Quote of the Day: “Beauty is about being comfortable in your own skin. It’s about knowing and accepting who you are.” – Ellen DeGeneres (Seriously… I’m Kidding)
Photo: by Maria Lupan
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After over a year of empty classrooms, dusty bookshelves, and quiet playgrounds, many students across the U.S. are finally returning to school. For teachers, that means working to gather vital school supplies to cover classroom work and fun.
Unfortunately, teachers are often forced to juggle tight budgets to cover all the essentials. Thankfully, DonorsChoose.org has become a fantastic platform for filling any gaps—and T-Mobile is stepping in to help with a $1,000,000 donation.
DonorsChoose lets educators ask the public for the classroom materials they need to ensure students’ success. For example, in Minnesota, Mrs. Wamsley is asking for an SD card and camera bag for her yearbook class. In New Jersey, Mrs. Trasferini is wishing for a Book Nook for her second-grade class. And Mrs. Robertson would like support in buying an easel pad and headphones for her first graders.
With T-Mobile’s $1 million donation, DonorsChoose will be able to fulfill these and other requests and help jumpstart the transition back to an in-person learning environment. DonorsChoose makes the process easy, purchasing and shipping items directly to the school and sending a thank you note to the donor.
“This coming school year might be the most important of our generation, and teachers will need all the encouragement we can give them as so many return to classrooms,” says DonorsChoose Founder and CEO, Charles Best. “T-Mobile’s gift to teachers will help students start the year strong and support them during a time of readjustment.”
But getting essential school supplies is just half the battle. The stay-at-home orders implemented in many states forced families to work and learn from home for months, relying on high-speed internet and wireless connectivity. Over the last year, lack of home internet has substantially widened the digital divide for many students. T-Mobile has been stepping up to help mitigate this technological burden.
This year, T-Mobile is continuing their work with Project 10Million—their $10.7 billion initiative to provide 10 million underserved households with free internet and mobile hotspots over the next 10 years.
“Back-to-school is special this year,” acknowledges Jon Freier, EVP of T-Mobile’s Consumer Group. “It represents getting back to so much more that we’ve missed, after a really trying year for families, teachers, and students. That’s why T-Mobile is going big here to help everyone stay connected with America’s largest, fastest and most reliable 5G network.”
For families, teachers, and students gearing up for a new school year and looking for a new phone, T- Mobile is now offering iPhone 12 on Us when you switch and activate on the Magenta MAX rate plan—no trade required. But if you want to trade in your old device, you can score an iPhone 12 Pro on Us when you switch, trade in a device, and activate on Magenta MAX.
Indiana could be the first state in the Union to have a wireless charging road that tops up your electric vehicle as you drive along it.
As the 21st century rolls on, we’ve all had those one or two moments where we see some new technology and the pace of innovation really comes home to roost in our heads, normally with some recollection of Star Wars or Star Trek.
Maybe for some it would have been the self-driving feature of the Tesla, or smart home systems, but for motorists in Indiana, that moment may come by way of a shiny new wireless road.
While range and battery charging times are getting better every year, it’s still the most limiting factor when it comes to the purchase of an EV. The Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) has decided to tackle that by burying electrified wire coils that create a magnetic field along the road surface, mimicking the way wireless charging stations for tablets and phones are designed.
In order to use the roads, cars would be fitted with a receiver coil to pick up the charge as they go along, and becoming magnetized, draw electricity from the coils themselves.
Expected to take three phases, the work will begin in late summer, according to a statement from the contracted German firm in charge of designing and installing the technology, Magment.
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“This project is a real step forward towards the future of dynamic wireless charging,” said Mauricio Esguerra, CEO of Magment, “that will undoubtedly set the standard for affordable, sustainable, and efficient transportation electrification.”
Copper prices are pretty high these days; early in spring they were at an all-time record, so Magment are ditching copper wire coils for recycled ferrite, which they believe will allow them to “achieve transmission efficiency of up to 95% and be built at standard road-building installation costs,” according to Singularity Hub.
If the cost savings are real, then it could start production quite soon following two planned lab tests.
It’s the first such electrified charging road in the U.S., and a testament to the pace of change in this field is a projection by researchers working on charging roads at the University of Cornell that it would be 5-10 years before such technology would be available.
MORE: One of the Biggest Myths About EVs is Busted in New Study
The Indiana model would represent, if successful, the best in a field that is no means monopolized. Sweden has electric rails in some highways that allow the largest vehicles on the highway to charge by way of an electric arm on their undercarriage that draws power from the rail.
