Quote of the Day: “I have never, ever, EVER met anyone who has regretted following their heart.” – Marie Forleo
Photo by: Sheila in Moonducks, CC license
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?
Lenie Ford was in the worst pain of her life when she arrived at her local pharmacy, but was unable to purchase her prescribed medication. Luckily, a kind-hearted employee was working at the cash register.
“I was in literally thee worst pain. I could not form a thought,” Lenie from Santa Barbara told GNN. “Even having a baby hurt less.”
It was June 4 when she reached the CVS pharmacy at 3939 State Street and discovered she didn’t have the “piece of paper from the emergency room” telling her she was temporarily covered for the medication to treat her tooth infection.
“I only had about 4 bucks on me. I simply broke down, and cried.”
“This incredibly warm pharmacist saw my agony just engulfing me. That’s when I heard her say, softly, with much kindness, ‘l’ll cover it.’”
Pharmacy technician Verena Harris then reached over the counter and swiped her own personal credit card, and paid in full for the antibiotics.
Lenie was beyond grateful: “I can say with great humble thanks how much I truly appreciated the kind, very generous offer from this perfect stranger.”
We asked Ms. Harris, who’s worked at the pharmacy for 12 years, whether she had done this sort of thing before. She looked around the room with a wise, knowing look, and nodded her head. “Yea.”
“Some people just need help,” she said. “I can’t watch someone in pain like that.”
We wanted to reimburse Verena for Lenie’s prescription—which she said was about $15 or $20—yet she adamantly refused. “Absolutely not.” She repeated it twice.
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German and Kurdish archaeologists have uncovered an ancient metropolis of the Mittani Empire once submerged below the Tigris River. The settlement was revealed when the levels of the Mosul reservoir plunged earlier this year due to extreme drought in Iraq.
The extensive city with a palace and several large buildings could be Zakhiku—believed to have been an important center in the Mittani Empire between 1550-1350 BC.
To prevent crops from drying out, large amounts of water have been drawn down from the reservoir, which is Iraq’s most important water storage.
This led to the reappearance of a Bronze Age city that had been submerged decades ago without any prior archaeological investigations. It is located at Kemune in the Kurdistan Region of the country.
The unforeseen event sent archaeologists scrambling to excavate and document at least parts of this large, important city as quickly as possible before it was resubmerged.
The Kurdish archaeologist Dr. Hasan Ahmed Qasim, chairman of the Kurdistan Archaeology Organization, and the German archaeologists Prof. Dr. Ivana Puljiz (University of Freiburg) and Prof. Dr. Peter Pfälzner (University of Tübingen) spontaneously decided to undertake joint rescue excavations at Kemune in January and February, in collaboration with the Directorate of Antiquities and Heritage in Duhok (Kurdistan Region of Iraq).
A team for the rescue excavations was put together within days. Funding for the work was obtained at short notice from the Fritz Thyssen Foundation. They were under immense time pressure because it was not clear when the water in the reservoir would rise again—and the exposed walls of large buildings in the old city complex would vanish.
Fortunately, the researchers succeeded in largely mapping the city. In addition to a palace, several other large buildings were uncovered—a massive fortification with wall and towers, a monumental, multi-story storage building and an industrial complex. The extensive urban complex was described as an “important center” of the Empire of Mittani, which controlled large parts of northern Mesopotamia and Syria.
“The huge magazine building is of particular importance because enormous quantities of goods must have been stored in it, probably brought from all over the region,” says Prof. Ivana Puljiz.
The research team was stunned by the well-preserved state of the walls—sometimes to a height of several meters—despite the fact that the walls are made of sun-dried mud bricks and were under water for more than 40 years.
This good preservation is due to the fact that the city was destroyed in an earthquake around 1350 BC, during which the collapsing upper parts of the walls buried the buildings.
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Of particular interest is the discovery of five ceramic vessels that contained an archive of over 100 cuneiform tablets. They date to the Middle Assyrian period, shortly after the earthquake disaster struck the city. Some clay tablets, which may be letters, are even still in their clay envelopes.
The researchers hope this discovery will provide important information about the end of the Mittani-period city and the beginning of Assyrian rule in the region. “It is close to a miracle that cuneiform tablets made of unfired clay survived so many decades under water,” Peter Pfälzner says.
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To avert further damage to the important site by the rising water, the excavated buildings were completely covered with tight-fitting plastic sheeting and covered with gravel fill as part of an extensive conservation project funded by the Gerda Henkel Foundation.
This is intended to protect the walls of unbaked clay and any other finds still hidden in the ruins during times of flooding. The site is now once again completely submerged.
