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Trucker With 5 Million Accident-Free Miles Wins Custom Semi and $50,000 as the 2025 Road Warrior Champion

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Stacy Batiste awarded as Road Warrior Winner 2025​​ – Submitted by Pilot
Stacy Batiste awarded as Road Warrior Winner 2025​​ – Submitted by Pilot

Truck drivers are among the most overlooked workers in America, yet almost everything we buy is delivered on a truck—from the gifts we’re buying, to the turkey on the table, and the gas we need for holiday traveling.

But one deserving driver, Marine Corps veteran Stacy Batiste, was just awarded a custom-built semi-truck and a check for $50,000 after his best friend (hugging him in the photo above) nominated him for the Road Warrior contest.

After reviewing thousands of entries, the trucker from Lafayette, Louisiana, was selected for his tireless dedication and commitment after driving over 5,000,000 accident-free miles during his 34 year career as a pro driver.

Batiste was “shocked” to win the largest prize in the history of the contest, sponsored by Pilot, the nation’s largest ‘travel center’ chain and third largest tanker fleet operator in the U.S.

He said he needed the discipline that military service provided: “I learned a lot from that. and I just transitioned that into my life.”

“With the military training, I’m alert,” he told the host of ‘What the Truck?’ on YouTube.

“You have to watch everyone out there: Sometimes you can tell, ‘Hey, he’s gonna to do this, or he’s gonna cut in front of you at the first opportunity’.

“I back off and take my time. I’m always early.”

The custom Kenworth semi-truck built by the Diesel Brothers was even in Stacy’s favorite color, red.’

Stacy Batiste awarded $50,000 check and new truck as Road Warrior Winner 2025​​

A bonus second-place winner, Bobby Peeker of Woodruff, South Carolina, is being awarded a $10,000 cash prize and a $25,000 donation to a charity of his choice supporting veterans. Bobby is also a Marine Corps veteran, and has driven more than 1 million accident-free miles

“They both are prime examples of the positive impact professional drivers have on and off the road,” said Jordan Spradling, senior vice president of transportation at Pilot Company.

Batiste considers trucking to be his calling, and he routinely goes the extra mile to mentor younger drivers and serves as a pillar in his local community.

“I love what I do and I can’t see myself doing anything else.”

“I’m gonna ride til I die or they take me out this truck, I’ll be honest with you on that part… I got diesel in my veins.”

MORE HONOR FOR TRUCKERS:
• Truck Driver Intervenes in Highway Shootout, Wins Goodyear Highway Hero Award
• Texas Trucker is Named ‘Highway Angel’ for Stopping to Rescue a Police Officer Pinned in Vehicle

Pilot surprised Batiste with his prize while he was working on the road, inviting him to stop at a Flying J in Texas, where his family and best friend were hiding in the store, ready to pop out when the Diesel Brothers handed over the keys.

As an owner-operator, the cherry red semi will further his passion for trucks that he’s held in his heart since he was a kid.

“I was speechless. It was a shocker, but I was very, very happy.

“It speaks to the time I’ve put in—and a lot of people appreciated it.”

If you know a deserving truck driver, or want to read stories of other Road Warriors, check out Pilot’s contest webpage, which has been celebrating truckers going the extra mile for over 10 years.

SEND THE HERO DRIVER ON A ROAD TRIP: Share This With Drivers on Social Media…

Tiny Disabled Puppy Found in Dumpster Gets New Home in Time for Christmas

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Dennis the newly adopted terrier puppy runs happy - SWNS
Dennis the newly adopted terrier puppy runs happy – SWNS

An adorable disabled pup that was left in a dumpster has been rehomed in time for Christmas after being rescued and nursed back to health.

After being discovered abandoned in South Oxfordshire, England, the tiny six-week-old, which is deaf and half-blind, was rushed to a veterinarian.

The terrier named Dennis weighed just 1.75 kg (under 4 pounds) and was growing weaker by the minute when he was admitted to the Blue Cross’s rescue center in Burford, where it underwent treatment, including antiseptic ointment for his wounds, and intravenous nutrition to build up his strength.

“I didn’t expect him to be so small,” said Anouska, the admissions coordinator at Blue Cross Burford. “He was absolutely tiny.”

“I’ve never seen a dog of his age quite so little and thin, and with so many injuries, as well.”

The animal charity said the injuries may have been caused by coming into contact with sharp objects in the bin or he may have sustained them beforehand.

Dennis was so scared upon arrival, he couldn’t even cope with a bath, so the team used damp towels to clean him up, as he was “really, really worried by the water”.

“His eyes couldn’t focus on you very well, and he couldn’t really hear what you were saying, or work out where he was.”

Dennis the disabled terrier puppy after it was found in dumpster – SWNS

“He would sort of go to the corner of the room or try to nestle into you in order to feel safe.

“For those first couple of days, he was so shut down and so nervous, and obviously, poor Dennis didn’t really have great eyesight and couldn’t hear.

“We weren’t able to do the normal things that you would do with a puppy. We had to teach him different cues.

“If we came into the room, we’d sort of tap our feet on the floor so he would get the vibrations to let him know we were approaching—and when we’d go to pick him up, we’d tap him gently so that he knew what these things started to mean.

“It was a whole different thing for us to learn. We’ve dealt with deaf puppies and we’ve dealt with blind puppies, but putting the two together was such a different experience for us and something that we had to learn along the way.”

LOOK: A Pile of Puppies Treatment Cheers Up Seriously Ill Kids with Bundles of Cozy Joy

He was placed into foster care where he continued to make a remarkable recovery before finding a loving home in Derbyshire in time for his first Christmas with new owners.

Anouska said Dennis learned to navigate in his foster home which became crucial in his journey toward being adapted.

