Las Vegas, long known as a city of High Rollers, has held the distinction of being home to the world’s largest Ferris Wheel (aptly named—what else?—The High Roller) since 2014.
But with Dubai’s luxury Ain Dubai (translated from Arabic as Dubai Eye) Ferris Wheel set for its grand opening this month, the American Casino Capital’s title has just been eclipsed.
Standing a massive 820 feet high, Ain Dubai can accommodate up to 1,750 passengers in its 48 bespoke air-conditioned cabins. For the ultimate in socially distanced dining, those interested can indulge in a VIP option that includes catered meal service and private bartenders to mix up their designer cocktails of choice for the 38-minute scenic circular sojourn.
The Ferris Wheel has certainly evolved since George Washington Gale Ferris Jr’s original contraption with its gravity-oriented gondolas made its debut at the Chicago World’s Columbian Exhibition in 1893.
Ain Dubai’s ticket prices start at $35 for a basic big-thrills, no-frills ride. However, in addition to the VIP upgrade, the private cabins can also be booked for corporate events, weddings, birthdays, and intimate celebrations.
Ain Dubai Ferris Wheel
So, if declaring your undying love in concert with commanding views of the sunset as you and your honey soar above the hubbub sounds like the perfect venue for a romantic proposal (as long as neither of you is afraid of heights), this eye in the sky might just be the “wheel deal.”
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A new five-part television series led by Prince William is being launched globally: Featuring Sir David Attenborough, Shakira, and other big names in conservation, you’ll want to add The Earthshot Prize: Repairing our Planet to your schedules.
Each episode of the five-part series highlights one of the Prize’s five “Earthshots”— showcasing the urgent challenges we face and profiling the inspiring people around the world who are already finding incredible solutions—including those of the first-ever Finalists of grand prize.
These remarkable Finalists and their ground-breaking solutions to our greatest environmental challenges are explored—highlighting some of the most extraordinary practical projects that can be rolled out across the world.
Already launched on discovery+ and premiering on 16th October on Discovery in U.S with a global rollout to follow, the series will also air on BBC One in the UK with all 5 episodes available to view on BBC iPlayer.
Filming has been taking place in more than 70 locations, telling stories from locations including the Kenyan savannah, Brazilian rainforest, Australian outback, and downtown Tokyo.
Each Earthshot is underpinned by scientifically agreed targets including the UN Sustainable Development Goals and other internationally recognized measures to help repair our planet.
Together, they form a unique set of challenges rooted in science, which aim to generate new ways of thinking, as well as new technologies, systems, policies, and solutions.
Some of the contenders featured include Coral Vita, Bahamas: A truly cutting-edge breakthrough in coral farming that can restore our world’s dying coral reefs; AEM Electrolyser, Thailand: An ingenious green hydrogen technology developed to transform how we power our homes and buildings; and more.
According to a statement, the series has been developed and produced by Colin Butfield and Jonnie Hughes at Silverback Films; the creative heads behind the phenomenally successful documentary David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet and long-time advisors to The Earthshot Prize.
Seeking to combine his love of numbers and data with music and emotion, a Belgian mathematician has created an electronic music album derived from data gathered from black holes.
By translating data from simulations of black hole mergers, gravitational waves, neutron stars, elementary particle behavior near black holes and white dwarfs into sounds, Valery Vermeulen created music, and even got himself signed to a record deal with Ash International.
Valery worked with the cosmologist Dr. Thomas Hertog, a former colleague and long-time collaborator of Stephen Hawking, to collect gravitational wave data for the project, entitled Mikromedas AdS/CFT 001.
A lot of the data Vermeulen gathered came from the Voyager Satellite, which is currently sitting around 14 billion miles from Earth, and captures primarily electromagnetic radiation given off by various galactic objects.
It then uses “data sonification” to transform the radiation readings into sound.
Vermeulen then blends that data sonification with other data sources which he reinterprets himself using electronic music software like Max MSP to create tracks.
The music itself is dark and representational, and is exactly what one might expect a black hole to sound like. But before you stop and think, General Relativity clarifies for us that we would not be able to detect sound near, far away, or from within a black hole with our ears, even if our bodies weren’t unmade in the process.
What’s striking about the results of Vermeulen and Voyager’s work is that every sound one hears is not the demented flight of fancy of a far-out electronic music producer, but an auditory representation of an important piece of observed real-world data, meaning that there’s no fluff and no unnecessary details.
Back in August, it was reported that a simple pill taken at the onset of symptoms for COVID-19 reduced the risk of hospitalization and death by 50%.
Now 1.7 million doses of that drug, an antiviral agent called Molnupiravir produced by Merck, have been secured for use in the U.S. and represents the first orally-ingested treatment for the virus.
The pill acts like a saboteur, incorporating RNA-like building blocks into the fabric of the virus. If they are reproduced, these defunct RNA-imposters ruin vital processes in the SARS-CoV-2 ability to replicate, and the virus dies.
“When the viral RNA then gets replicated to produce new viruses, it contains numerous errors, so-called mutations. As a result, the pathogen can no longer reproduce,” said Florian Kabinger, a co-author of the study that discovered the effectiveness in August.
Antiviral drugs are common, and prescribed for things like the common cold, and even HIV. One called Remdesivir has already been shown to prevent serious symptom onset by 85%, but most be administered through IV in a medical setting.
Molnupiravir was also effective in other COVID-19 variants, including Delta and Mu, and was so effective overall, the company halted further planned trials to submit an emergency use application to the FDA.