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Dogs became ‘man’s best friend’ because of a gene that lowered their stress and made them more relaxed around people, according to new research from Japan.
Descended from wolves, the domestication of dogs which enabled their special relationship with humans has baffled evolutionary experts for decades.
Now, a team at Azabu University reckon they have solved the riddle. Dogs carry two mutations of a gene known as MC2R (melanocortin 2 receptor), which produces the hormone cortisol—nature’s built in alarm system released during fear or anxiety.
Dogs’ emergence has been tracked back to wolves scavenging leftovers discarded by early humans on the edges of settlements. Over generations, their offspring became bolder and moved ever closer to the people they relied on.
In time, humans saw the animals as natural allies and began training them to be better hunters and herders.
“It may have become necessary through the process of domestication for dogs to gaze at humans for instruction and initiate communication to build a more successful relationship,” said corresponding author Dr. Miho Nagasawa. “Because stray dogs that are not brought up in human households show this characteristic, it has been previously suggested there is a genetic component involved. Our results support this hypothesis.”
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To investigate the phenomenon Dr. Nagasawa and colleagues ran experiments in which 624 domestic dogs were split into ancient and modern (general) breeds.
The ancient group consisted of those considered genetically closer to wolves such as the Akita and Siberian Husky. Others, such as gun dogs, mastiffs and Jack Russell terriers, are more distantly related. All participants were recruited voluntarily from their owners.
They found the ancient group felt less attached to the testers than the latter, and it was due to the MC2R variants.
“We focused on ancient dog breeds to investigate breed related differences in social cognitive abilities,” explained Nagasawa.
“In a problem solving task, ancient breeds showed a lower tendency to look back at humans than other European breeds.”
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Blood samples showed changes to the MC2R gene were associated with correctly interpreting gestures and gazing at the experimenters more often.
There were no differences in other genes—including those for the ‘bonding’ hormone oxytocin and another linked to hyperactivity.
Their research was published in the journal Scientific Reports.
“The results show both groups have capabilities in understanding human gestures and adjusting their responses accordingly, (but) in contrast, the general group showed higher eye-contact behavior in the problem solving test.”
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“This suggests the capability of dogs to understand human commands and adjust their
own behavior accordingly evolved early in the domestication of dogs. The stronger tendency of gazing at humans, as tested by the problem solving test, was a desirable characteristic that was intentionally chosen for, through human-selected breeding, after dogs had evolved.”
Man’s first best friend was a grey wolf that made contact with its first human companions about 33,000 years ago, somewhere in south east Asia. About 15,000 years ago, a small pack of domesticated dogs began trotting towards the Middle East and Africa.
The species, known as Canis lupus familiaris, made it to Europe about 10,000 years ago, when humans began to build farmsteads and villages and erect walls.
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Dogs were already there to help keep guard and herd the first flocks—and the outlines of the great adventure are written in DNA.
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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 11, 2022
Copyright by Rob Brezsny, FreeWillAstrology.com
GEMINI (May 21-June 20):
It’s an excellent time to correct and uplift your self-image. I invite you to speak the following affirmations aloud: “I am not damaged. I am not on the wrong path. I am not inept or ignorant or off-kilter. The truth is, I am learning how to live. I am learning how to be a soulful human and I am doing a reasonably good job at that task. I do a lot of things really well. I’m getting to know myself better every day. I constantly surprise myself with how skilled I am at adjusting to life’s constant changes. I AM AMAZED AT HOW MUCH PROGRESS I HAVE MADE IN LEARNING HOW TO LIVE.”
