Turning up the heat for 2021, six new calendars depict brave—and incredibly handsome—Australian firefighters posing with some of the most adorable animals their country has to offer.
What may be the world’s most popular calendar, now in its 28th year, is back, and this year the hunky heroes have been photographed with heart-melting dogs, cats, koala bears, and even kangaroos.
SWNS
Setting out to brighten the doom and gloom of the last eight months, all proceeds will be donated to the native animal charities that are vital to supporting local wildlife.
This is an especially important cause given Australia’s catastrophic wildfires in 2019 and early 2019, which resulted in the estimated loss of one billion animals from the diverse native wildlife.
While the fires may have gone, the devastated bushland has made it impossible for many of the displaced wildlife to return to their natural habitat.
One of the centers to benefit is the Byron Bay Wildlife Hospital, where Dr. Stephen Van Mil and his team are building Australia’s first mobile wildlife hospital. It’s designed to be rushed to wherever the wildlife emergency is.
Speaking of creating the Australian Firefighters Calendar in a pandemic, calendar director David Rogers explained, “Coronavirus was never going to stop us from bringing smiles to faces across the world.”
With this year’s cat and dog calendars, there’s a bit of a twist. As COVID-19 restricted the team’s access to many rescue animals, the Aussie public was asked to bring their own rescued furry friends to the photoshoot to help create these calendars.
Funds raised will allow the organization to help less fortunate animals find a new home through rescue organisations like Safe Haven Animal Rescue and All Breeds Canine Rescue.
“You will see all your favorite Australian firefighters with every variety of animal we could photograph,” Rogers said. “We have got something for everyone!”
Australian Firefighters Calendar
Speaking of hope and new beginnings, Rogers noted, “As you hang your 2021 calendars on your wall and turn to January 2021, it’s a great reminder that next year is going to be a fresh start for everyone.”
You can purchase all the calendars here. If you wish the focus in the photos below was more on cute creatures and less on handsome shirtless men, it sounds like “’Animal Calendar’ (No firefighters – animals only)” is the purchase for you.
In 2021, one in every seven cars sold in the EU will be electric, and overall sales, production, and innovation is booming across Europe’s big economies on the back of strict CO2 emissions regulations from the European Parliament.
Andrew Robert
Electric car sales are expected to have tripled this year compared to 2019, and are expected to climb to as much as 15% of the total market share by 2022 before hitting a ceiling.
The regulations, which have been staggered back through the last decade, will continue to stagger until 2030, when a number of international agreements and targets levied to help prevent the worst of the climate crisis come due.
The green policy think tank Transport & Environment summarizes data from a report they published that tracks CO2 target compliance and electric car sales across the EU automotive sector, stating, “Electric car sales are booming thanks to EU emissions standards. Next year, one in every seven cars sold in Europe will be a plug-in. EU manufacturers are back in the EV race.”
The EU emissions standards that will come into effect next year are more stringent, suggesting a push for cleaner fossil fuel vehicles and greater production of electric vehicles.
“By 2021, the maximum value of a fleet-average for new cars in the EU is 95 grams of carbon dioxide per kilometre,” writes Electrive, an EU electric transport industry website.
They reference a media report based on leaks that EU parliamentarians want to increase the already tight restrictions of 37.5% by 2030 to 50%, which has drawn ire from German automotive industry groups which say the restrictions are already very ambitious. The previous restrictions passed with over 500 “yes” votes to fewer than 100 “no” votes, so green-minded politicians may feel more intense restrictions are possible.
There are already some car manufacturers whose fleets meet the current standards, and wouldn’t need to change much to comply with the 2021 increasement. These are PSA Group, which includes Vauxhall, Peugeot, Citroen, and Opel, as well as Tesla, Volvo, and BMW.
UW Center for Conservation Biology, Conservation Canines
A killer whale’s best friend might be this dog.
UW Center for Conservation Biology, Conservation Canines
After being discarded as a young pup, a shelter dog named Eba is now using her unique talents to help save members of an iconic ocean species, the orca whale.
And, the one thing that scientists need to serve this species? Feces.
Eba’s nose for detecting whale poop (or “skat” as it’s commonly referred to in wildlife circles) turns out to be the perfect tool for a University research team.
The dog’s owner is Deborah Giles, a marine biologist at the University of Washington’s Center for Conservation Biology who studies killer whales. When Giles adopted the mixed-breed pup, it wasn’t with the intention to make her a working dog—but Eba soon began to exhibit certain traits that indicated she might have the skill set required to become a valued member of her research crew.
Eba was soon enrolled in Conservation Canines, a program that trains dogs to hunt for marine wildlife droppings, which yield a wealth of information critical to research, including everything from genetics and general health to stress levels, and the presence of toxic chemicals in the whales’ diet. (Whale skat can also indicate pregnancy and just how far along an expecting whale momma’s gestation may be.)
Dr. Deborah Giles/UW Center for Conservation Biology
Giles conducts her studies in the Salish Sea off the Canadian Gulf Islands and Washington state’s San Juan Islands. The pod of Southern Resident killer whales currently numbers 74 members, including two juveniles. She says Eba’s dung-detecting debut exceeded expectations.
“By Eba’s second day on the water… she found her first wild whale scat by herself, which was amazing,” Giles said in an interview with TODAY.
As critical as their research is, the marine biologists do their utmost to ensure the pod isn’t stressed out by their presence. That means keeping a respectful distance—which is why Eba is proving invaluable.
“Her body gets stiff at first, like, ‘Oh, I smell it,’ then she starts sniffing up in the air,” Giles told The Seattle Times. “As soon as we pass through it, she’ll run along the side of the boat, and that’s what tells me where we need to turn into the wind and drive toward the sample.”
