Quote of the Day: “Love is everything it’s cracked up to be. It really is worth fighting for, being brave for, risking everything for.” – Erica Jong
Photo by: Fernando Jiménez, 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?
Billions of years ago, a series of volcanic eruptions broke loose on the moon, blanketing hundreds of thousands of square miles of the orb’s surface in hot lava. Over the eons, that lava created the dark blotches, or maria, that give the face of the moon its familiar appearance today.
Now, new research from CU Boulder suggests that volcanoes may have left another lasting impact on the lunar surface: sheets of ice that dot the moon’s poles and, in some places, could measure dozens or even hundreds of feet thick.
“We envision it as a frost on the moon that built up over time,” said Andrew Wilcoski, lead author of the new study and a graduate student in the Department of Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences (APS) and the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) at CU Boulder.
The researchers drew on computer simulations, or models, to try to recreate conditions on the moon long before complex life arose on Earth. They discovered that ancient moon volcanoes spewed out huge amounts of water vapor, which then settled onto the surface— forming stores of ice that may still be hiding in lunar craters. If any humans had been alive at the time, they may even have seen a sliver of that frost near the border between day and night on the moon’s surface.
It’s a potential bounty for future moon explorers who will need water to drink and process into rocket fuel, said study co-author Paul Hayne.
MORE: X-Ray Explosion of a White Dwarf Star Captured for the First Time
“It’s possible that 5 or 10 meters below the surface, you have big sheets of ice,” said Hayne, assistant professor in APS and LASP.
The new study adds to a growing body of evidence that suggests that the moon may be awash in a lot more water than scientists once believed. In a 2020 study, Hayne and his colleagues estimated that nearly 6,000 square miles of the lunar surface could be capable of trapping and hanging onto ice—mostly near the moon’s north and south poles. Where all that water came from in the first place is unclear.
“There are a lot of potential sources at the moment,” Hayne said.
Volcanoes could be a big one. The planetary scientist explained that from 2 to 4 billion years ago, the moon was a chaotic place. Tens of thousands of volcanoes erupted across its surface during this period, generating huge rivers and lakes of lava, not unlike the features you might see in Hawaii today—only much more immense.
RELATED: Photo From Mars Curiosity Rover Looks Like We Found a Doorway
“They dwarf almost all of the eruptions on Earth,” Hayne said.
Recent research from scientists at the Lunar and Planetary Institute in Houston shows that these volcanoes likely also ejected towering clouds made up of mostly carbon monoxide and water vapor. These clouds then swirled around the moon, potentially creating thin and short-lived atmospheres.
That got Hayne and Wilcoski wondering: Could that same atmosphere have left ice on the lunar surface, a bit like frost forming on the ground after a chilly fall night?
To find out, the duo alongside Margaret Landis, a research associate at LASP, set out to try to put themselves onto the surface of the moon billions of years ago.
The team used estimates that, at its peak, the moon experienced one eruption every 22,000 years, on average. The researchers then tracked how volcanic gases may have swirled around the moon, escaping into space over time. And, they discovered, conditions may have gotten icy. According to the group’s estimates, roughly 41% of the water from volcanoes may have condensed onto the moon as ice.
LOOK: Plants Have Been Grown in Lunar Soil For The First Time Ever
“The atmospheres escaped over about 1,000 years, so there was plenty of time for ice to form,” Wilcoski said.
There may have been so much ice on the moon, in fact, that you could, conceivably, have spotted the sheen of frost and thick, polar ice caps from Earth. The group calculated that about 18 quadrillion pounds of volcanic water could have condensed as ice during that period. That’s more water than currently sits in Lake Michigan. And the research hints that much of that lunar water may still be present today.
Those space ice cubes, however, won’t necessarily be easy to find. Most of that ice has likely accumulated near the moon’s poles and may be buried under several feet of lunar dust, or regolith.
One more reason, Hayne noted, for people or robots to head back and start digging.
“We really need to drill down and look for it,” he said.
These findings have been published in The Planetary Science Journal.
Source: University of Colorado at Boulder
GIVE Chums a Fresh Sup of the Far Out News; Share This Story…
Iceland has trotted out a service that lets horses reply to work emails when you’re on holiday.
The world-first ‘OutHorse Your Email’ service is designed to encourage travellers to switch off and take an uninterrupted trip to the country.
Using a large keyboard mat, the gaited horses are able to walk, trot, canter, tölt, and pace their way across the keys.
Unsurprisingly, the result is nonsense replies to corporate contacts, with examples listed as “þþnjifai=’.,,lmbmbnbbhgycdrgzw/’pfæ ndaiFVxhðut7r7r7djsmfdsm” and “þnjifai\’/.p,oii9unnbhvggyvgjhbjm,kfæ,.iklp–jpomohu o/’k;,i,mumnf.”
A recent global study by Visit Iceland found that two fifths (41%) of people globally check their work emails between one and four times a day when on holiday, while one in ten (14%) review them 5-6 times every day.
