As polling lines snaked around city blocks and stretched through neighborhoods across the country in 2020, a volunteer-led non-profit delivered more than 1.3 million pizzas, burgers, empanadas, donuts, cookies, and other snacks to people at polling sites.
Associated Press for Pizza to the Polls
According to Pizza to the Polls, their mission is a simple one: to send snacks to crowded polling locations—and this year they delivered the free food in 48 states paid for by donations totaling a whopping $1.45 million from grassroots supporters eager to cheer up their fellow American voters.
With historic turnout for early voting and COVID-19 safety measures lengthening wait times, the organization delivered pizzas to more than 3,200 polling locations across the country and deployed 262 food trucks to 29 cities through their partnership with Uber Eats and others.
Voters, poll workers, and children accompanying their parents were able to enjoy treats paid for by donations raised from 28,418 donors, with an average donation of $49.23
The program generated some attention and received support from celebrities like Ariana Grande, Lady Gaga, Demi Lovato, and Tracee Ellis Ross.
“Food can be a major mood-shifter for people who have been waiting for hours to vote or who have been volunteering to ensure the process runs smoothly,” Pizza to the Polls co-founder Scott Duncombe said. “We’ve seen people get really excited about our deliveries—and some have even told us that it was the boost they needed to stay in line.”
Visionaries are often accused of being a little mad. Even by their wives. Such was the case of Laungi, a resident of India’s drought-blighted Gaya district in the eastern state of Bihar.
IndiaTV/YouTube
Loungi Bhuiya had become increasingly distraught as more and more farmers—including four of his own sons—left Kolithwa for greener pastures. Taking a leaf from Don Quixote, Bhuiyan was determined not only to dream an impossible dream but to make that dream come true by single-handedly bringing water to his village in hopes of transforming the barren land into arable acreage.
Inspired by the earlier exploits of “Mountain Man” Dashrath Manjh, who, with just a hammer and chisel, spent 22 years carving a road through the mountain near the village Gehlaur from 1960 to 1982, Bhuiya set out to dig an irrigation canal by hand to the closest water source in the Bangetha Hills.
“I had heard about him and I thought if he can do it, why can’t I?” Bhuiya told Al Jazeera. “They all thought I was mad.”
“He decided to dig a canal from a natural water source in Bagetha Sahwasi forest to the village,” Village leader Vishnupat Bhokta told the Tribune of India.
“The villagers took their cattle generally to that source for watering, which also provided sustenance to the animals living in the forest area. Loungi knew that the water source was enough to irrigate the agricultural land of the villagers. However, it was a great challenge to bring water into the village.”
Despite the teasing from his family and fellow villagers, the now 70-year-old Bhuiya toiled every day to make the four-foot-wide by three-foot-deep canal a reality. It took him nearly 30 years to accomplish his goal, but now everyone is benefitting from the fruits of his decades’ long labors.
Bhuiya, whose reputation as a neighborhood eccentric has since been transformed into local hero, was recently rewarded for his efforts with a brand-new Mahindra tractor, which will be used to expand the canal.
Of course, when Quixote creator Miguel de Cervantes wrote: “When life itself seems lunatic, who knows where madness lies? Perhaps to be too practical may be madness. To surrender dreams, this may be madness… Maddest of all is to see life as it is and not as it should be,” he wasn’t referring to Bhuiya—but he just as well might have been.
(WATCH the IndiaTV video of this man’s amazing feat below.)
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While the world waits to hear the main result of the U.S. election, here’s some good news from Mississippi.
Yesterday, residents of the Magnolia State were voting not just for their favored party. They were also asked to approve a new flag.
Local lawmakers vowed to replace their Confederate-themed state flag in late June. From there, more than 2,000 design ideas were submitted by Mississippians. The rules? The flag could not have Confederate imagery on it, and the words, “In God We Trust” should be featured.
The majority of Mississippians voted ‘yes’ to the gold, blue, and red design you can see below.
It features an emblem of the state flower that releases a sweet perfume every summer from the magnolia tree.
This will be the new state flag of Mississippi. Voters overwhelmingly approved it. This is a great day for the state as we move forward from a divisive emblem that now rests in the past. pic.twitter.com/nZorS0tVUd
From here, the Legislature will formally enact the design into law during the 2021 legislative session and the flag will be seen flying at public buildings around Mississippi shortly after that.
