16 years ago today, the Japanese spacecraft Hayabusa, containing particles of the asteroid 25143 Itokawa, which it landed on in November 2005, returned to Earth. Hayabusa was the first spacecraft designed to deliberately land on an asteroid and then take off again, and indeed was the first to ever do so. It was also the first one ever to bring back a sample of the asteroid it visited. READ what the samples contained… (2010)
After Wandering Field All Day He Discovers 16th C. Diamond Ring Using his Metal Detector
At the end of a long day, a metal detector enthusiast in England unearthed a 16th-century ring with eight diamonds.
Stuart Jones uncovered the stunning “once in a lifetime find” in the village of Wormington, Gloucestershire.
“When I recovered the ring, I was absolutely overwhelmed with joy. I was over the moon.
“Everyone around me was congratulating me and taking photographs.
“Without any doubt, the ring is the best find I have ever made.
“Like many detectorists, I have always dreamed of finding something truly special, but I never imagined I would discover an item of this significance.
“I know I may never find anything that surpasses this discovery, but that is part of what makes it so special.”
The ring, which was examined by the British Museum, is expected to attract bids of up to $20,000 at auction (with Noonans of Mayfair conducting the sale on June 23). And all money earned at the auction will be shared equally with the landowner.
FABULOUS FIND: Despite Faulty Metal Detector, Treasure Hunter Unearths Largest Gold Nugget Ever Found in England
“Whatever happens at auction, finding the ring has already been an unforgettable experience and a moment that I will treasure for the rest of my life.”
Luckily, as he pulled the ring from the soil, one diamond came loose and fell into his hand. A second jewel was also missing—but he gathered the surrounding dirt and managed to find the missing stone.
“Early 17th century baroque tastes required grand rings to make an impression from a distance,” reported Noonans Jewelry Specialist Laura Smith, “groups of stones arranged in decorative patterns: rosettes, pansies, crosses, fleur-de-lys, etc.”
“This ring has a flowerhead bezel composed of a cluster of eight ‘hogback’ diamonds, which is very rare.
LUCKY BOY: The First Time a 10-Year-old Boy Uses His Birthday Metal Detector, He Unearths a Centuries-Old Sword
“The gold is testing as 19.2-carat, 80% pure gold.”
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New Solar Method Turns Ocean Into Drinking Water, While Extracting Valuable Lithium Without Waste
A new energy-efficient desalination system produces fresh water without chemical additives and transforms leftover salts into useful materials.
Communities from California to the Middle East currently rely on desalination plants to convert ocean water to fresh water. But, common desalination techniques—such as reverse osmosis and thermal distillation—are energy-intensive, require chemical water treatment, and leave behind a concentrated saltwater byproduct called brine, which wreaks havoc on sea life if it’s deposited back into the ocean by raising the salt content and lowering oxygen levels.
Now, a novel approach developed at the University of Rochester offers a way to overcome these drawbacks. Their new solar-thermal desalination process does not leave behind brine and requires no chemical additives to pre-treat the water, according to the paper published in Light: Science & Applications.
The technology uses solar panels made of black metal etched with femtosecond lasers to make the surface super light-absorbing and super-wicking, extremely attractive to water.
The panels have a laser-treated active region that pulls a thin layer of water across the surface, absorbs nearly all solar radiation, distills the water, and deposits the leftover salts and minerals into the panel’s untreated sides, leaving the active region unclogged for continuous desalination.
A team led by senior scientist Chunlei Guo, a professor of optics and physics at the university, says other researchers have developed solar-thermal desalination techniques that only work well in lab experiments—using simulated seawater made of only water and sodium chloride. The real ocean is much more complex, and these systems tend to encounter problems when used in the field.
Unlike sodium chloride, many other components in seawater, such as magnesium- and calcium-based materials, crystallize in a crusty and non-porous fashion on the solar panel’s surface—and water can’t seep through anymore. This is the same phenomenon as your shower head clogging over time, except that seawater contains hundreds of times more salts than your tap water.
The ‘coffee ring effect’ makes it self-cleaning
To keep their solar panel surface from gumming up, Guo’s team etched the black metal’s grooves so the various salts and minerals in ocean water would simply slough off. They also leveraged a physical phenomenon java-lovers have encountered for centuries: the coffee ring effect.
“If you drop coffee on a surface, eventually the water evaporates, and there’s a ring left at the outer edge that is the concentrated coffee particles,” says Prof. Guo. “We use that same principle to advance the salts to the passive region.”
Testing their solar-thermal desalination technique using samples of water from the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Oceans, Guo and his team were able to make the surface self-cleaning.
It extracted freshwater and directed the remaining salts to where they could be collected without reducing the panel’s efficiency.