MORE: 4-Day Work Week is a Huge Success in Iceland
“When visitors travel to Iceland we want them to fully experience everything our nation has to offer, from breathtaking surroundings to endless landscapes and friendly faces,” Sigríður Dögg Guðmundsdóttir, Head of Visit Iceland said.
“Our OutHorse Your Email service lets them do just that, taking away the pressure of feeling as if they have to be always on and instead allowing them to be present throughout their trip. With our world-first service we hope to encourage people to disconnect and take a well-deserved, uninterrupted break”.
“Our talented horses took naturally to the OutHorse Your Email service, tölting and galloping their way across the fields and creating a range of unique emails that will help holidaymakers enjoy their trip without any interruptions,” Jelena Ohm, Project Manager of Horses of Iceland said. “From curiosity, intelligence and independence, our horses are special for many reasons, and so now we can add email responders too.”
Due to the pandemic, over the last few years many workers have transitioned to remote working, finding that the lines between their work and personal lives have become blurred.
The research by Visit Iceland revealed that three-fifths (59%) of people globally now feel as if their boss, colleagues, and clients expect them to reply when on holiday, while less than half (44%) of workers actually feel rested after their trip.
A further one in ten (15%) have even canceled or postponed their holiday plans altogether due to work. That’s why Iceland is ‘outhorsing’ workers’ emails to its horses, asking them to trot out replies, so they don’t have to.
RELATED: Two Beluga Whales Are Free for the First Time Since 2011 With a New Life On The Icelandic Coast
Visit Iceland adds, “So, don’t be foal-ish, enjoy a distraction free trip to Iceland and remember, if you do receive work emails while on holiday, Iceland’s horses have you covered.”
(WATCH the video for this story below.)
TROT The Out-of-Office Idea to Your Boss—Or Your Chums…
Pompeii has captured the world’s attention for years, and few sites have revealed more about the life and luxuries of the Roman Empire than it has.
Recent clues—scrawled onto walls by ne’er-do-wells, and others uncovered in the ash, are changing the record about exactly when the city met its unfortunate end at the hands of the volcano.
A worker wrote a joke with charcoal onto the wall of a building one day in CE 79, more or less reading, “he ate too much.” However this everyday bit of time-killing was made with a date: October 17th, two months after the long-suspected eruption of Vesuvius.
It’s believed that Pompeii was buried on August 24th, based on a letter sent by Pliny the Younger, who, standing on the other side of the bay of Naples, witnessed the destruction from a safe distance.
This new date is thought to be pretty accurate, as the delicate charcoal which wrote the graffiti would not have lasted long in the sea air. Instead the volcanic ash preserved it.
MORE: Robotic Dog Designed in Boston Patrols the Ruins of Pompeii to Help Preserve Relics
There are other recently-uncovered reasons to believe the eruption took place later in the year, including charred fruit from autumn harvests, bodies buried in thick cold-weather clothing, outdoor braziers still filled with firewood, sealed amphorae with wine—again from the harvest, and a coin that was not minted before September.
Pliny’s account from the advancing ash is harrowing, and helps us imagine the gravity of the eruption as it spread across the region. He wrote the day after the eruption:
“From the other direction over the land, a dreadful black cloud was torn by gushing flames and great tongues of fire like much-magnified lightning. The cloud sank down soon afterwards and covered the sea, hiding Capri and Capo Misenum from sight. My mother begged me to leave her and escape as best I could, but I took her had and made her hurry along with me. Ash was already falling by now, but not very thickly. Then I turned around and saw a thick black cloud advancing over the land behind us like a flood. ‘Let us leave the road while we can still see”, I said, “or we will be knocked down and trampled by the crowd’.
MORE: Greece Opens World’s First Underwater Museum Around a 2,400-Year-old Shipwreck
We had hardly sat down to rest when the darkness spread over us. But is was not the darkness of a moonless or cloudy night, but it was just as if the lamps had been put out in a completely closed room. We could hear women shrieking, children crying and men shouting. Some were calling for their parents, their children, or their wives, and trying to recognize them by their voices. Some people were so frightened of dying that they actually prayed for death. Many begged for the help of the gods, but even more imagined that there were no gods left and that the last eternal night had fallen on the world.”
Still, just one-third of Pompeii has been excavated. Much of the last two-decades has been restoration work, part of the Great Pompeii Project. There’s likely so much more to be discovered.
UNEARTH Fascinating Finds Like This Story; Share It With Mates…
Following a massive, 125-fold increase in western monarch butterfly populations in America, a 35% increase has just been recorded in the numbers of monarchs arriving in Mexico.
As one of the great migratory species on the planet, entomologists in Mexico don’t bother counting individuals, but rather the acreage of mountaintop pine trees on which they roost.
In the pine-tree covered mountains west of Mexico City, this year seven acres were covered with butterflies compared to around 5.8 last year.
