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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 May 21, 2022
Copyright by Rob Brezsny, FreeWillAstrology.com

GEMINI (May 21-June 20):
According to the blogger Artemisiasea, “The grandeur of life is the attempt, not the solution. It’s about behaving as beautifully as one can under completely impossible circumstances; making room for what breathes in the presence of the attempt—in the coming-to-be.” I invite you to embrace that wisdom in the coming weeks, Gemini. You won’t be dealing with impossible circumstances, but you may have to navigate your way through fascinating brainteasers and heart riddles. Whatever your destination might turn out to be, enjoy the ride with all the verve you can summon. At least for now, put aside your longing for particular results and instead simply live your life as if it were a magnificent work of art.

CANCER (June 21-July 22):
It will be in your interest to change more than usual in the coming weeks. I suppose you could wait around passively and scramble to adjust as life flings challenges your way. But the better approach would be to make conscious decisions about how you want to transform. Identify the situations that would most benefit from modification and then initiate the transitions. Rather than depending on fate to provide you with random wake-up calls, choose constructive wake-up calls that are fun and invigorating.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22):
“If everyone likes you, it probably means you aren’t saying much,” declared politician Donna Brazile. I suspect you will disprove her theory in the coming weeks. According to my reading of the astrological omens, you will have a lot to say; your communications will be even more interesting than usual. And yet, I also expect you will receive extra respect and appreciation from others. While you may articulate ideas that are challenging to some, you will do so with enough charisma to disarm agitated reactions. A winning combination: expressiveness and approval.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22):
Have you heard of Virgo adventurer Reinhold Messner? The man is a marvel, and not just because he’s a passionate environmental activist. He was the first mountaineer to reach the top of Mt. Everest alone, as well as the first to ascend Everest without supplemental oxygen. No one before him had ever climbed all 14 of the world’s peaks higher than 26,000 feet. He has transited Greenland and Antarctica without the aid of dog sleds or snowmobiles. He also completed a solo trip across the Gobi Desert. I propose we make Messner your inspirational role model for the next four weeks. You may not achieve history-making triumphs like him, but you could surpass what you assumed were your limits. I trust that you will break at least one of your personal records.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22):
“The world is a very puzzling place. If you’re not willing to be puzzled, you just become a replica of someone else’s mind.” Author Noam Chomsky said that. It’s useful counsel for you right now. I’ll go even further. I will advise you to relish the healthy pleasures of being both mysterious and mystified. Seek out fertile enigmas and be a fertile enigma yourself. Explore the rejuvenating wisdom of being indefinable and uncategorizable. Exult in the quizzical joys of Eternal Paradox.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21):
Have you ever contemplated the beauty of the people and animals you care for and thought, “I would love to give them the strongest blessings I have to give, the smartest love I can express, and the best listening I’m able to provide.” If so, Scorpio, the coming days will be an excellent time to do that. You will have an extra capacity to offer exceptional gifts that are useful and inspirational. You will be at the peak of your ability to home in on what your beloveds need.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21):
Sagittarian author Madeleine L’Engle told us, “The discoveries don’t come when you’re looking for them. They come when for some reason you’ve let go conscious control.” That approach isn’t absolutely true, but it may be useful for you to deploy in the coming weeks. I invite you to relinquish at least a modicum of your conscious control. And if zesty discoveries start flowing in, consider relinquishing even a bit more conscious control.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19):
Is it a legend or a true story? Scholars disagree about whether Capricorn scientist Isaac Newton really was spurred to formulate the theory of gravity when an apple fell from the tree he was sitting beneath. This much is certain: Newton lived in the home near the famous apple tree. And that tree is alive today, 380 years after his birth. Ripe apples still fall from it. Is there an equivalent landmark or keystone from your own past, Capricorn—where an important insight arose or pivotal event happened? The coming weeks would be a good time to revisit that power spot, at least in your imagination, in quest of fresh inspiration.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18):
Aquarian poet Jack Gilbert devoted himself to soulful beauty. I swooned when I first read his line, “We must unlearn the constellations to see the stars.” I cried for joy when he said, “We must have the stubbornness to accept our gladness in the ruthless furnace of this world.” On the other hand, I suspect Jack may have been overly consumed with his pursuit of lyrical moments. His girlfriend Linda Gregg said, “All Jack ever wanted to know was that he was awake—that the trees in bloom were almond trees—and to walk down the road to get breakfast. He never cared if he was poor or had to sleep on a park bench.” I bring this up, dear Aquarius, hoping you will avoid Gilbert’s lack of attention to practical matters. In the coming weeks, I invite you to be your extravagant, idiosyncratic, interesting self to the max. But also be sure to eat healthy food, engage in pleasurable exercise, and get plenty of rejuvenating sleep—preferably in a comfortable bed rather than on a park bench.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20):
The Uberfacts Twitter account informs me that if you were to consume the amount of food equivalent to what a hummingbird eats, you would eat 300 hamburgers or 7,800 cabbages per day. To match the amount of exercise a hummingbird gets while burning all those calories, you’d have to do approximately 37 bazillion jumping jacks. You will never do this, of course. But in the coming weeks, you may be more metaphorically hungry than usual. I predict you will be voracious for new information and novel experiences and fresh ideas. Not 300 hamburgers or 7,800 cabbages’ worth—but still, a lot. My advice: Have fun being insatiably curious and greedy for stimulation.