While it’s doubtful that Eba truly understands the importance of her contributions to help save the whales, it’s clear she truly loves her job.
“She’s really the perfect dog for this work,” Giles said. “She’s helping answer questions that will go to recovering an endangered species of beloved animals.”
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Indigenous rights’ groups and WWF International are beginning to train Andean tribes people deep within the Amazon rainforest in the use of drones so that they, as forest-dwelling specialists, can help protect wildlife, and identify, compile evidence for, and report on, illegal logging activities.
WWF-UK
The WWF teamed up with the Kaninde Ethno-Environmental Defense Association, a civil-society made up of biologists, foresters, cartographers, anthropologists, specialists in healthcare and information technology, and journalists to run a drone-operating course for five separate Indigenous tribes including the Uru Eu Wau Wau, who reside in the state of Rondonia in western Brazil.
With the drones, tribes have been able to create high-resolution images, video, and GPS coordinates of logging sites, Brazil nut tree stands—a valuable sources of income—and prime habitat for vulnerable species like the harpy eagle, the largest in the accipitridae family, and a bird that’s sacred to the Uru Eu Wau Wau.
Illegal logging is one of the major causes for the rash of wildfires experienced in the Amazon over the last 24 months, as cattle ranchers burn down forest to make way for pastureland.
According to Felipe Spina Avino, the senior conservation analyst for WWF-Brazil who helped organize and run the drone-training program, the technology is surprisingly well-taken to by Indigenous groups, and it gives them a greater capacity to utilize their ancestral knowledge of the forest to protect it from loggers.
“They can compile a case with a lot of evidence that they can send to the authorities which then have much greater pressure and much greater resource to act upon the illegal activities that are going on,” he told CNN.
Apparently, the first time the team used the technology, they discovered a 1.4-acre area of clear-cut land, over which they eventually recorded sightings of a helicopter spreading grass seed, suggesting whoever cleared the forest planned on using it for cattle pasturing; an illegal activity.
COVID-19, and the perceived susceptibility of Indigenous groups to the virus, has prevented Brazilian government officials from stationing too many authority bodies to stop loggers and ranchers lighting fires in the Amazon. As a result, this year’s logging activities have been worse according to an Indigenous rights’ group Survival International.
The drone project, which can cost as little as $2,000 for equipment and training per group, helps tip the balance back towards tribes like the Uru Eu Wau Wau.
(WATCH the WWF video of the drones in action below.)
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Older people who report greater levels of social engagement have more robust gray matter in regions of the brain relevant in dementia, according to new research led by scientists at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health. It is the first to use a particularly sensitive type of brain imaging to conduct such an evaluation.
Philippe Leone
The findings, reported in the Journal of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences, suggest that “prescribing” socialization could benefit older adults in warding off dementia, much the way prescribing physical activity can help to prevent diabetes or heart disease.
“Our data were collected before the COVID-19 pandemic, but I believe our findings are particularly important right now, since a one-size-fits-all social isolation of all older adults may place them at risk for conditions such as dementia,” said lead author Cynthia Felix, M.D., M.P.H., a geriatrician and a post-doctoral associate in Pitt Public Health’s Department of Epidemiology. “Older adults should know it is important for their brain health that they still seek out social engagement in safe and balanced ways during the pandemic.”
Felix and her colleagues used information about social engagement from 293 community-dwelling participants from the Health, Aging and Body Composition (Health ABC) study. These participants, who averaged 83 years old, also received a sensitive brain scan called Diffusion Tensor Imaging MRI that measured the cellular integrity of brain cells used for social engagement.
These participants provided detailed information about their social engagement and were scored using a tool Felix developed. High scores were awarded to people who did things like play board games; go to movies; travel long distance; attend classes, lectures, or adult education events; participate in church or other community activities; get together with children, friends, relatives, or neighbors at least once a week; volunteer or work; be married, and live with others.
Felix and colleagues found that greater social engagement is related to better microstructural integrity of brain gray matter in these older adults. Maintaining brain health is of critical importance. Once brain cells die, dementia typically follows.
Social engagement with at least one other relative or friend activates specific brain regions needed to recognize familiar faces and emotions, make decisions and feel rewarded. The good news is that even moderate “doses” seem to be beneficial.
“We need to do more research on the details, but that’s the beauty of this–social engagement costs hardly anything, and we do not have to worry about side-effects,” Felix said. “There is no cure for dementia, which has tremendous costs in terms of treatment and caregiving. Preventing dementia, therefore, has to be the focus. It’s the ‘use it or lose it’ philosophy when it comes to the brain.”
Felix notes that cause-and-effect still need to be disentangled: Does greater social engagement keep these brain regions healthy? Or is it that having a healthy brain results in better social engagement?
Similar to how large public health studies assess the best programs to encourage physical activity to prevent chronic disease in older people, Felix believes her team’s findings, coupled with previous research, provides justification for randomized control trials to assess the impact of specific types and amounts of social activities on brain health.
Enriched by her prior public health training at Johns Hopkins University, Felix recognizes the critical role of public health in applying this finding on a large scale.
“It would be good if we develop programs across the U.S. through which structured social activities can be prescribed for community-dwelling older adults, aimed at reducing rates of dementia and the resulting health care costs,” Felix said. “Existing platforms providing group physical activities can be a good starting point.”
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Quote of the Day: “It is our duty as men and women to proceed as though the limits of our abilities do not exist.” – Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
Photo: by bruce mars
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A revolutionary new design for onshore wind turbines that can be attached to lamp posts and powered by traffic has been unveiled.
The English businessman behind the new concept that can be installed along highways believes they will help hit renewable energy targets in the UK and beyond because they do not rely on natural wind.
The turbines, fixed to existing street lights, would use the wind created by vehicles speeding past to generate electricity to power both those lights and eventually a lot more.