Arrivals in California on their way down to Mexico were also in much greater numbers.
Experts in Mexico, according to AP, are reporting that this is due to a mixture of an overall reduction in wintering forest loss and adaptation to what they describe as climate change, although they add plenty of non-climate related aspects under the umbrella such as pesticide use and logging.
Normally, the monarchs arrive in late October to early November, escaping the cold in North America. They typically then leave around March, moving to either side of the Rocky Mountains as far north as Canada. Last year was different, in that most of them left in February on a fortuitous flight that saw them escape an April heat wave.
RELATED: Scientists Find the Secret to ‘Unhackable’ Security Systems on the Wings of Butterflies
This year some of them left in April, which experts said was very strange, and that they will be curious to see the numbers next year to assess whether this late start was a good strategy.
When it comes to this majestic species, the mainstream media often offers doom and gloom. Yet it’s normal for migratory species to fluctuate greatly in number; migration, after all, is a highly-dangerous behavior.
The Guardian, closing the report on this year’s 35% increase in butterfly numbers, wrote “Drought, severe weather and loss of habitat – especially of the milkweed where the monarchs lay their eggs – as well as pesticide and herbicide use, and climate change, all pose threats to the species’ migration. Illegal logging and loss of tree cover due to disease, drought and storms also continues to plague the [forest] reserves.”
The English journal said much the same thing in 2021, when arriving monarchs were down 26%, and were equally pessimistic the year before when arrival numbers were up a staggering 144%.
CHECK OUT: Monarch Butterflies Employ a Sun Compass on Their Long-Distance Migration
Arrivals in 2020 saw the covered acreage the same as this year. Even in the early 2000s, when monarch populations were capable of arriving in Mexico in droves that would regularly cover up to 20 acres or more, there were even scanter years than the 2021 dip, demonstrating that many factors have always impacted this species, and that the situation is not so grim.
FLUTTER the Good News Over to Nature Lovers…
Quote of the Day: “The giving of love is an education in itself.” – Eleanor Roosevelt
Photo by: Nathan Anderson
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?
With childhood depression and anxiety rising during the pandemic and disturbing news stories only adding to the mental health burden in our schools, it is the perfect time to be delivering some positive news headlines into hallways and classrooms across the U.S.
That’s exactly what Good News Network is now providing in a new partnership with digital signage company Rise Vision.
Launching this month in over 120 schools, Rise Vision and Good News Network (GNN) are spreading positivity with uplifting news content on video screens for grades K-12. Now, students and teachers can stop and read about kindness and scientific breakthroughs on new templates created by Rise Vision.
Founded in 1997, millions of people have turned to GNN as an antidote to the barrage of negativity experienced in the mainstream media. Because of its long history, staying power, and public trust, GNN.org is #1 on Google for good news.
“Especially this year, which is our 25th anniversary, GNN is thrilled to be helping teachers and school students and staff stay optimistic in these challenging times,” said GNN founder and CEO Geri Weis-Corbley.
“Digital signage shouldn’t be complicated—it should be positive, educational, and informational. Rise Vision’s partnership with Good News Network addresses these points, while being eye-catching and fun. It adds to the conversation of increasing social emotional learning and requires no design time from educators,” said Shea Darlison, Head of Marketing, Rise Vision.
“Even better, these new templates help create a nurturing learning environment focused on joy and positivity. As Rise Vision continues to grow we look for more partnerships to help address school and classroom communication barriers and save educators time and effort.”
What makes this partnership so great is there is no additional cost for Rise Vision customers to use these templates. If you are interested in trying out the Good News Network templates, go to the Rise vision website and start your free trial.
Rise Vision is the #1 digital signage software solution for schools. Rise Vision helps schools improve communication, increase student involvement, celebrate student achievements, and create a positive school culture. For more information on Good News Network digital signage, contact [email protected].
SHARE the Opportunity With Teachers and Students By Sharing on Social Media…
This month, seven members of an all-Black mountain climbing team summited Mount Everest, helped along by eight Sherpa guides.
Even though hundreds line up to climb Everest every year, only ten Black people have surmounted the highest peak on Earth before, including only one Black woman, and one Black American.
“I am deeply honored to report that seven members of the Full Circle Everest team reached the summit on May 12,” tweeted Philip Henderson, leader of the team and instructor at Nepal’s Khumbu Climbing Center (KCC), which trains some of the world’s premier mountaineers.
“While a few members, including myself, did not summit, all members of the climb and Sherpa teams have safely returned to Base Camp where we will celebrate this historic moment!”
With the ideal period for climbing Chomolungma, or Mother Goddess of the World, being in May, Full Circle Everest arrived at base camp on Khumbu Glacier—a tent city of athletic hopefuls looking for the perfect weather conditions to scurry up to the summit.
Henderson was the leader of the expedition, which for many days meant eating, resting, gradually acclimatizing to breathing in one-third less oxygen than is found at sea level, and organizing quick jaunts up the mountain as a training regimen.