CANCER (June 21-July 22):
In the Tibetan language, the term nyingdu-la means “most honored poison of my heart.” Many of us know at least one person who fits that description: an enemy we love to hate or a loved one who keeps tweaking our destiny or a paradoxical ally who is both hurtful and helpful. According to my analysis, it’s time for you to transform your relationship with a certain nyingdu-la in your life. The bond between you might have generated vital lessons for you. But now it’s time for a re-evaluation and redefinition.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22):
“Don’t pray for the rain to stop,” advises Leo poet Wendell Berry. “Pray for good luck fishing when the river floods.” That’s useful advice for you, my dear. The situation you’re in could turn out to be a case of either weird luck or good luck. And how you interpret the situation may have a big impact on which kind of luck it brings. I urge you to define the potential opportunities that are brewing and concentrate on feeding them.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22):
Virgo writer Julio Cortázar (1914–1984) once remarked, “How tiring it gets being the same person all the time.” That’s surprising. In fact, Cortázar was an innovative and influential author who wrote over 30 books in four genres and lived for extended periods in five countries. It’s hard to imagine him ever being bored by his multifaceted self. Even if you’re not a superstar like Cortázar, Virgo, I expect you will be highly entertained and amused by your life in the coming weeks. I bet you will be even more interesting than usual. Best of all, you will learn many fresh secrets about your mysterious soul.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22):
The blogger Frogbestfriend says, “One of the biggest problems with society nowadays is that I am so, so sleepy.” Frogbestfriend is humorously suggesting that his inability to maintain good sleep habits is rooted in civilization’s dysfunctions. He’s right, of course! Many of our seemingly personal problems are at least partially rooted in the pathological ways the whole world operates. Our culture influences us to do things that aren’t always healthy and wise. I bring this to your attention, Libra, because now is a favorable time to meditate on society’s crazy-making effects on you. Now is also a pivotal moment to heal yourself of those crazy-making effects.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21):
Poet Maggie Smith writes, “We talk so much of light. Please let me speak on behalf of the good dark. Let us talk more of how dark the beginning of a day is.” I offer her proposal as a fertile theme for your meditations. Of all the signs in the zodiac, you Scorpios are most skilled at teasing out the good stuff from shadows and secrets and twilight. And your potency in these matters is even higher than usual right now. Do us all a favor and find the hidden redemptions and potential regenerations.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21):
When actors and other creative people in film win Oscars at the Academy Awards ceremony, they come on stage and deliver short talks, acknowledging their honor. These speeches often include expressions of gratitude. An analysis revealed that over the years, Sagittarian director Steven Spielberg has been thanked by winners more often than anyone else—even more than God. Based on my reading of astrological omens, I believe you deserve that level of appreciation in the coming weeks. Please show this horoscope to everyone you know who may be willing to carry out my mandate. Be proactive in collecting tribute, credit, and favors.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19):
In the ancient Greek story of Odysseus, the hero leaves his home in Ithaka to fight in the Trojan War. When the conflict is over, he yearns to return to the beloved life he left behind. But his journey takes 10 years. His tests and travails are many. The 20th-century Greek poet C. P. Cavafy offered advice to Odysseus at the beginning of his quest: “As you set out for Ithaka, hope your road is a long one, full of adventure, full of discovery . . . Keep Ithaca always in your mind. Arriving there is what you’re destined for. But don’t hurry the journey. Better if it lasts for years, so you’re old by the time you reach the island, wealthy with all you’ve gained on the way.” As you begin your new phase of returning home, Capricorn, I invite you to keep Cavafy’s thoughts in mind.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18):
“I have never, ever, EVER met anyone who has regretted following their heart,” writes life coach Marie Forleo. But what exactly does she mean by “following their heart”? Does that mean ignoring cautions offered by your mind? Not necessarily. Does it require you to ignore everyone’s opinions about what you should do? Possibly. When you follow your heart, must you sacrifice money and status and security? In some cases, yes. But in other cases, following your heart may ultimately enhance your relationship with money and status and security. Anyway, Aquarius. I hope I’ve inspired you to meditate on what it means to follow your heart—and how you can do that intensely during the coming months.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20):
Actor and author Jenny Slate testifies, “As the image of myself becomes sharper in my brain and more precious, I feel less afraid that someone else will erase me by denying me love.” That is the single best inspirational message I can offer you right now. In the coming months, you will earn the right and the capacity to make the same declaration. Your self-definition will become progressively clearer and stronger. And this waxing superpower will enable you to conquer at least some of your fear about not getting enough love.
ARIES (March 21-April 19):
“It takes a spasm of love to write a poem,” wrote Aries author Erica Jong. I will add that it takes a spasm of love to fix a problem with someone you care about. It also takes a spasm of love to act with kindness when you don’t feel kind. A spasm of love is helpful when you need to act with integrity in a confusing situation and when you want to heal the past so it doesn’t plague the future. All the above advice should be useful for you in the coming weeks, Aries. Are there any other variations you can think of? Fill in the blank in the next sentence: It takes a spasm of love to…
TAURUS (April 20-May 20):
“The great epochs of our life come when we gain the courage to rechristen our badness as what is best in us,” wrote philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. When I read that ambitious epigram, I didn’t know what he was referring to. By “badness,” did he mean the ugly, pathological parts of us? That couldn’t be right. So I read scholars who had studied the great philosopher. Their interpretation: Nietzsche believed the urges that some religions seek to inhibit are actually healthy for us. We should celebrate, not suppress, our inclinations to enjoy sensual delights and lusty living. In fact, we should define them as being the best in us. I encourage you Bulls to do just that in the coming weeks. It’s a favorable time to intensify your devotion to joy, pleasure, and revelry.