ARIES (March 21-April 19):
“The only way to the truth is through blasphemy,” declared Aries author Flannery O’Connor. I appreciate the cheeky sentiment, but I don’t believe that all truth requires blasphemy. In many cases, rebellion, irreverence, and skepticism may be enough to pry loose hidden and buried information. Outright blasphemy isn’t necessary. What does this have to do with you? Well, I’m hoping you will be feisty and audacious in your quest for interesting truths. As you dig, I invite you to be less than perfectly polite. Don’t be rude or unkind, of course. Just be charmingly bold.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20):
“I am so beautiful, sometimes people weep when they see me,” declares comedian Margaret Cho. I would love for you to summon her level of self-esteem and bravado in the coming weeks. According to my interpretation of the astrological omens, you now have the right and duty to boost your self-worth. All of creation is conspiring with you to develop more faith in yourself. And if you do the work to deepen your confidence and self-esteem, there will be an added bonus: a health breakthrough. As spiritual author Caroline Myss says, “Belief in oneself is required for healing.” My prediction: You will rouse an enhanced power to get the soul medicine you need.

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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Ashes Scattered After Her Dog Dies Formed “Miraculous” Shape in the Wind: ‘They Never Truly Leave Us’ (Watch)

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Natalie Franko Larason - YouTube
Natalie Franko Larason – YouTube

A photo shared on Reddit went viral when thousands of people got emotional at the sight, and others were flooded with memories of pets gone by.

The picture (and video below) shows a woman scattering the ashes of her beloved dog, Biscuit, at a local park.

She called it a “miracle” after seeing the handful of ashes had formed into a familiar shape at the last second—the shape of her 12-year-old German Shepherd and collie mix that passed away suddenly a few months ago.

Natalie Franko Larason, who had rescued Biscuit from the ‘no-kill shelter’ Paws Chicago, told GNN she scattered the ashes at one of their favorite parks in Southern California where together they enjoyed long walks and many hours of romping with the ducks and turtles.

“I’m still shocked at this experience, and have found it healing to connect with so many …  and hear their stories of love and loss.”

When she posted the iPhone video capturing the moment, Larason wrote, “I was astonished.”

“The shape they formed looked exactly like her. I took it as a sign of her final goodbye… It’s miraculous.”

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She hopes her fellow animal-lovers will take comfort in the video and photo, like she has.

“Rest in peace, my sweet Biscuit,” she wrote on YouTube. “I’ll meet you at the Rainbow Bridge.”

SHARE Biscuit’s Last Trick – And Inspire Your Friends on Social Media…

“There’s never a perfect moment to take a big risk.” – Betsy Rowbottom

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Quote of the Day: “There’s never a perfect moment to take a big risk.” – Betsy Rowbottom

Photo by: Markus Winkler

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?

Scientists Discover Breakthrough Method of Making Advanced Electronics With H20

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Water is the secret ingredient in a simple way to create key components for solar cells, X-ray detectors and other optoelectronics devices.

The next generation of photovoltaics, semiconductors, and LEDs could be made using perovskites—an exciting and versatile nanomaterial with a crystal structure.

Perovskites have already shown similar efficiency to silicon, are cheaper to make, and feature a tuneable bandgap, meaning the energy they are able to absorb, reflect, or conduct can be changed to suit different purposes.

Ordinarily, water is kept as far away as possible during the process of creating perovskites. The presence of moisture can lead to defects in the materials, causing them to fall apart more quickly when they’re being used in a device.

That’s why perovskites for scientific research are often made via spin coating in the sealed environment of a nitrogen glove box.

Now, though, members of the ARC Centre of Excellence in Exciton Science have found a simple way to control the growth of phase-pure perovskite crystals by harnessing water as a positive factor. This liquid-based mechanism works at room temperature, so the approach remains cost effective.

Led by researchers at Monash University, the team found that by changing the ratio of water to solvent during the early stages of the process, they could choose to grow different types of perovskite crystals, with structures to suit various purposes.

“By carefully tuning the concentration of water in the precursor solution, we realized the precise control of particular perovskite phases,” corresponding author Dr Wenxin Mao of Monash University said.

LOOK: Plants Have Been Grown in Lunar Soil For The First Time Ever

Computational and thermodynamic analysis conducted by colleagues at the University of Sydney identified that the coordination of lead and bromide ions in the precursor solution was an important factor in determining which types of crystals are formed.

“We now understand the internal mechanics and function of water inside the precursor solution. By doing that we can further use water to control the crystallization process,” lead author Qingdong Lin, a PhD student at Monash University, said.

To demonstrate the quality of the end product, crystals produced via this approach were coupled with back-contact electrodes through nanofabrication to create X-ray detection devices.

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This test sample performed at a similar level to commercial X-ray detectors currently being used in real-world settings, like medical imaging and Geiger counters, and out-performed prototype perovskite X-ray detectors developed using slower, more complicated fabrication methods.

Wenxin said, “We compared them with commercial X-ray detectors as well as other types of perovskites and we do have a very good responsivity and sensitivity to X-rays. Overall this project shows that we have found a smart way to control inorganic perovskite single crystals.

“The methodology is flexible and feasible and doesn’t require a very unique environment or technique to apply it.”

RELATED: Scientists Power a Computer Using Only Algae and Daylight to Make the Electricity

As well as solar cells, X-ray detectors and LEDs, perovskites created with this method could also be useful in UV light detection, lasers and solar concentrators.

This work has been published in Advanced Functional Materials.

Source: ARC Centre of Excellence in Exciton Science

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An Otter Spotted in Detroit River May be First Sighting in 100 Years

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Andy Corbley
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Courtesy of Eric Ste Marie video
Courtesy of Eric Ste Marie video

It would have been easy for Eric Ste Marie to mistake the bobbing brown head and body in the Detroit River to be a muskrat, but curiosity drove him to chase it as it swam towards Ambassador Bridge in Southeast Michigan.

It turns out, it was the first “straight-up river otter” to be seen in the Detroit River in over 100 years. Ste Marie double-checked with a biologist friend of his from the University of Windsor, who confirmed—after watching the grainy cell phone video—that it really was a North American river otter.