Barry Thompson, CEO of Alpha 311 behind the invention, says their idea is the first of its kind in the world and offers a simple answer to the complex challenge of amassing large amounts of clean energy.
The company believes a turbine attached to each lighting column could collectively generate around 6mw per day—enough to power a small village.
Last week, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson pledged that an impending green industrial revolution would power every home in the UK with offshore wind by 2030.
Thompson believes innovative onshore solutions will help the nation achieve that target..
The chief executive officer of the Kent-based company said, “Do I think offshore wind is everything? No, I think onshore wind is the cheaper option, and a distributed network needs to really push this thing forward.
Speaking from his home office which is powered by the prototype units, the 51-year-old added, “If you’ve ever stood by the road and a lorry [truck] has gone past, you’ll feel the air that moves—we capture that energy.”
As an example, the A299 Thanet Way in Kent is less than 20 miles long and features 1,114 lighting columns.
The turbines would be installed on the central reservation, therefore powered by wind generated on both sides of the carriageway.
This highway-powered concept would blend in with existing infrastructure. “This is a retro-fit solution,” explained Thompson, “so it attaches to what we already have.
“We’re not blighting the landscape with massive turbines, we’re making use of existing infrastructure.”
Each turbine can generate the same as 21 square meters (226 square feet) of solar panels and is two meters (6.5 feet) tall, with the potential to be even smaller as development continues.
Mr Thompson said the company is currently in talks with a UK local authority to trial the technology on their roads.
A number of small US cities are also trialling the technology from Alpha 311.
She may only weigh four pounds, but she’s a Chihuahua with a huge heart and one very big job: Little MacKenzie was born with a cleft palate, and now spends her days providing affection and care for baby rescue animals born with birth defects.
The teeny pup with so much love to give away has now been recognized in a giant way: After more than a million votes by the American public and the deliberations of a panel of celebrity animal lovers and dog experts, MacKenzie has been named the country’s most heroic canine, besting 407 other competitors across the country and capturing the top title at the American Humane Hero Dog Awards, which was broadcast nationwide earlier this week on Hallmark Channel.
“The American Humane Hero Dog Awards were created to honor some of the world’s most extraordinary heroes,” said Dr. Robin Ganzert, president and CEO of American Humane. “These heroic canines have gone above and beyond the call of duty, saving lives on the battlefield, comforting the ill and aged, and reminding us of the powerful, age-old bond between animals and people.”
Why did MacKenzie win? Contracting aspiration pneumonia which nearly took her life as a newborn, she’s a rescue who epitomizes what it means to be a hero, overcoming her birth defect and going on to help hundreds of other rescue animals and provide children with world-changing lessons in empathy.
Most of the rescued animals are babies who cannot stay with their mothers because of their medical problems.
MacKenzie takes an interest in each baby from day one, no matter the species or size.She plays nurse and cleans, comforts, and cuddles them.She acts as their mother and teaches them how to socialize, play, and have good manners.
It’s been said that MacKenzie could mother anything from an ant to an elephant, nurturing countless puppies, kittens, a goat, a turkey, a squirrel, birds, a mouse, and despite her tiny size, even a Great Dane.
MacKenzie’s other important role is to interact with children at schools, so they learn to be open-minded toward animals and people with physical differences. They learn kindness, patience, and that you can make a difference in the world no matter how small you are.
MacKenzie may have lost her ability to bark, but she still makes herself heard and speaks for other animals born with defects and she is a shining example of how rescuing animals often helps save more than just one life.
For her extraordinary good works, MacKenzie, who comes from Hilton, New York, first won the top title in her individual category, becoming the country’s Hero Shelter Dog of the Year, and then in the last round winning the American Humane Hero Dog Awards’ top title of 2020’s American Hero Dog.
Six other finalists were also named the nation’s top winners in their categories, and we salute them for their courage, service, and compassion.
Here are the official nominations alongside MacKenzie, as told by their handlers and owners:. We’ve also included some adorable photos of the hero dogs. Enjoy.
2020 Therapy Dog of the Year
Olive (Jefferson City, Missouri)
American Humane
From hopeless and homeless to living her purpose, Olive was rescued from the streets of Los Angeles by Brandon McMillan, host and animal trainer of the Emmy Award-winning CBS show, Lucky Dog.
Lisa Groves Bax, a child advocate volunteer for abused/neglected children in the judicial system in Missouri, saw the need for a resource to assist the scores of children facing the daunting task of appearing or testifying in court.
Olive’s mission is to make sure that no child walks alone through the courtroom doors, and provides comfort throughout the unknown journey that the child faces against their abuser or neglecting adult, which in most cases is their very own parents. Olive has served more than 300 children since beginning in the court system in 2016, and continues to assist children with extremely difficult criminal trials in order to get a conviction against the abusers.
2020 Service Dog of the Year
Dolly Pawton (Naples, Maine)
American Humane
Dolly Pawton is my cardiac alert dog, trained to alert if my blood pressure drops or heart rate rises to an unsafe level. Being confined to a wheelchair due to multiple medical conditions has been difficult, to say the least. At times, my body will physically not allow me to do everyday tasks.
I try to remain as active as my body will allow. With Dolly’s help I am able to do that. Before having a service dog, I went out very little but Dolly changed that. She helps me to function without having to depend on others. Dolly helps in every aspect of my life… She is truly my most crucial medical equipment with a loving, beating heart… She is my hero.
2020 Military Dog of the Year
Blue ll P491 (Lawrenceville, Georgia)
American Humane
Blue served our country valiantly from 2011 to 2018. I served as her first handler on my second deployment to Afghanistan, which was her first deployment as an Improvised Explosive Device Detector Dog. While deployed, Blue and I went on over 300 combat missions. She found many IEDs, saving me, along with many Marines and Sailors during our deployment.