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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Quote of the Day: “Don’t pray for the rain to stop. Pray for good luck fishing when the river floods.” – Wendell Berry
Photo by: Craig Cameron
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?
Ketamine is the speedster of antidepressants, working within hours compared to more common antidepressants that can take several weeks. But ketamine can only be given for a limited amount of time because of its many side effects.
Now, a new Northwestern Medicine study identifies for the first time exactly how ketamine works so quickly, and how it might be adapted for use as a drug without the side effects.
The study in mice shows ketamine works as a rapid antidepressant by increasing the activity of the very small number of newborn neurons, which are part of an ongoing neurogenesis in the brain.
New neurons are always being made at a slow rate. It’s been known that increasing the number of neurons leads to behavioral changes. Other antidepressants work by increasing the rate of neurogenesis, in other words, increasing the number of neurons. But this takes weeks to happen.
By contrast, ketamine produces behavioral changes simply by increasing the activity of the existing new neurons. This can happen immediately when the cells are activated by ketamine.
“We narrowed down the population of cells to a small window that is involved,” said lead study author Dr. John Kessler, a professor of neurology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and the Ken and Ruth Davee Professor of Stem Cell Biology. “That’s important because when you give ketamine to patients now, it affects multiple regions of the brain and causes a lot of adverse side effects. But since we now know exactly which cells we want to target, we can design drugs to focus only on those cells.”
The side effects of ketamine include blurred or double vision, nausea, vomiting, insomnia, drowsiness and addiction.
“The goal is to develop an antidepressant that doesn’t take three to four weeks to work because people don’t do well during that period of time,” Kessler said. “If you are badly depressed and start taking your drug and nothing is happening, that is depressing in itself. To have something that works right away would make a huge difference.”
“We prove neurogenesis is responsible for the behavioral effects of ketamine,” Kessler said. “The reason is these newborn neurons form synapses (connections) that activate the other cells in the hippocampus. This small population of cells acts like a match, starting a fire that ignites a bunch of activity in a lot of other cells that produce the behavioral effects.”
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“However, it has not been understood that the same behavioral changes can be accomplished by increasing the activity of the new neurons without increasing the rate at which they are born,” Kessler said. “This obviously is a much more rapid effect.”
For the study, Northwestern scientists created a mouse in which only the very small population of newborn neurons had a receptor that allowed these cells to be silenced or activated by a drug that did not affect any other cells in the brain. Scientists showed if they silenced the activity of these cells, ketamine didn’t work anymore. But if they used the drug to activate this population of cells, the results mirrored those of ketamine. This showed conclusively that it is the activity of these cells that is responsible for the effects of ketamine, Kessler said.
The study was published in Nature Communications.
Source: Northwestern University
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A ‘superworm’ with an appetite for polystyrene could be the key to plastic recycling on a mass scale, according to a new study.
The species is capable of munching through plastic waste thanks to a bacterial enzyme in their gut, say Australian scientists.
Dr Chris Rinke, and his team at the University of Queensland’s School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, fed superworms different diets over a three-week period, with some given polystyrene foam, some bran, and others put on a fasting diet.
They discovered that the common Zophobas morio ‘superworm’ can eat through polystyrene.
“We found the superworms fed a diet of just polystyrene not only survived, but even had marginal weight gains,” Dr Riske said. “This suggests the worms can derive energy from the polystyrene, most likely with the help of their gut microbes.”
The research team used a technique called metagenomics to find several encoded enzymes with the ability to degrade polystyrene and styrene.
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Dr Riske says the long-term goal is to engineer enzymes to degrade plastic waste in recycling plants through mechanical shredding, followed by enzymatic biodegradation.
“Superworms are like mini recycling plants, shredding the polystyrene with their mouths and then feeding it to the bacteria in their gut,” he said.
“The breakdown products from this reaction can then be used by other microbes to create high-value compounds such as bioplastics.”
The team hope that the ‘bio-upcycling’ will incentivize plastic waste recycling and reduce landfill.
Study co-author Jiarui Sun says they aim to grow the gut bacteria in the lab and further test its ability to degrade polystyrene.
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“We can then look into how we can upscale this process to a level required for an entire recycling plant,” PhD candidate Ms Sun said.
Dr Rinke said there are many opportunities for the biodegradation of plastic waste.
“Our team is very excited to push the science to make it happen,” he added.
