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

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Dawsons
Dawsons

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

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

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

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

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

POPULAR: The Painting Paid for Grilled Cheese Sandwiches 50 Years Ago – Now Earns the Restaurant Thousands

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

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

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

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

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

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

(WATCH the video from Dawsons, below.)

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

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SWNS
SWNS

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

RELATED: World’s Most Premature Baby Defies 1% Survival Odds to Break Guinness Record

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

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

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

LOOK: Zeus, the World’s Tallest Dog, is as Big as Texas

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

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

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

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

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

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Robert H. Mohlenbrock / USDA
Robert H. Mohlenbrock / USDA

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

LOOK: These Moths Are So Gorgeous, They Put Butterflies to Shame

Small Whorled Pogonia by John Gange / VT Fish and Wildlife

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

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

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

CHECK OUT: Quiz Finds Which Plants Match Your Personality and Helps You Choose Perfect Potted Pal for Your Home

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

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

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

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

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

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Our partner Rob Brezsny provides his weekly wisdom to enlighten our thinking and motivate our mood. Rob’s Free Will Astrology, is a syndicated weekly column appearing in over a hundred publications. He is also the author of Pronoia Is the Antidote for Paranoia: How All of Creation Is Conspiring To Shower You with Blessings. (A free preview of the book is available here.)

Here is your weekly horoscope…

FREE WILL ASTROLOGY – Week of June 25, 2022
Copyright by Rob Brezsny, FreeWillAstrology.com

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

WANT MORE? Listen to Rob’s EXPANDED AUDIO HOROSCOPES, 4-5 minute meditations on the current state of your destiny — or subscribe to his unique daily text message service at: RealAstrology.com

(Zodiac images by Numerologysign.com, CC license)

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

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Credit: Professor Habits

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

Photo by: Professor Habits

With a new inspirational quote every day, atop the perfect photo—collected and archived on our Quotes page—why not bookmark GNN.org for a daily uplift?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

(WATCH the video for this story below.)

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

By
Andy Corbley
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Waste Shark
Waste Shark

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

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

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

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

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

A world of river cleaning devices

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Photo by Love Skye Photography/Rosie Woodhouse

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

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

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

Photo by Love Skye Photography/Rosie Woodhouse

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

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

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

Photo by: Shane Rounce

With a new inspirational quote every day, atop the perfect photo—collected and archived on our Quotes page—why not bookmark GNN.org for a daily uplift?

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

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SWNS
SWNS

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

SWNS

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

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

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

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

Watch the commute…

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

MORE: Protein Destroys ‘Hard to Treat’ Cancers, Could Become ‘One Size Fits All’ Pill

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Source: The University of Queensland

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Stranger Finds Phone in a River and Tracks Down Owner to Return Sentimental Photos

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Andy Corbley
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OWAIN DAVIES _ MIGUEL PACHACO family photos supplied phone
OWAIN DAVIES/MIGUEL PACHACO

A man who—when canoeing for his bachelor party lost his iPhone on a river in Gloucestershire—was absolutely amazed when, ten months later, he saw sentimental photos of the party posted on Facebook in an effort to reunite the phone with the owner.

“I was in a two-man canoe and my partner probably shouldn’t have stood up, and needless to say we fell in,” Owain Davies, told BBC Radio Gloucestershire. “The phone was in my back pocket and as soon as it was in the water I realized the phone was gone.”

Gone for good perhaps, as water and electrical devices hardly mix.

After being immersed for ten months, another canoer, Miguel Pachaco, spotted something blue in the water.

Discovering Davies’ iPhone, some people would have thrown it away or hawked it to a phone refurbishment store.

MORE: A Stranger’s Kindness Helped Boy Escape the Nazis Who Would Go On to Win Nobel Prize–And He Never Knew it

Instead, Pachaco, imagining there would be memories and important information on the phone, took it home, took it apart, and thoroughly dried every component out using an airline and compressor, and an airing cupboard.

In the morning, he attached it to a charger and boom, it turned on to reveal a homepage image of a beautiful couple and a date marked more than 10 months ago.