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This live stream of polar bears in the wild has been created to help us all ‘zen out’ this winter.
The live cams show the bears’ migration in Canada and how they survive in the Arctic tundra with their cubs.
Lucky viewers may also get a front row seat to Arctic foxes, seasonal birds, and displays of the aurora borealis.
The project is a collaboration between the conservation nonprofit Polar Bears International (PBI) and Explore.org.
Every year, around now, hundreds of the iconic animals meet on the shores of Hudson Bay, near the town of Churchill, to wait for the ice that lets them head out to sea and seek out seals for sustenance through winter.
For this reason, Churchill is known as the Polar Bear Capital of the World.
The town even has its own ‘polar bear jail’ for naughty teen bears that have been causing trouble in the town. They’re released once the sea ice is thick enough for them to head out into the bay.
SWNS
The ice-free season is nearly a month longer than it was during the 1980s. But there’s hope. Krista Wright, Executive Director of PBI, said: “If we act swiftly and collectively to make a bold transition to renewable energy, and away from fossil fuels, we can preserve polar bears for future generations.”
“We hope Polar Bear Week encourages people to pause, appreciate, and listen to this species.
In the final days of campaigning to be Utah’s next governor, the Democrat and Republic candidates released a video. Together.
In the joint ad, Chris Peterson and Spencer Cox are joshing around. They’re enjoying each other’s company, there’s chemistry there. It’s completely refreshing.
The pair take turns saying these inspiring lines:
“We can disagree without hating each other / We can debate issues without degrading each other’s character / And win or lose in Utah, we work together / So let’s show the country there’s a better way. ‘We approve this message’.”
In less than one day, their simple, heartfelt ad was viewed by millions.
Democrat Chris Peterson spoke to Today about the video going viral: “It’s really restored my faith in the American people. People are hungering for decency, they’re tired of the divisiveness. And I’m certainly hopeful that this means there are better things to come in politics.”
“We’re both just trying to be good guys,” said Cox. “We’re just trying to focus on the issues, have a civil campaign, and let the public decide. That’s what our democracy is supposed to be about… and after [the election] we move forward together.”
(WATCH the viral video from Utah below.)
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Since states began to lock down in March, citizen science programs like eBird, NestWatch, and SciStarter have seen dramatic increases in users giving conservationists a wealth of data to help make datasets that might be used to protect birds and insect species, like butterflies and dragonflies.
Jamie Street
While so many people are hanging around their homes, they need only to go outside to become a citizen scientist.
NestWatch and eBird capitalize on the enthusiasm of local birdwatchers to provide a lot of information to scientists about populations in regions where ornithology departments at universities don’t have funding to plan expeditions for.
These two apps experienced increases of 41% and 29%, respectively, in submissions this year compared to 2019.
COVID-19 has forced a lot of scientific expeditions to be postponed, and so naturalists are heavily relying on citizen scientists to keep track of insect and bird populations.
Less than an hour from the nation’s capital, a group called Occoquan Bay Meadowoods Surveys in Northern Virginia, which has delivered citizen surveys for 30 years, played a big part in the creation of the Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge.
“You don’t know what’s there until you know it’s there,” says Jim Waggener, 84, who founded the survey group three decades ago. “That’s what repetitive surveys can do—peel away one layer after another of nature so you see just a bit deeper into what it’s all about.”
Waggener told National Geographic that due to the high number of seniors present in his field expeditions, social distancing and other COVID-19 measures make it a little bit more difficult to conduct different kinds of field work such as looking at flowers and insects in close proximity, which is especially relevant because the naturalist is seeing a significant increase in new faces joining him in the field.
Also speaking with National Geographic, one retired computer programer named Judy Gallagher reckons she spent 30 hours a month during the summer studying lesser-known butterflies in Northern Virginia survey areas.
“There are certain species, like monarchs, that are very carefully studied,” Gallagher says. “Most insects are not, and the more data we can give, the more likely it is we can come up with ways of mitigating species loss.”
This research is being used by scientists at nearby Georgetown University to create models for the potential risk of current or future human impacts on the feeding and breeding habits and habitat vulnerability of butterflies.
Insect species are often neglected in favor of research on more charismatic species like birds and mammals, so citizen science can help make up for biases in research fields within academia.
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Quote of the Day: “To lose patience is to lose the battle.” Mahatma Gandhi
Photo by: Anders Nielsen
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?