The findings were published in the journal Microbial Genomics.
WRIGGLE This Scientific Breakthrough Over to Chums…
Losing a dog is distressing, losing a 15-year-old dog is worse—and losing a 15-year-old dachshund is a grim situation indeed.
Luckily for distraught owner Chelsea Blackwell, her dog had made its way into the arms of a person who could help.
Blackwell lost Blue the dachshund in her home town of Albany last Monday, prompting her to drive around looking and asking passersby if they had seen the dog. Then, nearing the Greyhound bus stop, she noticed something out of the ordinary.
“I noticed there were like eight police cars and people with cameras—I thought maybe somebody got shot,” Blackwell told an Albany paper. “I asked them if anyone saw a little brown dog.”
What happened next is that a member of the crowd replied, “yes, we’ll call her,” sparking curiosity in Blackwell. Inquiring as to the “her,” the person said that a celebrity had found her dog, and the next thing she knew, a car had pulled up and out came Million Dollar Baby star Hillary Swank, with Blue cradled in her arms.
“I was like, ‘No way,'” Blackwell said. “As soon as she got out of the car, I kissed Blue and said, ‘Thank you so much.'”
The two-time Oscar winner offered to take a photograph with Blackwell, who said that Swank was not going to “blow her own horn” about the good deed.
Swank has a history of animal advocacy, including co-founding the Hilaroo Foundation, which helps connect at-risk teens with shelter dogs in order to foster a healing connection.
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If a healthy house plant makes one relax, an unhealthy plant doesn’t do anything right? In reality, unhealthy or dying plants go the other way—making us depressed.
A study done by the English RHS (Royal Horticultural Society) found that dead or sickly houseplants are worse than having no plants at all, and should be removed immediately.
The health benefits of having a healthy house or office plant, such as a birds-nest fern, Ficus, or snake plant, are well worth the effort of taking care of them. They can absorb volatile organic compounds emitted by paint or furniture, oxygenate the room, and help reduce stress by seeing living green.
But this is only the case when healthy. The study from the University of Reading asked participants to rate plants in various states of health for their appearance and perceived ability to clean the air.
A neglected palm used in the study “was the least attractive, least preferred plant and participants thought the appearance was unhealthy and depressing.”
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“This important finding shows that to benefit occupants’ well-being, sick or dead plants should be removed from the indoor environment,” the authors concluded.
They went further to suggest that people with little experience looking after plants should avoid plants that are difficult to care for. An example of this might be an orchid, which can live indoors but which is difficult and moody.
Another conclusion was that people should avoid decorating the home or office with plants that feature the color brown, as a large section of the participants said it didn’t make them feel good, but rather sad, and that spherical or conical shapes should be preferred to spreading plants.
Featured image: By Vicky G, CC license
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The Lesson: Perhaps it’s no surprise that professional acting takes a toll on one’s emotions, but taking over the roles of emotionally-troubled characters is all the more challenging. What can professional actors share to others about confronting despair of the past, gratitude for the present, and anxiety of the future?
Notable Excerpt: “I heard this once, I made friends with my anxiety and turned it into my engine. But you have to be careful because it can sometimes overpower and then Worry will steal (your energy). Anxiety and anxiousness is something I’ve always worked with to move myself forward… When you’re in a more vulnerable place, gratitude can hit you like a Mack truck—the attitude of gratitude is the key to daily living (or at least) it certainly helps when you get off track.”
The Guest: Amir Arison is a well known actor, director and activist. Best known for his work on the NBC/Sony/Netflix international hit series The Blacklist as tech-wizard Aram Mojtabai. Other TV credits include recurring & guest appearances on Law & Order: SVU, American Horror Story, as well as many others including the current HULU limited series THE DROPOUT.
He is the recipient of the Mendez Award from MIFF, given to an individual in the entertainment industry who uses their platform to give back. He currently teaches workshops and directs/performs for multiple organizations including The New School, Pace University, YoungArts, United Arts Partnership, NBC director’s diversity showcase, Broadway for All, Broadway Workshop, Bridge Builders, Hole-In-The-Wall-Gang-Camp, and Angelight Films.
The Podcast: Livin’ Good Currency explores the relationship of time to our lives. It gives a simple, straight-forward formula that anyone can use to be present in the moment—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.
Quote of the Day: “If you can’t believe in miracles, then believe in yourself. When you want something bad enough, let that drive push you to make it happen.” – Isabel Lopez
Photo by: Sebastian Knoll
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 metal detectorist who found a newlywed’s wedding ring on a beach surprised them, by sending a picture of it being held by a LEGO man.