The reaction from some local experts he spoke to was of disbelief, given that it’s been over a century sine one has last been seen here. The feeling was also of hope, as otters are a keystone species that signify good water health.

The otters and beavers of North America fueled the fur trapping industry for decades, and after the last one was extirpated from Detroit, river pollution kept them coming back—until now.

Fox 2 reports that otters were released in eastern Ohio some years ago, and over time they made their way into Michigan.

MORE: Chinook Salmon Introduced to Mountain Streams Not Inhabited for 100 Years

“So the otters are kind of like, the flagship or the symbol of the healing ecosystem and at the end of the day that benefits everyone in the area,” Ste Marie told Fox.

(WATCH the Fox 2 video for this story below.)

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Protein ‘Motors’ Can Swim Around Wounds to Kill Bacteria –And Deliver Lifesaving Drugs

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Andy Corbley
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An engineer in Barcelona has been adapting silicon nanobots to deliver things like antibiotics to open wounds, and has even created little “motors” to push them around.

It turns out this is much faster than the oral, topical, or intravenous administering of antibiotics for several reasons, and while it may seem like science-fiction, nanobots could become a part of a medic’s toolkit in the not-too-distant future.

Samuel Sánchez from the Institute of Bioengineering in Spain has created these tiny spheres that can carry antibiotics or cancer drugs through a body’s viscous fluids, and has used them to quickly treat infections in mice.

“We see that the whole wound gets covered. The machines can actually travel around the wound and clear the infection as they go,” ‪César de la Fuente, a bioengineer at the University of Pennsylvania who led the project with Sánchez, told Wired Magazine.

The reason these bots will be preferable is that “diffusion,” the process through which drugs enter and move about a system normally, takes a really long time in the body’s more viscous fluids like mucous.

Often they go at the whims of where the fluid in which they’re embedded takes them, which could involve missing the targeted area, or never penetrating it. Using mucous as an example again, if there is bacteria or a virus in mucous, and medicine is diffused into the saliva, it’s normal for the saliva to skirt the edges of the former without ever penetrating it, before passing on to other parts of the body.

RELATED: Paralyzed Man’s Brain Waves Get Turned Into Sentences on Computer, Scientists ‘Thrilled’ Beyond Words

In terms of the bloodstream, blood travels all over the place, not just to where an infection is occurring.

Get your motor running

Sanchez realized that in order to avoid creating just an artificial form of diffusion, the nanobots needed propulsion. He then coated a bot’s spherical silica chassis with a protein called urease, that converts urea into carbon dioxide and ammonia. These proteins were placed asymmetrically around the chassis, meaning that whenever they came in contact with urea, the resulting enzymatic reaction pushed them a little bit like an internal combustion engine separating gasoline.

De la Fuente, Wired reports, was working on new antibiotics derived from protein chains called peptides—the kind that occur normally in the animal kingdom. He loaded up one of Sanchez’ chassis with a synthetically-made antibiotic peptide derived from wasp venom, before the men dropped it in into an infected wound on a mouse.

MORE: Scientists Create Algorithm That Uses Routine Eye Scans to Identify Heart Attack Risk—With Accuracy of 70%-80%

Rubbing the wound with non-toxic urea allowed the nanobots to chaotically push themselves around at random, which actually reduced the bacterial content of the infection by 100-1,000 times across the entire opening of the wound.

In contrast, mice cuts treated with drops of normal antibiotics or bots without the application of the urea experienced the same reduction in bacterial matter, but only in the region where they were treated.

It’s not lost on the two men how crazy the idea of little machines driving themselves around in our bloodstream seems.

“As scientists, we’re all inspired by science fiction,” says de la Fuente. “And I think our job sometimes is to try to get those two worlds closer together. What seems science fiction today, hopefully, in a number of years, becomes reality.”

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Deaf-Blind Communities Have Created a New Language of Touch

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Andy Corbley
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Growing for years out of a special group of humans in Washington state, a new human language—pro-tactile ASL, has gained recognition.

Born from the spirit of human connection, those who can neither see nor hear use another person’s body as the canvass on which to communicate a nearly infinite-number of ideas, feelings, or just an old-fashioned chin-wag.

Verbally communicating humans use all kinds of additional sensory signals to aid the listener in understanding, such as making faces or hand gestures, but directly touching them, especially on the face or thigh, is reserved only for the closest human connections.

It can be strange, sometimes, for those speaking in American Sign Language (ASL) to see the literalness of certain signs—where a speaker might say “jolly” to cleverly disguise their true intention of describing a man’s waist size, ASL don’t have that luxury, and often have to sign a spade as a spade.

But for those who can neither hear nor see, language becomes even more stripped of its societal layers, and in a way becomes even more human.

MORE: Deaf Sheepdog Returns to Herding Her Flock After Learning ‘Sign Language’

In a first-hand encounter with a DeafBlind American, Katherine Ellen Foley, writing for Quartz, reported that the gentlemen using pro-tactile ASL explained through an ASL interpreter, “it’s the same concept as learning any other language, it’s just connecting with the group of people whose language you want to learn.”

The example Foley gives is “I climb a tree,” in which the signer literally takes your arm, and does the sign for walking up the arm as if it’s a tree. For lollipop, it’s quite the same, only with a closed fist for the candy part. While that may be difficult to interpret, a deaf ASL interpreter explained that in all languages, context is key.

While a closed fist at the end of a forearm could represent many things, from a hammer to a lollipop, the context of the sentence will steer speakers and signers towards the appropriate inference; just as in English we can detect from the other words in a sentence whether a speaker is saying “fair” or “fare.”