Turning waste into resources – like lithium
Another distinct advantage is that instead of leaving behind brine that must be disposed of or processed, it extracts nearly 100 percent of the salts in solid form. This could not only produce an abundant supply of table salt, but it could also be used to extract more precious minerals, including lithium, which helps power electric vehicles and electronics.
BREAKTHROUGH: Batteries That Use Sodium Instead of Lithium Could Be Low-Cost Rival to Tesla’s
“Mining lithium from the earth has proven to be very taxing from an energy and environmental standpoint, so pulling lithium directly from saltwater could be a very important future route,” says Guo.
In a related paper in the Journal of Materials Chemistry, Guo and his colleagues showed how they can use the same super-wicking solar panels to separate lithium from the rest of other salts in desalination.
Embedding nanoparticles made of hydrogen titanate in the tiny grooves of the black metal surface isolates the lithium from other salts and minerals.
Using water samples from Great Salt Lake, the researchers extracted about 50 percent of the lithium from the salts left behind by the desalination process.
Guo sees the technology as inherently scalable, capable of improving global access to drinking water while building a more sustainable supply of precious minerals.
“Mining lithium from the earth has proven to be very taxing from an energy and environmental standpoint, so pulling lithium directly from saltwater could be a very important future route.”
RESOURCE WONDER: Lithium Discovery in Crater in Nevada Could Be Biggest Deposit Ever Found
See how the process works in the university video, below…
(The work was funded by the National Science Foundation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and Worldwide Universities Network.)
Dog Rescued After Being Swept Out to Sea on Inflatable Kayak Headed Toward Norway
A tour boat joined the search for a dog that had floated three miles out to sea in a kayak.
After two hours of searching, they spotted the inflatable boat on the horizon but couldn’t see if the pooch was still aboard. As tension mounted, they young men captured the moment on video when they confirmed that large black pup was safe.
Bruce the Alsatian was playing in the waves when his owner put him in an inflatable boat to swim beside him.
But a gust of wind dragged the kayak away from the shore of Northumberland, in North East England—and Bruce was suddenly washed out to sea.
His panicking owner raised the alarm and coast guard crews from the nearby town of Seahouses scrambled to search for him last Sunday afternoon.
Video from the two-man crew of Serenity Farne Islands Boat Tours shows the moment Captain Jimmy Reid spotted the kayak floating in the North Sea.
“My emotions definitely got the better of me when I finally spotted Bruce inside the boat,” he told SWNS news.
“I had a heart-wrenching fear the dog was going to go in the water and stay there.
“When we actually got him on board and knew he was safe and knew the hard bit was over, we were both ecstatic.”
AMAZING RESCUE: 18 Rescue Workers Toil for 6 Hours to Save Dog Trapped Underground (Watch Her Joyful Release)
The crew leapt into action after hearing the alert come through their radio as they made their way back after a tour of the Farne Islands.
Bruce’s owner had desperately tried to swim after the boat as it was blown out to sea, but had been forced to turn back.
“Bruce did the right thing by turning round,” Jimmy said. “It could easily have been a multi-casualty thing if he had kept going.
“When we found the boat we tried to get a harness around Bruce but it just slipped off and he fell into the water.
“Luckily my crewman Aaron reached down and grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and hauled him on board.”
CLEVER GIRL: Grandmother Gets Help From Her Dog While Gardening: She Points and He Digs
Bruce was hypothermic but the crew wrapped him in towels to warm him up before sailing back to the shore where he was reunited with his relieved owner.
Watch the rescue below…
SHARE BRUCE’S GOOD NEWS With Dog Lovers On Social Media…
France Salutes America, Flying Over Statue of Liberty–Launching Month of Celebrations for 250 Years of Friendship
The skies over New York City turned red, white, and blue on Tuesday as France launched Mission #Liberté250 to celebrate America’s 250th anniversary—and to honor the enduring alliance between sister nations.
The flyover by the French Air Force’s precision aerobatics team—the Patrouille de France—kicks off a historic month-long tour along the East Coast in a tribute to 250 years of French-American friendship.
The official social media page of the Embassy of France in New York shared video and photos on Facebook, thrilling anyone who missed the spectacle from the riverbanks of the Hudson.
“What a symbol,” said French President Emmanuel Macron. “250 years of shared history.”
That history goes much further back than the gift of a bronze Lady Liberty from Paris in July 4, 1884, to commemorate the centennial of U.S. independence.
France, in fact, was the primary reason the Declaration of Independence was written and signed 250 years ago in 1776. The document was fundamentally designed as a ‘call to arms’ for France’s King Louis XVI, signaling that the colonies were permanently breaking from Britain.
King Louis XVI made it clear they would not openly intervene in a civil war between Britain and her colonies, and had no interest in backing a rebellion that might be temporary and end in a peaceful reconciliation, leaving France exposed to British wrath.