Sleeping an extra 29 minutes each night can be the key to improving mindfulness, a critical resource that has benefits for daily well-being and work performance.
Mindfulness is achieved by purposefully bringing an individual’s awareness and attention to experiences occurring in the present moment without forming an opinion.
Unlike previous studies, new research published in Sleep Health looked at how multiple dimensions of nightly sleep impact daily mindfulness, rather than just focusing on sleep quality or duration.
The study, led by the University of South Florida, found better sleep improves next-day mindfulness, which in turn, reduces sleepiness during the day.
The research focused on nurses, the largest group of healthcare professionals whose need for optimal sleep and mindful attention are particularly high.
Sleep problems are common in this population due to long shifts, lack of situational control, and close proximity to life-threatening health conditions. Their optimal sleep health and mindful attention are particularly important as they work the frontline of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“One can be awake and alert, but not necessarily mindful. Similarly, one can be tired or in low arousal but still can be mindful,” said lead author Soomi Lee, assistant professor of aging studies at USF. “Mindful attention is beyond being just being awake. It indicates attentional control and self-regulation that facilitates sensitivity and adaptive adjustment to environmental and internal cues, which are essential when providing mindful care to patients and effectively dealing with stressful situations.”
Lee and her colleagues from USF and Moffitt Cancer Center followed 61 nurses for two weeks and examined multiple characteristics of sleep health, They found that nurses’ mindful attention was greater than their usual after nights with greater sleep sufficiency, better sleep quality, lower efficiency, and longer sleep duration (an extra half-hour longer).
Daily mindful attention contributed to less same-day sleepiness. Those with greater mindful attention were also 66% less likely to experience symptoms of insomnia during the two-week study period.
Researchers come to these conclusions by using a variety of tools to measure how much participants were mindful each daily moment and how their mental states were impacted by sleep.
Participants were prompted to answer daily mindfulness and sleepiness questions three times a day for two weeks using the smartphone application, RealLife Exp.
Daily mindfulness was measured by the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale, which asked questions such as, “I was doing something automatically, without being aware of what I was doing,” and “I was finding it difficult to stay focused on what was happening.” Participants also wore an Actiwatch Spectrum device for the same two weeks that measured wrist movement activity to quantify sleep and wake patterns.
Findings from this study provide insight into developing a behavioral health intervention strategy for a broader array of people, especially healthcare workers who need better sleep and mindful attention. Given the association between mindful attention and better patient care, improving sleep in this population may provide important benefits to patient health outcomes as well.
(Source: University of Southern Florida)
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When a Biden supporter’s political sign was stolen from his yard in northern Wisconsin, a Trump fan reached out and replaced the sign for him.
Fox 6 News
In Washington County, a Republican stronghold, Tim is an anomaly as a Biden supporter. “You look around the neighborhood, I think there’s one other Biden sign,” Place explained to Fox.
Perhaps inevitably, his yard sign didn’t last very long.
A few days later, though, he received that unlikely gift from his Republican neighbor Josh Schoemann.
Josh lives a few doors down from Tim, and has his own sign–supporting the current president–on his lawn.
Seeing his neighbor’s sign had been stolen didn’t bring him any joy. Josh thought to himself, “’that’s just not right… Although we are Trump supporters, we love our neighbors and want them to be able to exercise their freedom of speech just like everybody else… I decided to take my son and go and replace their sign.”
When Josh brought the Biden sign over to Tim, it was the first time the pair had ever met.
Naturally, Tim was amazed by the kind gesture. He told Josh that he would do the same for him.
In more good news? That new replacement sign is still standing.
Whether a supporter of the blue or red team, maybe the rest of the country could take a cue from these two NFL Green Bay Packer fans and remember that we have more in common than we think.
(WATCH the Fox 6 video of this story below.)
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Lost for 106 years, a species of chameleon was recently rediscovered by scientists working with Global Wildlife Conservation (GWC) as part of their “25 Most Wanted List” of missing species.
Female Voeltzkow’s chameleon, Kathrin Glaw
First discovered in 1893 and last seen in 1913, Voeltzkow’s chameleon was re-discovered in the Mahajanga region of northwest Madagascar, the most biodiverse area for chameleons on the island they call home. It was discovered by Frank Glaw and his team from the Department of Vertebrates at the Bavarian State Collection of Zoology.