RELATED: Orchestra Allows Deaf People to ‘Hear’ Beethoven Through Touch – Much Like the Maestro Did

There may be as many as 50,000 people in America who are blind and deaf, and the new language is catching on. A business called Tactile Communications is providing necessary training in a linguistically and culturally appropriate setting in order to promote the autonomy of DeafBlind people. In 2016, their language, which arose spontaneously entirely among their own community, was showcased at the White House.

Communication is not just the domain of words and mouth sounds—it’s a form of understanding between humans. Returning to that core principle helped the pro-tactile system grow.

CHECK OUT: There Are Now 100 New Sign Language Terms for Scientific Words Thanks to This Deaf Student

The founder of Tactile Communications, Jelica Nuccio, set up communication environments without the crutch of interpreters to help ensure the skill was born of a symbiosis between necessity and invention. And it’s already making a huge difference to the lives of people across the country.

(WATCH the Christian Science Monitor video for this story below.)

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“The future glides into us, so as to remake itself within us, long before it occurs.” – Rainer Maria Rilke

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Quote of the Day: “The future glides into us, so as to remake itself within us, long before it occurs.” – Rainer Maria Rilke

Photo by: Johannes Plenio

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?

X-Ray Explosion of a White Dwarf Star Captured for the First Time

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FAU illustration; Annika Kreikenbohm
FAU illustration; Annika Kreikenbohm

When stars like our Sun use up all their fuel, they shrink to form white dwarfs. Sometimes such dead stars flare back to life in a super hot explosion and produce a fireball of X-ray radiation.

A research team has now been able to observe such an explosion of X-ray light for the very first time.

“It was to some extent a fortunate coincidence, really,” explains Ole König from the Astronomical Institute at FAU. “These X-ray flashes last only a few hours and are almost impossible to predict, but the observational instrument must be pointed directly at the explosion at exactly the right time,” explains the astrophysicist.

The instrument in this case is the eROSITA X-ray telescope, which is currently located one and a half million kilometers from Earth and has been surveying the sky for soft X-rays since 2019.

On July 7, 2020 it measured strong X-ray radiation in an area of the sky that had been completely inconspicuous four hours previously. When the X-ray telescope surveyed the same position in the sky four hours later, the radiation had disappeared. It follows that the X-ray flash that had previously completely overexposed the center of the detector must have lasted less than eight hours.

X-ray explosions such as this were predicted by theoretical research more than 30 years ago, but have never been observed directly until now. These fireballs of X-rays occur on the surface of stars that were originally comparable in size to the Sun before using up most of their fuel made of hydrogen and later helium deep inside their cores.

RELATED: Scientists Figure Out the Origin of Splendid Dunes on Jupiter’s Icy Moon

These stellar corpses shrink until “white dwarfs” remain, which are similar to Earth in size but contain a mass that can be similar to that of our Sun. “One way to picture these proportions is to think of the Sun being the same size as an apple, which means Earth would be the same size as a pin head orbiting around the apple at a distance of 10 meters,” explains Jörn Wilms.

Stellar corpses resemble gemstones

On the other hand, if you were to shrink an apple to the size of a pin head, this tiny particle would retain the comparatively large weight of the apple. “A teaspoon of matter from the inside of a white dwarf easily has the same mass as a large truck,” Jörn Wilms continues. Since these burnt out stars are mainly made up of oxygen and carbon, we can compare them to gigantic diamonds that are the same size as Earth floating around in space. These objects in the form of precious gems are so hot they glow white. However, the radiation is so weak that it is difficult to detect from Earth.

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Unless the white dwarf is accompanied by a star that is still burning, that is, and when the enormous gravitational pull of the white dwarf draws hydrogen from the shell of the accompanying star.

“In time, this hydrogen can collect to form a layer only a few meters thick on the surface of the white dwarf,” explains FAU astrophysicist Jörn Wilms. In this layer, the huge gravitational pull generates enormous pressure that is so great that it causes the star to reignite. In a chain reaction, it soon comes to a huge explosion during which the layer of hydrogen is blown off. The X-ray radiation of an explosion like this is what hit the detectors of eROSITA on July 7, 2020 producing an overexposed image.

MORE: Black Hole at the Heart of Our Own Galaxy is Pictured For First Time

“Using the model calculations we originally drew up while supporting the development of the X-ray instrument, we were able to analyze the overexposed image in more detail during a complex process to gain a behind the scenes view of an explosion of a white dwarf, or nova,” explains Jörn Wilms.

According to the results—published in the journal Nature—the white dwarf has around the mass of our Sun and is therefore relatively large. The explosion generated a fireball with a temperature of around 327,000 degrees, making it around sixty times hotter than the Sun.

Since these novae run out of fuel quite quickly, they cool rapidly and the X-ray radiation becomes weaker until it eventually becomes visible light, which reached Earth half a day after the eROSITA detection and was observed by optical telescopes.

“A seemingly bright star then appeared, which was actually the visible light from the explosion, and so bright that it could be seen on the night sky by the bare eye,” explains Ole König. Seemingly “new stars” such as this one have been observed in the past and were named “nova stella,” or “new star” on account of their unexpected appearance.

Since these novae are only visible after the X-ray flash, it is very difficult to predict such outbreaks and it is mainly down to chance when they hit the X-ray detectors. “We were really lucky,” says Ole König.

(WATCH the short explainer video for this story below.)

Source: Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg

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Scientists Link 5 Bacteria Types to Aggressive Prostate Cancer, Potentially Revolutionizing Treatment

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Researchers have found a link between bacteria and aggressive forms of prostate cancer.

The University of East Anglia scientists identified five types of bacteria which were common in urine and tissue samples from men with aggressive prostate cancer.

It is hoped that these findings could help pave the way for treatments that could target these particular bacteria and slow or prevent the development of aggressive disease.