44-year-old groom Richard Whetter and his bride Anne arrived on the island of Jersey for their honeymoon last month.
But Richard lost his wedding ring during a romantic stroll in Portelet Bay two days later.
He says he took off his ring to go swimming, and put it by his shoe. Unfortunately, as a newlywed he wasn’t used to owning such an item—and forgot to put it back on. It was only when he got back to the car that he realized it was missing.
The couple traveled back to their hotel and told a porter who immediately contacted local metal detectorist Steve Andrews. Still, they thought the ring had been lost forever.
For Steve, it took only ten minutes to find the lost item.
Steve marks his finds with a special picture of a LEGO man. In fact, it’s a mini-replica of himself—complete with matching clothes and a little metal detector.
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He never charges for his work. “The thing I enjoy most about detecting is re-uniting people with their items,” he says. “I was delighted to find the ring; it was one of the quickest I’ve ever completed.”
“The LEGO man is just a nice thing to send to people. I find their item and take a photo as a sort of ‘I’ve found it!’ I got it as a jokey present from my sister, and it just stuck.”
Richard, who lives in Bristol, said, “I’m really grateful for Steve. What could have been an absolute disaster turned into a valuable lesson learnt—with an amusing edge”.
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Animal welfare groups have commended the New York State Legislature for passing the Puppy Mill Pipeline Bill—groundbreaking legislation that will end the retail sale of dogs, cats, and rabbits in pet stores across the state.
Championed by Assembly member Linda B. Rosenthal and Senate Deputy Majority Leader Michael Gianaris, this bill now heads to Gov. Kathy Hochul. If signed into law, it would stop the flow of cruelly bred puppies into New York.
“Over the years we have tried to regulate pet stores, but the industry continues to prioritize profits over the welfare of animals. My legislation will finally shut down the pet store-to-puppy mill pipeline once and for all,” Linda B. Rosenthal said.
“With so many good animals in need of rescue, there is no need for abusive puppy mills to supply pet stores. Our four-legged companions should be treated with respect, not like commodities,” noted Senate Deputy Leader Michael Gianaris.
The Puppy Mill Pipeline Bill is supported by leading animal welfare groups including the ASPCA (The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals), the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), and various others, including millions of New York animal lovers who support ending the sale of puppies in pet stores.
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Puppies sold in pet stores come from commercial breeding operations that are designed to prioritize profit over the well-being of the animals. Breeding dogs in these facilities are often kept without adequate shelter, veterinary care, food, or socialization.
These puppies can suffer severe health and behavioral issues–and families are often unprepared for the financial loss and heartbreak that come with buying a sick puppy.
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This broken system is made possible because it’s still legal to sell dogs in New York pet stores, leaving New York to become one of the puppy mill industry’s largest markets. When the Puppy Mill Pipeline Bill is signed into law, New York will shut down this pipeline and deny cruel mills access to New York’s communities.
That’s hopeful news indeed.
Source: ASPCA
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In Galveston Island State Park, a routine survey has uncovered a nest of 107 extremely precious turtle eggs belonging to a Kemp’s Ridley sea turtle’ a species listed as Critically Endangered, it is the most at-risk sea turtle on the globe.
It’s been a long, lonely decade for Texas A&M’s Sea Turtle Patrol; they haven’t found a Lone Star State turtle nest since 2012. The exhilarating discovery ended in mid-May when the eggs were transported to an incubation center, where there chances of survival raise from a pittance to a near-certainty.
Kemp’s Ridley sea turtle is a smoother, smaller turtle than more widely-known species like the Green, Loggerhead, or Hawksbill sea turtles. It’s one of just two members of the genus Lepidochelys and has been on the Earth for around 160 million years in its current form.
Widely dispersed around Mexico, in the U.S. they have been found only in Texas. In 1947, aerial surveys recorded on the beaches of Rancho Nuevo, Mexico, confirmed that this species used to come ashore by the tens of thousands but catastrophic population lost followed.
“A lot of nesting habitat for the Kemp’s Ridley has been lost to storms, high tide and predation, which is why it is important to transport these nests to an environment where they have the best chance for survival into adulthood,” said Christopher Marshall, Professor of Marine Biology at Texas A&M University at Galveston and Director for the Gulf Center for Sea Turtle Research.
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Conservation efforts were already focused on restoring this marine reptile to its former hordes by 1980, and indeed by the 2000s, 10,000 individuals were recorded nesting on Padre Island National Seashore.
Two major declines in population followed, and by 2014 the number of nests found each year on Padre Island fell by 45%. On Galveston Island, they disappeared all together.