2020 Guide/Hearing Dog of the Year
Aura (Brunswick, Maine)
American Humane
Aura is a trained hearing service dog. She became my ears after I lost my hearing in a rocket attack in Afghanistan. I was in despair after my injuries. I needed a helper. What I received was a fur guardian angel. She has restored my independence. I went from being a blown-up deaf person to a person who now feels safe and secure in the world.
2020 Law Enforcement Dog of the Year
K-9 Cody (Newport News, Virginia)
American Humane
K-9 Cody started her career in explosives detection in Iraq, working hard to keep U.S. personnel safe at the U.S. Embassy. K-9 Cody was transferred back to the United States, where she continued her explosives detection career working at the Mall of America. She quickly stood out as a phenomenal K-9, and not just because of her ability to detect explosives, but also because of her calm and loving demeanor.
2020 Search and Rescue Dog of the Year
Remington (Montgomery, Texas)
American Humane
K9 Remington is more than just a retired search and rescue K9; he is a cancer fighter and survivor, an advocate for retired K9s and for dogs to be in the fire service. Remi was nationally certified in human remains detection and worked many cases across the United States with Special K9s SAR.
Remi has spent his entire life fighting for those who could not fight by assisting law enforcement in locating remains or evidence. His deployments range from missing people, cold cases, and Hurricane Harvey.
He still has cancer and is now a tripod, but he continues to live his life representing Project K9 Hero at events to raise awareness and funding for other retired K9s. Remi is more than a search dog; he is a HERO!
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Wishing on a star is one of the most magical rites of childhood:
“Star light, star bright,
The first star I see tonight—
I wish I may, I wish I might,
Have the wish I wish tonight.”
But for one little Canadian boy named Sam, that simple activity was beyond his reach. That’s because 8-year-old Sam couldn’t see the stars.
Sam suffers from the rare disorder retinitis pigmentosa, a form of progressive blindness caused by genetic retinal degeneration that results from mutations in the RPE65 gene.
“You lose perception of light,” Dr. Elise Heon, of Sick Kids Hospital, explained to CTV News. “You end up in darkness and [it’s] slowly progressive, it’s relentless, your visual field shrinks and shrinks and shrinks and shrinks.”
Sam’s sight was extremely limited, especially at night. Images most people take for granted—the stars, an airplane streaking across the sky, or even our own shoes—were beyond the scope of his vision. Until recently, there was no effective treatment for his condition.
Now, however, thanks to a new form of gene therapy, many patients, including Sam, are seeing huge improvements in their eyesight. The science behind the protocol is impressive.
After being modified with a healthy copy of the gene, an inactivated virus is injected directly into the retina. (Each eye is injected only once.) The healthy gene then goes to work, enabling cells to produce a protein that converts light into electrical signals, which in turn, facilitates improved vision and prevents further progression of the disease.
The targeted gene therapy protocol, developed in the U.S., was recently green-lit for use in Canada, but with Sam’s sight failing, he and his mom, Sarah Banon, traveled to America last year to get him treatment.
Within a week’s time, Banon began to notice progress and says Sam’s condition has continued to improve over the course of the year since he underwent the procedure.
For the thousands of Canadians at risk of blindness, eight-year-old Sam is a beacon of hope.@CTV_AvisFavaro has the exclusive details on the first Canadian to be treated with gene replacement therapy for a rare form of blindness.
She reports her son has gained incredible confidence. He dresses without help. He’s able to see, even when it’s dark, and he no longer requires lights on when it’s cloudy outside.
“Now he is able to function as a normal child,” she told CTV. “This is a story of hope… A child told ‘it is what it is,’ and now, when he looks up at night, he can see stars.”
And when Sam wishes on those stars, he’ll know in his heart that sometimes, wishes really can come true.
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Every time you see a bird, there is a chance you may be looking at the greatest marathon athletes in the world; particularly if you live near mudflats in the U.S. state of Alaska in late-summer, and happen upon a bar-tailed godwit.
Ben, CC license
These little shorebirds were recently found to travel 7,500 miles (12,000 kilometers) in an eye-watering, lung-busting non-stop flight of 11 days from Alaska to the Firth of Thames near Auckland, New Zealand.
It’s not the longest migration ever—that title goes to the Arctic tern which goes from the Arctic to the Antarctic along the west coast of North and South America—or straight down the Atlantic every year for a total of around 14,000 kilometers.
However, it is the longest non-stop flight known to scientists. Unlike the tern, the godwit weighs a much heavier one-fifth to four-fifths of a pound, and relies on a muscular build much like a modern jet, with aerodynamic features like narrow pointed wings and a sleek body to reduce air drag.
Despite these advantages which allow it to flap its wings nearly uninterrupted for the entire journey, how can a small bird that lives a few years navigate for days over nothing but empty ocean to arrive in New Zealand?
Is it a bird, or is it a plane?
United States Geological Survey
Even though we all learned about it in biology class, or by watching David Attenborough-narrated documentaries, there is no scientific consensus over how birds navigate during their long, sometimes solitary migrations.
Some scientists have shown birds use the sun as orientation, but there is also evidence of migration as a learned skill—one study showing that adult raptors were better at course correcting for wind than juveniles, suggesting that experience comes into play.
Another thought is that some birds may use electromagnetic sensory equipment that allows them to ‘see’ the magnetic field in a way that humans cannot. A region of the brain called “Cluster N”, which together in connection with the eyes, demonstrates substantial neuronal activity during birds’ night-time migration.