Thomas Paine publicized this exact geopolitical reality in his January 1776 bestseller Common Sense, arguing that France and Spain would never lend aid until a manifesto of independence was dispatched to foreign courts. So, the Continental Congress had to formally declare themselves a separate, sovereign nation.
By issuing the Declaration on July 4, Congress transformed their movement from an illegal domestic insurrection into a legitimate war between sovereign states.
France made moves to ensure the American Revolution prevailed
But France had already been actively making the quiet, monumental moves that ensured the American Revolution survived its infancy. Before the colonies ever signed the Declaration, France was setting up the covert supply chains that kept George Washington’s army alive:
May 2, 1776: King Louis XVI officially authorized one million livres to purchase munitions for the Americans.
June, 1776: The French government backed a playwright’s idea to establish a fictitious trading firm—a ‘front company’ that allowed France to secretly channel gunpowder, muskets, tents, and uniforms to the Continental Army while maintaining official neutrality to avoid immediate war with Britain.
So critical was France’s secret aid that an estimated 90% of American troops at the pivotal first Battle of Saratoga carried French firearms and were entirely dependent on French gunpowder. Without the logistical support shipped overseas 250 years ago this summer, the revolution likely would have collapsed. (See the calendar of events for Liberté250 at the bottom…)
Lafayette, a French hero who forced the British surrender
The Marquis de Lafayette began working with George Washington in 1777, four years before the British surrender at Yorktown. The 19-year-old French aristocrat immediately impressed Washington with his unusual humility; unlike other foreign officers who demanded high pay and immediate command, Lafayette offered to serve without pay and volunteered to start as a basic staff member.
In his very first combat experience under Washington, Lafayette was shot in the leg while trying to rally retreating American soldiers in the 1777 Battle of Brandywine. Washington was deeply moved by the young Frenchman’s bravery and ordered his personal army surgeons to care for Lafayette as if he were his own son. Later that year, the Frenchman stayed by Washington’s side during the brutal winter at Valley Forge, sharing the same harsh, freezing conditions as the regular troops, which cemented a lifelong father-son relationship between the two men.
16 months later, with Washington’s blessing, Lafayette returned to France as a military hero—and lobbied the French king for massive reinforcements. He sailed back to America in 1780 and told Washington the ultimate good news—a French expeditionary force of 6,000 soldiers under General Rochambeau was on its way to fight under Washington’s direct command.
This deep, four-year foundation of trust is exactly why Washington bestowed upon a 23-year-old Lafayette the independent command of Virginia in 1781, setting the stage for a blockade that outmaneuvered British Lord Cornwallis, trapping him in Yorktown for the final victory.
Outnumbered nearly 4-to-1, Lafayette used a “cat-and-mouse” strategy, retreating north to Fredericksburg to preserve his forces while teasing Lord Cornwallis into chasing him deeper into the Virginia wilderness.
Mistakenly believing Lafayette’s army was broken, Cornwallis marched his troops to the port of Yorktown to establish a naval base for reinforcements by sea. But. Lafayette quickly moved his forces south, sealing off the land exits of the Yorktown peninsula and trapping Cornwallis against the water—sending a dispatch to Gen. Washington: “The British army is cornered.”
In October of 1781, Washington arrived along with French Gen. Rochambeau and the French fleet to launch the Siege of Yorktown. Cut off from land—by Lafayette’s troops—and by sea—thanks to French ships—Cornwallis formally surrendered, effectively winning the war for American independence.
And the Patrouille de France jets will be flying in formation over that very spot next Monday…
RELATED TO THE REVOLUTION:
• This Year Is the 250th Anniversary of the First Battle of the American Revolution, But it Ended in a Standoff
• Perfectly Preserved 250-Year-old Cherries Found in George Washington’s Cellar at Mount Vernon
Check out other Liberté250 events and flyovers scheduled for the next month below… (Note: New events may pop up on their website.)
- June 13 and 14: The Ocean City Air Show in Maryland
- June 15: The Patrouille de France will stage ceremonial flyovers over Yorktown, Williamsburg, and the Chesapeake Bay
- June 20 and 21: Fly over at the Naval Air Station Patuxent River Airshow
- June 22: The French aerial detachment will conduct flyovers over the National Mall in Washington, DC, Arlington National Cemetery, and Mount Vernon.
- June 24–30: The French Navy will participate in Sail250 in Baltimore, Maryland, alongside an international flotilla of tall ships and military aircraft.