Dennis the terrier puppy in his foster home – SWNS

#1 PUP: Stray Pooch Just Won 2025 Hero Dog Award for Soothing Families After School Shooting

“He would sort-of charge around, and within the first couple of days, he’d really laid out a map of his foster carer’s home,” she added.

“I think he did have breed on his side, in that terriers do something once and they go, ‘Oh, right, won’t do that again, that wasn’t very fun’.

“So, he’d walk into the corner of a room and know not to do it again. He would rush into things and learn as he did it.

“He really just came into his own in foster. As time went on, he became quite confident, and his personality very quickly came out.

“He’s now got a whole new incredible life ahead of him—but it could have gone down a completely different trajectory.”

OVERCOMING PUPPY HOARDER: Dogs Rescued from ‘Squalid’ House are Being Retrained as Police Sniffer K-9s

More than 25,000 pets have come through Blue Cross’s fostering and rehoming services in the last five years—and the charity has launched its annual Christmas appeal to support pet homelessness for those who’d like to donate.

SHARE THE SWEET STORY With Dog-Lovers on Social Media…

Your Weekly Horoscope – ‘Free Will Astrology’ by Rob Brezsny

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Our partner Rob Brezsny, who has a new book out, Astrology Is Real: Revelations from My Life as an Oracle, 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 December 6, 2025
Copyright by Rob Brezsny, FreeWillAstrology.com

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21):
The world’s oldest known musical composition is the Hurrian Hymn No. 6. It was discovered etched on clay tablets in Syria, dating back to 1400 BCE. When finally decoded and performed, it revealed harmonies that still resonate with modern listeners. Your projects in the coming months could share this timeless quality, Sagittarius. You will have an enhanced power to bridge your past and your future. A possibility you’ve been nurturing for months or even years may finally ripen into beautiful completion. Watch for opportunities to synergize tradition with innovative novelty or deep-rooted marvels with sweet, breezy forms of expression.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19):
I’m taking a risk here by urging you cautious Capricorns to at least flirt with the Finnish tradition of drinking alcohol at home alone in your underwear with no intention of going out. I’m certainly not encouraging you to get so hammered that you can’t safely wander outdoors. My point is to give yourself permission to celebrate your amazing, mysterious, beautiful life with a bout of utterly uninhibited relaxation and totally indulgent contentment. I authorize you to be loose and free and even slightly irresponsible. Let your private pleasures reign supreme.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18):
In the Quechua language, the word ayllu refers to a kinship system not just of people, but of animals, ancestors, dreams, and nature. To be aligned with one’s ayllu is to live in reciprocity, in the ongoing exchange of care and meaning among the entire web of life. “We belong to what we love,” the Quecha elders say. Aquarius, I believe you’re being asked to focus on your ayllu. Who or what comprises your circle of belonging? Which beings, places, and unseen presences help weave the pattern of your treasured destiny? Whom do you create for—not as audience, but as kin who receive and answer your song? As you nourish your connections in the coming weeks, pay special attention to those who respect your idiosyncrasies. It’s not your birthright to simply fit in. Your utter uniqueness is one of your greatest gifts, and it’s your sacred duty to give it.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20):
In Yoruba cosmology, the divine spirit Oshun presides over rivers, love, beauty, and sweet water. But her sweetness isn’t a weakness. It’s a sublime power, as evidenced by how her waters once restored life to the barren earth when every other force had failed. You Pisceans are now channeling extra strong currents of Oshun energy. Your tenderness is magnetic. Your imaginative flourishes are as valuable as gold. And your love, when rooted in your sovereign self-respect, is healing. But don’t let your nurturing be exploited. Choose wisely where you share your bounty. The right people will honor your flow, not judge it or try to change it. Your duty is to be uninhibitedly yourself and let your lyrical truths ripple freely.

ARIES (March 21-April 19):
Here are two of your birthrights as an Aries: to be the spark that ignites the fire and the trailblazer who doesn’t wait for permission. I invite you to embody both of those roles to the max in the coming weeks. But keep these caveats in mind: Your flame should provide light and warmth but not rouse scorching agitation. Your intention should be to lead the way, not stir up drama or demand attention. Be bold and innovative, my dear, but always with rigorous integrity. Be sensitive and receptive as you unleash your gorgeous courage. In my vision of your future, you’re the wise guide who inspires and includes, who innovates and reflects. You fight for interdependence, not dominance.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20):
Here’s a key theme: microdoses of courage. You don’t need to summon splashy acts of epic heroism. Subtle rebellions against numbness and ignorance may be all that’s required. Your understated superpowers will be tactful surges of honesty and gentle interventions in challenging transitions. So be brave in ways that feel manageable, Taurus. Don’t push yourself to be a fearless warrior. The trembling truth-teller is your best role model. As an experiment to get started, say yes to two things that make you nervous but don’t terrify you.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20):
Your inner ear contains three canals filled with fluid. They act like gyroscopes, telling you which way is up, how fast you’re moving, and when to stop. Your ability to maintain your balance depends on their loyal service. Without them, you couldn’t orient yourself in space. Moral of the story: You stabilize yourself through constant adjustment. Let’s make this a metaphor for your current assignment. Your ability to remain poised, centered, and grounded will require ongoing adaptations. It won’t work to remain still and fixed. You will have to keep calibrating and adapting.