Even with the help of a magnetic compass, the record-breaking bar-tailed godwit, known as 4 BBRW, departed from Alaska and passed over the Aleutian Islands in a 224-hour flight without sleep over open ocean with no land markers to use as visual guidance. At one point he faced winds that blew so hard he was being blown off course towards Australia. Amazingly, he managed to correct his flight trajectory.
“They seem to have some capability of knowing where they are on the globe. We can’t really explain it but they seem to have an onboard map,” said Dr Jesse Conklin, from the Global Flyway Network, an international migration monitoring agency, to the Guardian.
“There are other birds that make similar-scale flights of say 10,000km but there are not a whole load of places in the world where it is necessary,” Conklin said. “So it is not necessarily that this is the only bird capable of it—but it is the only bird that needs to do it.”
Along with having an incredible fuel-to-energy ratio, the birds have the ability to shrink their internal organs. This lightens their bodies to make flying easier.
It’s thought the birds’ return journey will begin in March, when they will fly north over the Yellow Sea and pass through Liaoning Province of China before returning home to a northerly latitude.
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If living well is the best revenge, then Cavanaugh Bell may just be having the best life ever.
After facing bullying at school, rather than internalizing the pain or trying to get even, the spirited 7-year-old decided to channel his energy into something positive instead.
“After I was bullied and I felt a darkness inside of me, I knew I didn’t want other kids to feel the same way I felt,” Bell explained via his GoFundMe page. “So, I asked my mom if she could help me spread love and positivity. And, the more I gave back to my community, the more I wanted to keep doing it.”
Bell lives in Gaithersburg, Maryland with his mom, Llacey Simmons, and their extended family. Even before the bullying incident, the second-grade good samaritan was already doing his part to give back during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Initially funded by his own savings, Bell started out by assembling and distributing care packages filled with food and toiletries for his elderly neighbors. Over time, the popular project snowballed. With contributions pouring in, he and his mom launched a food pantry staged in space donated by a local warehouse.
In the face of negativity at school, Bell’s determination to remain positive only became stronger. Hoping to expand his message of compassion beyond the confines of his own community, Bell set out to find a place where residents would benefit most from his message of hope.
Spurred by memories of a 2018 Mount Rushmore road trip he’d taken with his mom that led them through South Dakota’s Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, he knew he’d found his answer.
“My mom explained to me that people live on the reservation, and some didn’t have what they needed to survive,” Bell told the Washington Post. “Some of the houses didn’t have electricity or running water.”
With a steady stream of in-person donations, as well as contributions from his GoFundMe and Amazon Wish List pages, Bell and his mom have managed to amass enough essential supplies to fill a 53-foot semi-truck—twice.
🙌🏾 WE DID IT AGAIN 🙌🏾
You guys are SO amazing!!!!! Last Tuesday we filled ANOTHER 53 FOOT TRAILER to take to the Pine Ridge Reservation and it was FULL of essential winter supplies, food, and cleaning supplies for them.
A BIG thank you to each and every one of you who donated! pic.twitter.com/xsBhaZ5tMp
His mom used some of the donated funds to hire a driver. She also reached out to Alice Phelps, the director of First Families Now, a nonprofit humanitarian organization whose focus is bettering the lives of families and children on the reservation, to apprise her of her son’s plans.
“He believes he can save the world, and I believe him. He just carries that, ‘Well, no problem, let’s do it,’ and he doesn’t see anything as a challenge, so I love that innocence about him,” Phelps told People.
The first shipment that went out in July was loaded with nonperishable food and cleaning supplies, as well as shoes, clothing, and diapers. With the cold weather approaching, the second shipment in September also included coats and blankets.
“It’s just a blessing to be helping them,” said Bell, whose heritage is in part Native American. “I’m trying to make sure they have what they need to survive, cause that’s their only land and… they’re [like] my family.”
In addition to his humanitarian aid work, Bell has also launched his own nonprofit, Cool & Dope (an acronym that stands for “considering others’ obstacles in life and dish out positive energy”). The organization’s mission is to combat bullying and spread positivity through acts of kindness.
Bell says he hopes to see bullying totally eradicated by his 18th birthday—ten years from now. While 2030 may be a decade away, with Bell’s pluck and persistence, he just might reach his goal—and continue to inspire others and live his best life in the process.
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Quote of the Day: “Smile—it increases your face value.” – Dolly Parton
Photo: by Eye for Ebony
With a new inspirational quote every day, atop the perfect photo—collected and archived on our Quote of the Day page—why not bookmark GNN.org for a daily uplift?
It’s safe to say the drive-thru car wash experience is similar around the world: You pay your money, make sure all the windows are closed so you don’t get soaked, then let brushes and water jets do their thing until the cycle is finished and you can drive away in your sparklingly clean vehicle.
That’s not quite how things are working at this ghoulish Tokyo pop-up experience.
KOWAGARASETAI
At Kowagarasetai Obakeyashiki, drive into the darkness of a covered downtown parking garage, and expect to wail and howl as blood lashes the windows, haunted zombies scratch at the doors, and terrifying ghouls rock the car.
Don’t worry: Once you’ve lived through the ‘stuck in a vehicle in a zombie apocalypse’ experience, your car will be thoroughly sterilized and wiped clean.
You can even place your order for an “extra bloody” experience—a $9 add-on.
For haunted house and horror event production company Kowagarasetai–aka the “the Scaredy Squad”–the idea of doing a haunted car wash actually came about because of the pandemic.
“With the virus, I knew there would be no way we could have a traditional haunted house, with all that screaming in a small confined space,” founder Kenta Iwana told CNN Travel. “When I read that drive-through theaters were making a comeback, it was my ‘aha’ moment.”
With that spark, Iwana and the actors have created a thrillingly disturbing experience.
If you aren’t in the Japanese capital, or if you don’t have $75 to spend on going through the zombie wringer right now, just watch the digital version of the experience. Lights out, let’s go.