- June 27 and 28: The Sail250 and Baltimore Air Show
- Fourth of July: The Patrouille de France will fly over Washington, DC
SHOW YOUR GRATITUDE By Sharing The Special History on Social Media…
“Overthinking is your imagination misused. If you can overthink the worst, why can’t you overthink the best?” – Jennifer Cohen
Quote of the Day: “Overthinking is your imagination misused… If you can overthink the worst, why can’t you overthink the best?” – Jennifer Cohen
Photo by: Nathan Dumlao
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Good News in History, June 12
250 years ago today, Virginia’s colonial legislature became the first to adopt a Bill of Rights. Known as the “Virginia Declaration of Rights,” it formed the basis and foundation of government in Virginia at the time, and a slightly updated version may still be seen in Virginia’s Constitution, making it legally in effect to this day. READ more, such as who wrote it… (1776)
Therapy Donkeys Prove Such a Balm of Calm to Psychiatric Hospital That Organizers Look to Expand
An animal therapy program at a psychiatric hospital in France is providing major improvements in care outcomes for patients.
This is reported by the patients themselves, observed by hospital staff, and presented by the program organizers, who now want proper research done into the practice to help standardize it and allow it to be available more broadly across the country.
Compared with the horse, the donkey definitely suffers from stereotyping across human culture and folklore. But it’s fair to say this is a pretty unjustified rap, since the donkey has been with us far longer than its taller, rangier cousin the horse.
Domesticated two-thousand years or more before a horse ever felt the tug of a rein, donkeys are often used as therapy animals because of their gentle, social, and intelligent natures—owed perhaps to this long history of cooperation with humans.
Every Friday at Ville-Evrard hospital complex, in Neuilly-sur-Marne, near Paris, patients suffering from psychiatric disorders, anxiety, loneliness, and other ailments get to visit the hospital’s wooded farm sanctuary for a therapy session with a therapy donkey.
Donkeys were bred to bear tremendous burdens over long distances—the anxiety or even schizophrenia of the patients is no sweat for equines like Nono, Pitou, Oscar, Manolo, or Malraux, who will pull some of the patients around in carts, offer their hooves for a nice cleaning to those who are a bit more confidant, or just quietly nuzzle others who need a good nuzzling.
Patients attend free of charge, and several described it as a valuable change of scenery which brings “relief.”
“Talking with people, taking part in activities I wouldn’t normally do, it helps me in my daily life,” said a patient, 52-year-old Jérôme. “It helps you break away from the routine of treatment and medication. Staying at home isn’t good for me.”
ALSO CHECK OUT: Depressed Cow ‘Overjoyed’ to Be Reunited With Therapy Goat Stolen From Their Paddock
Married couple Ermelinda and François Hadey launched the project for Ville-Evrard, and the first donkeys trained by François arrived in 2016. Ermelinda, a psychiatric therapy nurse, strongly believed in animal therapy. The couple determined that donkeys would be the perfect choice, but the program has grown to include all kinds of critters, including goats, turtles, rabbits, guinea pigs, chickens, and doves.
Alicia Fabi, an 18-year-old nursing student, told the Associated Press that the activity gives patients a chance to leave the hospital environment.
THERAPY ANIMALS TO THE RESCUE: Tiny Therapy Horses Have Big Impact on Hurting Humans
“Every time we come back from the activity, they say they feel good, calm and relaxed, and that they enjoyed the outing. That’s really positive,” she said.
The hospital and the Hadeys are looking to have proper scientific research performed on the donkey therapy program. Their hope is that it can be offered more broadly across the country.
WATCH the story from Euronews…
BRAY About This Brilliant New Standard Of Care With Your Friends…
7-11 Owner Pays Forward Kindness from Decade Ago with Viral Signs Offering Shelter from Scorching Heat
Okay, so you can’t read Japanese, but you’ll want to keep scrolling to see what this “almost too kind” 7-Eleven owner had to say to his customers.
Located in several cities in Niigata Prefecture, western Japan, signs inviting customers to come in and cool off suddenly popped up at 3 such convenience stores.
“If you feel unwell and think it may be heatstroke, please don’t push yourself — come inside and cool off,” the friendly notice, devoured by social media, read. “There is no need to purchase anything out of courtesy. Please focus solely on recovering your strength.”
The words weren’t written originally by 63-year-old store and franchise owner Tatsuya Takahashi, but he adopted them after seeing a similar notice online during last year’s scorching summer. He was at the time wondering what he could do to help his community.
The first viral post of the notice appeared on X where half a million people liked it, and was shared in translated versions by overseas accounts.
As the 90-degree days turned into bitterly cold winters, Mr. Takahashi switched out the friendly signs with new ones.
“You must be tired of driving on snowy roads. Then, please don’t hesitate to come inside and warm up,” the new sign read with a similar assurance that no purchases need be made.
“We pray for your safety” it concluded. The response to the sign was especially enthusiastic at the Ozumi Parking Area near the city of Nagaoka, which is an area known for heavy snowfall where truck drivers often sleep in their cabs.
MORE STORIES LIKE THIS: Wichita ‘Taco Hero’ Gets Year of Free Tacos for ‘Mind-Blowing’ Kindness After Card Reader Went Down
Shared by the Mainichi Shimbun, the longest running English-language daily in Japan, Takahashi explained that his goal was to “pay forward” the kindness which he received while traveling a decade ago.