CANCER (June 21-July 22):
Let’s extol the value of productive confusion: the disorienting state when your old maps no longer match the territory. Your beloved certainties shudder and dissipate, and you don’t know what you don’t know. This isn’t a failure of understanding, but the ripe precondition for a breakthrough. The caterpillar doesn’t smoothly or instantly transition into a butterfly. First it dissolves into chaotic goo and simmers there for a while. Conclusion: Stay in the not-knowing a little longer.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22):
Coffee from Java, orchids from Iceland, and grapes from Vesuvius, Italy: What do these bounties have in common? They flourish in the extra fertile soil created by volcanic eruptions. The molten lava that initially leveled everything in its path later cooled and became a repository of rich nutrients. I expect a milder version of this theme for you, Leo. Events and energies that at first cause disruption will eventually become vitalizing and even healing. Challenges will lead to nourishment.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22):
Gardeners in Japan spend years training bonsai trees to grow into elegant shapes. The process requires extraordinary patience, close listening, and an intimate relationship with an ever-changing life form. I invite you to approach your current projects with this mindset. You may feel tempted to expedite the growth that’s unfolding. You might feel pressure to “complete” or “optimize.” But the flourishing of your work depends on subtle attunement, not brute progress. Pay tender attention to what wants to emerge slowly. Tend to it with care. Time is your collaborator, not your enemy. You’re weaving lasting beauty.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22):
The Swedish concept of lagom means “not too much, not too little, but just right.” It suggests that the best option may be in the middle rather than in the extremes. Yes, sometimes that means an uneasy compromise. But more often, it’s how the power and virtue come fully alive and thrive. Many people don’t like this fact of life. They are fixated on the delusion that more is always better. In the coming weeks, Libra, I invite you to be a connoisseur of *lagom*. To do it right, you may have to strenuously resist peer pressure and groupthink.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21):
In Bangkok markets, elderly women sell caged birds. Why? For the specific purpose of releasing them. Those who buy a captive sparrow or dove immediately open the cage door and let the creature fly away in a symbolic gesture of compassion and spiritual aspiration. It’s a Buddhist act believed to bring good karma to the person who sets the bird free. I invite you to imagine yourself performing this sacrament, Scorpio, or perhaps conducting an actual ritual with the equivalent purpose. Now is a fun and fertile time to liberate an outdated belief, a conversation you keep replaying, or a version of yourself that’s no longer relevant. Take your cue from the signs that appear in the Bangkok market: *Letting go is a form of prayer.*

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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“Everything is phenomenal; everything is incredible. Never treat life casually.” – Abraham Joshua Heschel

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Credit: Diego PH

Quote of the Day: “Everything is phenomenal; everything is incredible. Never treat life casually.” – Abraham Joshua Heschel

Image by: Diego PH

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

Credit: Diego PH

Good News in History, December 6

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61 years ago today, Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer, the animated stop-motion Christmas special, was first broadcast on CBS television. The beloved Rankin/Bass production chronicles the bullying endured by Rudolph (at reindeer school) and a misfit elf named Hermey, who wants to be a dentist. WATCH the reprise finale below… (1964)

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900 Acres Bordering Yosemite Returned to Tribe That Was Expelled 175 Years Ago

By
Andy Corbley
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Tribal Secretary Tara Fouch-Moore at the western edge of the property - credit Pacific Forest Trust
Tribal Secretary Tara Fouch-Moore at the western edge of the property – credit Pacific Forest Trust

Nearly 900 acres of land bordering Yosemite National Park have been transferred back to tribal ownership after 175 years,

The transfer from Pacific Forest Trust to the Southern Sierra Miwuk Nation provides the tribe with ownership of the naturally and culturally significant Henness Ridge, site of a traditional Native American trail from the Central Valley to Yosemite, and a key migration corridor for deer and other mammals.

“This transfer reunites our people to this unique area of our homeland after 175 years of displacement,” said Tara Fouch-Moore, Tribal Secretary.

The Pacific Forest Trust spent two decades preparing the land for its return to tribal ownership after the organization purchased it under threat of development.

Located just west of Chinquapin/Badger Pass and State Highway 41, the property overlooks both branches of the Wild and Scenic Merced River to the south and north, the Central Valley to the west, and the main Yosemite Valley to the north.

For generations, the Southern Sierra Miwuk people cared for these forests, meadows, and springs. But with the 19th-century increase in settlements and the establishment of the Yosemite National Park, the tribe was eventually expelled.

“Having this significant piece of our ancestral Yosemite land back will bring our community together to celebrate tradition and provide a healing place for our children and grandchildren,” said Southern Sierra Miwuk Nation’s Tribal Council Chair and elder Sandra Chapman, in a statement. “It will be a sanctuary for our people.”

The transfer will enable the Southern Miwuk to restore biodiversity and climate resilience using traditional ecological practices such as cultural fire, cultivation of native plants, forest restoration, and protection of water quality feeding the two tributaries of the Merced.

In 2018, the property was heavily impacted by the Ferguson Fire. With a significant portion of the property burned, Pacific Forest Trust restored almost 500 acres by removing dangerous snags, thinning overstocked areas, improving access and other conditions for reforestation, and planting 125,000 native seedlings.

In fact, the Ferguson Fire was stopped from further spread on this Ridge, protecting the community of Yosemite West.

The project will also facilitate movement across private-public corridors for plants and animals adapting to climate change, and provide a unique platform for public education on the multiple benefits of indigenous land stewardship.

“When we were first approached to conserve this land over 20 years ago, we recognized immediately how important it was to protect and conserve. As we’ve protected it from development, strengthened its role as a buffer to Yosemite, and prioritized both conservation and cultural restoration, this is an extraordinarily fitting and positive outcome!” said Laurie Wayburn, cofounder and president of Pacific Forest Trust.

In addition to re-establishing the Southern Sierra Miwuk Nation as the stewards of Henness Ridge, this project will support and strengthen the Tribe’s case for federal recognition, an ongoing pursuit since 1982.

The land transfer was facilitated by a grant from the California Natural Resources Agency Tribal Nature-Based Solutions Program, which GNN recently reported helped set up another reunion a century and more in the making when the Tule River Indian Tribe celebrated the return of 17,000 acres of ancestral lands by releasing several of the region’s native Tule elk to roam the hills of the southwest Sierra Nevada.