“We already know of some strong associations between infections and cancer,” Project lead Prof Colin Cooper, from UEA’s Norwich Medical School, said. “For example, the presence of Helicobacter pylori bacteria in the digestive tract can lead to stomach ulcers and is associated with stomach cancer, and some types of the HPV virus can cause cervical cancer.

“We wanted to find out whether bacteria could be linked to the way prostate cancer grows and spreads.”

“While prostate cancer is responsible for a large proportion of all male cancer deaths, it is more commonly a disease men die with rather than from,” Dr Jeremy Clark, also from UEA’s Norwich Medical School, explained. “And little is known about what causes some prostate cancers to become more aggressive than others. We now have evidence that certain bacteria are involved in this and are part of the puzzle.”

The team worked with colleagues at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital, the Quadram Institute, and other collaborators to analyze urine or tissue samples from more than 600 patients with or without prostate cancer. And they developed methods of finding the bacteria associated with aggressive prostate cancer.

RELATED: New Prostate Cancer Test Makes Diagnosis from Urine in 20 Minutes With Near 100% Accuracy, Researchers Say

“To detect the bacteria, we used many different approaches including whole genome sequencing of the tissue samples, a method which is being used increasingly as we transition into an era of genomic medicine,” Dr Rachel Hurst, first author of this work and also from UEA’s Norwich Medical School, said. “When tumor samples are sequenced, DNA from any pathogens present are also sequenced, making it possible to detect bacteria.

“We found several types of bacteria associated with aggressive prostate cancer, some of which are new types of bacteria never found before.”

Two of the new bacteria species found by the team have been named after two of the study’s funders—Porphyromonas bobii, after the The Bob Champion Cancer Trust and Varibaculum prostatecancerukia, after Prostate Cancer UK.

The set of bacteria found by the team include Anaerococcus, Peptoniphilus, Porphyromonas, Fenollaria, and Fusobacterium. All of these are anaerobic, which means they like to grow without oxygen present.

“When any of these specific anaerobic bacteria were detected in the patient’s samples, it was linked to the presence of higher grades of prostate cancer and more rapid progression to aggressive disease,” Dr Hurst said. “We also identified potential biological mechanisms of how these bacteria may be linked to cancer.

MORE: Prostate Cancer Breakthrough: Protein That Stops Tumor Growth is Discovered

“Among the things we don’t yet know is how people pick up these bacteria, whether they are causing the cancer, or whether a poor immune response permits the growth of the bacteria.

“But we hope that our findings and future work could lead to new treatment options, that could slow or prevent aggressive prostate cancer from developing. Our work could also lay the foundations for new tests that use bacteria to predict the most effective treatment for each man’s cancer,” she added.

A revolutionary discovery for men’s health

The team also noted that many bacteria are beneficial to human life and it is not a simple matter to remove the harmful bacteria without removing the protection provided by the good bacteria.

“Knowing when we can watch and wait or whether we need to start treatment is a major challenge for people with prostate cancer. If we can target aggressive cancers while sparing others from unnecessary treatment it will dramatically improve the way we manage this disease,” Prof Daniel Brewer, from UEA’s Norwich Medical School and a visiting worker at the Earlham Institute, noted. “There seems to be a clear link between these bacteria and the way the cancer is behaving. We need to understand this relationship in more detail but it’s a major step towards developing a cheap and quick test that could guide treatment decisions.”

WATCH: Color-Changing Inks Can Be Printed onto Clothing to Warn the Wearer About Potential Health Issues

“This research exemplifies the Norwich Research Park’s multidisciplinary approach to studying infection,” Collaborator Prof John Wain from the Quadram Institute said. “The link between bacterial growth and cancer is not always straight forward and working with the cancer group at the Norwich Medical School has allowed us to demonstrate a possible link between bacteria living in the prostate and severe forms of prostate cancer.

“By combining advanced computational analysis of DNA sequence data from the urine of patients with an in depth understanding of cancer biology and the ability to characterize new species of bacteria we were able to show an association between the presence of several bacteria and progression to an aggressive form of prostate cancer.

“This will now enable further work to determine if there are causal relationships between microbes and cancer.”

LOOK: Simple New Blood Test For Prostate Cancer Determines Presence and Stage of Cancer With 99% Accuracy

“This is an exciting discovery that has the potential to truly revolutionize treatment for men,” Dr Hayley Luxton, Research Impact Manager at Prostate Cancer UK, stated of the research, published in the journal European Urology Oncology.

“We currently have no way of reliably identifying aggressive prostate cancers, and this research could help make sure men get the right treatment for them. If the team can demonstrate that these newly-identified bacteria can not only predict, but actually cause aggressive prostate cancer, for the first time we may actually be able to prevent prostate cancer occurring. This would be a huge breakthrough that could save thousands of lives each year.

Source: UEA 

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Students Create Edible Tortilla Tape to Keep Your Wraps Wrapped

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SWNS

Messy burritos could be a thing of the past—thanks to a new edible food tape.

Inspired by their own experiences with sloppy lunches, students at Baltimore’s Johns Hopkins University have created Tastee Tape, an edible adhesive.

It comprises of “a food-grade fibrous scaffold and an organic adhesive” that ensures the ingredients in your wrap are kept tucked tightly inside during cooking and consumption.

The tape can be applied to any food, including tortillas, tacos, and gyros.

“First, we learned about the science around tape and different adhesives, and then we worked to find edible counterparts,” said Tyler Guarino, who teamed up with fellow engineering seniors Marie Eric, Rachel Nie, and Erin Walsh on the project.

The team of chemical and biomolecular engineering students at Whiting School of Engineering tested a “multitude” of ingredients and combinations before settling on a final recipe, which is edible, safe, and has the tensile strength you can trust to hold together a fat burrito.