National Geographic points out that it’s not clear who would be available or cleared to take the drug, as the U.S. government paid $700 per dose for it, but having an option for those who are elderly, or with underlying condition to take at home could in some cases solve both the problem of the risk of death—and the risk of hospital overflows should further variants arise.
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Dog owners might tell you their dog understands them better than most people. What they don’t know is the dog understands them probably better than even they realize.
Researchers studying canine-human connections have found dogs can “catch” human emotions, and like children, dogs often look into their owners’ faces for clues about how to react to people and the world around them; a primitive form of empathy known as emotional contagion.
They also experience the release of oxytocin, one of the feel-good hormones typical of human bonding.
For years it was assumed these developed as an evolutionary necessity, as disagreeable dogs from the time of their genesis from wolves would be selected against by their new masters. But the reality is much more heart-warming than our furry friends’ bowing to the whims of simple biological imperatives.
Many factors influence the connection between a dog and their owner, such as the neuronal activity in the pooch’s brain, and even changes in human body odor. In a study published this year, it was found that pet dogs and pack-living dogs and wolves had physiological differences when interacting with a closely-bonded human.
The pets released oxytocin, while the pack-living dogs and pack-living wolves did not, even though it was clear they preferred to be with their bonded human, which the researchers suggest means that it’s life experience, not breed, that causes this special connection.
Furthermore, some dogs share not only our joy but our fear as well. Looking at concentrations of cortisol, the stress hormone, another group of researchers found that compared with solitary hunting and ancient, wolf-like breeds, herding dogs’ cortisol concentrations were correlated with those of their owner.
It’s also been observed that dogs react the same way we do when encountering a crying infant: with a mix of submissiveness and alertness, and one study even demonstrated that dogs can synchronize their behavior on the basis of a whopping six human faces: anger, fear, happiness, sadness, surprise, and disgust.
An article in National Geographic details how it could very well swing both ways, as even though dogs’ emotional capacities aren’t as complex as ours, their rawness in theory could rub off on us.
“I do think we pick up their emotions, too,” Marc Bekoff, an evolutionary biologist at Univ. of Colorado, told Nat Geo. “Sometimes it’s easier to pick up their fear and stress. However, happy dogs are also easy to read if they run up to you with their tails wagging and their ears are forward, not tucked back.”
Cascading effects of joy and stress are plain to see in the world of dog owners. If a dog lunges or growls at something, it can stress or embarrass the owner—signals the dog picks up on, accentuating the stressful encounter.
On the other side of the spectrum, dear friends greeted at the door with kind words can excite a dog, leaping up on the guests’ legs despite being trained not to.
Sharing a life and home with dogs for tens of thousands of years has created an intimate connection between our species; an interdependency that has allowed both of us to flourish far more than we could alone.
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Quote of the Day: “Blissipline is the commitment to experiencing a little or a lot of bliss every day; the practice of expanding one’s capacity for bliss and being open to receive it in any moment.” – Rana Satori Stewart
Photo: by Aleksandra Sapozhnikova
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Previous studies have shown that children with attention difficulties, including ADHD, solve cognitive tasks better when they are exposed to auditory white noise. However, this is the first time that such a link has been demonstrated between visual white noise and cognitive abilities such as memory, reading, and non-word decoding in children with reading and writing difficulties.
“The white noise to which we exposed the children, also called visual pixel noise, can be compared with giving children glasses. The effect on reading and memory was immediate,” explains Göran Söderlund, Senior Lecturer in Education at the University of Gothenburg and Professor of Special Education at the Western Norway University of Applied Sciences.
The study was conducted on around 80 students in the Småland region of southern Sweden. The children who took part were selected following a word recognition test and were split into three groups: good readers, children with some reading difficulties, and children with major reading difficulties (i.e. having phonological impairments).
In the study, the children were asked to read 12 words while being exposed to four different levels of visual white noise, from zero to high. The test involved assessing how many of the words the children could read correctly and how many words they were able to recall afterwards.
The results showed that the group with major reading difficulties, particularly phonological difficulties, performed significantly better when exposed to visual pixel noise. They read more words correctly and also recalled more words in the moderate noise conditions. The white noise had no effect or negative effects on the good readers and those with only minor reading problems.
“This is the first evidence of visual white noise having effects on higher-level cognition, in this case both reading and memory,” says Göran Söderlund.
Right amount of white noise key
The children in the study, published in the scientific journal Brain and Behavior, were exposed to different levels of white noise, with the results showing that the amount of noise is critical for reading and memory.
“You can compare it with being shortsighted and needing glasses. We saw that when we exposed the children to a medium level of white noise, their reading improved. However, their reading skills were less good when there was no noise or a high level of noise,” adds Göran.
“These results show that children with reading and writing difficulties can be helped with an incredibly simple intervention. By adjusting screens in school or at home, we hope to be able to resolve their problems at a stroke. This is the first study of its kind, and replications are needed.”
Göran Söderlund now wants to further investigate the effects of white noise. He hopes that new studies can answer the question of whether practising with white noise for a prolonged period can lead to lasting improvements.
“It’s worth exploring, as we just don’t know. This first study of ours is basic research. But our results show that the children improved immediately, so it’s important to continue with new studies to establish whether this simple measure, which everyone can do on their own laptop, will actually provide enduring help for these children.”
Ford just announced it is spending $11.4 billion to build two new factories in Tennessee and Kentucky to manufacture batteries and its electric F-series pickup trucks.
Together, they’ll create over 11,000 jobs, and the Tennessee factory will be Ford’s largest ever—and its first new American vehicle-assembly plant in decades.