Suffering heatstroke, he sought refuge in a restaurant where the owners took care of him until the recovered. He never forgot the simple acts of giving him cold water and leading him to the coolest seat, and hopes that others may likewise recover in one of his convenience stores.
JAPANESE CHARACTERS: Trading Cards Starring Middle-Aged Men Go Viral in Japanese Town, Boosting Volunteerism and Respect for Elders
“Even small acts of kindness can come full circle,” Takahashi told the paper.
Equally inspired by the man’s kind signs, Japanese 7-Eleven launched a “cool share” campaign at locations around the country inviting people to come in and do just the same.
SHARE This Nice Japanese Man Paying Forward Kindness In His Community…
Inventor’s Microfiber Laundry Filter Is Already Keeping Tons of Fossil-Fuel Fibers Out of the Environment
An English inventor has partnered with home appliance giant Bosch to produce a laundry machine filter for artificial microfibers, the world’s most significant source of microplastic pollution.
You’ve got to be a bit eco-conscious to fork over the $250 or so to buy the food-processor sized device that hooks right up to a home washing machine, but the home market is just one direction that inventor Adam Root is pursuing.
Microplastic pollution may be the world’s largest public health threat. The tiny fragments are found everywhere in the world a scientist has cared to look, including in every human organ and tissue, from the brain to the placenta.
Scientists aren’t aware of all their potential health consequences, but research has concretely demonstrated that microplastics dysregulate hormones at least, and are linked to a variety of other conditions including stunted growth, reduced fertility, and stomach, kidney, and liver problems.
Many people will equate the plastic bottle floating in the sea to the pollution, but the largest source are microfibers and come from two sources: artificial clothing and textiles, and tire tread wear.
Root says that every load of home laundry will ultimately shed about 1 gram of tiny fossil fuel-based thread filaments, and that these are typically washed out of the machine and into the sewage system, to join rivers and eventually the sea.
That’s why Root is working to pioneer his easy-to-install, self-cleaning, and filterless device at scale to textile plants and industrial washing operations.
“The most common thing we hear is: ‘I cannot believe how much material is coming out of the washing machine,’” Root told the Guardian. “Somebody sent me [photos of] dinner-platefuls.”
Additional benefits is the filtering out of normal fabric fibers that are chock full of synthetic dyes and other chemicals that do our biology no favors either.
Root and his company Matter Industries which makes the filter device aren’t waiting around for the citizens of the world to all miraculously find $250 to spend on something that will have no measurable effect on the benefit of their lives, and is instead going right to the source: to the factories that make artificial textiles.
ANOTHER INSPIRING INVENTIONS: 3 Teens Win Earth Prize for Asia Inventing Tamarind Powder That Easily Removes Microplastics
Part of the manufacturing process for these textiles is dyeing and washing which will release 360 metric tons of microfibers in one year in a single factory. These large industrial washing operations are prime targets for filtration.
Root has additionally campaigned in the UK to get a version of his filtration device on wastewater treatment plants that will handle discharge from home washing machines.
MORE HOME SOLUTIONS: Lampshades Are Turned into Indoor Air Purifiers by Applying “Clever” New Coating
German manufacturing giants Bosch and Siemens have already teamed up with Matter to expand Root’s efforts, and $20 million in fundraising has already seen him and his team take big steps towards getting the technology out into the world.
In 2025, Matter Industries finished as a finalist of the Earthshot Prize, and since the launch of its product line in June, enough of the home devices have been shipped out to capture 4.6 tons of microfibers over their operational lives.
SHARE This Big Impact Already From One Man On A Mission To Help The World…
Family That Owned This ‘Wildlife Wonder of the World’ for 300 Years Sells Bass Rock to Protect 100,000 Seabirds
A globally-important colony for seabirds has been sold to the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds to ensure the 100,000 gannets and 10,000 puffins that live there will benefit from top-notch conservation management.
Owned by the Scottish noble Dalrymple family for 320 years, Bass Rock and the neighboring uninhabited island of Craigleith have long been famous worldwide for the epic colony of gannets which nest there.
Located in the Firth of Forth, the gannets live among the remains of a 14th century castle and a 17th century prison dubbed “Scotland’s Alcatraz.” The ‘Rock’ has been a figure of inspiration in song and literature for generations.
Sir David Attenborough described it as one of the “12 wildlife wonders of the world.”
Today though, the royals have decided to call time on their stewardship of the island after rising numbers of Scottish seabird fatalities brought Sir Hew Dalrymple around to the idea that conservationists will be better able to protect the magnificent colony with unfettered management of the island.
“I made the decision to do this because of the risk these birds are now facing,” Sir Dalrymple told reporters from the island. “I thought an organization like the RSPB would be better equipped to protect the islands and their wildlife than a private individual.”