ALSO CHECK OUT: 100 Years After Vultures Disappeared from These Mts, Their Return Completes ‘Europe’s Yellowstone’

Much like the Henness Ridge and its adjacency to Yosemite, the 17,00 acres are made up of former ranch properties that connect the Tule River Tribe’s existing reservation with a large block of US Forest Service land that connects with Giant Sequoia National Monument in Sequoia National Forest.

By turning the land, known as the Yowlumne Hills, over to the tribe, a substantial conservation corridor for animals including these Tule elk will be established.

MORE NATIVE NEWS: Yurok Tribe Celebrates Again as Ancestral Homelands are Returned–in Wake of Historic Dam Removal

As for the Miwuk, they look forward for rebuilding their identity landowners and stewards

“We will be able to harvest and cultivate our traditional foods, fibers, and medicines and steward the land using traditional ecological knowledge, strengthening our relationships with plants and wildlife, and benefiting everyone by restoring a more resilient and abundant landscape,” Fouch-Moore said in a statement.

SHARE This Land-Back News With Your Friends In California… 

Having a Pet Dog Boosts Teenage Mental Health by ‘Changing Microbes in Their Bodies’

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Andy Corbley
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- credit, Ai Tsujimura SWNS
– credit, Ai Tsujimura SWNS

Family dogs boost kids’ mental health by changing microbes that live in their bodies, according to a new study.

Researchers found that the pets prompt changes in the human microbiome, the collection of all microorganisms, including bacteria, fungi and viruses, that inhabit the human body.

Hundreds of studies have shown directly and circumstantially that this community of microbes play a crucial role in health, immunity, digestion, fertility, and emotional wellbeing.

The composition of a person’s microbiome is unique and can change based on factors such as diet, medication, and environmental exposures.

Other studies have shown dog owners have differences in their gut microbiomes, including greater microbial diversity, compared to non-dog owners.

Described in a new paper, lead author Professor Takefumi Kikusui, of Azabu University in Japan and his team found that young people who grow up with a dog from a young age and continue to have dogs later in life score higher on measures of companionship and social support.

These effects, he says, may be mediated through symbiosis with microorganisms.

In the new study, published in the journal iScience, the research team set out to explore whether some of the beneficial effects of dogs on adolescent mental health might be tied to these differences in the microbiome.

“Adolescent children who keep dogs exhibit higher mental well-being, and we also found that dog ownership alters the gut microbiota,” said Professor Kikusui “Since the gut microbiota influences behavior through the gut-brain axis, we conducted this experiment.”

The Japanese team found that whether someone owned a dog at age 13 predicted their mental health and behavioral scores. Social problems were “significantly” lower in adolescents with a dog at home compared to those without a dog.

They then looked at microbiome samples collected from the mouth.

After sequencing the microbes, the researchers found similar species diversity and richness between the two groups of teens. But the microbiome composition showed differences, suggesting that owning a dog shifted the abundances of specific oral bacteria.

They hypothesized that some of the bacteria might correlate with the teenagers’ psychological scores.

To put the theory to the test, the researchers treated lab mice with microbiota from dog-owning teens to see whether and how it affected their social behavior. Mice with the dog-owning microbiome spent more time sniffing their cage mates.

The animals also showed a more social approach toward a trapped cage-mate—a behavior test standardly used to test prosocial behavior in mice.

ALSO CHECK OUT: Probiotics Enhances Cognitive Abilities Through the Gut: A Key to Aging Brain Health

“The most interesting finding from this study is that bacteria promoting pro-sociality, or empathy, were discovered in the microbiomes of adolescent children who keep dogs,” said Kikusui.

“The implication is that the benefits of dog ownership include providing a sense of security through interaction, but I believe it also holds value in its potential to alter the symbiotic microbial community.”

MORE MICROBIOME RESEARCH: A Daycare Rewilded its Yard and the Children Became Healthier: Now the Whole Nation Is Doing it

Kikusui said the results suggest that a family dog can change the microbiome in ways that support mental health, empathy, and prosocial behavior.

“The benefits of living with dogs are likely the result of tens of thousands of years of human-canine coexistence.”

SHARE This Great Reason To Go Adopt A Dog With Your Friends… 

14-Year-Old Wins $25,000 for Origami That Can Hold 10,000 Times its Own Weight

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Andy Corbley
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– credit, Society for Science

A young man has folded his origami hobby into to a potential career path as an innovator, having used the Japanese artform to create a structure capable of holding 10,000 times its own weight.

His demonstration, which included extensive testing and personal invention, took first prize at the Thermo Fisher Scientific Junior Innovators Challenge in October, giving the lad $25,000 to fold—into his wallet.

Miles Wu has been folding origami for years – credit, Wu family photo

14-year-old Miles Wu from New York City has been folding origami animals and insects for years. He got so good at it that he has even started designing his own folding designs.

His eventual award-winning idea came from studying how origami had previously been used as a field for innovation in medicine. It was during January’s wildfires in Southern California and Hurricane Helene, when Wu familiarized himself with deployable disaster shelters that he realized he might use origami to build a better one.

He began personal experimentation with a kind of origami fold known as Miura-ori, which creates patterned parallelograms by folding a piece of paper over itself into a smaller area.

“A problem with current deployable structures and emergency structures is, for example, tents are sometimes strong, sometimes they can compact really small, and sometimes they’re easily deployable, but almost never are they all three, but Miura-ori could potentially solve that problem,” Wu told Business Insider.

“I found that Miura-ori was really strong, light, and folds down really compactly.”

He tested three different types of paper, folded into three different heights, lengths, and angles of parallelograms—creating 54 variations, which he tested over 108 trials attempting to see how much weight they could support by collapsing in on themselves.