(PRESS play on the ghoulish AFP video below.)
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Performing acts of kindness and helping other people can be good for people’s health and well-being.
That’s according to new research published by the American Psychological Association.
But not all good-hearted behavior is equally beneficial to the giver. The strength of the link depends on many factors, including the type of kindness, the definition of well-being, and the giver’s age, gender, and other demographic factors.
“Prosocial behavior—altruism, cooperation, trust, and compassion—are all necessary ingredients of a harmonious and well-functioning society,” said lead author Bryant P.H. Hui, PhD, a research assistant professor at the University of Hong Kong. “It is part of the shared culture of humankind, and our analysis shows that it also contributes to mental and physical health.”
Previous studies have suggested that people who engage in more prosocial behavior are happier and have better mental and physical health than those who don’t spend as much time helping others.
However, not all studies have found evidence for that link, and the strength of the connection varies widely in the research literature.
To better understand what drives that variation, Hui and his colleagues performed a meta-analysis of 201 independent studies, comprising 198,213 total participants, that looked at the connection between prosocial behavior and well-being.
Overall, they found that there was a modest link between the two. Although the effect size was small, it is still meaningful, according to Hui, given how many people perform acts of kindness every day.
“More than a quarter of Americans volunteer, for example,” Hui said. “A modest effect size can still have a significant impact at a societal level when many people are participating in the behavior.”
Digging deeper into the research, published in Psychological Bulletin, Hui and his colleagues found that random acts of kindness, such as helping an older neighbor carry groceries, were more strongly associated with overall well-being than formal prosocial behavior, such as scheduled volunteering for a charity.
That may be because informal helping is more casual and spontaneous and may more easily lead to forming social connections, according to Hui.
Informal giving is also more varied and less likely to become stale or monotonous, he said.
The researchers also found a stronger link between kindness and what is known as eudaimonic well-being (which focuses on self-actualization, realizing one’s potential and finding meaning in life), than between kindness and hedonic well-being (which refers to happiness and positive feelings).
The effects varied by age, according to Hui, who began this research at the University of Cambridge. Younger givers reported higher levels of overall well-being, eudaimonic well-being, and psychological functioning, while older givers reported higher levels of physical health.
Also, women showed stronger relationships between prosociality and several measures of well-being compared with men—perhaps because women are stereotypically expected to be more caring and giving, and thus derive a stronger sense of good feelings for acting in accordance with those social norms, according to the study.
Finally, the researchers found that studies that were specifically designed to measure the connection between prosociality and well-being showed a stronger link between the two than studies that analyzed data from other large surveys not specifically designed to study the topic.
Researchers might also examine whether more prosociality is always a good thing, or whether there is an “ideal level” of prosociality beyond which too much kindness and giving become detrimental to the giver, according to Hui.
This all sounds like fascinating research, and we’re looking forward to sharing future stories about what just the “perfect” amount of kindness might be.
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A restaurant that’s famous for its hilarious signs has been pulling out all the stops to bring laughs in the era of COVID-19.
SWNS
Austin-based restaurant El Arroyo started making comic signs in the early 80s, and they’ve been perfecting the art ever since.
When the pandemic reached the States’ shores, and bars and restaurants began shuttering across the country back in spring, the team at the popular Texas restaurant decided that it was time to put even more effort into bringing comic relief to others.
“The signs bring a lot of laughter,” said Laura Schulte, 27, social media manger for the Mexican eatery.
“It’s a running joke that people who live in Austin are a bit hippy, so one of my favorite signs is: “Last queso stop before a load of yoga studios.
Though trachoma is preventable, blindness from trachoma is irreversible–and it continues to be one of the leading causes of blindness globally, affecting 1.9 million people around the world.
In good news from Myanmar, the World Health Organization has validated that the disease has been eliminated from the country: This is extra impressive, because in 2005, trachoma was responsible for 4% of all cases of blindness there.
The nation joins Nepal in the WHO South-East Asia Region and 12 countries globally to achieve this feat.
“Myanmar’s multi-pronged approach promoting access to good hygiene infrastructure and clean water, strengthening eye care system, and complete community buy-in have enabled the country ensure that people of all ages can now look towards a trachoma-free future,” Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh, Regional Director WHO South-East Asia Region, said in a statement.
How did this elimination get off the ground? In 1964, the Ministry of Health and Sports in Myanmar had initiated a trachoma control project with support from WHO and UNICEF.
The community-based interventions to eliminate the disease consisted of surgical treatment, topical antibiotic treatment and water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), and health education promoting behavior change to decrease transmission. The program further expanded to include accessible interventions in rural areas.
Since 2018, the prevalence of trachoma has gone down to a mere 0.008% of blindness within the population–meaning trachoma is no longer a public health problem.
In a virtual Regional Committee Session of WHO South-East Asia Region celebrating public health wins, Sri Lanka was also felicitated for eliminations of rubella and mother-to-child transmission of HIV and Syphilis, and Maldives was praised for eliminating rubella.
Home to a quarter of the world’s population, the Region has eight flagship priority programs—notable ones include eliminating measles and rubella by 2023; preventing and controlling noncommunicable diseases through multisectoral policies and plans; acceleratinga reduction of maternal, neonatal, and under five mortality; further strengthening national capacity for preventing and combating antimicrobial resistance; scaling-up capacity development in emergency risk management in countries; finishing the task of eliminating neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), and accelerating efforts to end TB by 2030.
The Region has been making remarkable progress around these flagships and beyond. Here at GNN, we’re looking forward to continuing to share more public health wins from South-East Asia.