Among their team can be found people from all over the U.S., and one man from Kenya, aged 29 to 60, whose everyday lives involve being a sociology professor, a Microsoft data scientist, a chemistry teacher, a freelance photographer and filmmaker, an Iraq War II combat vet, and climbing experts.
“When children around the world see themselves reflected in this all-Black expedition, they too will experience and become part of the value set that is climbing,” Conrad Anker, founder of KCC and a colleague of Henderson’s, told National Geographic about the achievement.
There’s a litany of things that can go wrong on Everest, and many people who reach basecamp will never get the opportunity to climb the mountain. Full Circle team member Fred Campbell, from Seattle, said this knowledge added to the pressure.
“It would be nice to just climb [Everest], but we are representing Black people,” he said. “As much as it’s an extra burden, I think it’ll have a positive impact.”
TAKE Good News to New Heights; Share This Awesome Feat…
Graduating seniors at an LA arts school were overwhelmed with joy when, getting ready to make the walk in cap and gown, they heard they would be receiving more than just a diploma.
The 284-strong Class of 2022 from Otis College of Art and Design would have their entire student loan debt paid off by the college’s most successful alumni, Snapchat co-founder Evan Spiegel.
Totaling an undisclosed, record-breaking gift of more than $10 million, Spiegel’s donation was added to by Kora Beauty founder Miranda Kerr, Spiegel’s wife and partner in the Spiegel Family Fund.
“It changed my life and made me feel at home,” Spiegel, who took summer classes at Otis during high school, told the graduating class. “I felt pushed and challenged to grow surrounded by super talented artists and designers, and we were all in it together.”
Ever since the federal government decided to start guaranteeing student loans in 1965, and universities realized that it wasn’t an unemployed teenager paying for their education but the entire United States taxpayer base, tuition costs have far outpaced any other metric of inflation.
Otis can cost $50,000 for a liberal arts degree, but some of the recipients of Spiegel’s generosity had wracked up $70,000 or more. With less-than-obvious career paths and the lingering employment difficulties of the pandemic, some seniors remarked it was a huge weight off their shoulders.
“Student debt weighs heavily on our diverse and talented graduates,” said Charles Hirschhorn, President of Otis College of Art and Design. “We hope this donation will provide much-deserved relief and empower them to pursue their aspirations and careers, pay this generosity forward, and become the next leaders of our community.”
RELATED: Walmart Announces Plan to Pay 100% of College Tuition Plus Books For Its Workers
“My mom was crying,” graduate Farhan Fallahifiroozi told the LA Times. “They were so worried about it for me. I had so much debt. If it’s really all gone, it puts me so much ahead.”
(WATCH the moment the students found out the news.)
SHARE The Relief of These Students With Your Friends…
This is the adorable moment a three-fingered sloth was reunited with her baby, after it was found stranded and crying on a beach.
The cub was separated from its mother who had already started to climb its way back up the tree and into the canopy this month.
Fortunately, staff from Jaguar Rescue Center in Puerto Viejo de Talamanca, Costa Rica spotted what had happened and scooped up the tiny creature.
It was then rushed to the vet for a check up where it was found to be in good shape, before the rescuers hatched a plan to safely reunite mum and baby.
They recorded its cry and played it out to the mother to summon her down, and once she began her descent her precious tot was carefully handed back.
RELATED: Owl Immediately Adopts Two Rescue Chicks the Moment She Meets Them – After Her Own Eggs Failed
The video of their reunion on Playa Chiquita went viral on Instagram and it now has over 26,000 views.
The caption read, “We are happy to announce that we were able to reunite this mother and baby 3-fingered sloths (Bradypus variegatus).
“On May 10, one of the staff members found the baby crying on the floor near the beach.
“He spotted the mom on the tree, but she was climbing back to the canopy, so he brought the baby for a check-up with the vet, the sloth was healthy and didn’t have any injuries.
“We recorded the cry of the baby and played it near the tree to get the mom’s attention, we waited patiently until the mom came down for the baby.
MORE: Lucky Rescue for 5 Sheep Stuck on English Rooftop
“The JRC created this method a few years ago, we use it every time to be able to reunite mom and baby sloths.
“It melts our hearts every time we can witness the reunion of a mom and her baby.”
(WATCH the video for this story below.)
DON’T Go Slow on Sharing the Good News; Share It…
Quote of the Day: “A hard beginning maketh a good ending.” – John Heywood
Photo by: John Fowler
With a new inspirational quote every day, atop the perfect photo—collected and archived on our Quotes page—why not bookmark GNN.org for a daily uplift?
The charity Big Brothers Big Sisters of America has accelerated into the fast lane toward transforming youth mentorship in the U.S. with Tuesday’s $122.6 million donation from philanthropist MacKenzie Scott.
