One medically retired veteran of the U.S. Army is helping recreate the brother and sisterhood people often find in the service through his YouTube channel that focuses on gaming—and self-care.
After Christopher Boehm left the army, he learned from a friend the staggering statistic that 22 veterans die each day by suicide.
Being injured and having a past struggle with alcohol abuse, he connected with the pain of these veterans.
He decided then that he wanted to help others leaving the service smoothly transition to civilian life.
When he learned that the U.S. Army uses Twitch, a live streaming platform for gamers, for recruitment purposes, he knew he could do something similar to connect with veterans and prevent the social isolation and depression that exists in the veteran community.
Christopher set up his own YouTube channel, Bayonet X-Ray, where he plays video games live for 22 minutes at sunrise each morning—representing the 22 veterans that die by suicide each day.
While gaming, Boehm shares strategies for combating PTSD and depression, daily motivation, and tips on healthy eating and breathing. He also provides general camaraderie for isolated veterans.
“My goal is to connect with veterans that can’t access other services,” explains Boehm. “This YouTube channel is my way of helping my brothers and sisters, and during the COVID-19 pandemic, it is especially important to stay connected and break up the day to day monotony.”
Quote of the Day: “If you work on something a little bit every day, you end up with something that is massive.” – Kenneth Goldsmith
Photo: by Paul Zoetemeijer
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?
When a young Texas woman realized how much her dad’s food truck has been struggling in the pandemic, she made a single post on Twitter asking for help.
Giselle Aviles and her father Elias have a close relationship, so she’s often been inquiring about his health and business.
It’s been hard for Taqueria El Torito, he’s admitted. Daily earnings for the Humble, Texas food truck have been as low as $60. $40. Even $20 for a full day’s work.
When Elias mentioned to his daughter that revenue one Saturday was just $6 after putting in a 12-hour shift, she was stunned.
She told CNN, “I just said well we have nothing to lose and I decided to make the tweet that day.”
The 21-year-old wrote on social media, “I wouldn’t normally do this, but my dad’s taco truck business is struggling, he only sold $6 today. If you could retweet, I would appreciate you so much!!”
Her plea to the world worked. By Sunday night, her post had been retweeted over 2,000 times.
Giselle told her dad he should probably get ready for some new customers. By 8 a.m. the next day, he had a line of customers waiting for his fresh tortas Cubanas—and some had been waiting there since six in the morning.
It was such a busy period that Elias even had to close the truck for a short while in order to restock. Luckily, Giselle was able to help out with orders that day.
During her Monday shift, Giselle estimated that more than a hundred customers came through for Mexican specialties.
“I’m so moved because finally people know that his food is good,” Giselle told KHOU. “There were so many people, and [my dad] was kind of shocked because he didn’t think there would be a turn around that quickly.”
Since then, Giselle has helped her dad set up an Instagram account for his business.
Over the past few weeks, Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl has been in an ongoing drum battle with a 10-year-old girl.
Now he’s really gone and raised the bar, penning one awesome song for England’s Nandi Bushell.
The big drumming challenge began when Nandi challenged Grohl to drum to his own hit song “Everlong.” Grohl then responded with “Dead End Friends” by Them Crooked Vultures.
When Nandi matched him beat for beat (seriously, she’s an incredible drummer), Grohl took things like a champ, admitted “you got me,” and conceded defeat in round one of their competition.
Then he wrote Nandi a theme song befitting of a young superstar.
Why? “Every superhero needs a theme song,” he says.
Ok @Nandi_Bushell....Round 2! Every superhero needs a theme song. Here’s one for you! Mad props to The Grohlettes for the background vocals. pic.twitter.com/js9xBasbpw
Cue the whole world turned into Grohl—and Grohlettes!—super-fans.
The lyrics Grohl made up came “off the top of my head.” And how do they go?
“She got the power/She got the soul/Gonna save the world with her rock & roll!”’