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Quote of the Day: “A gem cannot be polished without friction, nor a man perfected without trials.” – Lucius Annaeus Seneca
Photo: by __ drz __
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FREE WILL ASTROLOGY – Week beginning October 21, 2020
Copyright by Rob Brezsny, FreeWillAstrology.com
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21):
“I loathe narcissism, but I approve of vanity,” said fashion writer Diana Vreeland. Here’s how I interpret that: People who enjoy looking their best and expressing their unique beauty may do so out of a desire to share their gifts with the world. Their motivation might be artistry and generosity, not self-centeredness. In accordance with cosmic potentials, Scorpio, I invite you to elude the temptations of narcissism as you explore benevolent forms of vanity.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21):
Yes, do let people see you sweat. At least for now, be forthright and revelatory. Let people witness your secret fire, your fierce tang, your salty tears, and your unhealed wounds. Hold nothing back as you give what you haven’t been able to give before. Be gleefully expressive as you unveil every truth, every question, every buried joy. Don’t be crude and insensitive, of course. Be as elegant and respectful as possible. But make it your priority to experiment with sacred vulnerability. Find out how far you can safely go as you strip away the disguises that have kept you out of touch with your full power.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19):
Between 2008 and 2017, Southern California had two sizable earthquakes: 5.5 and 5.1 on the Richter scale. But during the same period, the area had 1.8 million small quakes that were mostly too mild to be felt. The ground beneath the feet of the local people was shaking at the rate of once every three minutes. Metaphorically speaking, Capricorn, you’re now in a phase that resembles the mild shakes. There’s a lot of action going on beneath the surface, although not much of it is obvious. I think this is a good thing. The changes you’re shepherding are proceeding at a safe, gradual, well-integrated pace.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18):
No American woman was allowed to earn a medical degree and practice as a physician until Aquarian-born Elizabeth Blackwell did it in 1849. It was an almost impossible feat, since the all-male college she attended undermined her mercilessly. Once she began her career a doctor, she constantly had to outwit men who made it difficult for her. Nevertheless, she persisted. Eventually, she helped create a medical school for women in England and made it possible for 476 women to practice medicine there. I propose that we make her your patron saint for now. May she inspire you to redouble your diligent pursuit of your big dream. Here’s your motto: “Nevertheless, I’m persisting.”
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20):
Henry David Thoreau wrote, “I fear my expression may not be extravagant enough, may not wander far enough beyond the narrow limit of my daily experience, so as to be adequate to the truth of which I have been convinced.” You’ll be wise to have a similar fear, Pisces. According to my analysis, you can generate good fortune for yourself by transcending what you already know and think. Life is conspiring to nudge you and coax you into seeking experiences that will expand your understanding of everything. Take advantage of this opportunity to blow your own mind!
ARIES (March 21-April 19):
“I’ve been told that nobody sings the word ‘hunger’ like I do,” testified Aries chanteuse Billie Holiday. She wasn’t suggesting that she had a stylish way of crooning about fine dining. Rather, she meant “hunger” in the sense of the longing for life’s poignant richness. Her genius-level ability to express such beauty was due in part to her skillful vocal technique, but also because she was a master of cultivating soulful emotions. Your assignment in the coming weeks, Aries, is to refine and deepen your own hunger.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20):
Author Renata Adler expresses my own feelings when she writes, “Hardly anyone about whom I deeply care resembles anyone else I have ever met, or heard of, or read about in literature.” I bet if you’re honest, Taurus, you would say the same. It’s almost certainly the case that the people you regard as worthy of your love and interest are absolutely unique. In the sense that there are no other characters like them in the world, they are superstars and prodigies. I bring this to your attention because now is an excellent time to fully express your appreciation for their one-of-a-kind beauty—to honor and celebrate them for their entertainment value and precious influence and unparalleled blessings.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20):
“If you cannot find an element of humor in something, you’re not taking it seriously enough,” writes author Ilyas Kassam. That’s a key thought for you to keep in mind during the coming weeks. Levity and joking will be necessities, not luxuries. Fun and amusement will be essential ingredients in the quest to make good decisions. You can’t afford to be solemn and stern, because allowing those states to dominate you would diminish your intelligence. Being playful—even in the face of challenges—will ensure your ultimate success.
CANCER (June 21-July 22):
I’m hoping the horoscopes I wrote for you in late August helped propel you into a higher level of commitment to the art of transformation. In any case, I suspect that you will have the chance, in the coming weeks, to go even further in your mastery of that art. To inspire you in your efforts, I’ll encourage you to at least temporarily adopt one or more of the nicknames in the following list: 1. Flux Luster 2. Fateful Fluctuator 3. Shift Virtuoso 4. Flow Maestro 5. Alteration Adept 6. Change Arranger 7. Mutability Savant 8. Transition Connoisseur.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22):
“When one is a stranger to oneself, then one is estranged from others, too,” wrote author Anne Morrow Lindbergh. “If one is out of touch with oneself, then one cannot touch others. Only when one is connected to one’s own core, is one connected to others.” In bringing these thoughts to your attention, Leo, I don’t mean to imply that you are out of touch with your deep self. Not at all. But in my view, all of us can benefit from getting into ever-closer communion with our deep selves. In the coming weeks, you especially need to work on that—and are likely to have extra success in doing so.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22):
My cosmic tipsters told me that you will be even smarter than usual in the coming weeks. As I scoured the heavenly maps, I detected signs that you have the potential to be a skilled code-cracker, riddle-decipherer, and solver of knotty problems and tricky dilemmas. That’s why I suggest you express gratitude to your beautiful brain, Virgo. Sing it sweet songs and tell it how much you love it and find out which foods you can eat to strengthen it even more. Now read Diane Ackerman’s description of the brain: “that shiny mound of being, that mouse-gray parliament of cells, that dream factory, that petit tyrant inside a ball of bone, that huddle of neurons calling all the plays, that little everywhere, that fickle pleasuredome.”