“Hence, we have been in discussions and I am glad to say, although with some emotional regret, they are now custodians of these two islands.”
The Dalrymple family had long collaborated with the Scottish Seabird Centre to carry out conservation measures on Bass Rock, which The Scotsman credited with supporting the growth of the island’s puffin colony to 5-figure numbers, and with eliminating an invasive tree species.
ROYAL STORIES:
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However with a massive offshore wind farm being recently approved nearby that is estimated to have an impact on the gannet colony, the decision was made to sell.
RSPB bought the islands for around $680,000 worth of British pounds with the help of the National Heritage Memorial and Lottery funds.
“For the Memorial Fund, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity to secure the islands for the public and ensure that, with RSPB Scotland and the Scottish Seabird Centre at the helm, their role as seabird sanctuaries is protected for the future,” said Simon Thurley, chairman of both funds for the National Trust.
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“Children are the keys of paradise.” – Eric Hoffer
Quote of the Day: “Children are the keys of paradise.” – Eric Hoffer
Photo by: Andrea Tummons
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?
Good News in History, June 11
40 years ago today, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off hit the big screen. The hit comedy directed by John Hughes tells the epic tale of teenagers skipping school. Starring Matthew Broderick as the mischievous Ferris, the story follows him, his girlfriend, and best friend Cameron, as they play hooky, evade the school’s principal, steal Cameron’s father’s Ferrari, and cavort around downtown Chicago. On the 30th anniversary the city held a “Ferris Fest” to celebrate the film’s debut. WATCH a scene involving the principal… (1986)
Mouse with Severed Spinal Cord Recovers ‘Normal’ Movement After Potentially Revolutionary Treatment
In an impressive early demonstration of a potentially revolutionary technology, biotech engineers in Zurich used micro-sized robots and stem cells to restore normal movement in a mouse whose spinal cord was entirely severed.
The tech was also demonstrated in zebrafish, and the engineers behind the demonstration say it brings multiple advantages over existing, similar methods.
Spinal cord injuries can have devastating consequences for those affected. Nerve cells in the spinal cord rarely regenerate naturally, while scarring often prevents the regrowth of nerve fibers.
Implantable electrode nerve stimulation is a method that can repair nerve damage in humans and animals by injecting the area with stem cells and using electrical stimulation to promote the growth of new nerve cells.
It can restore some lost movement, but significant challenges exist. It requires implanting electrodes into an extremely sensitive area, and the transplanted cells do not always survive or integrate properly into the existing tissue.
Researchers at ETH Zurich, one of the world’s top 10 engineering schools, are pursuing a new approach, which they have published in the journal Nature Materials.
It involves combining therapeutic stem cells with nanoparticles which can be guided magnetically to the precise site of an injury and stimulate the stem cells to accelerate repair.
The first step is to take a patient’s skin sample and turn it into induced pluripotent stem cells which will then turn into neuro progenitor cells (NPCs) that can take the form of nerve cells. Next, nanoparticles are created with an inner layer that responds to magnetic fields and an outer layer that converts this response into electrical signals.
These are cleverly combined in a culture medium on a laboratory one square centimeter in area, developed by team member and study co-author Professor Salvador Pané i Vidal of ETH Zurich’s Multi-Scale Robotics Lab, to produce “NPCbots”.
MICROROBOTS IN MEDICINE: These Micro-robots Can Clean Teeth By Shapeshifting into Toothbrush or Floss Forms
In about thirty minutes the cells and the nanoparticles combine, and once several million of these are extracted, the therapy is ready.
The researchers tested the NPCbots on zebrafish, whose spinal cord can repair itself naturally, and in mice. The zebrafish exhibited quick, substantial, and lasting improvements in movement.
In the mouse model, more relevant certainly for potential human use, the results were very promising. After 28 days, the animals’ nerve cells at each end of the severed spinal column reconnected.
During this period, the treated mice exhibited increasingly normal movement patterns; their gait, stride length, coordination and exploratory behavior improved significantly. The treatment was well tolerated by the animals, with no evidence of any adverse effects or immune reactions.
Will it work in humans? The first step is to continue animal models to test for side effects. The researchers expect the nanoparticles to be stable and minimally reactive thanks to a coating of barium-titanate, and may even go on to dissolve in muscle tissue. They want to see, however, if instead they are excreted in some way.
MORE STORIES LIKE THIS: Injured Spinal Cords Repaired With Breakthrough 3D-printed ‘Scaffolding’–Team Regrows Nerves in Rats
“In addition to many clinical aspects, we first need to test which magnetic fields work best in humans and determine the optimal stimulation duration,” Hao Ye, senior scientist and the study’s first author, said in a news release.
There is currently no sure fire way of repairing nerve damage in the human spinal cord. Should their method be able to translate to our species, it would revolutionize standard of care for spinal cord injuries.