Volkswagen and an Israeli firm called Electreon have rolled out a prototype 70 kilowatt-hours of charging speed on a road between the Italian cities of Brescia and Milan—a deeply congested and popular long-distance commute.
Another German firm, Siemens, is trying to build a scaffolding of cables and wires above a three-mile stretch of road outside Frankfurt that will allow cars to charge as they drive similarly to city trams.
It won’t be long before one of these projects comes good, and motoring is once again changed forever.
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Supportive social interactions in adulthood are important for your ability to stave off cognitive decline, a new study finds.
Researchers observed that simply having someone available most or all of the time whom you can count on to listen to you when you need to talk is associated with greater cognitive resilience—a measure of your brain’s ability to function better than would be expected for the amount of physical aging—or disease-related changes in the brain, which many neurologists believe can be boosted by engaging in mentally stimulating activities, physical exercise, and positive social interactions.
“We think of cognitive resilience as a buffer to the effects of brain aging and disease,” says lead researcher Joel Salinas, MD, the Lulu P. and David J. Levidow Assistant Professor of Neurology at NYU Grossman School of Medicine and member of the Department of Neurology’s Center for Cognitive Neurology.
“This study adds to growing evidence that people can take steps, either for themselves or the people they care about most, to increase the odds they’ll slow down cognitive aging or prevent the development of symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease—something that is all the more important given that we still don’t have a cure for the disease.”
An estimated 5 million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s disease, a progressive condition that affects mostly those over 65 and interferes with memory, language, decision-making, and the ability to live independently.
Salinas says that while the disease usually affects an older population, the results of this study indicate that people younger than 65 would benefit from taking stock of their social support. For every unit of decline in brain volume, individuals in their 40s and 50s with low listener availability had a cognitive age that was four years older than those with high listener availability.
“These four years can be incredibly precious. Too often we think about how to protect our brain health when we’re much older, after we’ve already lost a lot of time decades before to build and sustain brain-healthy habits,” says Salinas.
“But today, right now, you can ask yourself if you truly have someone available to listen to you in a supportive way, and ask your loved ones the same. Taking that simple action sets the process in motion for you to ultimately have better odds of long-term brain health and the best quality of life you can have.”
RELATED: Dementia Cases Have Declined by 13% in US and Europe Every Decade Since 1988, Researchers Found
Salinas also recommends that physicians consider adding this question to the standard social history portion of a patient interview: asking patients whether they have access to someone they can count on to listen to them when they need to talk.
“Loneliness is one of the many symptoms of depression, and has other health implications for patients,” says Salinas. “These kinds of questions about a person’s social relationships and feelings of loneliness can tell you a lot about a patient’s broader social circumstances, their future health, and how they’re really doing outside of the clinic.”
Researchers used one of the longest running and most closely monitored community-based cohorts in the U.S., the Framingham Heart Study (FHS), as the source of their study’s 2,171 participants, with an average age of 63.
FHS participants self-reported information on the availability of supportive social interactions including listening, good advice, love and affection, sufficient contact with people they’re close with, and emotional support.
Study participants’ cognitive resilience was measured as the relative effect of total cerebral brain volume on global cognition, using MRI scans and neuropsychological assessments taken as part of the FHS.
Lower brain volumes tend to associate with lower cognitive function, and in this study, researchers examined the modifying effect of individual forms of social support on the relationship between cerebral volume and cognitive performance.
The cognitive function of individuals with greater availability of one specific form of social support was higher relative to their total cerebral volume. This key form of social support was listener availability and it was highly associated with greater cognitive resilience.
Researchers note that further study of individual social interactions may improve understanding of the biological mechanisms that link psychosocial factors to brain health.
“While there is still a lot that we don’t understand about the specific biological pathways between psychosocial factors like listener availability and brain health, this study gives clues about concrete, biological reasons why we should all seek good listeners and become better listeners ourselves,” says Salinas of the study, which was published on August 16 in JAMA Network Open.
Source: NYU Langone Health / NYU Grossman School of Medicine
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A quartet of manufacturing firms has managed to create the world’s first fossil fuel-free steel in Sweden, much of which will go straight into the foundries of Volvo to create the first cars ever made with “green steel.”
It’s a massive first step to decarbonizing a carbon-heavy industry, as steel-making worldwide accounts for 8% of all CO2 emissions resulting from the need for coal in the manufacturing process, and the firms involved in the discovery represent 10% of Sweden’s emissions, and 7% of Finland’s.