Far from requiring to delve into dark, steamy jungles full of spines, barbs, bites, and venom, more than 15 Voeltzkow’s chameleons were found in the final two days of the expedition, lounging in an unkempt hotel garden in town.
“It was a special mixture of great pleasure, excitement and relief,” expedition leader Frank Glaw, told Mongabay in an email.
“Our efforts were entirely unsuccessful during most of the trip to find it where we thought it would most likely be. That was really frustrating, but the rediscovery during the last few days of the trip immediately changed everything and brought us an incredibly happy ending,” Glaw told GWC.
The expedition was always going to be a challenge, as the Voeltzkow’s closest chameleon relatives, Labord’s chameleons, live only 4-5 months over the winter, giving the team a very short window of opportunity to find the little fellows, especially since winter in Madagascar is the rainy season when many roads become unusable.
A colorful surprise
The team found three males and 15 females in total. 100 years ago, as Klaw’s corresponding paper details, the only specimens collected for study were males, significantly limiting the available information about the species.
The documenting of Klaw et al. gives science the first description of a female Voeltzkow’s chameleon. Both sexes are green with a few white and black details when calm, but should they become stressed, angry, stimulated by human handling, or experience changes in hormones when mating, they can turn black and white and striped with a line of three red dots along their back, or flush indigo, with a grid pattern of white, indigo, and black stripes.
Male and female Voeltzkow’s chameleon, Frank Glaw
“The Voeltzkow’s chameleon adds color and beauty to the planet, and reminds us that even when all seems lost, a great adventure can rekindle hope even for species we haven’t seen since Woodrow Wilson was president,” said Don Church, GWC president and a Search for Lost Species program lead. “Now we have so much to learn about this extraordinary reptile, including how we can best save it from extinction.”
The International Union for the Conservation of Nature is the world authority on endangered species, and it is the opinion of the discoverers that the Voeltzkow’s chameleon should immediately be listed as endangered based on the IUCN criteria, though IUCN have not made an official evaluation on their Red List.
Conservation enthusiasts will be buoyed to hear that it appears that this chameleon does not require dry intact forests to survive as many chameleons do, and can potentially live in many different habitats.
Now with the Voeltzkow’s chameleon officially found, that means the 25 list is down to 19, with Jackson’s climbing salamander, Wallace’s giant bee, the velvet pitcher plant, silver-backed chevrotain, and Somali sengi having been rediscovered over the last three years—as detailed in our GNN article.
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When the front carriage of a metro train near Rotterdam crashed through the safety barriers just before midnight on Sunday, the driver escaped injury thanks to a sculpture of a whale’s tail.
Bloomberg/YouTube
The train was held 32 feet in the air upon one of two tail fins, known (really) as “flukes.”
And, what is the name of the installation by Dutch artist and architect Maarten Struijs? We kid you not, it’s “Saved by the Whale’s Tail.”
The driver was able to leave the empty train by himself and was taken to hospital for a check-up, according to the BBC.
Twitter users have, naturally, found a new sense of ‘poipose’ as a result of this serendipitous tale from the Netherlands.
One commenter, Mike Twister, was even moved to poetry seeing this ‘fluke’ of nature.
Paul Rudd is already beloved for his long list of Hollywood film roles—but now, his most recent good deed is winning hearts across Brooklyn as well.
Earlier this week, the movie star was filmed handing out individually-wrapped blueberry and cream cookies to New York City voters as they waited in the rain outside the Barclays Center to cast their ballots.
Not only did Rudd pass out cookies to people who were waiting in line to vote, he also gave cookies to people exiting the building as a thank you for exercising their civil liberties.
Brian Rosenworcel, who was just one of the lucky voters surprised by Rudd’s appearance, managed to post a quick video of the celebrity’s sweet treat giveaway to Twitter—and the clip has already been viewed thousands of times in a matter of days.
“I was standing in line and I thought Paul was just there to vote, but then he starts handing out cookies to people in line,” Brian Rosenworcel told CNN. “And he waited to greet people as they exited to say thanks for voting in the rain.”
paul rudd really spending his day giving cookies to voters in the rain, he really is the only man ever 😭 pic.twitter.com/OE0lj7n9n7
Quote of the Day: “If you don’t vote, you lose the right to complain.” – Unknown
Photo by: Element5 Digital
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?
Rescuing injured or abandoned animals is one of the most rewarding pursuits we can experience. As those who put themselves on the line to ensure the well-being of other creatures will tell you, the special bond they share with the animals they’ve helped is a natural high that soothes the human soul and heals the psyche like little else.