The 118-year-old nonprofit will use the record-breaking gift to further its mission to ensure every young person has access to powerful one-on-one mentoring relationships that empower them for success in school, career, and life.
Currently BBBSA operates 230 local offices serving more than 5,000 communities across all 50 states. Scott’s funding will support expanding the organization’s staff and training–and assist them in closing the gap on the estimated one in three youth who lack a positive, sustained role model.
The group says more than 13 million young Americans experience emotional, behavioral, or developmental conditions like depression—and hopes to attract families and volunteers in ‘turnkey ways’ that meet them where they are in life.
RELATED: Man Wins 200 Million on the Lottery and Donates Almost All of It to Save the Earth
“We are confident that MacKenzie’s investment will compel more people to help grow the village of mentors, volunteers, and donors needed to positively impact young people’s lives today and well into the future,” said Artis Stevens, the CEO of BBBSA.
“Mentoring is an integral part of the solution… including post-secondary readiness, social emotional learning, and a stronger sense of belonging and inclusion.”
The unprecedented investment from the former wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is the largest donation from a single individual in the organization’s history.
POPULAR: Irish Woman Who Won $145M Lottery Has Given Over Half: ‘I’m Addicted to Helping People’
“We know that no one person, organization, or gift can do this work alone, but one person—no matter their background—can make an incredible difference through positive and inspired action. MacKenzie’s investment and belief in Big Brothers Big Sisters shows this on a large-scale.”
Ms. Scott has given away $8 billion in the past two years to hundreds of charities, since her divorce left her with 4% of Amazon’s shares—including, recently donating $436 million to Habitat for Humanity.
INSPIRE Your Brothers and Sisters By Sharing This Great News on Social Media…
A blind girl has amazed doctors after she regained her sight and ‘cured herself’ of a usually life-long brain condition.
Evie-Mae Geurts was registered blind at just a few months old, and when her head started to swell a few months later, her 28-year-old mom demanded answers.
Doctors discovered she had hydrocephalus, the build up of fluid in the ventricles deep within the brain, at just eight months old.
The pressure inside her head was 32 times the normal level, and doctors warned while they could help relieve the pain and build up, the damage to her brain was done. The continued pressure meant her sight was gone forever, and she’d likely never learn to walk and talk.
Against all the odds, not only did her sight return when she was a toddler; Evie-Mae Geurts also learned to walk and talk.
RELATED: 13-Year-old Boy Granted a “Make-A-Wish” and Uses It to Feed the Homeless Every Month for a Year
More than that, her hydrocephalus disappeared last year. Usually hydrocephalus is a condition which can’t be cured and forever requires shunts—hollow tubes surgically placed in the brain—to drain fluid from the area.
Evie-Mae is now thriving as a seven year old. She lives without shunts, is top of the class, and can see perfectly without any glasses.
While she is still undergoing eye tests every six months to monitor her progress, doctors have been amazed by her journey. “They can’t believe it,” said proud mother Amy. “Evie is phenomenal. We’re so proud of her. She’s an amazing little girl, and so brave.”
When doctors took out the shunts Evie-Mae no longer needed, they had to shave her hair back to do the procedure.
At the hair salon afterwards, the stylists told the little girl how brave she’d been to go through so much. She answered, “Just like Eugene cuts Rapunzel’s hair to save her in Tangled, the doctors cut my hair off to save me.”
SHARE This Amazing Story of One Girl’s Medical Turnaround With Others…
The popularity of solar has gone through the roof—and now IKEA is making it easier to install some panels on your roof.
Launching this fall in California, members of the U.S. IKEA Family customer loyalty program will be able to purchase home solar solutions, available through SunPower, to generate and store their own renewable energy and live more sustainably.
“At IKEA, we’re passionate about helping our customers live a more sustainable life at home. We’re proud to collaborate with SunPower to bring this service to the U.S. and enable our customers to make individual choices aimed at reducing their overall climate footprint,” said Javier Quiñones, CEO & Chief Sustainability Officer, IKEA U.S.
“The launch of Home Solar with IKEA will allow more people to take greater control of their energy needs, and our goal is to offer the clean energy service at additional IKEA locations in the future.”
Home Solar with IKEA combines the strengths of IKEA retail and knowledge of life at home with the expertise of SunPower, a trusted brand with more than 35 years in the solar industry.
SunPower is known for delivering innovative solar products and making it simple for its customers to switch to renewable energy.
MORE: Buy Some Wind Power With Your Furniture? IKEA is Now Selling Renewable Energy
“We are thrilled to deliver exceptional solar products to IKEA customers through a unique and simplified buying experience,” said Peter Faricy, SunPower CEO. “Together with IKEA, we can help introduce the incredible benefits of solar to more people and deliver on our shared value of making a positive impact on the planet.”
Home Solar with IKEA is just one of the many ways IKEA is working to become circular and climate positive by 2030. In the U.S., IKEA has a robust renewable energy portfolio, including two wind farms, two solar farms, a couple of geothermal systems, seven biogas-fuel cells, and rooftop solar arrays on 90% of IKEA locations.