Since the Warring States period in Ancient China, and in India and Sri Lanka four centuries before that, metalworkers have understood that to take a useful metal, iron, and turn it into a superior alloy, steel, they needed very high heat and a bit of coal.
Today, that coal is being replaced with hydrogen by Swedish venture firm HYBRIT, owned by Swedish steelmaker SSAB, the state-owned utility Vattenfall, and the mining firm LKAB.
HYBRIT’s method uses hydrogen and green electricity to create the high temperatures and carbon necessary to replace coal in their steel.
MORE: They Melted Down 22,000 Firearms in Belgium, Recycling Them Into Steel
Their hope is to get green steel into the bodies of Volvo cars as soon as possible, and into the global circulating market as early as 2026.
“The first fossil-free steel in the world is not only a breakthrough for SSAB, it represents proof that it’s possible to make the transition and significantly reduce the global carbon footprint of the steel industry. We hope that this will inspire others to also want to speed up the green transition,” says Martin Lindqvist, President and CEO of SSAB.
Hardly resting on this remarkable achievement, HYBRIT and its backers are looking to ensure the steel plant and the boilers needed to heat the hydrogen to 1,000°C (1,832°F) for their manufacturing process is run by fossil fuel-free power sources.
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They are focused on electric gas heating, and their plant in Luleå, Sweden will trial a 250 kilowatt boiler. If it goes well, a megawatt version will be developed.
“This is one of many exciting steps among all the development taking place within the fossil-free value chain,” stated Eva Vitell, GM of Hybrit Development AB.
Iron ore for steel manufacturing is the world’s second most-traded commodity behind crude oil, and any developments towards making that process greener represents massive potential emissions cuts.
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The seat of power for one of the most influential women in Medieval English history, Queen Cynethryth, has been discovered in a small Berkshire village.
A lost monastery in Cookham where Cynethryth ruled as abbess was located by a team from the University of Reading and local volunteers, and consists of the timber remains of buildings where the monks and nuns lived, as well as artifacts such as jewelry, crockery, and personal items.
Cynethryth was the wife of King Offa. The two ruled the old kingdom of Mercia in the four decades before the arrival of the Vikings in 793CE, and were determined to bring Christian values and better court decorum to their land.
“Cynethryth is a fascinating figure, a female leader who clearly had genuine status and influence in her lifetime,” said Dr. Gabor Thomas, the University of Reading archaeologist leading the excavation.
“The items that have been uncovered will allow us to piece together a detailed impression of how the monks and nuns who lived here ate, worked and dressed. This will shed new light on how Anglo-Saxon monasteries were organized and what life was like in them,” he said.
While the details of almost anyone living in Britain during this period—even a king or queen, are scant, two discoveries bear testimony to the power wielded by Cynethryth during her life.
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Coins minted during the reign of Offa and Cynethryth featured her visage, one of very few examples in all of Western Europe, much less England, and when King Offa exchanged letters with his opposite number in France (Charlemagne), to whom he considered himself equal, Charlemagne would address the letters to both Offa and Cynethryth by name.
Writing by Susan Abernethy at The Medievalists tells us that people in the know—in this case a poet/teacher/English scholar/ecclesiastical figure named Alcuin who was a contemporary of Offa and Cynethryth—considered her very important indeed.
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“In a letter Alcuin wrote during Offa’s reign, he hints that Cynethryth was too busy with the king’s business to read correspondence,” writes Abernethy. In another letter he designates her as ‘mistress of the royal household’ and calls her pious. Alcuin emphasizes the legitimacy of her marriage with Offa and the legitimacy of her children and their suitability to inherit the throne of Mercia.”
The discovery of her monastery was made along the River Thames on the grounds of the modern Holy Trinity Church, a rumored location of the monastery where, following the passing of her husband, she ruled as “royal abbess” from the year 796 until her death.
The monastery’s position along the Thames is not only the modern border of Berkshire, but during the 790s was also the disputed border between Mercia and another Medieval kingdom called Wessex, highlighting the political and strategic importance of the site.
Livia Gershon, writing for Smithsonian, reports, “excavations showed that the building was constructed on a gravel island that raised it above areas that faced frequent flooding. The site was divided into zones, including a housing area and another with a cluster of hearths that were probably used for metalworking.”
POPULAR: Locals Digging a Well Accidentally Discover a $140 Million Star Sapphire Weighing Half a Ton
As a religious and royal figure, the team from Reading expect that her remains are to be found at the site, an incredibly exciting potential discovery, as the physical remains of a person can be used to create 3D imaging of what the powerful queen might have looked like.