“This is a transformative moment where Ford will lead America’s transition to electric vehicles and usher in a new era of clean, carbon-neutral manufacturing,” said Ford Executive Chair Bill Ford. “With this investment and a spirit of innovation, we can achieve goals once thought mutually exclusive—protect our planet, build great electric vehicles Americans will love, and contribute to our nation’s prosperity.”
This news comes amid strong demand for the all-new Ford F-150 Lightning truck, E-Transit, and Mustang Mach-E electric vehicles, and is on top of Ford’s recent announcement to expand production capacity and add jobs at the Ford Rouge Electric Vehicle Center in Dearborn, Michigan.
“This is our moment—our biggest investment ever—to help build a better future for America,” said Jim Farley, Ford president and CEO. “We are moving now to deliver breakthrough electric vehicles for the many rather than the few. It’s about creating good jobs that support American families, an ultra-efficient, carbon-neutral manufacturing system, and a growing business that delivers value for communities, dealers and shareholders.”
Ford’s $7 billion investment is the largest ever manufacturing investment at one time by any automotive manufacturer in the U.S.
Part of Ford’s more-than-$30 billion investment in electric vehicles through 2025, this investment supports the company’s longer-term goal to create a sustainable American manufacturing ecosystem, and to accelerate its progress towards achieving carbon neutrality, backed by science-based targets in line with the Paris Climate Agreement. Overall, Ford expects 40% to 50% of its global vehicle volume to be fully electric by 2030.
“We are proud to be partnering with Ford as they open a new chapter in automobile history,” said Dongseob Jee, president of battery business SK Innovation. “We are excited to be taking this decisive leap together, as partners, and to bring about our common vision for a cleaner planet. Our joint venture, BlueOvalSK, will embody this spirit of collaboration. We look forward to growing our trust-based partnership by delivering on our market-leading value proposition, experience and cutting-edge expertise.”
All-new Ford Blue Oval City
Reimagining how electric vehicles—and the batteries that power them—are designed, manufactured, and recycled, Ford is creating an all-new electric vehicle manufacturing ecosystem.
Blue Oval City will be among the largest auto manufacturing campuses in U.S. history. Like the iconic Rouge complex in Michigan did a century earlier, Blue Oval City will usher in a new era for American manufacturing.
The 3,600-acre campus covering nearly six square miles will encompass vehicle assembly, battery production. and a supplier park in a vertically integrated system that delivers cost efficiency while minimizing the carbon footprint of the manufacturing process. The assembly plant will use always-on cloud-connected technologies to drive vast improvements in quality and productivity. The mega campus is designed to add more sustainability solutions, including the potential to use local renewable energy sources such as geothermal, solar, and wind power.
“West Tennessee is primed to deliver the workforce and quality of life needed to create the next great American success story with Ford Motor Company and SK Innovation,” said Tennessee Governor Bill Lee. “This is a watershed moment for Tennesseans as we lead the future of the automotive industry and advanced manufacturing.”
Creating approximately 6,000 jobs, Blue Oval City will be a hive of technical innovation to build next-generation electric F-Series trucks. This growth opportunity will allow Ford to reach new customers with an expanded electric truck lineup.
Despite its size, the assembly plant at Blue Oval City is designed to have as minimal an impact as possible on the surrounding environment—and even to generate positive impacts. The assembly plant’s goal is to have a regenerative impact on the local environment through biomimicry in design of the facility.
From the start of production in 2025, Ford’s goal is for the assembly plant to be carbon neutral.
Through an on-site wastewater treatment plant, the assembly plant aspires to make zero freshwater withdrawals for assembly processes by incorporating water reuse and recycling systems. Zero-waste-to-landfill processes will capture materials and production scrap at an on-site materials collection center to sort and route materials for recycling or processing either at the plant or at off-site facilities once the plant is operational.
Ford is collaborating with Redwood Materials, a leading battery materials company, to make electric vehicles more sustainable and affordable for Americans by localizing the supply chain network, creating recycling options for scrap and end-of-life vehicles, and ramping up lithium-ion recycling.
BlueOvalSK Battery Park
Joining the Ford electric manufacturing revolution is a planned $5.8 billion, 1,500-acre BlueOvalSK battery manufacturing campus in Glendale, Kentucky, which is targeted to open in 2025.
Twin co-located plants will be capable of producing up to 43 gigawatt hours each for a total of 86 gigawatt hours annually. Together, these American-made batteries will power next-generation electric Ford and Lincoln vehicles.
Bringing 5,000 new jobs to Kentucky, BlueOvalSK Battery Park will be centrally located to support Ford’s North American assembly plants’ footprint.
“We thank Ford Motor Company and SK Innovation for their investment in Team Kentucky,” said Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear. “This is the single largest investment in the history of our state and this project solidifies our leadership role in the future of the automotive manufacturing industry. It will transform our economy, creating a better Kentucky, with more opportunities, for our families for generations. Our time is now. Our future is now.”
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The dramatic footage shows the heroic rescue and reunion of ‘Dewey’ the dog trapped at the bottom of a 30-foot-deep cave—for over two weeks.
Elizabeth Acosta filmed the operation as rescuers climbed into the huge cave to save the emaciated pup.
The rescue team, led by experienced caver Tray Heinke, were actually trying to locate the perfect spot for a member of the group to propose to his partner when they spotted the pup.
Sharp-eyed hero Josiah Meert saw movement at the bottom of the 30-foot-deep pit at Dewey Hickman Nature Reserve, Indiana, and realized it was a dog. The group put aside their plans and raced off to grab ropes, helmets, and harnesses and, with teamwork and determination, ‘Dewey’ was freed in only 30 minutes.