LOOK: These Solar Shingles on Your Roof Could Be Producing Energy With Simple Installation
IKEA U.S. also recently launched the Buy Back & Resell service nationally in 37 store locations.
The service gives IKEA Family members the opportunity to sell back their gently used IKEA furniture in exchange for IKEA store credit.
Participants will be able to give their furniture a second life through resale in the store’s As-Is section, providing an even more sustainable and affordable option for many people.
Source: SunPower Corp/IKEA
SEND Some Sunshine to Friends; Share This Story…
When President Gerald Ford signed a bill creating Cuyahoga National Recreation Area in Ohio in 1974, the boundaries of the site deliberately included a well-known local garbage dump, assuming it could be easily cleaned.
When the National Park Service (NPS) discovered it was a nearly-unmanageable chemical wasteland where even the water and soil were flammable, a decades-long cleanup effort converted it, at the polluters’ expense no less, into a vibrant marsh ecosystem with some of the highest biodiversity in the region.
Where once thousands of rusted barrels oozed out congealed industrial slime, and a soup of pesticides, arsenic, paint, and heavy metals ran along the ground among discarded tires, now lies tranquil forested ponds full of fish, insects, and amphibians. Black-eyed Susans, New England asters, swamp milkweed, and foxglove, visited by birds, bees, and butterflies all grow along the borders of this now thriving ecosystem so clean that NPS staff remark you could eat the very dirt.
“This was a toxic wasteland only a few decades ago. To find this diversity of species there today is remarkable,” said Ecologist for Cuyahoga Valley National Park, Chris Davis.
The story begins when the Krejci (krech-ee) family, who opened up a dump along a river between Akron and Cleveland in 1940. In a time before municipal waste management, people were responsible for their own waste disposal, and Krejci innocently offered them an out-of-the-way place to do it.
MORE: Preserved by Students for Years, WWII Internment Camp Becomes National Park
As the years went by, the 200-acre site, with 50 acres meant for landfilling, began accepting heavier and heavier waste, until many of the Rust Belt’s biggest manufacturers began relying on Krejci for disposal of their most harmful chemicals.
As the years passed, the Cuyahoga area became a National Recreation Area, and eventually a national park—the only one in the Rust Belt states. However visitors, began getting sick, and when NPS members finally got wind of the severity of the situation at the dump, a 25-year cleanup process began.
To lead the cleanup, NPS needed a lot of cash, so they nominated Shawn Mulligan, a former Assistant Attorney General for Colorado, as an attorney representing the NPS. Mulligan would pursue companies like Chevron, Ford, Federal Metal Co., and Chrysler for almost $50 million in damages to pay for the cleanup.
RELATED: 1,000 Doctors Now Prescribing Nature By Giving Free Admissions With National Park Passes
“It was unfair to the American public to bear all these costs,” Mulligan told the NPS magazine. “The National Park Service should not contain sacrifice zones. Every parcel of property is held in the public trust, and we have a responsibility to do everything we can to protect and preserve that resource.
The case dragged on, and few of the EPA legal staff believed it would yield a positive result for them. Eventually, as the NPS reported in a 2016 magazine issue, Ford quietly took the NPS legal team aside and decided on a solution: let the Motor City mechanics pay for and organize the whole cleanup.
NPS nominated Veronica Dickerson, the environmental protection and safety manager for Cuyahoga Valley National Park, to help oversee the project.
“To get assigned to it, you’re like a little kid getting a Christmas present,” Dickerson told ABC news Cleveland, last year. “It was amazing to… start to work on this project and see it through completion.”
Burying much of the toxic waste over the years created a serious hazard, as the toxins were able to spread through the water table and soil to other areas beyond where the fencing ended.
With offices and resources close at hand, Ford hired contractors to begin excavating the contaminated soils, but every inch further dug revealed more sludge—and even more dangerous carcinogens like polychlorinated biphenyls, or polyaromatic hydrocarbons.
LOOK: Sikh Men Created a Lifeline Using Turbans to Rescue Hikers at a Canadian Park
The rusted cars and barrels, the tires, and all the other waste and discarded machinery was cleared out from 2002 to 2012, along with 400,000 tons of contaminated dirt—equivalent to 20 feet of topsoil.
Once no more barrels were to be found sticking out of the ground, and samples of the soil were clear of containments, the ground was contoured to match the surrounding ecosystem, and several wetlands were built up on the 50-acre dumping site.
Today, indigenous plants have been restored, and natural wetlands and all the plant and animal species they support are thriving.
Park visitors who experience the full-summer landscape find themselves soaking up the vista of native wildflowers and grasses as they watch turtles sun themselves on floating logs and listen to birds sing.