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Quote of the Day: “It only takes a split second to smile and forget, yet to someone that needed it, it can last a lifetime.” – Steve Maraboli (Life, the Truth, and Being Free)
Photo: by saeed mhmdi
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Polish javelin thrower Maria Andrejczyk took the silver medal at the Tokyo Olympics. While she might have come in second at the games, what she did next was pure gold.
Less than two weeks after ascending the winner’s podium, Andrejczyk took an extraordinary leap of generosity, auctioning off her medal to raise funds for Miłoszek Małys, an 8-month-old Polish boy in critical need of heart surgery.
The athlete had never met Miłoszek or his family. She learned of his struggles through social media. But 25-year-old Andrejczyk, a cancer survivor herself, knew just how important obtaining timely medical intervention could be.
“Miłoszek has a serious heart defect, he needs an operation,” Andrejczyk posted to her Facebook page. “He also has support from above from Kubuś—a boy who did not make it on time, but wonderful people decided to donate his funds to Miłoszek. And this is how I want to help too. It is for him that I am auctioning off my Olympic silver medal.”
All told, it was estimated that costs for medical expenses plus travel from Poland to California’s Stanford University where the operation would be performed would total 1.5 million Polish zlotys (about $385,000).
With half the sum already raised through online contributions, Andrejczyk hoped her medal would bring in the rest. The winning bid not only met but exceeded the original fundraising goals.
“We have the winner!” Andrejczyk posted. “On Friday I received this wonderful information, and due to the fact that you dears have already done wonders and joint forces have paid more than the equivalent of the initial medal to the Miłoszek account—I decided to end the auction so that our Miłoszek will receive the whole amount as soon as possible and can fly to the USA.”
Sorry as she might have been to see her medal go, Andrejczyk was thrilled to know the profits from its sale were earmarked for a worthy cause.
“The true value of a medal always remains in the heart,” Andrejczyk said, as quoted by The Times of London. “A medal is only an object, but it can be of great value to others. This silver can save lives, instead of collecting dust in a closet. That is why I decided to auction it to help sick children.”
But it seems the winning bidders, Polish convenience store chain Zabka, had some pretty big-hearted plans of their own. In honor of her winning ways both on the Olympic field and off, the company gifted Andrejczyk back her medal.
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“We were moved by the beautiful and extremely noble gesture of our Olympian, we decided to support [the benefit],” Zabka posted to Facebook. “We also decided that the silver medal from Tokyo will stay with Ms. Maria, who showed what it means to be [a true champion].”
While silver has always been considered a precious metal, in this case, its value in helping save the life of a child was priceless—and that’s a win of Olympic proportions for everyone.
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It’s hard work being a farmer, that is until you pull a half-ton sapphire out of the ground while digging a well… Then it’s pretty incredible being a farmer.
A boulder containing a cluster of 2.5 million carats in star sapphires was unearthed by workmen digging a well on the island of Sri Lanka, a country which, like a diamond, belittles its size in terms of richness.
Colored pale blue, the find has been given the name the ‘Serendipity Sapphire’, and could be worth $140 million on the international market, pending inspections and certification by world experts.
“The person who was digging the well alerted us about some rare stones. Later we stumbled upon this huge specimen,” Mr. Gamage, the owner of the stone, told the BBC.
Gamage, who kept most information confidential for obvious reasons, explained that while cleaning the stone of mud and dirt, some star sapphires of “high quality” became dislodged, suggesting that like the famous Bahia Emerald, this enormous half-ton stone isn’t a single structure, but likely hundreds of star sapphires connected together with other minerals.
In a country blessed with beautiful beaches, rich wildlife, tons of elephants, and as the story goes, the mountain from which the Buddha of this eon ascended to Buddhahood, the gemstone trade on Sri Lanka is one of the most important on Earth.
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The island nation, no bigger than West Virginia, is the world’s leading exporter of sapphires and other precious stones, which generated half a billion in revenue last year as one of the five biggest gem producers.
The Serendipity Sapphire was mined in the area of Ratnapura, a traditional gem mining region famous for producing star sapphires, like the last one that was considered the largest ever, The Star of Adam, weighing 1404 carets.
Ratnapura means “City of Gems” in Sinhalese, and even as competitive markets for sapphires open up in Madagascar, Ratnapura remains a world capital in the gem trade.
“It is a special star sapphire specimen, probably the biggest in the world. Given the size and its value, we think it will interest private collectors or museums,” Thilak Weerasinghe, the Chairman of the National Gem and Jewellery Authority of Sri Lanka, told the BBC.