Safe in Austin
Now, one Texas animal sanctuary is taking this concept of “Who saved who?” even further.
Safe in Austin is the brainchild of Jamie Wallace-Griner. The project took shape as she observed the interaction between her autistic son and his service dog, Angel.
“We have always loved animals, but when Angel joined our family it became insanely clear how the love of an animal can be literally, miraculous!” she said. “Angel gave my son confidence and strength beyond anything I was capable of doing as his mother. She provided protection from his fears, understanding of his thoughts, and power over his disabilities.”
Knowing firsthand that one of the most difficult emotional challenges for children who are differently-abled or whose behavior or appearance sets them apart from their peers comes from the feeling that they don’t fit in, Wallace-Griner and her husband, David Griner, purchased an old ranch in Leander, Texas, with dreams of turning it into a judgment-free animal sanctuary and rehabilitation center.
But more than that, it would also offer a safe haven to kids with special needs, disabilities, mental health issues, or histories of past emotional trauma.
Safe in Austin
Wallace-Griner says Safe in Austin’s mission is “to rescue animals from severe abuse or neglect, rehabilitate and rehome the ones that are able, and offer a safe and loving forever home for the rest.
“Once they are healthy enough and we have earned their trust; we introduce our rescues to children that come from similar backgrounds of abuse, neglect, and/or special needs. Our animals provide healing to trauma, at-risk, and/or special needs children by way of unconditional friendship and a clear, loving, example of what they are looking for most… hope.”
Over the years, as the ranch has been rehabbed, the population has grown to include chickens, pigs, and goats, many of whom have special needs.
“We have animals that are blind or deaf, have diabetes, cerebral palsy, deformities, missing limbs, broken spines … they all become part of our family,” Wallace-Griner told The Washington Post.
The current menagerie numbers 20 dogs, 14 cats, eight horses, 32 goats, four rabbits, three tortoises, one parrot, four turkeys, numerous chickens, 18 pigs, and four cows.
Peter, a 250-pound potbellied pig is a crowd-pleasing favorite with visitors, as is Ruby Sue, a paralyzed calf who perambulates pretty handily thanks to her own specially-built wheelchair.
As with their furry and feathered friends, humans of all shapes, sizes, and descriptions are welcome at the sanctuary. “We don’t care about the choices you made in the past, what you look like, who you love, or what you eat. We concentrate on no judgment at all,” Wallace-Griner said.
Safe in Austin
Prior to COVID-19, Safe in Austin was open to members of the public who toured the sanctuary led by volunteer guides. The pandemic meant enacting safety restrictions, which limited the number of guests that could be safely accommodated. The sanctuary has since made the switch to pre-arranged private family and small-group tours.
Even so, Wallace-Griner strives to ensure that anyone in need will still be made welcome. She fields emails from potential visitors, and after delving into the specific issues they’re dealing with, she invites them out for a “healing hearts tour” to meet and interact with those animals she feels will best meet the needs of their given situations.
Having to adapt to change and challenge is all part of the process and Wallace-Griner remains positive. She sees Safe in Austin as a work in progress, never losing sight of the sanctuary’s ultimate goals of healing, acceptance, and unconditional love.
“You never soar so high as when you stoop down to help a child or an animal,” she said. “Saving one animal with not change the world, but for that one animal, the world will change forever!”
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A PhD student in Michigan defended her dissertation while wearing a skirt made of rejection letters received while studying.
Caitlin Kirby
To make the tiered black and white number, 29-year-old Caitlin Kirby printed out 17 of her rejection letters—from scholarships, academic journals, and conferences—then folded each one into a fan. She connected them in row, and by the end she had an item resembling a skirt.
She toldLansing State Journal that the idea behind her unique clothing item came out of a desire to normalize rejection and take pride in overcoming it. “The whole process of revisiting those old letters and making that skirt sort of reminded me that you have to apply to a lot of things to succeed,” she said. “A natural part of the process is to get rejected along the way.”
Caitlin’s adviser, Julie Libarkin, a professor of earth and environmental science at Michigan State University, also encourages the acceptance of failure in her students.
Libarkin believes it’s important for students to get into habit of applying for things, and to get used to the feeling of rejection, so she encourages them to chase after any opportunity that comes their way. If a student doesn’t get the grant or the spot in the academic journal? That’s okay. They’ll still have learned something in the process.