Using every book in his small library, he eventually had to ask his parents to buy research weights to finish his trials.

ALSO CHECK OUT: New $1 Test Using Origami Paper Sensors Can Detect Infectious Diseases Like Covid–With Just a Mobile Phone

“The final statistic I got about the strongest Miura-ori that I tested was that it could hold over 10,000 times its own weight,” Wu said. “I calculated that to be the equivalent of a New York City taxi cab holding over 4,000 elephants.”

Miles with his winning Miura-ori fold – credit, Society for Science

It’s not bad for a 14-year-old.

Wu believed that less-acutely angled smaller folds with heavier material would prove the strongest, which was partially true. Counterintuitively perhaps, it was the lighter material that held up better.

MORE CHILD INNOVATORS: Teens Win 2025 Earth Prize for Refrigerator That Runs on Salt – 200 are Headed to Hospitals to Preserve Medicine

Taking first prize in the Thermo Fisher Scientific Junior Innovators Challenge requires being selected in a body of 300 peers and their experiments out of 2,000 entrants. Of those 300, 30 are then selected to travel to Washington, DC, for a presentation on their work. Wu’s parents have decided the money will go towards his higher education, and Wu himself is already returning to his origami research.

APPLAUD This Brilliant Young Man And His Work With A Share On Social Media…

Tonight’s Aptly-Named ‘Cold Moon’ is Final Supermoon of the Year

By
Andy Corbley
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A side-by-side comparison of two different moons - credit, Marco Langbroek, the Netherlands, using a Canon EOS 450D + Carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar MC 180mm lens / Marcoaliaslama, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
A side-by-side comparison of two different moons – credit, Marco Langbroek, the Netherlands, using a Canon EOS 450D + Carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar MC 180mm lens / Marcoaliaslama, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons

2025 has been blessed with three consecutive supermoons in the autumn skies, with the final one of the trio visible tonight over the United States.

It will crest the horizon at just after 5:00 pm, which depending on your latitude in the eastern United States may already be twilight, and therefore give a great chance to see it shining near the horizon where it appears largest.

A supermoon is a colloquial name for when our satellite reaches perigee, or the point of its elliptical orbit around the Earth when it’s the closest to us. This is the opposite of apogee, when the Moon reaches its farthest point.

When the Moon is full at perigee, it’s called a supermoon, and when full at apogee, it’s called a “micromoon.”

A supermoon appears 8% larger than a normal full moon, and 14% larger than a micromoon.

The cool thing is that it can appear even bigger the closer it is to the horizon, a phenomenon known as the Moon illusion.

“Being near perigee and full, this Moon can also produce slightly higher tides, known as perigean spring tides or king tides, especially along coastlines,” writes Old Farmer’s Almanac, which also detailed while the December full moon is called the “Cold Moon.”

Although it doesn’t take much detailing—it’s a cold time of the year. Cold Moon was what the Mohawk nation called it, while the Mohican referred to it as the Long Knight Moon, due to its proximity to the Winter Solstice. Other tribes associated it with nature phenomena, like frost crystals cracking tree bark, or when deer shed their antlers.

SHARE This Great Opportunity For Some Near-Winter Stargazing… 

“If you do not conquer self, you will be conquered by self.” – Napoleon Hill 

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Good News Network
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Credit: Professor Habits

Quote of the Day: “If you do not conquer self, you will be conquered by self.” – Napoleon Hill 

Image by: Professor Habits

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

Credit: Professor Habits

Good News in History, December 5

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Good News Network
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Clyde Cessna in 1917

146 years ago today, Clyde Cessna was born. Founding the Cessna Aircraft Company in the 1920s, the company was one of the highest-volume and most diverse producers of general aviation aircraft in the world during the 20th century. Cessna’s interest in aviation began in 1910 after witnessing an aerial exhibition in his home state of Kansas. He moved to New York state to pursue a career in aviation, and built his first airplane at age 32. READ more about his innovations… (1879)

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Quick Cancer Breath Test Hailed as Most Significant Step Toward a Lifesaving Breakthrough in 50 Years

By
Andy Corbley
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The pancreatic cancer testing device has a similar appearance - credit, Getty Images for Unsplash +
The pancreatic cancer testing device has a similar appearance – credit, Getty Images for Unsplash +

A quick and easy breath test to detect the difficult-to-diagnose pancreatic cancer is being trialed nationally in the UK with huge expectations.

Pancreatic cancer has a high mortality rate among cancers because of the tendency to discover it at later stages.

There has never been a breath test authorized by a major regulatory body like the British NIH or US Food and Drug Administration, but the initiative has far bigger aspirations than simply setting milestones.

An analysis of pancreatic cancer across the UK found that over 60% of cases are detected at stage 4. At this point, there’s not much to be done, and indeed, the same analysis found only 22% of patients diagnosed at this stage survive even a month beyond it.

It’s difficult to diagnose in part because it manifests in vague symptoms like backpain and indigestion.

Imperial College London and Pancreatic Cancer UK are teaming up to launch a major trial of a new breath testing device in 40 different locations across the Scotland, Wales, and England, with a target for 6,000 patients. The breath test will detect volatile organic compounds, or VOCs that are linked with pancreatic cancer; even in early stages.

Thousands of these VOCs travel around the bloodstream and can be expelled in a single breath. An analysis of the entire collection can pinpoint to cancer from other potential infections.

CANCER TESTING IMPROVEMENTS: 

“The breath test has the potential to revolutionize the early detection of pancreatic cancer. It is, undoubtedly, the most significant step toward a lifesaving breakthrough in 50 years,” said Diana Jupp, chief executive of Pancreatic Cancer UK which is funding the study.