RELATED: Rare Archeological Treasures Discovered Beneath Attic Floorboards of English Tudor Mansion
Star sapphires contain a gemological feature known as an asterism. Asterisms in gems occur when small flakes or spines of other material becomes trapped in the gemstone as it forms, creating an effect when receiving light from above of a shining six-pointed star. The most famous is the Star of India, currently held in the American Museum of Natural History.
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Major moments from modern history have been reimagined as ‘ancient’ cave art.
2,000 UK adults had their say on what moments from the worlds of sport, technology, politics, and popular culture should be immortalized in Buckinghamshire’s Hellfire Caves.
Using the same techniques, style, and colors as our ancestors more than 30,000 years ago, illustrator Emmy Smith worked with archaeologist Professor Paul Pettitt to make the paintings as authentic as possible.
Other noteworthy moments featured include Barack Obama becoming the first Black President of America, Live Aid, and Maradona’s ‘Hand of God’.
SEGA commissioned the cave art and the poll to celebrate the launch of new historical strategy game, HUMANKIND, which enables players to create and lead their own unique civilization.
Paul Pettitt, Professor in the Department of Archaeology at Durham University, said: “Ancient humans used cave art for thousands of years to record the most important concerns of their time.
“And I’m thrilled SEGA has used the oldest artistic medium to bring some of modern history’s most iconic moments to life.
“Rock art was a universal form of expression, with examples found all over the world.
“It was an enjoyable challenge working out how to translate the events of the last few decades, both monumental and mundane, into authentic cave art—I’m extremely proud of the results.”
The poll found 72 percent of adults believe it’s ‘important’ that key events from modern history are shared with future generations.
And 62 percent think cave art is a great way to learn about history from those who lived during that time.
Furthermore, 51 percent think cave paintings are more likely to survive for thousands of years than any form of modern technology.
More than half (51 percent) also think cave paintings are more likely to survive for thousands of years than any form of modern technology.
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It also emerged that those polled think Sir David Attenborough (27 percent) would be the best person to lead modern civilization.
But Manchester United and England star, Marcus Rashford (eight percent) got twice as many votes as current UK prime minister, Boris Johnson (four percent).
While 34 percent think they would do either a good or excellent job if they themselves were in charge.
Their priorities would include providing free healthcare to all (46 percent), ensuring equal rights for everyone (36 percent), and implementing a four-day working week (19 percent). Sounds good to us.
TOP FIVE SPORTING MOMENTS
1. England winning the World Cup in 1966
2. Andy Murray winning Wimbledon in 2013
3. Super Saturday at the London Olympics 2012
4. England reaching the final of Euro 2020
5. England winning the Rugby World Cup in 2003
TOP FIVE POP CULTURE MOMENTS
1. Live Aid concert in 1985
2. Prince William and Kate Middleton’s wedding in 2011
3. Gangnam Style dance in 2012
4. Jarvis Cocker storming the stage during Michael Jackson’s performance at the 1996 Brit awards
5. Lady Gaga’s meat dress at the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards
TOP FIVE TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCEMENTS
1. The invention of the internet in 1983
2. The first human organ transplant in 1954
3. The first ‘test tube’ baby born in 1978
4. The International Space Station in 1998
5. The rise of smartphones in the 1990s and 2000s
TOP FIVE INSPIRATIONAL LEADERS
1. Sir David Attenborough
2. Stephen Hawking
3. Queen Elizabeth II
4. Bill Gates
5. Barack Obama
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Finding fossilized dinosaur eggs is not unheard of, but finding the fossilized remains of an embryo within the egg is rare indeed.
Fortunately for a pair of paleontologists working in one of Earth’s great honeypot regions for dinosaur bones—North China—a local farmer had a few gems lying around to check over and inspect.
In a box of what the farmer believed were strange, intriguing rocky orbs, scientists Fenglu Han and Haishui Jiang noticed one that was different enough to merit closer examination.
The bony remains of the treasure contained within the eggshell were the only clues the scientists had to its origin, and while the farmer led them to the site where he found it, subsequently discovered specimens had held up very poorly over the years.
Egg in possession, Jiang and Han looked to examine it using micro-computed tomography, which would allow them to peer through the shell’s exterior. What they found was a jumble of bones which consultants determined looked strikingly like a turtle embryo.
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Belonging to an extinct genus of giant land tortoises called Nanhsiungchelyidae that lived among the Cretaceous period—the geological curtain call of the age of dinosaurs—the find “is one of the largest and thickest shelled Mesozoic turtle eggs known,” write the authors in a study published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B.