The words don’t stop there. “Nandi, the No. 1 supergirl / Nandi, the best drummer in the world / Nandi, always right on time / Nandi, hero wunderkind,” he sings.
So what did Nandi think about getting her very own tune? She described it on Twitter as “the best song EVER, in the WORLD, EVER!!!”
Have a listen and see what you think.
I cant believe Mr. Grohl wrote a song about me!?! This is so so so #EPIC!! I think its the best song EVER, in the WORLD, EVER!!! Thank you so much Dave. You have raised the stakes to all instruments! I accept your next challenge! Thank you to the whole Grohl family! @foofighterspic.twitter.com/rWgTBwEtyb
The protein behind Type 2 diabetes has finally been caught in the act, and could lead to a breakthrough in treatment.
Hush Naidoo
More than 400 million people live with diabetes around the world, and the majority have Type 2—which develops when the body cannot produce enough insulin or when the insulin produced does not work properly.
The architecture of amyloid fibrils, a fibre-like structure that is the hallmark for Type 2 diabetes, has now been observed for the first time by scientists, according to a 2020 study published in Nature Structural and Molecular Biology.
Amyloid fibrils are produced from “clumps” of the peptide protein Amylin, which regulates the body’s glucose levels.
Study author Professor Neil Ranson, of the University of Leeds, said the finding is “really exciting” because it “is crucial in understanding the disease process… with these structures we’re getting the first glimpse at what might be going on.
The latest electron microscope technology, known as cryo-electron microscopy, was used to visualise the structure of the fibres.
Protein samples were frozen and then analyzed to a resolution where individual atoms can be observed.
People with early-onset Type 2 diabetes have a specific genetic variant of amyloid fibrils known as S20G. The researchers compared S20G with amyloid fibrils found in the general population, which they call the wild-type.
How amylin molecules stackup to form fibrils was observed by analyzing thousands of images.
The molecules formed intricate structures like rungs in a ladder, the researchers found.
The wild type fibrils, however, had two copies of amylin per rung, whereas some of the S20G had three, suggesting fibrils can form templates onto which more copies of amylin can lock.
Co-author Professor Sheena Radford, of the Astbury Centre, added that the breakthrough is important, “Not just for understanding amylin—but for understanding many amyloid diseases in which run-away fibril formation occurs.”
The build up of amyloid fibrils is also linked to other diseases such such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and Huntington’s Disease.
A better understanding of amyloid fibrils structure could, then, pave the way to better diagnosis treatments for the millions of people who will suffer from amyloid diseases. That’s exciting news indeed.
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Most people are familiar with McRibs, that guilty pleasure that sometimes graces the McDonald’s menu, but how many of you know what a McRig is?
Andrew Herashchenko
Thanks to the quick thinking of one generous McDonald’s franchise owner, residents of storm-ravaged Lake Charles in Louisiana got to see what the company’s mega-version of Meals on Wheels was truly capable of.
Laura is the most powerful hurricane to hit Louisiana since 1856. With widespread flooding, downed power lines, and extensive damage to homes and businesses, residents were left without power, running water, and many other basic necessities.
When Rikesh Patel, who owns and operates 25 McDonald’s locations in the area, realized the storm’s full impact the day Laura made landfall, he knew he had to take action.
“Pictures don’t do it justice,” he said of the devastation in an interview with CNN. “It’s so much worse than what you’re seeing on social media.”
Figuring hot meals would be hard to come by for those impacted by Laura’s wrath, he made a call to corporate headquarters with a plea for help. The McRig, a ginormous self-sustaining portable kitchen was dispatched from a Kentucky location and arrived the following day.
Patel and his restaurant staff kept the extreme food truck running for six days, serving 10,000 free meals made up of McDonald’s cheeseburgers, fries, and bottled water.
“(McDonald’s founder) Ray Kroc believed we must give back to [the] communities that we do business in,” Patel tweeted on the fourth day. “Thank you to our amazing crew and managers for making this belief come alive.”