Tray said, “We spotted his collar about 15 feet down surrounded by claw marks. He then withstood another 15-foot drop to the floor of the pit. He’d lost about 86lbs.”
“We firmly believe that had he been in the pit only a few more days, he’d be gone. Everything depended on the outcome of the rescue so once he was safe and given a bite to eat, Sean popped the question… and she said yes!
“You could hear the cheers a mile away.” Tray Heinke’s reunion footage shows the incredible moment the pup was reunited with his relieved owners.
‘Dewey’, initially nicknamed after where he was found, excitedly runs over to his family who are delighted to be back with their loving pet, actually named Hawkeye.
His owners confirmed that he was lost just over two weeks before his rescue. Tray added, “Getting Hawkeye out of the cave was huge but finding his owner and reuniting them so quickly was the icing on the cake. “
The power of social media! We didn’t expect a quick reunion. However within two days of finding him, we’d connected with his owners and made arrangements to meet! “
I think this nightmare could have been avoided had Hawkeye been neutered. He blindly followed a female scent into the wilderness, animal instincts aren’t always the best!
“The quick rescue and reunion were also very lucky, so it’s best to leave situations like this to experienced professionals. If one of us had fallen in too, we’d have really been screwed. “We’re all very proud to be a part of this story, the world could use some good news right now.”
That’s certainly true.
(WATCH the rescue video below.)
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An artist's impression of the gas and dust in the protoplanetary disk surrounding the young star. The inset shows the molecular gas targeted by the MAPS observations, made up of a ‘soup' of both simple and complex molecules in the vicinity of still-forming planets. Credit: M.Weiss/Center for Astrophysics/Harvard & Smithsonian.
Artist’s impression of the gas and dust in the protoplanetary disk surrounding the young star. The inset shows the molecular gas targeted by the MAPS observations, made up of a ‘soup’ of both simple and complex molecules in the vicinity of still-forming planets; M.Weiss/Center for Astrophysics/Harvard & Smithsonian
Analysis of unique “fingerprints” in light emitted from material surrounding young stars has revealed “significant reservoirs” of large organic molecules necessary to form the basis of life.
Dr John Ilee, Research Fellow at the University of Leeds who led the study, says the findings suggest that the basic chemical conditions that resulted in life on Earth could exist more widely across the Galaxy.
The large organic molecules were identified in protoplanetary disks circling newly formed stars.
A similar disk would have once surrounded the young Sun, forming the planets that now make up our Solar System.
The presence of the molecules is significant because they are “stepping-stones” between simpler carbon-based molecules such as carbon monoxide, found in abundance in space, and more complex molecules that are required to create and sustain life.
Dr Ilee and his team, comprising astrophysicists from 16 universities across the world, focused on studying the existence, location, and abundance of the precursor molecules needed for life to form.
He said, “These large complex organic molecules are found in various environments throughout space. Laboratory and theoretical studies have suggested that these molecules are the ‘raw ingredients’ for building molecules that are essential components in biological chemistry on Earth, creating sugars, amino acids, and even the components of ribonucleic acid (RNA) under the right conditions.
“However, many of the environments where we find these complex organic molecules are pretty far removed from where and when we think planets form. We wanted to understand more about where exactly, and how much of, these molecules were present in the birthplaces of planets—the protoplanetary disks.”
Observing chemistry deep in space
The investigation has been made possible by advances in the ability of the ALMA telescope to detect very faint signals from the molecules in the coldest regions of outer space.
Each molecule emits light at distinctly different wavelengths producing a unique spectral ‘fingerprint’. These fingerprints allow scientists to identify the presence of the molecules and investigate their properties.
Dr Catherine Walsh, also from the School of Physics and Astronomy at Leeds, was one of the five co-principal investigators leading the study. Called the ‘Molecules with ALMA at Planet-forming Scales’ (or MAPS) program, it has used data collected by the Atacama Large Millimetre/submillimetre Array (or ALMA) radio telescope in Chile.
Dr Walsh explained, “The power of ALMA has allowed us to measure the distribution and composition of material that is actively building planets around nearby young stars for the first time. The telescope is powerful enough to do this even for large complex molecules that are the precursors for life.”
The research team was looking for three molecules—cyanoacetylene (HC3N), acetonitrile (CH3CN), and cyclopropenylidene (c-C3H2)—in five protoplanetary disks, known as IM Lup, GM Aur, AS 209, HD 163296, and MWC 480. The protoplanetary disks range between 300 and 500 light years from Earth.
All of the disks show signatures of on-going planet formation occurring within them.
Protoplanetary disks ‘feed’ young planets
The protoplanetary disk that surrounds a young planet will feed it with material as it forms.
For example, it is thought that the young Earth was seeded with material via impacts of asteroids and comets that had formed in the protoplanetary disk around the Sun. But scientists were uncertain whether all protoplanetary disks contain reservoirs of complex organic molecules capable of creating biologically significant molecules.
This study is beginning to answer that question. It found the molecules in four out of the five disks observed. In addition, the abundance of the molecules was greater than the scientists had expected.
Dr Ilee said: “ALMA has allowed us to look for these molecules in the innermost regions of these disks, on size scales similar to our Solar System, for the first time. Our analysis shows that the molecules are primarily located in these inner regions with abundances between 10 and 100 times higher than models had predicted.”
Importantly, the disk regions in which the molecules were located are also where asteroids and comets form. Dr Ilee says it is possible a process akin to that which may have helped to initiate life on Earth could also happen in these disks—where bombardment by asteroids and comets transfers the large organic molecules to the newly formed planets.
Dr Walsh added, “The key result of this work shows that the same ingredients needed for seeding life on our planet are also found around other stars. It is possible that the molecules that are needed to kick-start life on planets are readily available in all planet-forming environments.”