RELATED: ‘Genetic Goldmine’ Unearthed in the Desert Could Help Crops Survive Global Warming
Ford have been involved the whole way, paying their debt to society to a tune of $29 million, and continue ensuring that the grasses and vegetation grow undisturbed, and that soil erosion is prevented.
“[The Krejci site] is now as clean as any natural area in the park,” Dickerson says. That’s something remarkable, considering what it was in 1985.”
“You can categorize wetlands and these are right up there with a three and a four (the top rating for wetlands). They can sustain high levels of benthic communities and critters and turtles. They can sustain life here. It’s a vibrant resource for them.”
SHARE This Great Conservation Story With Your Pals…
A six-month-old Florida panther kitten is now mewling for joy having been reunited with its mother after determined conservation work.
After the Florida Wildlife Commission (FWC) became alerted back in March to a panther kitten that had been found separated from its mother, she was brought to the zoo in Naples, Florida.
“Initially, there was no sign of an adult female panther, so FWC and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologists used towels with the kitten’s scent to mark along nearby trails in hope of attracting the (mother panther) to the area to reunite her with her offspring,” FWC said in a Facebook post.
Placing the kitten inside of a cage next to a livestream camera, they waited throughout the night to see if the mother came back. She didn’t.
The decision was then made to transport the kitten to White Oak Conservation center in Yulee, a distance of nearly the entire Florida peninsula, for rehabilitation in the hope that the female kitten could be released back into the wild someday.
Then, cameras saw an adult panther exploring the cage site, after which FWC decided to bring the kitten back to Naples and try the plan again. She didn’t show up. Again.
LOOK: We Finally Rid An Island of 300,000 Rats – Now Everything is Blooming
Fortunately for the furry family, the conservationists didn’t give up, and as sure as one could say third time’s the charm, the following night, on May 20th, cameras recorded the scene when the mewling kitten was approached by an adult panther who immediately displayed maternal instincts, such as trying to nuzzle the young one through the cage bars, and looking for a way to break it open.
The FWC then opened the cage door and the two wandered off into the woods, the kitten sporting a shiny new collar—one with a GPS tracker to keep an eye on its range and health in the coming days.
FWC recently noted the females were both “alive and well.” A purr-fect ending to a stressful separation.
(WATCH the video for this story below.)
Featured image: FWC screenshot
RAISE a Paw and Share This Reunion With Friends…
Quote of the Day: “We are pain and what cures pain, both.” – Rumi
Photo by: Ashley Batz
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?
Amazing footage shows dolphins rubbing against a specific type of coral—possibly to extract healing elements that will keep their skin healthy.
Researchers say it is the dolphin equivalent of “showering” after getting out of bed.
If a human comes down with a rash, they might put ointment on it. Similarly, Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins get skin conditions, and a new study shows they, in essence, are self-medicating by lining up (nose-to-tail) to rub themselves against corals.
Researchers have now shown that the corals have medicinal properties, suggesting that the dolphins are using the marine invertebrates to medicate skin conditions.
Thirteen years ago, co-lead author Dr. Angela Ziltener, a wildlife biologist at the University of Zurich in Switzerland, first observed dolphins rubbing against coral in the Northern Red Sea, off the coast of Egypt.
She and her team noticed that the dolphins were selective about which corals they rubbed against, and they wanted to understand why.
“I hadn’t seen this coral rubbing behavior described before, and it was clear that the dolphins knew exactly which coral they wanted to use,” Dr Ziltener said. “I thought, ‘There must be a reason.’”
Most dolphin research is conducted from the surface of the water, but because Dr. Ziltener is a diver, she was able to study the dolphins up close.
CHECK OUT: Dolphins Have Similar Personality Traits to Humans, Study Finds
It took some time to earn the trust of the pod, which she was able to do in part because the dolphins weren’t phased by the large bubbles released by her air tank. Once the pod allowed her to visit them regularly, she and her colleagues were able to identify and sample the corals that the dolphins were rubbing on.
Dr. Ziltener and her team found that by repeatedly rubbing against the corals, Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins were agitating the tiny polyps that make up the coral community, and these invertebrates were releasing mucus.
To understand what properties the mucus contained, the team collected samples—of the gorgonian, leather, and sponge corals—and analyzed them using state of the art equipment. Their findings were published in the journal iScience/Cell Press.
Study lead author Professor Gertrud Morlock and her team found 17 active metabolites with antibacterial, antioxidative, hormonal, and toxic activities.
This discovery of the bioactive compounds led the team to believe that the mucus of the corals and sponges is serving to regulate the dolphin skin’s microbiome and treat infections.
RELATED: Size Doesn’t Matter to a Dolphin Mom As She Adopts a Whale Calf
“Repeated rubbing allows the active metabolites to come into contact with the skin of the dolphins,” said Professor Morlock, an analytical chemist and food scientist at Justus Liebig University in Germany. “These metabolites could help them achieve skin homeostasis and be useful for prophylaxis or auxiliary treatment against microbial infections.”