In the last 4 days we have provided over 10,000 free @McDonalds meals to our community. Ray Kroc believed we must give back to our communities that we do business in. Thank you to our amazing crew and managers for making this belief come alive. #HurricaneLaura#lakecharlesstrongpic.twitter.com/xj3mX9aecV
Quote of the Day: “We don’t choose our wildest dreams. They choose us.” – Tama Kieves
Photo: by Macau Photo Agency
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One Wisconsin man has been very busy during the pandemic: He’s planted two million sunflowers to give joy to others.
Guests at Thompson Strawberry Farm pay $25 per car group, and are invited to cut and take a dozen of the bright flowers home once they’re done wandering through the fields, taking pictures, and having a good time in the late summer sun.
Scott Thompson is a fourth-generation berry farmer based in Bristol, Kenosha County. Speaking with Patch, he said this year people have been coming from Milwaukee, from Chicago, and everywhere in-between.
“A lot of people are saying, ‘We just needed to get out of the city and come out to a place where I could take my mask off for a couple of hours.'”
Thompson and his family are welcoming of everyone, including budding Instagrammers and professional photographers.
In fact, they’ve planted fields of short sunflowers precisely because “it makes for pretty awesome pictures. We grew shorter ones for the perfect selfie so you can get that sea of yellow behind you.”
For Thompson, the goal is simply for people to enjoy a nice day in the country and bring home something beautiful.
Wisconsin seems especially enamored with the power of sunflowers. In 2015, a man planted a four-mile stretch of sunflowers to honor his late wife. Then he began selling their seeds to raise money for cancer with his Seeds of Hope.
Sunflower season should last till the end of September, meaning it’s probably time to scoot on over to Thompson Strawberry Farm and get some blooms for yourself.
An artist has created a giant image of a seal and her pup using the natural contours of an iconic beach known for its marine mammals.
SWNS
Claire Eason used a garden rake to carve a 300ft picture so big it can be seen from space.
The retired family doctor came up with the idea after spotting the seal-shape hidden in the natural formation of an inlet of Beadnell Bay in Northumberland, England.
55-year-old Claire, from Worksop in Nottinghamshire, said, “I am always keen to use the natural shapes for my artwork and I often use aerial images for inspiration.
SWNS
“I’ve been to Beadnell hundreds of times over the years but I’ve never noticed that an inlet leading to a bridge at the far side of the beach resembles the outline of a seal.
This area is well known for seals and there are thousands living at the Farne Islands which is just off the coast.
I drew a sketch of the seal on a piece of paper and headed up to the beach with my trusty garden rake.
SWNS
“It took a few hours to complete and I had no idea whether it would work until I got my drone up to see the whole picture, but I was delighted with the result.
“What was most incredible was that I hadn’t realized there was a much smaller shape of a seal pup just under the larger one, so unbeknown to me I had a mother and her baby in the same image.”
It sounds like this seally good image was just meant to be.
(WATCH the accompanying video of the mega-sized artwork below.)
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Some may not know that Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge, is a talented photographer.
She is also a patron of London’s National Portrait Gallery, where she got to engage her passion to unveil a much-anticipated digital exhibition featuring 100 portraits of British life in the time of COVID-19.
The Hold Still community project was launched in May 2020 to create a unique collective portrait of the UK during the pandemic.
People of all ages, from all across the country, were invited to submitted a portrait taken during May and June under three themes: Helpers and Heroes, Your New Normal, and Acts of Kindness.
The response was overwhelming. 31,598 entrants, ranging from 4 to 75 year-old, based everywhere from Belfast to Cornwall, submitted their best work to a panel of judges that included Princess Kate.
Simran Janjua, London: This photograph shows my sister-in-law with her grandmother (Dadi in Punjabi) meeting after months of being apart. In this moment I felt the depth of love they feel for each other, captured by both the joy and longing in their eyes. Separated by a window but connected by love.