One of the next questions the researchers want to investigate is whether even more complex molecules exist in the protoplanetary disks.
Dr Ilee added, “If we are finding molecules like these in such large abundances, our current understanding of interstellar chemistry suggests that even more complex molecules should also be observable.
“We’re hoping to use ALMA to search for the next stepping stones of chemical complexity in these disks. If we detect them, then we’ll be even closer to understanding how the raw ingredients of life can be assembled around other stars.”
Details of the study are published in the Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series. It is one of 20 papers reporting on a major international investigation into the chemistry of planet formation.
As much as it’s a time for growing and learning, childhood is also a time for unabashed joy. Pastimes like careening down a snowy hillside on your sled, flying off a rope swing into a cool lake on a hot summer day, or even just a game of catch are part and parcel of growing up.
But the joys of playtime aren’t just reserved for human kids—animal offspring are just as likely to get into the act as well, and some of their activities are startlingly similar to our own.
Young ravens hold body-surfing “competitions” down the slopes of wintery rooftops; juvenile elephants create impromptu waterslides along muddy riverbanks; herring gulls engage in their own version of airborne hacky sack substituting seashells for bean-filled projectiles.
Scientists believe that for certain animal species, some fun and games is strictly that—play for the sake of play—but as with humans, other forms of diversion are preparing youngsters for the rigors of adulthood.
“Play is essential to development because it contributes to the cognitive, physical, social, and emotional well-being of children and youth,” wrote Kenneth R. Ginsburg in the American Journal of Pediatrics. “Play also offers an ideal opportunity for parents to engage fully with their children.”
Those same tenets, it seems, hold true in the animal kingdom as well.
“Horses…are known to engage in play almost as soon as they are born. Once they can walk, they immediately start to gallop, frolic and buck, again, honing the motor skills they may need when they’re mature,” notes BBC Earth.
Play with purpose
But along with social and motor skills, play also teaches animals essential hunting and survival skills.
Inge Wallmrod
While the antics of cute cavorting kittens is the stuff that’s spawned a myriad of viral videos, whether it’s an opportunity to take down an errant mouse or to avoid harm in the face of unexpected danger, their ninja-like antics may in fact be helping kittens learn to be ready when life hands them a surprise.
Even natural-born predators, such as kestrels, use play to hone their hunting skills by practicing with targets that look like real prey when they’re young.
In the oceans, dolphins chase underwater air rings to fine-tune their sonar skills.
And while it’s unclear why bear cubs are so quintessentially playful, zoologists believe at least some of their shenanigans have a more serious purpose that aids in their survival as adults.
One of the most important teaching aspects of play is socialization. These days, for human kids, that usually means the basics like learning to share, teamwork, and knowing boundaries.
For animals, especially those that live in packs, flocks, or herds, play (often in the form of play fighting) imparts an understanding of where each animal fits into the community hierarchy.
In ways that are remarkably similar to the training children of traditional tribal cultures receive, it is through the rules of play that lion cubs, kangaroo joeys, and wolf pups discover and establish the roles they’ll be expected to perform as adults.
But for animals, not all socializing play is about fighting or establishing dominance. Some of it’s about learning to be better parents—and that involves playing with dolls. While they might lack a perambulator and a fancy wardrobe, female chimpanzees are known to lavish their doll babies with love and emulate their own mothers’ attentive care.
So whether it’s frolicking in the pasture, hanging from a tree, or rollicking in the surf, it seems that play will always be an intrinsic—and fun—part of both human and animal development.
And we’re pretty sure when those ninja-kitten TikTok stars stop climbing that curtain, they’ll be thrilled to hear about it.
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Quote of the Day: “Creativity can be intangible in the form of a good life, or a beautiful act, or in other virtues of the soul such as freedom and openness, style and tact, humor, kindness.” – James Hillman
Note: Hillman (1926-2011) was a psychologist and author of one of my favorite books, The Soul’s Code: In Search of Character and Calling.
Photo: by Ava Sol
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Governors from the neighboring states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin signed an agreement Friday to collaborate on an EV charging network across the Midwest to support electric car sales, reduce harmful emissions, and protect public health.
The bipartisan partnership, called REV Midwest — the Regional Electric Vehicle Midwest Coalition, also hopes to ensure the entire Midwest region is able to effectively compete for new private investment and federal funding for vehicle electrification.
“The Midwest has the ingenuity and the drive to develop innovative solutions to curb climate change,” said Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.
Building on the automotive history of expertise in the Great Lakes Region, REV Midwest members will coordinate to improve access to charging infrastructure and reduce range anxiety by coordinating to optimize charging infrastructure, cooperate on best practices, and support standardization.
An estimated 105,000 new jobs in the utility sector are anticipated to be needed to deploy EV charging infrastructure by 2030. The states will work together with industry to understand future workforce needs and support workforce training programs to build the transportation system of the future.
The network will initially focus on interstate and regionally significant commercial corridors and creating publicly accessible charging opportunities on interstate freeways. It also focus on serving MHDV (medium heavy-duty vehicles) to leverage its existing role as a shipping and logistics hub.
One benefit of the initial focus on MHDVs will be to reduce pollution in communities located near freight and shipping facilities and along transportation corridors, where nearby communities are harmed by emissions.
“Illinois’ Climate and Equitable Jobs Act puts us on track to be the best state in the nation to manufacture and drive an electric vehicle – but we’re just getting started, and the work doesn’t stop at our state borders,” said Illinois Governor JB Pritzker. “By working together with our Midwestern neighbors, we can accelerate the region’s growth.”