As for Caitlin? Her rejections over the years have led to great things: Since her doctorate, she’s won a prestigious Fulbright grant to do further research on urban agriculture in Germany.
Currently, she’s a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. As for what the future holds? “I’m gearing up to receive a few more rejection letters along the way,” she joked Lansing State Journal. “Maybe I’ll make a longer skirt.”
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With the Christmas season just around the corner, kids around the globe have been worried that Santa might have to cancel his plans due to Coronavirus concerns—but according to the big man in the red suit himself, everyone can rest easy.
Chris Benson
“It has come to my attention,” Santa posted on Elf on a Shelf’s Facebook page, “that children around the world are being told by their older siblings, parents, and other adults, and even friends, that Christmas is not coming this year due to the [COVID-19] pandemic. This is simply not true.”
Not only has St. Nick been practicing social distancing like everyone else, he has been named an essential worker (a “key” worker, as it’s known across the pond) by the Scottish First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon. Even though many holiday festivities will be observed by people who are six-feet apart, Santa has been given the ‘all-clear’ to carry out his Christmas Eve delivery duties as scheduled.
“Santa will not be prevented from delivering your presents on Christmas Eve,” Sturgeon declared in a speech reported by The Scottish Sun. “Santa is a key worker and he has got lots of magic powers that make him safe to do that. Santa will be delivering presents across the world as normal.”
Now, perhaps more than ever, the world needs comfort and joy, and for kids, that means a visit from Santa. One Scottish mom who shared her plan for encouraging the jolly old soul on a night that might seem darker than in years past has since seen her idea go viral.
“On Christmas Eve at 6 p.m. we are asking everyone to come outside and ring a bell for 2 [minutes] to spread Christmas spirit and to help Santa fly that sleigh,” Kathyrn Stubbs penned in a Facebook post. “After a tough year, it would be an amazing memory for the kids and communities. End 2020 with a bit of magic, hope, and togetherness!”
If you like the sound of this grand new holiday tradition as much as we do, feel free to ring along.
Don’t have a bell? No worries. Singing works just as well, so if you want to help keep Santa’s sleigh soaring, just step outside on the dot of six and lift your voice up high:
You better watch out, You better not cry, You better not pout, I’m telling you why, Santa Claus is coming to town!
A team from Northwestern University has developed a soft, silicon, skin-interfaced sensor that can analyze the molecular composition of sweat for things like cortisol, blood sugar, and vitamin C, sending the data to the wearer’s smartphone.
Sungbong Kim, Roozbeh Ghaffari, John A. Rogers
This data, the researchers hope, will allow people to better control their stress levels throughout the day.
Cortisol, sometimes called the stress hormone, can be measured in a person’s sweat. Released from the adrenal glands under periods of physical and mental stress, it can be a powerful performance enhancer—increasing energy production and glucose availability for the muscles during a “fight or flight” situation, for instance being attacked by a lion.
However, cortisol can also be released because of modern stressors such as money problems, issues at work, and other day-to-day worries that if built up over time, create the profile of chronic anxiety and can lead to an increased risk for diabetes, hypertension, depression, and obesity.
A chip on your shoulder
When someone wearing the chip sweats, the liquid runs through small channels into a series of chemical test sensors that look for different biological signals which could suggest a rise in cortisol.
Previous attempts in years past at creating devices like this were limited by the need to take sweat samples to laboratories for analysis, removing any ability for the individual to act on the data in a way that might prevent buildup of stressful feelings, or even an anxiety attack.
“Field tests illustrate capabilities in measurement of cortisol, glucose, and ascorbic acid (vitamin C) along with digital tracking of sweat rate and GSR across four healthy volunteers engaged in physical exercise on a stationary bike in a gym environment,” write the authors of the study, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
This was done in a laboratory-gymnasium for a week, and involved disrupting the sleep patterns of the participants in a way that was designed to mimic stressful long nights of studying.
Each day the trialists rode a stationary bike and the researchers used their chip to monitor cortisol levels, which normally move through the day in accordance with our circadian rhythms. At the end of the trial, which consisted of 14 recovery days of normal sleep supplementing with vitamin C—a vitamin used to decrease hormone levels—it was shown that the period of stress had dysregulated their cortisol secretion and led to increased levels of the stress hormone in their bodies.