“While more years of development are still needed before we can put this exciting new technology into the hands of GPs across the country, thousands of patients with an unknown diagnosis will now help refine it in the real-world.”

“This is the first pancreatic cancer breath test to ever reach a national clinical trial of this scale. That in itself makes this a moment of real, tangible hope.”

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Mosquitoes Can’t Resist Smell of Fungus That Lures Them to Their Death Inside Trap Patented by Researchers

By
Andy Corbley
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Courtesy of Kiley Riffell / UW
Courtesy of Kiley Riffell / UW

There are dozens of ways to implement mosquito control, but none have proved a cure-all against the deadliest animal on Earth.

Now, researchers have genetically-engineered a natural enemy of the mosquito—with millions of years of evolution backing up its deadly design—to attract and kill the insects even when humans were also on the menu.

It’s called Metarhizium, and it’s a parasitic fungus that lures insects to their death with an odorous compound called longifolene. The fungus plays the olfactory role of a nectar-rich flower, attracting bugs like mosquitoes before infecting them with its spores that kill and eat the creature from the inside out.

The problem is that the fungus only creates longifolene after it kills a bug, which means a lot of waiting around to start; not a positive for a potential mosquito-control agent.

In a study published last week in Nature Microbiology, mycologist Raymond St. Leger at the Department of Entomology at the University of Maryland and his co-authors from China and Burkina Faso elaborated how they were able to genetically engineer Metarhizium to produce longifolene in huge amounts around the clock.

“The fungus is completely harmless to humans as longifolene is already commonly used in perfumes and has a long safety record,” Dr. St. Leger explained to his university press. “This makes it much safer than many chemical pesticides.

When grown on simple wheat or rice substrate in a patent-pending trap design that admits only mosquitoes and not beneficial insects, it successfully culled about half of all mosquitoes released into a room that included a human volunteer sleeping under a bug net over a period of 5 days, and nearly all followed a few days later.

Dr. St. Leger doesn’t believe his traps are a solution on their own, and his collaborators in China are experimenting with other methods of mosquito control to see if there’s an ideal complement.

MOSQUITO BITES:

The fungus is easily produced in a variety of settings, including in rural communities where it can be grown on common feedstock like rice. Unlike synthetic chemicals that coat mosquito nets, some of which the insects are now resistant to, Metarhizium has millions of years of evolution behind it, meaning it’s unlikely the bugs will be able to withstand these traps anytime soon.

“If mosquitoes evolve to avoid longifolene, that could mean they’ll stop responding to flowers,” St. Leger said.

“But they need flowers as a food source to survive, so it would be very interesting to see how they could possibly avoid the fungus yet still be attracted to the flowers they need. It’ll be very difficult for them to overcome that hurdle, and we have the option of engineering the fungus to produce additional floral odors if they evolve to specifically avoid longifolene.”

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100 Years After Vultures Disappeared from These Mts, Their Return Completes ‘Europe’s Yellowstone’

By
Andy Corbley
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A cinereous vulture (left) and a griffon vulture - credit Mike Prince CC 3.0 BY-SA
A cinereous vulture (left) and a griffon vulture – credit Mike Prince CC 3.0 BY-SA

Young griffon vultures are set to be reintroduced to the Carpathian Mountains in Romania, around 100 years after they went extinct there.

The reintroduction is part of a grand vision for “Europe’s Yellowstone,” a national park based in the Carpathians that would boast robust populations of wildlife unrivalled by any ecosystem on the continent.

It began in 2009, when Foundation Conservation Carpathia (FCC), an organization that has been restoring landscapes in the southern Carpathians called the Făgăraș, targeted three major species reintroductions to restore the chains of food and function chains that still include Europe’s three largest predators: the Eurasian lynx, the wolf, and the brown bear.

With the bison, beaver, and vulture, the Făgăraș would then also have its three largest custodians, as the beaver’s effect on rivers, the bison’s effect on the underbrush, and the vulture’s effect on carcasses, are essential for a perfectly functioning ecosystem.

But all four native European vulture species have been extirpated in the Carpathians for a century; victims of persecution, habitat loss, and lead poisoning.

Together with the Vulture Conservation Foundation, the FCC aims to reintroduce griffon vultures to the mountains by releasing young birds into large aviaries in-situ to acclimatize to their new surroundings.

“If they are released immediately, they would just fly off and go somewhere else,” said Christoph Promberger, co-founder of FCC.

“The vultures are the last keystone species missing from the Romanian Carpathians. They’re nature’s sanitary police. They’ve been gone for 100 years, it’s time to bring them back.”

Vultures are wide-ranging scavengers, capable of traveling long distances while barely flapping their wings. In 1986, in neighboring Bulgaria to the southeast, there were only 3 pairs of griffon vultures remaining in the wild, but by 2016 they’d made a triumphant return.

Cinereous vultures from Bulgaria have even been recorded flying into the Făgăraș Mountains, and it’s hoped those in Romania will travel just as freely. FCC plans to begin with griffon vultures, and follow-up with cinereous and bearded vultures.

ROMANIAN NEWS: Romania Hits 94% Recycling After Launching Largest Return Plan in the World

While all three species are scavengers by trade, bearded vultures have some of the most acidic stomachs in the animal kingdom, and can swallow animal bones whole to support their diet of marrow. They and the other vultures play a crucial role by cleaning up dead animals and preventing the spread of diseases, while quickly recycling nutrients into the soil through a combination of their messy eating and nutrient rich droppings.

In 2016, the Romanian government adopted a non-binding memorandum for supporting the creation of a Făgăraș Mountains National Park, which they labeled a “European Yellowstone.” Stretching 2,000 square kilometers across the southern end of the Carpathian range, they include the highest mountain peak in Romania, Moldoveanu.