Conservation efforts are ongoing, with Smithsonian reporting that around 5,500 individuals nest on the beaches of Mexico, and 55 nest in Texas. Returns to old breeding haunts is a solid sign of population recovery, and hopefully A&M’s Turtle Patrol won’t have to wait another ten years to find the next nest.
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A teenager used his very own drone to spot a Russian convoy approaching his town, providing real-time positional information which allowed Ukrainian artillery to destroy it.
Quietly being hailed as a Hero of Ukraine, Andrii Pokrasa is just one of over a thousand civilian drone operators that are aiding in their country’s defense with everyday drones.
We know of drones through their myriad of different uses. One thing that many don’t realize is how much they’ve decentralized what were once cost-prohibitive activates, such as cinematography, news reporting, and even military operations in countries where the money to afford such activities is rarely available.
The Federation of Drone Owners of Ukraine has worked from day one alongside the military, while also encouraging hundreds of their members to conduct reconnaissance missions.
15-year-old Pokrasa’s intervention, confirmed to Global News Canada by a military officer and his parents, was the main reason the Russian military convoy didn’t overrun his town.
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“He was the only one who was experienced with drones in that region,” explained the commander of the armed forces unmanned reconnaissance section, Yurii Kasjanov. “He’s a real hero, a hero of Ukraine.”
After confirming the convoy’s position, Andrii passed the information to his father, who in turn sent it to Ukrainian military over a social media channel, which resulted in the convoy’s destruction.
Pokrasa, who has a dreadful fear of heights, became interested in drones after watching a YouTube video filmed above the skyline of Kyiv.
In a truly 21st-century story, he used the money that he and his father had saved up buying and selling cryptocurrency to afford the drone, which, costing a few hundred dollars, was used to turn a multi-million dollar military invasion force into disorganized, smoldering rubble on the roadside.
(WATCH the Global News Canada video for this story below.)
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Quote of the Day: “The cause of most of man’s unhappiness is sacrificing what he wants most for what he wants now.” – Gordon B. Hinckley
Photo by: Alexander Schimmeck
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If you need another reason to start the day drinking a cup of joe, a recent study by Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers has revealed that consuming at least one cup of coffee a day may reduce the risk of acute kidney injury (AKI) when compared to those who do not drink coffee.
The findings show that those who drank any quantity of coffee every day had a 15% lower risk of AKI, with the largest reductions observed in the group that drank two to three cups a day (a 22%–23% lower risk).
“We already know that drinking coffee on a regular basis has been associated with the prevention of chronic and degenerative diseases including type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and liver disease,” says study corresponding author Chirag Parikh, M.D., Ph.D., director of the Division of Nephrology and professor of medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. “We can now add a possible reduction in AKI risk to the growing list of health benefits for caffeine.”
AKI, as described by the National Kidney Foundation, is a “sudden episode of kidney failure or kidney damage that happens within a few hours or a few days.” This causes waste products to build up in the blood, making it hard for kidneys to maintain the correct balance of fluids in the body.
AKI symptoms differ depending on the cause and may include: too little urine leaving the body; swelling in the legs and ankles, and around the eyes; fatigue; shortness of breath; confusion; nausea; chest pain; and in severe cases, seizures or coma. The disorder is most commonly seen in hospitalized patients whose kidneys are affected by medical and surgical stress and complications.
Using data from the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study, an ongoing survey of cardiovascular disease in four U.S. communities, researchers assessed 14,207 adults recruited between 1987 and 1989 with a median age of 54. Participants were surveyed seven times over a 24-year period as to the number of 8-ounce cups of coffee they consumed per day: zero, one, two to three, or more than three. During the survey period, there were 1,694 cases of acute kidney injury recorded.
When accounting for demographic characteristics, socioeconomic status, lifestyle influences and dietary factors, there was a 15% lower risk of AKI for participants who consumed any amount of coffee versus those who did not. When adjusting for additional comorbidities— such as blood pressure, body mass index (BMI), diabetes status, use of antihypertensive medication and kidney function—individuals who drank coffee still had an 11% lower risk of developing AKI compared with those who did not.
“We suspect that the reason for coffee’s impact on AKI risk may be that either biologically active compounds combined with caffeine or just the caffeine itself improves perfusion and oxygen utilization within the kidneys,” says Parikh. “Good kidney function and tolerance to AKI—is dependent on a steady blood supply and oxygen.”
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More studies are needed, Parikh says, to define the possible protective mechanisms of coffee consumption for kidneys, especially at the cellular level.