The reefs where the corals are found are important places for the local dolphin populations—where they go to rest and to have fun.
“Many people don’t realize that these coral reefs are bedrooms for the dolphins, and playgrounds as well.”
In between naps, Ziltener says the dolphins often wake to perform the coral rubbing behavior.
“It’s almost like they are showering, cleaning themselves before they go to sleep or get up for the day.”
Watch the video below…
SHARE This News From the Deep Blue Sea With Ocean-Loving Pals…
A homesick London restauranteur decided to the ditch the employment of culinary school graduates, and start hiring that almost mythical allegory of culinary folklore—the Italian grandmother.
For Peppe Corsaro, this return to his roots was met with huge success in the London restaurant scene, and has brought dozens of mammas from all regions of Italy.
“La Mia Mamma” is a 3-month chef-in-residency program for Italian moms and grandmas who want to travel to London to showcase their region, or province’s culinary treats. It started when Corsaro, missing his native Sicily and the marathon Sunday lunches he used to enjoy, thought he’d simply fly in his mother to cook for him in his restaurant.
Sportingly, his own mamma, Anna Famà, agreed immediately, and the project began as a pop-up in 2018. Since then Corsaro’s expanded the pilot to two full-time restaurants and a deli. After three months, the three mammas-in-residence hand their chef hats over to a new brigade of mammas from a different region.
Along with exceptional taste and attention to detail, La Mia Mamma’s secret to success is the fact that preparations and dishes can vary wildly between regions, and even within regions, such that diners have a near-endless opportunity to broaden their understanding of Italian cuisine.
For example the Germanic influence of northern Lombardy doesn’t often carry down into the food capital of Milan, much less the provinces bordering Emilia Romagna to the south.
“We’re not looking for professional chefs, but housewives who cook for their families,” Corsaro tells CNN. Most of the mammas are in their 60s, and never lived abroad. The mammas are screened via social media, before flying to London for a quick demo. Then they are set up with housing, a transportation card, and a salary equal to about a sous chef.
“It never happened that a mamma left happy to leave, and those who have gone often ask me when they can come back,” says original mamma Famà, who took on an ambassadorial role helping the mammas feel more at home.
Most mammas aren’t used to cooking for 200 people in a restaurant setting, but it’s always a relaxed attitude, as one might imagine from literal home cooking.
At the moment, the cuisines of Lazio and Sardegna are being featured—so if you’re in London…
SEAL This Story With a Chef’s Kiss; Share It On Social Media…
When John Kinnear bought a selection of paintings for an impoverished Nova Scotia painter, his chief hope was that they might buy him a grilled cheese sandwich.
His favorite diner in London, Ontario made an unforgettable grilled cheese, with five-year old cheddar and freshly baked bread. Maybe if they liked one of the paintings he could secure a series of sandwiches on the house.
Now 50 years later, that trade has secured Irene and Tony Demas, the married couple running the diner, a small fortune, as the paintings were made by the now-acclaimed folk painter Maud Lewis and sold some weeks ago for a quarter of a million dollars.
50 years ago, Irene and Tony hoped one day to convince their regular customer Mr. Kinnear to try something other than the grilled cheese, but not only did they fail in that regard, they found themselves making a deal for free grilled cheeses in the future.
Irene had learned that bartering rather than dealing with money was better in many circumstances, and traded food from her restaurant out to other merchants and professionals. So when Mr. Kinnear arrived one day for his customary sandwich carrying with him a selection of paintings, it wasn’t a big deal to make a swap.
One painting stood out to the pregnant Mrs. Demas—a cheery painting of a black pick-up truck going down a neighborhood road, which she thought would look great on her son’s bedroom wall.
MORE: A Chair Bought for $5 in a Junk Shop Sells at Auction for over $16,000
“I just sat there in silence for quite a while. I’d never ever seen any art like that before,” Demas remembered, telling the Guardian. “At first I thought they might be playing some sort of trick on me, did a kid do some of these?”
Using leftover paint that fishermen would use to paint their boats, and whatever wooden boards were of clean enough condition to paint on, Maud Lewis, a poor artist whose acclaim has grown hugely since her death in 1970, painted many works throughout her difficult life.
In return for some painting supplies, Mr. Kinnear received some of her paintings after he felt sorry for her.
After news of her fame and the soaring value of her works reached the Demases, their children encouraged them to auction off the painting that hung in their bedroom for all their childhood.
RELATED: Adjoining Cottages Once Home to Both a Man and His Clever, Beloved Bull Go Up for Auction
“My husband’s 90 and I don’t think I have another 50 years to hang on to it,” said Mrs. Demas, before the sale. “The kids are saying, use the money and travel and just enjoy life.”
The sale fetched $273,000 ($350,000 CAD) which should be enough for some serious enjoyment, or at least a lifetime’s supply of grilled cheeses.
SERVE Up This Fun Story From Canada; Share It With Chums…