Pachaco shared pictures of the phone, and the screensaver on a Facebook group for Cinderford, the town that the river passes through—they were shared more than 4,000 times.

OWAIN DAVIES/MIGUEL PACHACO

Eventually, friends of Davies, who by then had moved to Edinburgh with his fiancé, saw the photos and alerted him.

He told the BBC that he couldn’t believe that after ten months of sitting in water, the phone could be not only restored to working order, but that someone would make the effort to find him

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“I know if I lost my phone, I’ve got a lot of pictures of my children, I know I’d want that back, ” Pachaco told the BBC.

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New York Libraries Are Giving Away 500,000 Books for Keeping Kids Engaged This Summer

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Good News Network
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NYPL
NYPL

At New York Public Libraries this summer, kids and teens will get to participate in a giveaway of half a million books.

Drop by neighborhood NYPL locations in the Bronx, Manhattan, or Staten Island anytime to choose between 500,000 new and diverse tomes: they’re to take home and keep forever, the idea being that “a lifelong love of reading—and your own home library—begin with choosing your first book.”

You can choose from an array of new paperback books by authors and featuring characters who reflect the rich multicultural diversity of New York City. And pick up a specially-designed NYPL bookplate to stick in your new book: “a gift from the library to you.”

Select locations will offer Spanish, Chinese, and Large Print titles. And all the books on offer are chosen by NYPL’s expert librarians, inspired by recommended reading lists.

MORE: 8-Year-old Slips His Handwritten Book Onto a Library Shelf—And It Now Has a Years-Long Waitlist

There’s lots more to do at New York’s libraries this summer, with free events and programs for all ages, book giveaways, and an all-new ‘Make Waves’ program for kids and teens. Plus you can, of course, borrow books, music, and DVDs—now with no late fines.

Source: NYPL

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“I am still determined to be cheerful… for our happiness or misery depends upon our dispositions, and not upon our circumstances.” – Martha Washington

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Good News Network
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Ed Yourdon, CC license

Quote of the Day: “I am still determined to be cheerful… for our happiness or misery depends upon our dispositions, and not upon our circumstances.” – Martha Washington

Photo by: Ed Yourdon, 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?

Ed Yourdon, CC license

This Gorgeous Leather is Made From the Hide of an Invasive Predatory Fish

By
Andy Corbley
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Inversa Leathers
Inversa Leathers

An exotic aquarium staple, the spectacular lionfish is unfortunately an invasive species that spells catastrophe for Atlantic and Caribbean ecosystems it happens upon.

Fortunately for these seas, Inversa Leathers is harvesting these fish every day to make equally-spectacular leather for fashion products.

The garment and fashion industries are some of the largest polluters in the consumer goods sector. Invasive species, however, represent a uniquely beneficial opportunity to transform supply chains into ones which work for the planet, not against it.

For Aarav Chavda, an avid scuba diver and engineer who had seen many of his favorite reefs off the Florida coast become barren and lifeless, that meant launching Inversa with his childhood friend as a way to save these habitats. The lionfish were major culprits in their devastation, and so the lionfish had to go.

“Unfortunately, there are millions of lionfish in these ecosystems, and we have a long way to go to thinning out this population,” Chavda told Fast Company. “But there are many other invasive species out there. We believe all of them can be used in fashion products.”

LOOK: European Cities Are Turning Rooftops Into Community and Sustainability Hubs: ‘A revolution in urban planning’

His company buys lionfish from fishermen and fishing firms across Florida, Mexico, and the Caribbean, to the tune of several thousand per day. It wasn’t that these fisherrmen didn’t know the lionfish were destroying reef and shallow sea ecosystems before, but there was no-one paying for them.

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Inversa ships the lionfish to a tanning facility in Ohio after selling all the meat to local restaurants in Tampa. In Ohio, the leather is put through a sixty-step tanning process, and sold to a variety of designers, including Italian shoe brand P448, Teton Leather Company, and others.

At the moment, these projects are priced more for celebrities than regular people (maybe the famous can do their part by purchasing one or two items?).