SHARE This Potential Revolution In The Making With Your Friends…
Chicago Home Builder Lauded for Halting Construction Just to Save Killdeer Nest
From Chicago comes the story of a married couple who held up home construction to save a bird’s nest, and of the construction company who promised to halt work.
Brought to us by the Tribune’s Audrey Pachuta, Ray and Shelly Romolt fancy themselves as good neighbors and so were delighted to hear that the empty lot near their Lockport home was going to be turned into a new house.
Seeing the ‘sold’ sign driven into the dirt next door would have been a happy day, if it weren’t for the fact that the Romolts knew: someone had already moved it.
Following something of a media storm over endangered Great Lakes piping plovers along Lake Michigan’s Montrose Beach, Ray and Shelly had recently taken an interest in their local birdlife, and noticed that two adult killdeer frequented the empty lot next to their house.
Taking a walk among the weeds one day, the couple found a nest with 4 speckled killdeer eggs inside. If construction began, they would almost certainly be destroyed, and so against their yearslong wish for new neighbors, the pair began to request that work be postponed.
“We want you to stop, just for a month or so,” Shelly Romolt said her husband told an employee at the development’s model home. “And then, please, build away.”
Imagine, potentially, their surprise when a crew that had brought a bulldozer to the lot stood and diligently listened as Ray explained the killdeer was protected federally under the Migratory Bird Treaty. D.R. Horton, the building contractor whose corporate office Ray then called, suggested phoning the Illinois Department of Natural Resources for confirmation.
A VERY SIMILAR STORY: In the Land of Infrastructure Projects, Activists and Nature Lovers Saved Endangered Spoonbill Habitat
Shelly did just that, and received confirmation that these birds are, in fact, protected federally, and that the building crew would have to cite a special permit to proceed, or would otherwise be liable for penalties.
“Within a day of their exchange with the conservation police, the Romolts said the site supervisor came to the lot and placed caution tape and cones around the nesting site, assuring them the company would postpone their scheduled ‘dig date’ until the birds had hatched,” reported Pachuta.
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The world conservation authority, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature down-listed the killdeer from “Least Concern” to “Near-Threatened” in 2024 after reviewing scientific reports that suggested the animal’s population would fall 20% over the next three generations; probably because of incidents like the one the Romolts sought to avoid.
The couple were impressed with D.R. Horton’s responsiveness to the situation, and told the Tribune they expected the company to keep its word.
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Loophole in Endangered Species Act Is Closed to Coal Miners After Court Ruling
As May drew to a close, a US district court issued a ruling that the federal government’s attempts to undercut Endangered Species Act protections for the sake of coal mining were illegal.
Coal mines had been allowed to rely on a streamlined process that did not require an analysis of the harm they actually cause and were operating without limits on the extent of that harm, the Center for Biological Diversity, which sued federal mining authorities over the issue, wrote in a statement.
Coal mines will now be required to follow the law and ensure their activities don’t harm protected plants and animals, it said.
“This is an incredibly important victory for the streams and rivers of Appalachia and the people and wildlife who rely on them,” said Jared Margolis, a senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity.
“For too long regulators have allowed coal mining to devastate wildlife. This decision will require coal mines to fully account for their threats and harms and do more to ensure that imperiled wildlife aren’t pushed to extinction for dirty fossil fuel profits.”
The decision was issued by the US District Court for the District of Columbia and invalidates the federal government’s unlawful attempt to streamline how coal mines comply with the Endangered Species Act.
The Endangered Species Act requires such harm analyses to ensure that wildlife won’t be lost forever, and that damaging practices can be swiftly curtailed.
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The court found that the government’s process wasn’t consistent with the law and vacated the nationwide biological opinion that coal mines in many states used to avoid the more thorough analysis and implementation of mitigation measures that are essential to protect wildlife.
“The Endangered Species Act only works if federal regulators properly enforce it,” said Willie Dodson, coal impacts program manager for Appalachian Voices, which joined the center as plaintiff.
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According to Dodson, a regulatory opinion in 2020 regarding the incidental take of wildlife set up “a ludicrous and extra-legal scheme enabling coal companies to evade the law and engage in wildly destructive surface mining in watersheds where species like the Guyandotte River crayfish and the candy darter are just barely hanging on.”
“These species are bellwethers for all of us. They need clean water,” Dodson said. “We need clean water.”
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Shipwreck ‘Almost Beyond Belief’ Stunned Archaeologists with its Cargo of Intact Porcelain
A private citizen in Norway with a passion for underwater exploration has turned up an astonishing find in the nation’s waters: a shipwreck with a cargo of intact Chinese porcelain.
Espen Saastad, a watchmaker by trade, also happens to own a small underwater survey company, and it was during one such survey in the Skagerrak Strait between Norway and Sweden that his underwater vehicle found the wreck.