SWNS

Because they are applying for a patent, team members declined to disclose their secret formula.

“What I can say is that all its ingredients are safe to consume, are food grade, and are common food and dietary additives,” Guarino said.

MORE: Morel Mushrooms Have Finally Been Reliably Cultivated Indoors For the First Time

Months spent prototyping resulted in rectangular strips measuring half an inch by two inches. These come affixed to sheets of waxed paper. To use, simply remove a strip from the sheet, wet thoroughly to activate, and apply to your lunch, dinner, or favourite snack.

The team members put their invention to the test on “too many burritos to count,” but are confident in the quality of their product.

“Tastee Tape allows you to put full faith in your tortilla, and enjoy your meal, mess-free,” Guarino said.

SWNS

The innovation was showcased at Whiting School of Engineering’s Design Day, in which more than 400 students from across all nine of the Engineering school’s academic departments, as well as its Center for Leadership Education, participate.

RELATED: What Your Candy Preferences Say About Your Personality

After two years in a virtual format necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic, this year’s event was able to be held in person on campus.

“Design Day is an exciting landmark in our students’ journeys from studying engineering in the classroom and laboratory to becoming practicing engineers heading out to make a lasting and positive impact on our world,” says Ed Schlesinger, dean of the Whiting School.

One of the hallmarks of Design Day is the opportunity it gives students to work closely with faculty members and clinical researchers from across Johns Hopkins institutions, as well as with industry and other sponsors from throughout the Mid-Atlantic region.

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World’s First Ocean-Assisted Carbon Removal Plant Launched in Hawaii

By
Andy Corbley
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Heimdal
Heimdal

A company in middle of the Pacific has created a unique system that takes advantage of existing infrastructure to pull carbon from the ocean.

The advantage of taking carbon out of the ocean is simple—it holds more carbon in less space than in the air. Furthermore, plenty of machinery already pulls water out of the ocean—desalination plants for example—so it’s a simple matter of connecting the device held in a shipping container to existing systems.

In this case, the Hawai’i-based company Heimdal is taking advantage of the 50th state’s desalination plants on the Big Island.

Once seawater is pumped up into the Heimdal V1, it uses electrolysis to separate hydrogen and oxygen from the carbon-based acids that are warming the sea.

The purified seawater is returned to the ocean sans carbon, and the separated acids are sold as hydrochloric acid—a common manufacturing and laboratory compound that’s produced in factories to satisfy a 20-million-tons-per-year world market.

“When the excess acidity is removed from the ocean, it shifts how CO2 exists back to how it was pre-Industrial Revolution,” Erik Millar, co-CEO of Heimdal, told Fast Company.

RELATED: Scientists Engineer Bacteria to Eat CO2 and Release Valuable Acetone and Isopropyl That are Carbon-Negative

“This moves it away from being carbonic acid, which causes ocean acidification, and toward bicarbonate and carbonate. These are stable forms of mineralized carbon dioxide that make their way down to the ocean floor, where they are stored for more than 100,000 years.”

Heimdal

Breaking the cycle

Key to understanding why carbon in the oceans affects global temperatures is their place in the global carbon cycle. Climate systems are constantly transferring carbon molecules in and out of the soil, around in the atmosphere, and down into the sea.

The oceans have now taken on a third of the all CO2 pumped into the atmosphere, making them warmer and more acidic. Carbon in the ocean will eventually return to the atmosphere, and so withdrawing it while it’s contained in a denser solution (water) means humans call pull more of it out, and at a faster rate.

MORE: City Trees and Soil Are Sucking More Carbon Out of the Atmosphere Than We Thought

To that end, each Heimdal, deployed in its shipping container, can pull 1,000 tons of carbon out of the ocean per year at just a fraction of the cost of air-capture methods. At its current prototype, Heimdal pulls carbon out of the sea at around $475 per ton, but future plants should manage 5,000 tons a year±and for less than $200 per ton.

If industry interests in buying carbon offsets continue as they have, Heimdal predicts they could be managing five million per year in just five years’ time.

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“Remember that you will never reach a higher standard than you yourself set.” – Ellen G. White

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Good News Network
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Quote of the Day: “Remember that you will never reach a higher standard than you yourself set.” – Ellen G. White

Photo by: Zac Durant

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?

Portable Wind Turbine Fits in Your Backpack to Charge All Your Electronics – And Only Adds 3 Lbs

By
Andy Corbley
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Shine / Kickstarter video
Aurea Technologies

Meet the portable wind turbine for campers, RVers, backpackers, wilderness researchers, or anyone who needs a bit of USB power in the great outdoors.

Weighing three pounds, or just under 1.5 kilos, Shine was launched via Kickstarter last year, and on Indiegogo last week, and has already raised over $355,000 ($275,000 CAD) in the latest round of crowdfunding.

Aurea Technologies

To use Shine, you simple deploy a tripod and stick it into the ground with tensioning cables, and then mount the turbine on top, plugging your device into the underbelly where it can receive up to 40 watts.

Because the turbine spins into the wind, it doesn’t matter from which direction the breeze is coming. Power will always be produced.

Shine is manufactured by Aurea Technologies based out of Nova Scotia, who paid meticulously close attention to materials and design to get the weight of the device down to as little as possible. If you’ve ever met a serious backpacker and got them talking about weight and space saving, you’ll have heard all about why that matters.

Necessitating a battery that takes up a third of the weight, the other components had to be seriously light—including turbine blades made from polycarbonate reinforced plastic, which fold out from the body, and an aluminum tripod.

Shine / Kickstarter video

MORE: Carbon-Negative Plant Opens in Turkey Turning Algae Into Bio-Jet Fuel and So Much More

Aurea decided to pivot from their original plans of making miniature turbines that could be built into building facades. Interested campers and adventurers can preorder now at “40% off retail”, buying one for $324 ($418 CAD) with an estimated shipping date of October 2022.