RELATED: Solar Covered Skyscraper Will Produce All its Own Energy

Turning invasive species into mass-harvestable resources is a great way to monetize the capture of them—which usually costs governments tens of millions of dollars. In Berlin, a food truck offers a menu filled with invasive species, suggesting that if you can’t beat them, eat them.

In London, designers are utilizing the government’s multi-million pound project to clear city water pipes of quagga mussels—by grinding the bivalves’ shells up to make powder for biological glass tiling.

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Daredevil Dad Launches Tiny Boat He Hopes to Sail 1,900 Miles Across the Atlantic – LOOK

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Good News Network
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SWNS
SWNS

These incredible photos show a daredevil dad taking to the water in his three foot (one-meter) long boat for the first time, which he hopes to sail 1,900 miles across the Atlantic.

48-year-old Andrew Bedwell made the maiden voyage in his tiny self-built fibreglass vessel, Big C, at the port of Whitehaven, in Cumbria, last week.

During his trip out, the experienced mariner gave his support boat the “thumbs up” from his cramped cockpit, which is just big enough to accommodate his 6ft tall frame.

And he seemed at ease in the tiny ship ahead of the massive transatlantic crossing, which he compared to being “stuck in a wheelie bin, on a rollercoaster for 90 days.”

The intrepid sailor plans to depart from Newfoundland, Canada, in May next year, before trade winds bring him to Lizards Point, in Cornwall.

His boat is roughly 1.5 feet (half a meter) shorter than the last record-breaking small boat to make the journey across the Atlantic and has a top speed of just 2.5 mph.

MORE: 83-Year-old Sets World Record Sailing Alone Across the Pacific Without Stopping

Throughout his expected three-month crossing, he’ll survive off a cold protein-rich substance that’s moulded around the internal walls of the boat to save space.

SWNS

The thrill-seeking father-of-one admitted his wife thinks he’s a bit “crackers,” but said he wanted to achieve something “amazing” before he turned 50.

“All my life, I’ve done unusual challenges, and it’s slowly got more and more important to myself to get smaller and smaller and smaller, he said.

RELATED: All-Black Climbing Team Makes History Reaching Top of Everest, Inspiring Diverse Adventurers

And speaking about his purpose-built tiny boat, Big C, he said, “I think a space rocket would have more room.

SWNS

“This is like being stuck in a wheelie bin, on a rollercoaster for 90 days – and that’s what it could be in the worst-case scenario.”

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Sunshine Could Ward Off Dementia and Strokes: First-Ever Direct Link to Vitamin D Found

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Good News Network
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By Tim Foster

Sunshine could ward off dementia and strokes after scientists have shown a direct link between vitamin D and the conditions in a world-first study.

A new study based on British people said that cases of dementia could drop by nearly a fifth if people who were deficient in the vitamin took supplements to bring them up to healthy levels,

It is known as the sunshine vitamin because the skin makes it when exposed to light.

The team from the University of South Australia looked at nearly 300,000 people from the UK Biobank examining the impact of low levels of vitamin D and the risk of dementia and stroke.

They found that low levels of vitamin D were associated with lower brain volumes and an increased risk of dementia and stroke.

Further genetic analyses supported a causal effect of vitamin D deficiency and dementia.

MORE: Listening to Music With a Groove Actually Boosts Brain Function

They said that in some populations as much as 17 percent of dementia cases might be prevented by increasing everyone to normal levels of vitamin D.

Dementia is one of the major causes of disability and dependency among older people worldwide, affecting thinking and behaviours as you age.

Globally, more than 55 million people have dementia with 10 million new cases diagnosed every year. With no cure in sight, there is an increasing focus on preventative behaviors.

Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia affect over 920,000 people in the UK—a figure that will rise to two million in the next three decades.

Study author Professor Elina Hyppönen, Senior investigator and Director of UniSA’s Australian Centre for Precision Health, said the findings are important for the prevention of dementia and appreciating the need to abolish vitamin D deficiency.

RELATED: Listening to Music With a Groove Actually Boosts Brain Function

“In this UK population we observed that up to 17 per cent of dementia cases might have been avoided by boosting vitamin D levels to be within a normal range,” she said.