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Daintree Rainforest and Great Barrier Reef by Manny Moreno
Over 600 square-miles of ancient rainforest with rivers, waterfalls, gorges and white sandy beaches was handed back to the traditional people who had lived here for generations.
Daintree Rainforest and Great Barrier Reef by Manny Moreno
The historic announcement last week came from officials in Queensland, Australia, who transferred management of the world-famous Daintree National Park to the Eastern Kuku Yalanji people, who are one of the world’s oldest living cultures.
“This agreement recognizes their right to own and manage their country, to protect their culture, and to share it with visitors as they become leaders in the tourism industry,” said Environment Minister Meaghan Scanlon.
Negotiations over the last 4 years, determined that the world renown Daintree park—a UNESCO World Heritage Area—will eventually be solely and wholly managed by the Eastern Kuku Yalanji.
For now, the agreement transfers responsibility for management of Daintree’s 160K hectares, with three other national parks, the Ngalba-bulal, Kalkajaka and the Hope Islands National Parks, to be jointly-managed with the Queensland Government.
“Today’s handback marks the government returning more than 3.8 million hectares of land back to Traditional Owners on Cape York, with 2.3 million hectares to be jointly-managed by our rangers and the community,” said Minister Scanlon in a statement. “It means there are now 32 Aboriginal-owned and jointly-managed national parks on the Cape York Peninsula.”
The goal is to provide opportunities for mentoring, training, apprenticeships, work experience and employment to fill positions for land and sea management, hospitality, tourism, and research.
The Daintree borders the Great Barrier Reef, so is one of Australia’s top tourist destinations.
“We will also provide funds to develop a tourism hub at Dubudji, first options for contracting on national parks, first rights to consider new tourism proposals, and endeavor to increase the skills and numbers of Jabalbina Indigenous rangers.”
Scanlon said Australia has an uncomfortable and ugly shared past, and the handback was a key step on the path towards reconciliation.
“These national parks will protect important Aboriginal cultural sites, diverse ecosystems including rainforests, woodlands, wetlands and mangroves, and form part of the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area which is recognized as the second most irreplaceable World Heritage site on Earth.”
Last month the Cornish Seal Sanctuary celebrated the 31st birthday of one of their favorite residents—and the team spoiled him with a colorful layered ice cake.
Cornish Seal Sanctuary
The grey seal named Yulelogs is a big favorite among guests. He was rescued as a pup in 1989 by a marine park in the north of England. When the park closed down, Yulelogs was released back into the wild. However, as he had spent such a long time in captivity, he had no idea how to feed himself and had become too attached to humans.
Three months after his release, Yulelogs was rescued by the RSPCA after receiving calls from concerned members of the public reporting that he had been chasing people with buckets on the beach, because he thought they contained fish.
At the time, he weighed only 132-lbs (60kg), compared to the standard 550-lbs (250kg).
Today, Yulelogs is energetic and enthusiastic, especially when it comes to his husbandry training and environmental enrichment, according to the sanctuary.
The birthday cake is made of layers of colored ice with a few fish stuck in the top—personally made by the sanctuary.
“It has become a tradition to make a birthday cake for our resident seals as a special treat,” a sanctuary spokesperson, Kayleigh Slowey, told GNN.
“And, it wouldn’t be a Log’s birthday celebration without a snooze on top of his cake after all the excitement!”
Cornish Seal Sanctuary
The sanctuary in South West England, run by the nonprofit Sea Life Trust, accepts donations and you can sponsor “adopt” of their animals if you would like to contribute.
For decades, researchers around the world have searched for ways to use solar power to generate the key reaction for producing hydrogen as a clean energy source—splitting water molecules to form hydrogen and oxygen. However, such efforts have mostly failed because doing it well was too costly, and trying to do it at a low cost led to poor performance.
Now, researchers from The University of Texas at Austin have found a low-cost way to solve one half of the equation, using sunlight to efficiently split off oxygen molecules from water. The finding, published recently in Nature Communications, represents a step forward toward greater adoption of hydrogen as a key part of our energy infrastructure.
As early as the 1970s, researchers were investigating the possibility of using solar energy to generate hydrogen. But the inability to find materials with the combination of properties needed for a device that can perform the key chemical reactions efficiently has kept it from becoming a mainstream method.
“You need materials that are good at absorbing sunlight and, at the same time, don’t degrade while the water-splitting reactions take place,” said Edward Yu, a professor in the Cockrell School’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. “It turns out materials that are good at absorbing sunlight tend to be unstable under the conditions required for the water-splitting reaction, while the materials that are stable tend to be poor absorbers of sunlight.
“These conflicting requirements drive you toward a seemingly inevitable tradeoff, but by combining multiple materials—one that efficiently absorbs sunlight, such as silicon, and another that provides good stability, such as silicon dioxide—into a single device, this conflict can be resolved.”
However, this creates another challenge—the electrons and holes created by absorption of sunlight in silicon must be able to move easily across the silicon dioxide layer. This usually requires the silicon dioxide layer to be no more than a few nanometers, which reduces its effectiveness in protecting the silicon absorber from degradation.
The key to this breakthrough came through a method of creating electrically conductive paths through a thick silicon dioxide layer that can be performed at low cost and scaled to high manufacturing volumes.
UT Austin
To get there, Yu and his team used a technique first deployed in the manufacturing of semiconductor electronic chips. By coating the silicon dioxide layer with a thin film of aluminum and then heating the entire structure, arrays of nanoscale “spikes” of aluminum that completely bridge the silicon dioxide layer are formed. These can then easily be replaced by nickel or other materials that help catalyze the water-splitting reactions.
