Wheel, and Prof. Trash Wheel.

The Netherlands’ Bojan Slat, who for years raised awareness of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, and who is now cleaning it up, also on the side has been working to clean rivers. His non-profit, The Ocean Cleanup, suggests that 80% of all the plastic waste in the ocean arrives through 1,000 of the world’s rivers, and his “Interceptor,” a large, shore-operated electric barge anchors itself on the side of the 50 worst polluting rivers in the world, like the Klang in Malaysia.

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There, a barrier spans diagonally, half-way across the river so as not to impede boat traffic, and trash is fed into the Interceptor’s mouth where it finds a conveyor belt. The belt scoops up the waste and dumps it into a large container which when full can be offloaded and picked up by most semi-trucks.

All around the world people are taking water-born trash collecting seriously, and they’re getting it right. With any luck, the next generation will feature far more happy fishes, corals, and humans besides.

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Scottish Islanders Save Couple’s Wedding Across the Ocean After Nightmare Airport Saga of Lost Luggage

By
Andy Corbley
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Photo by Love Skye Photography/Rosie Woodhouse
Photo by Love Skye Photography/Rosie Woodhouse

A wedding nightmare wound up turning into a Celtic dream when, after a plane-load of problems, the local community on the majestic Isle of Skye decided to lend a hand to the visiting betrothed.

Planning to leave a solid, four-day cushion between their flight and their big day on Skye, in the Scottish Hebrides, Florida’s Amanda and Paul Riesel suffered every problem in the airline company playbook—including several delays, a cancelation or two, and lost luggage.

Their trip that was supposed to be from Orlando to the UK ended up being rerouted to Philadelphia, and then out of Heathrow, to Inverness and onto Skye; they finally arrived at 11:00 pm on the island the night before their wedding, having spent a full 72 hours aboard planes, or trapped in airports.

Enter Rosie Woodhouse, the wedding photographer. Getting word of their difficulties, and that without everything but their rings, they were close to giving up on their long-planned Skye wedding, she felt she had to do something.

“I told them I was sure I could make this work, and Skye is an amazing place,” Woodhouse told the BBC. Rosie posted an appeal to a social media community and even before breakfast, local islanders had responded brilliantly. “We had a full kilt set for Paul and a beautiful wedding dress for Amanda,” she said.

Photo by Love Skye Photography/Rosie Woodhouse

The wedding dress was worn by a local cafeteria lady at a school, a profession to which Amanda, in a wild coincidence, is also employed. She felt there was no better solution than to wear the special garment of a special woman who cared for children as Amanda does.

MORE: Guy Finds Lost Wedding Ring and Delivers to Honeymoon Couple Using a LEGO Man With Metal Detector

“The people of Skye will be famous in Orlando because we will tell anyone who will listen that they are the reason our love was cemented into a perfectly imperfect wedding day,” Amanda added.

Photo by Love Skye Photography/Rosie Woodhouse

With its emerald green grass, dark moody skies, rugged landscape, and wild coasts, a place doesn’t come much better after three days in airports than the Isle of Skye, and even though the wedding lost much of the veneer they had planned, the pictures at least, convey that everything worked out in the end.

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“I wanted to stand with those who clearly see G-d’s holy broken world for what it is, and still find the courage or the heart to praise it.” – Leonard Cohen

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Good News Network
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Quote of the Day: “I wanted to stand with those who clearly see G-d’s holy broken world for what it is, and still find the courage or the heart to praise it.” – Leonard Cohen

Photo by: Shane Rounce

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?

First Ever Commute in The Jetson Flying Car – CEO Says it Can Make You a Pilot in 5 Minutes

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Good News Network
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SWNS
SWNS

A company owner has completed the ‘first ever’ commute in an $83,000 (£68,000) space-age flying car.

Tomasz Patan is co-founder of the Swedish firm Jetson, and he just piloted the Jetson ONE vehicle from his Italian home to a company building in Tuscany.

Jetson say the trip to the Santa Maria a Monte facility is a “momentous occasion for the electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) sector.”

The aircraft is powered by eight electric motors, has a flight time of 20 minutes, and can reach a top speed of 63mph (102kph).

The futuristic vehicle is constructed from a race car-inspired lightweight aluminium space frame and a Carbon-Kevlar composite body.

MORE: Helicopter Successfully Catches Earth-Bound Rocket in a ‘Supersonic Ballet’

Running on a high discharge lithium-ion battery, the vehicle can carry a pilot’s weight of 210 pounds (100kg).

“Our long-term goal is to democratize flight. We firmly believe the ‘eVTOL’ is the future for mass transportation. We are committed to making this a reality,” Tomasz Patan, co-founder and CTO, said.

SWNS

“The Jetson is built like a Formula One car for the sky and incredibly fun to fly. Most importantly, the Flight Stabilisation System we developed makes flight super easy. We can make anyone a pilot in less than five minutes,” said Peter Ternstrom, co-founder and President.

RELATED: Vermont Startup’s Electric Plane That Lifts-Off Vertically is Really Taking Off

Jetson say their prototype “proof of concept” was finished in the spring of 2018, and they have since been working on a “consumer-friendly” version.

They add, “The entire 2022 production is sold out, but we are accepting orders for 2023 delivery.”

Watch the commute…

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Bone Loss Meds May be Lowering Ovarian Cancer Risk, Scientists Find

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Good News Network
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Medicines used to prevent bone loss may help lower the risk of ovarian cancer. That’s according to research by The University of Queensland.

UQ researchers compared medications taken by more than 50,000 women aged over 50, using de-identified medical records from 2004–2013, to analyze differences in those with ovarian cancer and without.

UQ School of Public Health PhD Candidate Karen Tuesley said women who used nitrogen-based bisphosphonates were found to be less likely to develop ovarian cancer.

“The findings varied between ovarian cancer subtypes and included a 50 per cent lower risk for endometrioid cancers and 16 percent for serous ovarian cancers,” Ms Tuesley said.

“We don’t yet know why these medicines may lower the risk of ovarian cancer in women, but previous studies have shown that nitrogen-based bisphosphonates can stop the disease spreading in laboratory grown cells.

“Ovarian cancer is the eighth most common cancer in Australian women with fewer than 50 percent of patients alive five years after diagnosis.”

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In 2021, there were 1720 cases of ovarian cancer diagnosed, and 83 percent of these occurred in women aged over 50 years, according to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.

More than 200,000 Australians are prescribed bisphosphonates containing nitrogen each year, making them one of the most prescribed medicines of their type in the country.

The medicines prevent bone loss and help reduce fractures in osteoporosis patients.

PhD Supervisor Associate Professor Susan Jordan said this study is important because most known risk factors for ovarian cancer cannot be easily modified.

“Earlier studies have found medicines used to treat other diseases may be useful in preventing cancer, prompting this investigation into bisphosphonates,” Dr Jordan said.

“Further research is needed to understand why these medicines might affect ovarian cancer subtypes differently.

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“We know ovarian cancer subtypes look different under the microscope and have unique risk factors.

“However, it is important to look at each subtype separately to improve our knowledge and understanding of these cancers.

“This study may help inform medicine choice for women with osteoporosis and suggest areas for further research to better understand how ovarian cancer develops.”

The paper is published in the JNCI: Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

Source: The University of Queensland

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