The turtle which laid the egg would have been among the largest turtles to ever exist, and from shell tip to shell tail would have been as tall as a grown man.
How the turtle might have lived is difficult to imagine. All scientists know was that it was a plant eater, but the details within the eggshell may hint at what its habitat was like when it lived 144 to 66 million years ago.
“The thick-shelled, spherical eggs of nanhsiungchelyids may have been an adaptation, at least in part, to incubation in harsh arid environments,” write the authors in their paper.
“Among [living] turtles, a calcified rigid shell limits the movement of water outside the eggshell to prevent excess water loss of the egg during incubation. Spherical eggs can also reduce water loss and thickened eggshell in some reptiles may be an adaptation to an arid climate.”
MORE: 4-Year-old Girl Finds Dinosaur Footprint on a Beach From 215 Million Years Ago
As scientists speaking with National Geographic discussed, the baby turtle would have to be a little Hercules to push his way out of such a thick shell.
While nanhsiungchelyids went extinct along with the non-avian dinosaurs, their aquatic relatives sailed right on through, along with other success stories like crocodiles, snakes, and ocean life.
The giant tortoises of the Galapagos are slow-moving plant eaters, similar to nanhsiungchelyids. Putting them in the post-asteroidal apocalypse that occurred on Earth, when much of the plant life died out, would probably see them die off like their ancient ancestors.
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4Ocean, the guys who you may have seen on Instagram selling bracelets made out of ocean plastic as a way to fund their ocean cleanup, have enlisted the help of new and extra-special beachcomber in their land-based campaign to end ocean plastic pollution.
The electric-powered, sand-sifting BeBot can clean up to 3,000 square meters, or 33,000 square feet, of beach per hour, making it 20-30x more effective than collecting trash by hand.
The machine is agile and easy to maneuver, a clear differentiator from existing options which tend to be derived from retired agricultural equipment powered by gas, making them less-suited to delicate beach work.
It specifically excels at removing small pieces of plastic and other trash that are notoriously difficult to clean by hand, using small 1 cm x 1 cm sifting grids to separate these items from the sand.
A pair of triangular tracks gives the BeBot a smaller footprint, while a shallower cleaning depth of 10 cm effectively removes common beach trash while avoiding disruptions to any nearby habitats or animals, providing a more effective and sustainable approach to cleanups.
A remote-controlled robot, the beach-cleaner can be operated from up to 950 feet away.
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BeBot comes out of a marine-technology firm called Polaru Marine, that among many other projects such as robotics, specializes in building aluminum marinas. They construct floating solar panel banks, and other cool aqua-tech like the “mooring star,” which is essentially a giant addition sign that allows nature parks to greatly increase their boat mooring potential whilst protecting shorelines.
“BeBot has groundbreaking and unprecedented environmental assets,” stated Claire Touvier, member of the Environmental Solutions team from Poralu Marine. “With a unique track system distributing equal and minimum pressure on the sand, BeBot reduces erosion. This innovative design also helps the preservation of biodiversity as it prevents the compression of turtles’ eggs and any vegetal ecosystem in the sand.”
“We are always searching for innovative technology to improve our cleanup capabilities,” said Alex Schultze, co-founder of 4Ocean. “With the launch of the BeBot, we are able to work smarter and sustainably while recovering plastic that has already seen the ocean and preventing new plastic from ever getting there in the first place.”
RELATED: Students Design Beach Vacuum That Sucks Up Microplastics While Leaving All the Sand
In a statement, 4Ocean revealed that they were on track to remove their twenty millionth pound of plastic trash from the ocean, despite lifting pound number sixteen million just one month ago.
This is a more than 100% increase from 16 months before when GNN reported they were “closing in” on their eight millionth pound, a milestone it took them almost three years to reach.
(WATCH the beach cleaning robot in action below.)
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Quote of the Day: “Believe in a love that is being stored up for you like an inheritance, and have faith that in this love there is strength and a blessing.” – Rainer Maria Rilke
Photo: by Steve Halama
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An ocean of kindness has swept over a loving mom and her son after strangers learned about her ingenuity in the face of poverty—and it inspired a whole community.
Tiffany Holloway wrote a post on Reddit about how her son wanted a stuffed manta ray for his 5th birthday. She couldn’t afford to buy one so she crafted one—and made it out of his old baby blanket.
The photo of the blue ray with button eyes became the No.1 post on Reddit (the largest online forum in the world) and soon hundreds of readers were sending Jason toy manta rays, squids, and other plush ocean creatures.