“The subjects experience physiological stress, fatigue, and irregular life patterns during intensive work and with inadequate sleep. These conditions disrupt the cortisol–melatonin circadian rhythm [and] as a result, the hypothalamus region of the brain produces corticotropin-releasing hormone, which in turn… increases cortisol production and disrupting of cortisol circadian rhythm,” write the authors.
They point out that saliva concentrations of cortisol were very similar to those registered by the small chips, suggesting that the data collected is quite reliable, as saliva samples are normally very accurate.
Such a device could be paramount in helping people relieve depressive or stressful feelings (not least because exercising hard enough to induce sweating helps with anxiety on its own).
Furthermore, the percent of the population of American adults with regular feelings of worry, nervousness, or anxiety is around 11.2%, while there are nearly 60 million doctors’ visits where mental or behavioral health is the chief concern.
Putting power into patients’ hands—in the form of a detailed diagnosis of cortisol levels, could help significantly to lower those numbers.
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Fashion recycling, beyond simply reselling clothes, is a little behind other material recycling processes in terms of technology. But one of Europe’s largest and most popular labels, H&M, is establishing the world’s first in-store combination shredder and knitter of old clothes to tackle the problem head on.
H&M
Looop, the machine that shreds old clothes into component fibers, cleans and presses them into longer fibers, and weaves them into yarn before creating brand new garments, was developed by the Hong Kong Research Institute of Textiles and Apparel (HKRITA) in collaboration with the non-profit H&M Foundation.
“To fight climate change, we need to change fashion,” reads a statement on the fashion retailer’s website.
Indeed, analysis from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency suggests that fashion waste may make up as much as 5% of landfill capacity, while also producing 10% of the nation’s total methane emissions.
Looop uses no additional dyes or water, relying instead solely on the color of the scrapped clothes. The process is completed on an assembly line of eight machines that are sold like a 40-foot long piece of furniture that can be easily shipped around the world in a standard shipping container.
Quote of the Day: “At the end of the day, it isn’t where I came from. Maybe home is somewhere I’m going and never have been before.” – Warsan Shire
Photo by: Valentina Locatelli
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 has now been one year since The Ocean Cleanup made history by cleaning up the first of the plastic from the infamous Great Pacific Garbage Patch—and now, its researchers are turning the trash into designer sunglasses.
Photo by The Ocean Cleanup
Not only are the stylish shades made from the plastic collected, but the earnings go toward helping support the nonprofit so they can continue cleaning up the ocean.
The new glasses are the first product to be created from the recovered ocean debris—but The Ocean Cleanup website says it will not be the last.
Back in October 2019, after years of research, The Ocean Cleanup project which was launched out of San Francisco announced that the System 001/B vessel had successfully captured and collected plastic debris from the patch.
The self-contained system uses the natural forces of the ocean to passively corral plastic in the Garbage Patch, a process that was first envisioned by Boyan Slat back in October 2012.
Photo by The Ocean Cleanup
After discovering the patch in the 90s, scientists said it would take thousands of years to clean it up—but Slat quickly made a name for himself after he presented a TEDx talk in which he claimed that—if he could get funding for his machinery designs—he could do it in less than ten.
The young Dutchman dropped out of college so he could bring his plans to life—and he not only crowdfunded $2.2 million to start up, he garnered millions more dollars from interested investors.
The new sunglass lenses are polarized with full UV protection, while the frames are made from the recovered ocean pollution. Because the hinges have also been specially designed for easy disassembly, they can very quickly be taken apart for recycling, should the need ever arise.
“Together with renowned designer Yves Béhar, and Safilo, one of the leading companies in the eyewear industry, we worked to create sunglasses that you will want to use for the rest of your life (or a very long time),” reads the nonprofit’s website. “We wanted the look and feel of the sunglasses to be evocative of the ocean—reminding us where they came from and what they are protecting.”
Although the shades cost $199 a pop, all of the proceeds generated by the sunglasses go to funding the nonprofit’s operations.
For every pair sold, the organization will be able to clean 24 football-fields-worth of ocean garbage—and since the glasses went on sale earlier this last week, supporters have already funded more than 133,100 football fields of trash.
“When every pair is claimed from this first batch of sunglasses, we can then clean 500,000 football fields worth of plastic,” continues the website. “That means we can use this trash to clean more trash: going full circle, over and over, until we have achieved our mission of clean oceans.”
(WATCH the explanatory video below…)
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