MORE STORIES LIKE THIS: Bison Ranchers Return Thousands of Animals to Native Lands and Witness Total Rejuvenation of Ecosystem

Only about 1.5% of Romania’s land area is protected within its system of 13 national parks. Support for the park is reportedly mixed between locals that are involved in ecotourism, skiing businesses, and logging interests. Bird Guides Europe reports that many now recognize the strong potential for tourism to improve rural livelihoods with small carve outs for sustainable rural economies.

“It’s the local communities who will decide whether they want the park, and many are now saying yes,” said Promberger.

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TikToker Crowdfunds $1.5 Million for 88-yo Army Veteran After Viral Supermarket Moment

By
Andy Corbley
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Ed Bambas the veteran - credit, Samuel Weidenhofer
Ed Bambas the veteran – credit, Samuel Weidenhofer

In time for the holidays comes the incredible story of a stranger using GoFundMe to change a live.

Encountering 88-year-old Army Veteran Ed Bambas working at a local grocery store in Detroit, Australian content creator and TikToker Samuel Weidenhofer decided to try and raise some money to allow the man to retire.

The veteran, who lost his wife some years ago, works 8 hours a day 5 days a week having not received the pension he should have as a veteran.

But Americans being one of the giv-iest breeds on the planet, the GoFundMe exploded with interest, such that, despite the moonshot goal being set at $1 million, a life-changing $1.5 million has been donated in just a few days.

A Mr. William Ackman donated $10,000 to this veteran who he never met, but it’s reflective of the overall response, both in the donations and the words of support section, where between veterans and active duty servicemembers, and the general public at large, the message was clear: we’ve got your six.

“Every dollar we raise will go directly to supporting him: helping with living expenses, medical care, and the small joys that make life meaningful,” Weidenhofer wrote.

“Ed fought for his country, he worked his whole life, and now it’s our turn to fight for him. If you’ve ever been moved by someone’s courage, if you believe our elders and veterans deserve dignity, please consider contributing. Even sharing this story can help us reach more people who want to make a difference.”

MORE STORIES LIKE THIS: Stroke of Luck as GoFundMe Raises $100k for Baby’s Brain Surgery and Family Wins Appeal for Insurance to Cover

Having met the fundraising goal and how, Weidenhofer is working around the clock to set up a bank account and trust in Bambas’ name where the money can be deposited safely and securely.

In a December 2nd update, Weidenhofer said that there is a planned surprise event for Bambas, who doesn’t know he will be able to retire with dignity after a life of hard work.

WATCH Weidenhofer’s first meeting with Bambas below that went viral…

@itssozer 88 year old veteran still working.. 😭❤️ (donate in B1O) #love #kind #veteran ♬ original sound - Samuel Weidenhofer

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“To live is like to love – all reason is against it, and all healthy instinct for it.” – Samuel Butler

By
Good News Network
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Credit: A. C. for Unsplash+

Quote of the Day: “To live is like to love – all reason is against it, and all healthy instinct for it.” – Samuel Butler

Image by: A. C. for Unsplash+

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

Credit: A. C. for Unsplash+

Good News in History, December 4

By
Good News Network
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Feng Youlan from the China Weekly Review's "Who's Who in China" column. 3rd Edition.

130 years ago today, Feng Youlan was born. This Chinese academic and philosopher was instrumental in reintroducing the Chinese classics of philosophy to the world. Critically for this form of Intangible World Heritage, as UNESCO describes it, he did so during a time of enormous upheavel, stretching from the fall of the imperial Qing Dynasty to after the Cultural Revolution, when the fervor for tearing down the old to build the new was at a fever pitch. READ more about what he accomplished… (1895)

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3 Rebel Nuns Escape Senior Home to Return to Their Abbey – Prompting a Win in Showdown with Church

By
Andy Corbley
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The Goldenstein Castle, in Elsbethen, Austria - credit, CC BY-SA 3.0. Arne Müseler
The Goldenstein Castle, in Elsbethen, Austria – credit, CC BY-SA 3.0. Arne Müseler

From Austria comes the story of 3 ‘rebel’ nuns who left an elderly care home and broke into the historic abbey where they had lived their entire adult lives.

While doing so they made headlines worldwide, amassed a captivated and supportive following on social media of over 100,000 people who cheered them on as they attempted against the will of their spiritual superiors to return to the life they loved.

Sisters Rita, 82, Regina, 86, and Bernadette, 88, had spent a life of spiritual discipline and seclusion in the Goldenstein Castle Abbey near Salzburg, until the head of the religious order under which their nunnery was controlled determined they were no longer physically and medically fit to live alone in the historic, multi-story stone building.

But watching the videos on social media shows the dynamic trio are anything but helpless.

In September, supporters of the sisters, which included a locksmith, helped them move back into Goldenstein Castle. Former pupils have helped them settle back into their old lives, including by bringing them food, bedding and other supplies. Supporters even installed of an expensive chairlift to the convent’s third-floor living quarters.

Their cheerleaders also include legal counsel offering help with ongoing litigation between them and the religious authorities headed by Provost Markus Grasl from Reichersberg Abbey, who initially made the decision to move the sisters into a nursing home.

“We had the right to stay here until the end of our lives and that was broken. I have been obedient all my life, but it was too much,” Sister Bernadette said, according to the Female Quotient. Sister Rita added, “I was always homesick at the care home. I am so happy and thankful to be back.”

Litigation outside of court has gone on since the nuns broke into Goldenstein in September, but came to something of a tentative conclusion on Friday when Abbot Grasl agreed that the nuns could remain in the convent, and offered to furnish them with a full-time caregiver, an on-call doctor, and a priest to offer regular mass, per the New York Times.

But he demanded that the trio return to the discipline demanded by their religious vows,  give up their popular social media activity, and stop letting laypeople onto the convent grounds.