POWER UP Inspiration for Future Backpacking Trips—Share This Story…

Diving Heroes Find Woman’s 100-Year-old Wedding Ring After it Flew Off her Finger Into a River

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Good News Network
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SWNS
SWNS

A team of scuba diving heroes have reunited a grateful woman with her lost antique wedding ring after it flew off her finger—and into a river.

Emma Lyon was watching a regatta from the banks of the River Great Ouse last Saturday when the 100-year-old jewelery flew into the water.

The gold wedding ring had belonged to her grandmother, and Emma was devastated when it quickly disappeared from sight.

She contacted Bedford Scuba Divers the following day after a friend suggested they could help, and couldn’t believe how quickly they responded to her plea.

By Monday evening, a team of divers had found the ring and handed it back to Emma.

MORE: Watch the Rescue Moment for Little Dog Trapped Down a Hole And Missing For Days

She naturally took the whole crew out for a thank you drink at a local pub afterwards, saying,  “The divers were absolutely amazing!

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“My grandmother died in 2000, aged 100. She worked at a corn merchant on Caldwell Street and would sometimes get up early and take the family’s punt out on the river before work.

RELATED: Metal Detector Left Him Stunned After Unearthing Ancient Ring Belonging to the Sheriff of Nottingham

“I did think that if we couldn’t find the ring, it had ended up in a fitting resting place.

“I am just so, so grateful to everyone from the scuba club who gave up their evening to help out and cannot believe [they were] able to find it. It was a total miracle.”

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New Hope for Reversing Acute Leukemia Patients’ Resistance to Treatment

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Good News Network
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AML leukemia CC license wikimedia commons Dr. Lance Liotta Laboratory
Dr. Lance Liotta Laboratory, CC license

Scientists have made a significant breakthrough in overcoming drug resistance in acute myeloid leukemia, a rare and devastating blood cancer.

In a new study, researchers from the University of South Australia and SA Pathology’s Centre for Cancer Biology describe how they have discovered a way to suppress a specific protein that promotes resistance to drugs commonly used to treat acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients.

Professor Stuart Pitson, one of the lead authors of the study, says the finding could revolutionize the treatment of AML, a disease that has claimed the lives of professional golfer Jarrod Lyle, high-profile American journalist Nora Ephron, and filmmaker Lynn Shelton.

This cancer of the blood and bone marrow is characterized by an overproduction of cancerous white blood cells called leukaemic blasts.

Prof. Pitson says these cells crowd out normal white blood cells, which then can’t do their usual infection-fighting work, thereby increasing the risk of infections, low oxygen levels, and bleeding.

READ: Doctors Say Cancer Patients Cured a Decade After Immune Cell Therapy at University of Pennsylvania

SA Pathology haematologist Associate Professor David Ross says many AML patients initially respond to Venetoclax, a new therapy for AML recently listed on the PBS, but over time AML cells become resistant to it.

Using a large biobank of patient-donated AML biopsies and world-leading advanced pre-clinical models, the CCB researchers demonstrated that by modulating lipid metabolism in the body, a protein called Mcl-1 is inhibited in AML cells—the protein that facilitates drug resistance.

“This process makes AML cells exquisitely sensitive to Venetoclax, while leaving the normal white blood cells unaffected,” SA Pathology researcher and co-lead author, Associate Professor Jason Powell says.

MORE: Experimental Treatment in Spain Puts 18 Cancer Patients in Complete Remission

The CCB team is now working hard to optimize drugs targeting this pathway to take into clinical trials for AML patients.

“For most people with AML, the chances of long-term survival are no better now than they were last century,” Assoc. Prof. Ross says.

“Now, we have a chance to remedy that. New treatments that prevent Venetoclax resistance have the potential to prolong survival, or even increase the chances of a cure in a disease for which improved outcomes are desperately needed.”

This study has been published in the world-leading hematology journal Blood.

Source: University of South Australia

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Dog Sneaks Into Couple’s Home and Snuggles Her Way Into Their Bed During Storm

By
Andy Corbley
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Julie Johnson
Julie Johnson

It could have been that a door was left ajar, or maybe a window, Julie Johnson from Tennessee isn’t sure; all she knows is that somehow, someway—a stranger was able to freely enter her house one night.

This stranger however wasn’t trying to steal, but only to snuggle. A brown bull terrier with a golden heart and silent feet crept into the Johnsons’ house, jumped right into bed next to Julie and her husband Jimmy, and went to sleep, head on the pillows.

“You could see light coming into our curtains in our bedroom and I feel my husband not just roll over, but kind of startled, like almost a jump roll over and it woke me up,” Julie told NPR. “And in a quiet but stern voice, he said, ‘Julie, whose dog is this?'”

Despite the startle, in such a situation, it didn’t take long for Jimmy and Julie to realize the intruder meant them no harm, and was just “100% content being there.”

How Nala the dog managed to enter their house without disturbing or garnering the attention of Jupiter, Hollis, and Zeppelin, the three dogs who normally sleep alongside the couple, the Johnsons will never know, and it must have made for an interesting chit-chat over morning coffee.

Julie took to Facebook to see if she could locate the dog’s owners, posting a variety of selfies she took with the pup.

Julie Johnson

Not long after, Nala’s owners contacted them to explain she had slipped out of her collar on a walk the day before just ahead of a serious thunderstorm.

She had escaped into the woods, and between the four dog parents, the working theory arose that Nala had entered the Johnsons’ house out of fear of the thunder and lighting.