When illuminated by sunlight, the devices can efficiently oxidize water to form oxygen molecules while also generating hydrogen at a separate electrode and exhibit outstanding stability under extended operation. Because the techniques employed to create these devices are commonly used in manufacturing of semiconductor electronics, they should be easy to scale for mass production.
Experimental water-splitting apparatus, University of Texas Austin
The team has filed a provisional patent application to commercialize the technology.
Improving the way hydrogen is generated is key to its emergence as a viable fuel source. Most hydrogen production today occurs through heating steam and methane, but that relies heavily on fossil fuels and produces carbon emissions.
There is a push toward “green hydrogen” which uses more environmentally friendly methods to generate hydrogen. And simplifying the water-splitting reaction is a key part of that effort.
Hydrogen has potential to become an important renewable resource with some unique qualities. It already has a major role in significant industrial processes, and it is starting to show up in the automotive industry. Fuel cell batteries look promising in long-haul trucking, and hydrogen technology could be a boon to energy storage, with the ability to store excess wind and solar energy produced when conditions are ripe for them.
Going forward, the team—which includes Professor Li Ji at Fudan University—will work to improve the efficiency of the oxygen portion of water-splitting by increasing the reaction rate. The researchers’ next major challenge is then to move on to the other half of the equation.
“We were able to address the oxygen side of the reaction first, which is the more challenging part,” Yu added, “but you need to perform both the hydrogen and oxygen evolution reactions to completely split the water molecules, so that’s why our next step is to look at applying these ideas to make devices for the hydrogen portion of the reaction.”
Quote of the Day: “Let the truth be your delight. Proclaim it—but with a certain congeniality.” – Catherine of Siena
Photo: by Evelyn Semenyuk
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?
A three-dimensional mass of floating flowers created by teamLab in Japan has been moving visitors not only with its technological magic, but with its overwhelming natural beauty.
In this work called Flowers and I are of the Same Root, the Garden and I are One, people immerse themselves in the flowers, becoming one with the garden, says teamLab.
Open since July, the museum space is scented by the fragrance of 13,000 living orchids suspended from near-invisible wires.
They’re able to survive in mid-air because orchids are able to grow without soil, by absorbing water from the air. In fact, all the diverse orchid species used here evolved to live on rocks and trees where other plants could not survive—and in the exhibit they growing and blooming with each passing day.
The artwork space seems to be completely filled with flowers (especially because of the mirrored floor), but enter and pause, and the blossoms slowly rise to the ceiling whenever people approach, opening spaces previously concealed.
“The garden starts to make a space for humans… But they are moving super slowly, so you have to adjust your time to the garden’s,” reports CNN.
You can see in the video below, that after you move through the curtain of orchids, they slowly descend again behind you.
teamLab Planets
Founded in 2001 by Toshiyuki Inoko, teamLab is an art collective and interdisciplinary group of technologists who are blending art and science; technology and the natural world. The team includes artists, programmers, engineers, CG animators, mathematicians, and architects.
teamLab Planets
Although the floating garden exhibit is running until the end of 2022 at the teamLab Planets museum in Tokyo, other works can be found in the US, Australia, and Istanbul, in the permanent collections of the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney; Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide; Asian Art Museum, San Francisco; Asia Society Museum, New York; Borusan Contemporary Art Collection, Istanbul; and National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne.
This blog was submitted to GNN by one of our readers, Ethel Chadwick, of Scottsville, New York. If you have an interesting story of kindness or positivity, be sure and send it to us for review.
I have a friend who found a wallet and through a series of amazing circumstances found the owner who was part of a migrant group from Jamaica who came to the United States to pick apples. The way she found him and what happened next was truly miraculous.
One day recently, Laurie Fenby, was shopping at a garage sale in Rochester New York and as she was leaving, she found a wallet on the ground.
She looked inside and found a Jamaican driver’s license, some American cash and some Jamaican cash. She tried all the usual ways to locate the man, whose name was George.
She couldn’t find him through Google or Facebook and then she asked for suggestions through Nextdoor, a community website. Laurie received a lot of ideas and responses— some of them not so positive.
But one lady suggested that she contact a little store that is known to have many Jamaican migrant workers as clients. Laurie called the store and found that yes, indeed, there was someone named George who lost his wallet.
She suggested that the owner contact George and have him call her. When George contacted her he was able to identify all the contents of the wallet and Laurie was able to return it.
But it didn’t stop there.
Laurie asked George, “What do you and the migrant workers need?” He said they could use some warm clothes.
Laurie immediately contacted the next-door community and was able to organize a clothing drive.
She received lots of T-shirts, sweatshirts, shoes and other supplies.
Recently Laurie was able to meet George and the other migrant workers here in Rochester, and she joined them to pick apples together.
They’re so thankful to Laurie and her friends—and none of this community-building or friendship would have happened if the wallet had stayed in George’s pocket.