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22):
Libran author Ursula K. Le Guin said that we don’t just naturally know how to create our destinies. It takes research and hard work. “All of us have to learn how to invent our lives, make them up, imagine them,” she wrote. “We need to be taught these skills; we need guides to show us how. If we don’t, our lives get made up for us by other people.” I bring this to your attention, Libra, because the coming weeks will be an excellent time to upgrade and refine your mastery of these essential powers. What can you do to enhance your capacity to invent your life? Which teachers and information sources might be helpful?
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
With the impact of the pandemic continuing to spread far and wide, people around the world are waiting for news on a possible treatment for the virus.
There’s good news on that front, as a 14-year-old girl from Texas has discovered a molecule that can selectively bind to the spike protein of the SARS-CoV-2.
Binding and inhibiting this viral protein would potentially stop the virus entry into the cell, creating a viable drug target.
For her breakthrough, eighth grader Anika Chebrolu has been named the winner of the 2020 3M Young Scientist Challenge—America’s premier middle school science competition.
As part of her research, Frisco’s Anika screened millions of small molecules for drug-likeness properties, ADMET properties, and binding affinities against the spike protein using numerous software tools.
The one molecule with the best pharmacological and biological activity towards the spike protein of the SARS-CoV-2 virus was chosen as the lead molecule that can be a potential drug for the effective treatment of COVID-19.
According to a statement, she and the nine other finalists have spent the past few months working with a 3M scientist who acted as mentor and worked one-on-one to transform an idea from concept to physical prototype.
Anika wasn’t initially planning on studying a coronavirus. After being stricken with a bad bout of flu last year, she was actually hoping to help find a cure for influenza.
But then COVID-19 hit the globe, and she knew just what to focus her attention on.
For her work looking at spike proteins, Anika can now proudly call herself “America’s Top Young Scientist.” On top of a $25,000 gift for her award-winning work, she’s also going to receive a special destination trip.
For this STEM hero, however, it’s not about the awards or the trips. “Science is the basis of life and the entire universe and we have a long way to go understand it fully,” she told Yahoo.
And this is just the beginning of Anika’s COVID-19 work. She explained, “how I develop this molecule further with the help of virologists and drug development specialists will determine the success of these efforts.”
Here’s at GNN, we’re wishing the Texas teen every success in her endeavors.
(WATCH Anika explain her fascinating research in the video below.)
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Visiting loved ones during the pandemic has become a daunting task.
Even so, when 10-year-old Romeo Cox decided what he wanted more than anything else was a hug from his 77-year-old grandmother, he didn’t let a few little bumps in the road—like quarantine, or that she was 1,700 miles away and there were no flights from his new home in Sicily to his native U.K.—stop him from making the journey.
Phil Cox
“I hadn’t seen Granny for a year and a half, so [during lockdown] I planned in secret to go see her,” he said in an interview with The Times of London.
Romeo’s parents took some convincing, but Romeo finally talked them into letting him make the trip. “I asked my parents and they said no more than 50 times,” he told The Daily Mail.
“Eventually they agreed—provided we planned everything was Covid-safe.”
With his folks’ blessing, Romeo turned his plans into action. “I drew a map. I would walk and take boats and do it naturally to help the planet,” he told the Times. “And I’d take Dad. It would be handy to have an adult.”
Handy indeed, since Romeo’s father, 46-year-old Phil Cox, is a veteran journalist and filmmaker whose first-hand experience covering war zones gave him invaluable knowledge about making your way in less than ideal conditions.
Of course, Romeo isn’t the only relative to prove when you’re determined to spend quality time with your loved ones, where there’s a will, there’s a way. This past July, intrepid pandemic-stranded sailor Juan Manuel Ballestero sailed solo 5,600 miles across the Atlantic from Portugal to Argentina so he could be reunited with his 90-year-old dad for Father’s Day.
In the course of their travels, the duo spent many nights under the stars.
They were also forced to fend off wild dogs, got lost a time or two, suffered sore feet, befriended a wild donkey, and took some time to volunteer at a refugee camp in Northern Calais, but no matter how unusual or adverse the conditions, they just kept going.
That’s because, in addition to seeing his beloved grandmother, Romeo had another compelling reason to complete his mission—raising money to help refugee children.
As the new kid in town when his family moved to Palermo, Romeo was taken under the wing of some peers who’d already learned the ropes. Romeo recounted the story of his best bud, Randolph, whose family was often forced to march mile after mile as they made their way from Ghana to Italy.
“He walked even further than I have on this trip, but without food and water and in fear. He was risking his life,” Romeo told Metro News. “He helped me when I came to Sicily, and so I wanted to help him and other vulnerable children in return.”
Having raised close to £14,000 in donations for the Refugee Education Across Conflicts Trust, Romeo is well within sight of his £15,000 goal.
On September 21, father and son arrived in London’s Trafalgar Square where they spent a mandatory two weeks in isolation prior to being allowed to make the final leg of the journey to Grandma Rosemary’s home. “I’m feeling tired now—like an old 100-year-old man,” Romeo quipped to Metro News, “but it was so fun.”
With his grandmother’s house finally in sight, Romeo broke into a joyful run that ended in the embrace he’d so longed for.
It was difficult at first for his grandmother to wrap her head around everything Romeo had accomplished en route to their rendezvous. “I didn’t believe my grandson’s incredible journey at first,” she admitted.
But more than anything else, her heart was filled with love and gratitude. “Children can inspire us and lift us all up. On behalf of all the grannies in all the world, I want to thank Romeo—as well and hug him and kiss him lots.”
(WATCH the moment when Romeo runs up delightedly to his grandmother in the Daily Mail video below.)
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