But the fun didn’t stop there for the Oklahoma tot and his siblings.
One Redditor, who wants to remain anonymous, contacted the Blue Zoo and had them hold a $100 gift card for the family, which they used for admission, so that Jonas— whose hero is Steve Irwin—could see and touch some real sting rays.
Jennifer Prokop (username YarntYouSweet) bought Tiffany and her four boys tickets to the Oklahoma City Zoo, as well as four tickets to feed the sting rays.
“Jonas got to see and touch and even feed his favorite animal,” Tiffany told GNN. “Jennifer and I have become fast friends. She is an amazing kind person with a big heart.”
They stayed alongside the pool for over an hour, even as most guests moved on after a few minutes. “The boys loved it.”
“My son’s favorite part of all this is having a bunch of sea friends to cuddle with at night. He has so many stuffed sea animals there is barely any room for him on his bed but he insists on sleeping with all of them.”
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“Jonas is a child that rarely smiles because of all the trauma he’s been through,” she said in an email.
“This outpouring of love and kindness has brought an oh-so-rare smile to his face—and that is worth more to me than anything else.”
“It was a reminder for me that even when we are struggling and feel alone there are good people in the world who will offer you support and compassion when you need it the most.”
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A GoFundMe campaign was started by their new friend, Jennifer, to accept donations to the family.
With a big media spotlight turning on—the Ellen show called and the Washington Post is publishing a story tomorrow—Tiffany wants to highlight the Manta Trust conservation group, which rescues and rehabilitates the graceful sea creatures.
The group lets the public “adopt” a ray and then sends a packet in the mail to donors about their chosen manta.
DON’T Let This Story of Kindness Float Away, Without Sharing on Social Media!
The second-most populous country in the world has banned an array of single use plastics, such as cutlery, plates, and thin bags, beginning July, 2022.
India’s rule states: The manufacture, import, stocking, distribution, sale and use of (the) following single-use plastic, including polystyrene and expanded polystyrene, commodities shall be prohibited with effect from July 1, 2022:
…“ear (swabs) with plastic sticks, plastic sticks for balloons, plastic flags, candy sticks, ice-cream sticks, polystyrene (thermocol) for decoration; plates, cups, glasses, cutlery such as forks, spoons, knives, straw, trays; wrapping or packing films around sweet boxes, invitation cards, and cigarette packets, plastic or PVC banners less than 100 micron, stirrers.”
The provisions will not apply to products made of compostable plastic.
Furthermore, it will be the responsibility of the manufacturer, importer, and/or brand owner to dispose of any other plastics which are deemed no longer useful to consumers.
The Environment Ministry has also set up a national-level task force to look into eliminating more single-use plastics, and is working with 14 states to responsibly recycle the plastic containers which are recyclable, like water bottles.
Learn more at India Today. (Featured Photo by Snemann, CC license)
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A German animal shelter began using the Tinder dating app to post profiles of lonely dogs and cats looking for love.
Reuters reported that the Munich Animal Welfare Association hired an unnamed advertising agency to photograph a few of their adoptable animals and write some Tinder profiles to help find “the purrfect match.”
One of the animals was a black-and-white cat called “Captain Kirk.”
“Several people” have swiped right on Tinder, according to the shelter’s Jillian Moss.
“The response is insane, it’s exploding everywhere,” she told Reuters.
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The shelter has been processing requests and doing interviews with the hope of finding proper homes for the single pets, pairing them with lonely humans.
WATCH a video below…
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A teenager who rescued a bumblebee says it’s now a loyal pet, following her everywhere, and even sleeping in a jar by her bed.
It all started two weeks ago when Lacey Shillinglaw, 13, spotted the large bumblebee lying in the road while walking her dog. She scooped up the bee and noticed it had a crumpled wing.
She tried to put it in a safer spot, on some flowers in a nearby park, but it refused to stay put, buzzing back over to Lacey and crawling all over her, and after an hour she gave up and headed home with the creature perched on her shoulder.
Despite repeated attempts to leave the insect outside, the buzzy friend has refused to leave Lacey’s side. Now recovered and named Betty, it follows her to the shops and even stayed with Lacey during games at the bowling alley with 14 friends.
She stayed on Lacey throughout both games—for two-and-a-half hours.
“I’m so happy and I just love spending my time with her,” said the girl from Coventry, West Midlands. “She’s so fluffy and I love our friendship.”
On the way home Betty was perching on the girl’s glasses as she went into her local shop to buy milk—shocking other shoppers.