“Our study is the first to examine the effect of very low levels of vitamin D on the risks of dementia and stroke, using robust genetic analyses among a large population.

“Vitamin D is a hormone precursor that is increasingly recognized for widespread effects, including on brain health, but until now it has been very difficult to examine what would happen if we were able to prevent vitamin D deficiency.

“In some contexts, where vitamin D deficiency is relatively common, our findings have important implications for dementia risks.

“Dementia is a progressive and debilitating disease that can devastate individuals and families alike.

“If we’re able to change this reality through ensuring that none of us is severely vitamin D deficient, it would also have further benefits and we could change the health and wellbeing for thousands.

“Most of us are likely to be ok, but for anyone who for whatever reason may not receive enough vitamin D from the sun, modifications to diet may not be enough, and supplementation may well be needed.”

CHECK OUT: New Study of ‘MIND’ Diet Shows It May Improve Memory and Thinking Skills in Old Age

The genetic study analyzed data from 294,514 participants from the UK Biobank, examining the impact of low levels of vitamin D (25 nmol/L) and the risk of dementia and stroke.

Nonlinear Mendelian randomization (MR)—a method of using measured variation in genes to examine the causal effect of a modifiable exposure on disease – were used to test for underlying causality for neuroimaging outcomes, dementia, and stroke.

The study was published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

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

By
Andy Corbley
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Bureau de Change
Bureau de Change

Some designers in London are taking an invasive mussel species and turning it into beautiful tiling.

Aside from preventing the mussel shells breaking down in landfills, the process creates a rigid material that is translucent—something that has never been done before.

Invasive species can require tens of millions in financing to eradicate, but what if the incoming investment was paired with outgoing profits—how much faster could invasive species be cleared out then?

When London water pipes began being clogged by an invasive species native to the Dnieper River in Ukraine called the quagga mussel, Thames Water had to spend millions of pounds to remove them. Most of the load ended up in landfills around the British capital, but a certain amount is now found in the workshop of designer Lulu Harrison, and at the London Craft Week’s Beautility exhibit, where her use of quagga mussel shell powder to make glass caught the eye.

Glass is infinitely recyclable, making it one of the least polluting container materials available. However sand mining is an ecologically-damaging practice, particularly for rivers.

NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory, CC license

Harrison has said that her method is similar to ancient glass-making techniques. She uses about 60% River Thames sand, 20% mussel shells, 20% locally-sourced wood ash, and a bit of “soda ash,” which is the principle ingredient in normal glass. Harrison thinks manufacturers following in her footsteps could make a “geo-specific glass” industry, by producing glass products based on locally-available substrates to produce different colors and levels of translucence.

MORE: This Gorgeous Leather is Made From the Hide of an Invasive Predatory Fish

Bureau de Change, an architecture firm founded by Katerina Dionysopoulou and Billy Mavropoulos, teamed up with Harrison to produce Thames Glass, a series of tiling for building façades that celebrate the patterns of old London.

“Looking back at the Royal Doulton, which manufactured the city’s water pipes in the mid-19th century, as well as the city’s ornamental terracotta chimney pots, the cast glass tiles replicate some of the same intricate 19th-century patterns,” write Bureau de Change.

RELATED: Sustainable Wind Turbine Towers Being Made of Eco-Friendly Wood

To make the tiles, the mussels are washed, dried in the sun, ground and sieved into a fine powder, cooked into molten glass, then rapidly cooled to be shattered and ground up again. This is finally fed into a 3D printer to create the tiles.

CHECK OUT: Students Create Edible Tortilla Tape to Keep Your Wraps Wrapped

English building codes are famously strict, and expensive tests will need to be performed on the tiles before they can be approved for use on actual buildings—but given that the quagga mussel is known to invasively reside in many locations, including in the Great Lakes of North America, the hope is that we’ll soon be seeing beautiful tiles like these wherever they could make a difference.

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“In the mist of Difficulty lies Opportunity.” – Oprah Winfrey

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Good News Network
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Quote of the Day: “In the mist of Difficulty lies Opportunity.” – Oprah Winfrey

Photo by: Shashank Sahay

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