The video of the ROV gliding over sparkling white and blue porcelain dishes sticking out of the marine sand is hair-raising. Saastad called the Norwegian Directorate for Cultural Heritage and explained what he had found.
Later, a joint-expedition used another ROV armed with a suction cup to venture down to the wreck and recover some 40 artifacts.
“I had to rub my eyes when I grasped the scale of this find,” says Hanna Geiran, director general of the Norwegian Directorate for Cultural Heritage, in a statement. “It is almost beyond belief.”
Discovered last fall, the cargo is the subject of a new museum exhibition at the Norwegian Maritime Museum in Oslo.
Measuring 72-feet in length, the vessel has rested upright some 2,000 feet below the sea for nigh on 300 years after it sank fairly quickly. The cargo contains two styles of porcelain: Batavia style, which features blue decorations, and Dehua style which is almost always entirely white, a feature for which it was prized in Europe as “Blanc de Chine.”
The porcelain kilns that produce Dehua ceramics in the city of the same name on China’s south coast are collectively listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The crates which held them were packed with rice straw, suggesting their point of origin was indeed the Far East, however experts doubt the ship traveled all that way.
Instead, it probably picked them up directly from an intermediary. In addition to the porcelain, it contained blown and stemmed glass shaped into a variety of good from platters to chandeliers, barrels of grain, and containers of biological substances which have degraded over time, but may have been coffee, medicine, cocoa, or tea.
The combined evidence suggests the ship sank around 1750—a period marked by profound political, economic and social change in Northern Europe. Trade in raw materials and luxury goods, which had previously taken place in separate markets, was now developing into an interconnected maritime trading system.
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At the same time, the rise of the middle classes and the growth of international trade drove a rapid expansion in commerce and shipping. Among the wreckage was a clue as to the ship’s origin or shipping route: a brick baked in the northern German city of Lübeck.
The brick was part of the galley—the ship’s kitchen. However, a galley may have been repaired or replaced during a ship’s lifetime, so it doesn’t necessarily point to the two-masted vessel being a German one.
Many questions remain unanswered, and much of the cargo remains on the seabed.
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“The pine stays green in winter… like wisdom in hardship.” – Norman Douglas
Quote of the Day: “The pine stays green in winter… like wisdom in hardship.” – Norman Douglas
Photo by: Jonny Gios for Unsplash+
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?
Good News in History, June 10
91 years ago today, Alcoholics Anonymous was founded in Akron, Ohio, by Bill Wilson—who, the previous day, drank his last drink. He co-founded it with Dr. Bill Smith who helped form AA’s Twelve Step program of spiritual and character development to enable its members to “stay sober and help other alcoholics achieve sobriety.” READ about the Twelve Traditions through which they operate… (1935)
First Live White Abalone Found in 5 Years During Channel Islands Survey Sparks Hope for Recovery
This rather charismatic mollusk is the white abalone, a Critically-Endangered species of sea snail that’s Wanted: Alive in the state of California.
That’s because it hasn’t been seen in 5 years after populations declined 99% since the 1970s.
On May 12th, 2026, a research mission aboard the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration research vessel Shearwater identified a living white abalone as part of the Wanted Alive! White Abalone campaign that engages citizen scientists and recreational divers to record potential sightings of the creature.
With so few remaining among the coastal kelp forests of California, which themselves have been severely reduced by sea urchin plagues, individuals are often too far apart to reproduce successfully.
Scientists like those onboard Shearwater are working hard to understand where white abalone still occur and what habitat may support their recovery.
“It’s been like searching for a needle in a haystack,” explained Julie Bursek who is the education and outreach coordinator for Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary.
“Community science, research partnerships, and habitat surveys like this one are all important tools for helping scientists better understand where white abalone may still survive in the wild.”
Bursek and her team surveyed areas near Santa Rosa and Santa Cruz islands, focusing on habitat characterization and collecting environmental DNA, or eDNA, which allows scientists to collect and analyze genetic material shed by organisms into the surrounding water.
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After initial surveys on the southeast side of Santa Rosa Island, the team moved to a state marine protected area on the southwest side of Santa Cruz Island. There, the team identified promising white abalone habitat.
During a survey dive, Bursek along with Jaimee Butler, assistant dive safety officer of field operations from Aquarium of the Pacific, a partner on the Wanted Alive! White Abalone project, spotted what they guessed was their quarry.
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They took video and a shell length measurement. Project leads at NOAA Fisheries later confirmed the sighting based on video footage, marking the first live white abalone discovery in the sanctuary’s waters in five years.
The team also successfully deployed the new eDNA sampler and collected samples for future analysis. Next steps include conducting additional habitat surveys on the southwest side of Santa Cruz Island, attempting to relocate the individual, and processing the eDNA samples.
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