“Caffeine has been postulated to inhibit the production of molecules that cause chemical imbalances and the use of too much oxygen in the kidneys,” he explains. “Perhaps caffeine helps the kidneys maintain a more stable system.”
Parikh and his colleagues note that coffee additives such as milk, half-and-half, creamer, sugar or sweeteners also could influence AKI risks and warrant further investigation. Additionally, the authors say that consumption of other types of caffeinated beverages, such as tea or soda, should be considered as a possible confounding factor.
This research has been published in the journal Kidney International Reports.
Source: Johns Hopkins Medicine
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An adopted child from Utah always wanted to meet his biological mother, but he never realized that she was only just down the hall.
Both working at St. Marks Hospital in Salt Lake City, Benjamin Hulleberg and his biological mother Holly Shearer were almost certainly in the building at the same moment, and they may have parked next to each other, even passed each other in the hallway.
It was always a dream to meet the woman he only knew as Holly, a person who his adopted parents never discouraged Benjamin from trying to find and meet.
He wrote letters, signed up with an adoption registry, and even took a DNA test in the hopes that the program’s algorithms could potentially lead to a clue—a cousin or second cousin that could put him on the trail.
Little did he know, Holly Shearer had never forgotten the child she put up for adoption as a young teenager.
“He was always on my mind. More so on holidays and his birthday, roller coaster of emotions,” 36-year-old Shearer told Good Morning America. “I thought about him all the time.”
The Hulleberg family Benjamin was adopted sent photos and letters to Holly periodically. She also found Benjamin on Facebook. She kept her distance, not wanted to “throw a wrench” into what she saw as a rich and busy young adulthood.
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Eventually though, Shearer sent a Happy Birthday message to Benjamin, which turned his world upside down.
“I was crying. It was all very positive emotions,” he said. “But to me, this is a day I had been waiting for the past 20 years of my life and to imagine that it was finally happening was outrageous. It was a lot to take in.”
Deciding that he had waited long enough, he immediately asked to organize a reunion, and chose Red Robin restaurant, on the 21st of November as the time and place, as well as insisting the two bring the rest of their families. By then Benjamin had discovered he had a half-brother as well as a half-sister, so there was a lot of catching up to do.
After a tearful introduction, Shearer and Hulleberg discovered they worked in the same hospital—the former a medical assistant at the Heart Center, the latter a volunteer at the NICU.
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This has led to regularly-recurring coffee breaks between the two, which Hulleberg described as “amazing.”
Hulleberg described the whole process as “very healing,” and encourages anyone looking to still meet their biological parents to keep up the search, adding that it feels he can begin to live the rest of his life.
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“It is more important to preserve the Maya legacy,” says Mauricio Montalvo, property owner of industrial park that had to be delayed due to the discovery of a large Mayan settlement from around 600 CE.
Filled with plazas, pyramids, and a natural sinkhole called a cenote which tend to feature in Mayan settlements, there may have been 4,000 people living there at one time.
It was back in 2015 when construction workers first found the city, which has been given the temporary Maya name of “Xiol,” in the municipality of Kanasín, near Yucatan’s capital of Merida, and work had to be stopped while archeologists looked into it.
It wasn’t the “lost city” some newspapers would have it—it was in plain view of the highway reports Yucatan Magazine. However it’s now being unveiled as a historic site later this year after undergoing excavations and restoration.
Spread across 51 acres, excavators found a large central plaza surrounded by 12 restored buildings of living areas and workshops, and the foundations of another 76 under the area’s vegetation. Two large buildings on either side of the plaza are thought to be elite residencies.
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They also found a burial site containing the remains of 15 people, as well as a variety of grave goods and an altar they believe to have been used in ceremony and ritual.
Carlos Rosado van der Gracht, writing for Yucatan Magazine, reports that it’s possible the people were Maya, but also not Maya—a genetically-Maya subjugated city state.
Cavers will begin exploring the cenote in the coming months, and aren’t sure what to find there.
As Maya settlements are typically built around these natural sinkholes, being one of the few sources of freshwater on the Yucatan, they tend to be wells of discovery in addition to water wells.
Jape, copper, marble, obsidian, human remains, beads, and much more has been recovered from the bottoms of these eroded limestone features.
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The Yucatan Peninsula is known as the Riviera Maya, and even as densely populated centers in the territory of surrounding countries like Guatemala and Belize began to decline with staggering speed, the populations on the peninsula grew.
The cause of the abandonment of Maya habitation sites is still a great mystery, and historians have not ruled out extreme drought, warfare, or something less disastrous like changing trade patterns.
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