MORE: Zeus is the World’s Tallest Dog – Because Everything’s Bigger in Texas

“Our overly friendly pup, Nala, has hit an all-time record for ignoring personal space and added yet another trick to her long list of Houdini acts,” Cris Hawkins, one of Nala’s owners, wrote on Facebook.

RELATED: Tiny Bomb-Sniffing Jack Russell is a National Hero, Sporting a Presidential Medal

“Shame [on] Nala for somehow breaking into a stranger’s house and invading their personal space. Thankfully, the couple thought it was hilarious and they aren’t even mad about it.”

Nala on the left with her three new friends; Julie Johnson

Since the incident, the four pooches have had playdate in the park, celebrating their new, and entirely accidental friendship.

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“The more we see the beauty in ‘starting small,’ the more we empower ourselves to get started at all.” – Supriya Mehra

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Good News Network
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Quote of the Day: “The more we see the beauty in ‘starting small,’ the more we empower ourselves to get started at all.” – Supriya Mehra

Photo by: Sincerely Media

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?

Bears Topped the List of Americans’ Favorite Children’s Books – How Well Did Yours Do?

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Good News Network
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More than half (54%) of Americans say they transport themselves back to their childhoods by reading the books they loved as kids—including 62% of people over 77 years old.

A new survey asked 2,000 U.S. adults about their favorite picture books in childhood and found that Stan Berenstain’s The Berenstain Bears books came out on top with 31%.

Other popular picks included The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein (30%), The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter (30%), and Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown (29%).

In the realm of chapter books, respondents cited Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll (24%), Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder (23%), and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl (22%).

Conducted by OnePoll on behalf of ThriftBooks, the survey also found that half (50%) still claim to remember every line from their favorite children’s book, with millennials the most likely to say so (56%).

When asked which kid’s books they’ve picked up again in adulthood, people named Beauty and the Beast, the Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling, The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss and Charlotte’s Web by E. B. White, among others.

MORE: Students Write Adorable Letters on Behalf of Shelter Animals to Boost Adoptions – And it Worked

Relatable characters that stuck with readers included Encyclopedia Brown, Harry Potter, Peter Pan, Frodo Baggins, Nancy Drew, and Pippi Longstocking.

“Adventurous” (52%) and “kind” (50%) were the book character traits people related to most.

Men were more likely than women to relate to generous characters (42% vs. 32%). Meanwhile, millennials were much more likely than Gen X to relate to characters who are brave (52% vs. 38%), generous (45% vs. 29%), and loyal (47% vs. 33%).

What did people love most about reading books as a child? Imagining the fictional characters and worlds were real (42%), getting lost in the story (35%), and looking at the artwork (35%).

Books have also taught many a valuable life lesson. According to respondents, the most important of these were to “always be friendly,” that “every living thing has feelings,” to “laugh at your mistakes,” and “to be true to yourself and not be swayed by social pressure.”

More than seven in 10 (73%) said their parents read to them each night when they were kids, with the average respondent listening to five books a night.

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

And according to 69%, reading books as a child helped them learn to appreciate literature more in adulthood.

“Books clearly play an important role during the childhood years and have a lasting effect into adulthood.”

BEST MOMS IN CHILDREN’S LITERATURE

Ma Ingalls from Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder – 33%
Marmee from Little Women by Louisa May Alcott – 29%
Molly Weasley from the Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling – 29%
Charlotte from Charlotte’s Web by E. B. White – 29%
Dr. Kate Murry from A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle – 28%
Raksha from The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling – 28%
Mrs. Quimby from the Ramona series by Beverly Cleary – 28%

OPEN Up Those Nostalgic Memories; Share This Poll…

LEGO Brings Van Gogh’s Most Famous Painting Into the Third Dimension With 2,316 Fan-Designed Bricks

By
Andy Corbley
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LEGO
LEGO

Always keeping an eye on its more mature fans, LEGO is preparing to release a set of Dutch painter Vincent Van Gogh’s great work, Starry Night. 

But rather than forming a flat mosaic of bricks to make that most famous of images, Truman Cheng, a 25-year-old PhD student from Hong Kong, built the whole scene as Van Gogh would have viewed it—with the moon, the town, and the clouds made three-dimensional.

The result is Starry Night in 3D, complete with a little LEGO Minifigure of Van Gogh with a paintbrush, easel, and pallet, to be produced in partnership with the Metropolitan Museum of Art—where the original painting has been housed since 1935.

Cheng submitted the idea through LEGO Ideas, which allows fans to submit their own concepts for a set, and which has included intricately made additions to Star Wars and Harry Potter sets.

Cheng relied on making the painting 3D to emulate Van Gogh’s brushstrokes, and to lend to the moon and clouds that famous swirling effervescence they possess.

The little LEGO painter can be attached to the frame to make it look like he’s painting from where he might have been standing.

LEGO

Alternatively, because a frame of LEGO bricks is part of the—it can be hung on the wall like a normal painting.

LEGO

LEGO almost went bankrupt in the 2000s after some poor product launches, but was saved by the steady devotion of the first adults who grew up with LEGO.

Afterwards, the Danish company forever kept their over-21 crowd in their thoughts, providing different sets that were more complicated, that could be combined with electronic components, or that were particularly beautiful.

MORE: LEGO Unveils First Brick Prototype Made from Recycled Plastic –Watch Their ‘Clutch Strength’ and Smash Testing

For the current phase of nostalgia that American culture has wrapped itself around, LEGO has produced sets like the diner from Seinfeld, and other sets from popular ’90s television shows.

RELATED: LEGO Converts Their Instruction Manuals into Audio and Braille, Inspired by Blind Man

The 2,316 pieces Starry Night will be available from LEGO at $169.00.

PAINT Those Feeds With the Updated Beauty of These Swirling Skies…

Editor’s note: This story has been altered to correct the number of bricks in the set. 

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