NEWS FOR THE CHRISTIAN READER:

The dispute is ongoing, with the sisters’ legal counsel arguing that the agreement lacks legally-binding authority.

Their Instagram feed continues, and features clips like Rita, in her black and white shift, running a morning 3 kilometers after breakfast.

“These sisters are the most positive message the Catholic Church has! Commitment, dedication and character!” said one commenter on Rita’s video.

Whatever happens next in their wild journey, their physical capacities seem well maintained, and they’re a sterling example of how it’s never to late to take control of your life and stand up for yourself.

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Wildlife Poachers to Be Targeted Using State of the Art AI Listening Technology

By
Andy Corbley
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A photo of a male forest elephant captured near the site where some of the gunshot recordings were taken - credit, Anahita Verahrami / SWNS
A photo of a male forest elephant captured near the site where some of the gunshot recordings were taken – credit, Anahita Verahrami / SWNS

Wildlife poachers can now be located and arrested across the central African forests thanks to state-of-the-art AI listening technology.

A network of microphones has been deployed across the rainforests to detect gunshots from illegal poaching of elephants and other animals, and American scientists are using AI to ensure the network can distinguish gunshots over the din of the jungle environment.

The web of acoustic sensors was deployed in Gabon, Congo, and Cameroon, creating the possibility of real-time alerts to the sounds of gun-based poaching.

But the belly of the rainforest is loud, and scientists say sorting through a constant influx of sound data is computationally demanding. Detectors can distinguish a loud bang from the whistles, chirps, and rasps of birds and bugs, but they often confuse the sounds of branches cracking or trees falling with gunshot noises, resulting in a high percentage of false positives.

Project leader Naveen Dhar at Center for Conservation Bioacoustics at Cornell University aimed to develop a lightweight gunshot detection neural network that can accompany sensors and process signals in real-time to minimize false positives.

He worked alongside colleagues at the Elephant Listening Project to create a model that will work through autonomous recording units (ARUs), which are power-efficient microphones that capture continuous, long-term soundscapes.

“The proposed system utilizes a web of ARUs deployed across the forest, each performing real-time detection, with a central hub that handles more complex processing.”

An initial scan filters all audio for “gunshot likely” signals and sends them to the ARU’s microprocessor, where the lightweight gunshot detection model lives.

If confirmed as a gunshot by the microprocessor, the ARU passes the information to the central hub, initiating data collection from other devices in the web.

By determining if other sensors also hear a “gunshot likely” noise, the central hub then decides whether the event was a true gunshot or a potential false positive.

If it determines a true positive, the central hub collates audio files from each sensor, allowing it to pinpoint the location of the gunshot and alert rangers on the ground with coordinates for immediate poaching intervention.

INNOVATIVE ANTIPOACHING: Researchers Test Use of Nuclear Technology to Curb Rhino Poaching in South Africa

“Down the road, the device can be used as a tool for rangers and conservation managers, providing accurate and verifiable alerts for on-the-ground intervention along with low-latency data on the spatiotemporal trends of poachers,” Dhar said.

He plans to expand the model to detect the type of gun that fires each gunshot and other human activities, such as chainsaws or trucks, before field-testing the system, which is currently under development.

GREAT AI USES: Rather Than Taking Jobs in Tech, 2 Young Software Engineers Use Talents to Crush Poaching in India

“I hope the device can coalesce with Internet of Things infrastructure innovations and cost reduction of materials to produce a low-cost, open-source framework for real-time detection usable in any part of the globe.”

He is due to present his findings at a joint meeting of the Acoustical Society of America and Acoustical Society of Japan, in Honolulu, Hawaii.

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Daddy-Daughter Dance in Notorious Prison Turns ‘Worst of the Worst’ into Loving Fathers Again

By
Andy Corbley
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credit - God Behind Bars
credit – God Behind Bars

In a Louisiana state penitentiary, incarcerated men were able to dance with their daughters for one special night: many of whom had not seen each other for years.

The tear-jerking occasion was organized by the brilliant God Behind Bars, a nonprofit that partners with churches and ministries on behalf of jailed men and women, in Angola Louisiana.

“When I turned around and saw my baby in that dress and she busted out crying… I sobbed, man, and I ain’t no crier,” said Leslie, an incarcerated father in Angola, who participated in the dance.

It’s potentially fair to say that the United States prison system and its population have been the victim of an overly-intense focus on punitive justice rather than restorative justice. While every society will have people that must be taken out of it for the good of the community, the focus of any prison system has to be the point at which the inmate reenters society.

To that end, and pursuant to the best of Christian values that all men are created in the image of the Lord, God Behind Bars went above and beyond to put on an unforgettable night in one of the most notorious of all Louisiana’s prisons.

37 daughters attended the dance, aged between 5 and 20, with 29 fathers, each one of whom wore a suit donated by Amor Suits.

Other donations included the time and expertise of hair and makeup estheticians, a beauty product bag courtesy of T3 Micro, and decorations and floral arrangements by God Behind Bars.

A Thanksgiving dinner was prepared before the dance, which included pieces choreographed by the fathers.

“We’re supposed to be the worst of the worst and the hardest of the hardest… and we walk around like that sometimes,” said one of the inmates, named Kevin. “Seeing all of us together with our kids, the loves of our lives, with no masks… that was cool.”

MORE GOOD PRISON NEWS:

“It’s hard to put into words what took place at the first ever Daddy Daughter Dance inside Angola prison,” said Jake Bodine, founder of God Behind Bars, in a statement sent to Newsweek.

“I watched a group of men stand with pride and dignity, shedding every label the world had ever put on them. For one night they were not inmates. They were Dad. And the empty places in every heart were filled with joy, laughter, and a love only God can author.”

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