SHARE The Kindness on Social Media to Show There Are Good People Everywhere…
FREE WILL ASTROLOGY – Week beginning October 1, 2021
Copyright by Rob Brezsny, FreeWillAstrology.com
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22):
Being “nude,” said art critic Kenneth Clark, has “no uncomfortable overtone,” but indicates “a balanced, prosperous, and confident body.” I bring this to your attention because I believe you would benefit from experiencing extra nudity and no nakedness in the days ahead. If you choose to take on this assignment, please use it to upgrade your respect and reverence for your beauty. PS: Now is also a favorable time to express your core truths without inhibition or apology. I urge you to be your pure self in all of your glory.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21):
Scorpio poet Anne Sexton wrote, “One has to get their own animal out of their own cage and not look for either an animal keeper or an unlocker.” That’s always expert advice, but it will be extra vital for you to heed in the coming weeks. The gorgeous semi-wild creature within you needs more room to run, more sights to see, more adventures to seek. For that to happen, it needs to spend more time outside of its cage. And you’re the best person to make sure that happens.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21):
Sagittarian composer Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827) could be a marvelous friend. If someone he cared for was depressed or feeling lost, he would invite them to sit in his presence as he improvised music on the piano. There were no words, no advice—only emotionally stirring melodies. “He said everything to me,” one friend said about his gift. “And finally gave me consolation.” I invite you to draw inspiration from his example, Sagittarius. You’re at the peak of your powers to provide solace, comfort, and healing to allies who need such nurturing. Do it in whatever way is also a blessing for you.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19):
At age 23, Capricorn-born Jeanne Antoinette Poisson (1721–1764) became French King Louis XV’s favorite mistress. She was not born into aristocracy, but she wielded her Capricornian flair with supreme effectiveness. Ultimately, she achieved a noble title as well as high prestige and status in the French court. As is true for evolved Capricorns, her elevated role was well-deserved, not the result of vulgar social-climbing. She was a patron of architecture, porcelain artwork, and France’s top intellectuals. She ingratiated herself to the King’s wife, the Queen, and served as an honored assistant. I propose we make her your role model for the next four weeks. May she inspire you to seek a boost in your importance and clout that’s accomplished with full integrity.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18):
The bad news is that artist Debbie Wagner was diagnosed with two brain tumors in 2002. The good news is that surgery not only enabled her to survive, but enhanced her visual acuity. The great news is that on most days since 2005, she has painted a new image of the sunrise. I invite you to dream up a ritual to celebrate your own victory over adversity, Aquarius. Is there a generous gesture or creative act you could do on a semi-regular basis to thank life for providing you with the help and power you needed?
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20):
A self-described “witch” named Lars wrote, “I am a ghost from the 1750s, and my life is currently in the hands of a group of suburban 13-year-olds using a ouija board to ask me if Josh from homeroom has a crush on them.” He’s implying that a powerful supernatural character like himself is being summoned to do tasks that are not worthy of him. He wishes his divinatory talents were better used. Are there any resemblances between you and him, Pisces? Do you ever feel as if you’re not living up to your promise? That your gifts are not being fully employed? If so, I’m pleased to predict that you could fix this problem in the coming weeks and months. You will have extra energy and savvy to activate your full potential.
ARIES (March 21-April 19):
Blogger AnaSophia was asked, “What do you find attractive in a person?” I’ll reproduce her reply because it’s a good time to think about what your answer would be. I’m not implying you should be looking for a new lover. I’m interested in inspiring you to ruminate about what alliances you should cultivate during the coming months. Here’s what AnaSophia finds attractive: “strong desire but not neediness, passionate sensitivity, effortlessness, authenticity, innocence of perception, sense of humor, vulnerability and honesty, embodying one’s subtleties and embracing one’s paradoxes, acting unconditionally and from the heart.”
TAURUS (April 20-May 20):
Taurus author Roberto Bolaño confessed, “Sometimes I want greatness, sometimes just its shadow.” I appreciate his honesty. I think what he says is true about most of us. Is there anyone who is always ready for the heavy responsibility of pursuing greatness? Doubtful. To be great, we must periodically go through phases when we recharge our energy and take a break from being nobly ambitious. What about you, dear Taurus? If I’m reading the omens correctly, you will benefit from a phase of reinvention and reinvigoration. During the next three weeks, you’ll be wise to hang out in the shadows of greatness.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20):
“Have fun, even if it’s not the same kind of fun everyone else is having,” wrote religious writer C. S. Lewis. That advice is ten times more important right now than it usually is. For the sake of your body’s and soul’s health, you need to indulge in sprees of playful amusement and blithe delight and tension-relieving merriment. And all that good stuff will work its most potent magic if it stimulates pleasures that are unique to you—and not necessarily in line with others’ tastes.
CANCER (June 21-July 22):
“It is one thing to learn about the past,” wrote Cancerian journalist Kenneth Auchincloss. “It is another to wallow in it.” That’s stellar advice for you to incorporate in the coming weeks. After studying your astrological omens, I’m enthusiastic about you exploring the old days and old ways. I’m hoping that you will discover new clues you’ve overlooked before and that this further information will inspire you to re-envision your life story. But as you conduct your explorations, it’s also crucial to avoid getting bogged down in sludgy emotions like regret or resentment. Be inspired by your history, not demoralized by it.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22):
Would you like to deepen and strengthen your capacity to concentrate? Cosmic rhythms will conspire in your favor if you work on this valuable skill in the coming weeks. You’ll be able to make more progress than would normally be possible. Here’s pertinent advice from author Harriet Griffey: “Whenever you feel like quitting, just do five more—five more minutes, five more exercises, five more pages—which will extend your focus.” Here’s another tip: Whenever you feel your concentration flagging, remember what it is you love about the task you’re doing. Ruminate about its benefits for you and others.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22):
What’s your favorite feeling? Here’s Virgo poet Mary Szybist’s answer to that question: hunger. She’s not speaking about the longing for food, but rather the longing for everything precious, interesting, and meaningful. She adores the mood of “not yet,” the experience of moving toward the desired thing. What would be your response to the question, Virgo? I’m guessing you may at times share Szybist’s perspective. But given the current astrological omens, your favorite feeling right now may be utter satisfaction—the gratifying sensation of getting what you’ve hungered for. I say, trust that intuition.
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