The insect apparently enjoys nibbling on Lacey’s food, but also gets fed sugar water, honey, and strawberry jam. Lacey takes her bee-pal into the garden to feast on flower nectar, but as soon as the teen goes back inside, Betty is right beside her.
At night Lacey tucks Betty up in a little pot beside her bed, and while there is no lid, the animal stays put until morning.
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During the day Betty nestles on the back of Lacey’s neck, or inside her sleeve, between buzzes around the living room.
“It’s completely lovely—and also bonkers,” said her mother, Laura. “Betty climbs in Lacey’s long hair like it’s some kind of jungle.
“She’s on her 90% of the time during the day, including her face, her glasses, and even in between her toes. It’s so beautiful—just gorgeous.”
Betty apparently even enjoys a stroke between the wings, but steers clear of the rest of the family—mom, dad and two younger siblings.
MORE: Want to Help Bees? Leave the Dandelions Alone This Spring
“We have all the doors open a lot and she’s just never gone —I haven’t the foggiest why,” said Laura.
Bumblebees sting and, unlike honeybees, they can repeatedly sting you without dying—but this has never happened because these two have become Bee-FFs.
“Betty is totally amazing—I’ll remember this forever,” says Lacey.
WATCH the video below…
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Quote of the Day: “The real goal—the living of your life… If you are not careful you can become paralyzed by excessive fear and caution.” – Andrew Sullivan
Photo: by Dekler Ph
With a new inspirational quote every day, atop the perfect photo—collected and archived on our Quotes page—why not bookmark GNN.org for a daily uplift?
If you feel like you’re hoarding plastic containers in your home, you’re not alone. A new poll found 62% of Americans surveyed would rather keep them for possible reuse than throw it away.
The study asked 2,000 adults about their plastic habits and what they’d like to improve. Over half (55%) said they’d rather keep plastic containers and other plastic wares, rather than throw them away.
Half of respondents keep a bag stuffed with plastic bags in their house. 44% say they have a kitchen drawer with plastic cutlery. 39% have a cabinet full of mismatched Tupperware, and almost one in five have a cabinet storing old jars (18%).
Conducted by OnePoll on behalf of Core Hydration, the results also found that 55% don’t want to throw out plastics in their home without reusing them.
In fact, sixty-four percent of respondents said they never need to buy Tupperware, because they have plenty of other containers they’ve saved. Three in five said they always try to make a conscious effort to repurpose or upcycle items.
They ask themselves “Can this be recycled?” an average of four times a week and end up tossing another four items in the recycling bin that they’re not even 100% certain can be recycled.
“It’s common to feel that you might not be making a difference by recycling, but it’s important to remember you are,” said a spokesperson for Core Hydration.
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“Choosing products made with recycled materials is a simple step in the right direction and keeps the plastic within the circular economy,” they added.
The survey also asked for examples of how people had been repurposing items. One respondent said they were growing garlic inside cut-off water bottles. Plastic jugs are also being reused as pots for plants.
MOST UNIQUE WAYS AMERICANS ARE UPCYCLING
1. Created an original piece of rustic artwork to pep up a bare wall by repurposing wooden window shutters.
2. Growing garlic in cut-off water bottles.
3. Having saved quite a few big coffee containers, I use them for cat litter in winter, for birdseed, and the grandkids like to use them to dig in the garden with.
4. Those round plastic lids from toddler food pouches are good for lots of things, teaching kids colors, sorting, and even stacking to build towers.
5. I have turned old frames into jewelry hangers and bottles into flower pots and candle holders.
6. I repurposed a foam egg crate from my new bed, turning it into a bed for my dog.
7. I reuse glass yogurt containers for individual dessert cups/servings.
8. Turned a ladder into a bookshelf.
9. Taking plastic jars, removing labels, painting and decoupage them into attractive vases or pencil holders or decorated for use for cotton balls, etc.
CHECK OUT: Retirees Share Top 40 Pearls of Wisdom For Younger Generation in New Poll
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A man in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, was watching television last week when the WITI news team showed a photo of a dog that was available for adoption.
“Meet Mason,” the news segment began…
Dwight Gary took one look at the dog and said out loud, “No that’s not Mason, that’s most definitely Payday!”
He recognized the distinctive underbite of his little black pup who had gone missing from their yard more than two years ago after being frightened by fireworks.
He contacted the news desk of channel 6, which regularly features pet adoptions for the Wisconsin Humane Society.
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The coincidence led to “a fairytale ending” when Payday was reunited with his family and immediately recognized them upon their arrival.
WATCH the heartwarming report below from WITI news…
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