On the launch of the exhibition, the Duchess said, “We’ve all been struck by some of the incredible images we’ve seen which have given us an insight into the experiences and stories of people across the country.”
Now, all 100 photos are available to explore on the gallery’s website to see a unique record of what the curators call an “extraordinary period in our history.”
Hassan Akkad, London: During the peak of the pandemic, I signed up to work as a cleaner in a Covid-19 ward at my local hospital, Whipps Cross. Within days, Gimba, our ward host, called me ‘my son’; I noticed she loved eating rice. Gimba migrated from Nigeria to Britain and has been working at the hospital for over a decade, commuting for 2 hours to get to work. I took this photo while Gimba was having lunch in the staff room, after having prepared meals for all eighteen COVID-19 patients in our ward.
The National Portrait Gallery noted in a statement the breadth of different photos submitted since the project was launched in May, “from virtual birthday parties, handmade rainbows and community clapping to brave NHS staff, resilient keyworkers and people dealing with illness, isolation and loss…
“The images convey humor and grief, creativity and kindness, tragedy and hope—expressing and exploring both our shared and individual experiences.”
Below is a photo of a NHS health worker Jen, and her little girl, Florence. Jen worked through the pandemic, and Florence absolutely loves dressing up like her mum.
Matt Utton and Jennifer O’Sullivan, London: Jen has described this photo as being one of her most treasured items because it represents a lovely moment in what was a pretty tough time emotionally and mentally. It’s clear from this photo how much they love each other, and really are one team.
Humor, creativity, kindness, and hope: These images are a powerful reminder of the beauty of being human.
(WATCH the National Portrait Gallery’s Hold Still video below.)
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Since 1993, 48 mammal and bird species, including the scimitar-horned oryx, California condor, and black-footed ferret, have been saved from extinction by conservation actions, a new study finds.
Scimitar-horned oryx, Kduthler
According to the researchers’ models, this coordinated effort by governments, academic institutions, nonprofits, and others prevented the rate of mammalian and avian extinctions from reaching levels 300-400% higher.
This included some wonderful conservation efforts such as those for the Przewalski’s horse, of which 760 now roam the steppes of Mongolia once again after it went extinct in the wild during the 1960s, and the Iberian lynx, 176 of which have been reintroduced to the wilds of Spain between 2002 and 2010.
Iberian lynx, Program Ex-situ Conservation
It’s easy to say things would have been much worse, or that conservation has saved a lot of species, but how exactly does a scientist measure such things?
Saving our species
The researchers from Newcastle University used four different criteria to measure conservation actions, and compared the number of species listed as extinct in the wild or critically endangered, that historically have benefited from these criteria, to the flat number of known extinctions across two periods—1993-2020 and 2010-2020.
What they found was that between 1993-2020, extinction rates would have been 3.1 to 4.2 times higher for birds, representing about 21-32 different birds, and 2.4 to 4.2 times higher for mammals, representing about 7-16 mammal species that might have included the critically endangered Sumatran and Javan rhinoceros.
Wynand Uys
Dr. Rike Bolam from Newcastle University, co-lead author of the study, told the Guardian, “It is encouraging that some of the species have recovered very well. Our analyses provide a strikingly positive message that conservation has substantially reduced extinction rates for birds and mammals.”
Of all the rescued species, the largest numbers of birds saved was in New Zealand (6) and Brazil (5), and the largest number of mammals was in China (5) and Vietnam/U.S. (3).
The study also found that different families benefited differently from different conservation strategies. Birds benefited more from invasive species control and habitat protection, while mammals were saved more by government legislating and zoo reintroduction programs.
A global effort
The two periods correspond to the signings of major international understandings on the importance of biodiversity. The first is the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), and the second is the Aichi Conservation Targets, adopted by parties to the CBD in 2010.
The CBD treaty, signed during the first convention hosted in Rio in 1993, laid out a structure for modern, internationally collaborative conservation efforts that involved all the countries of the world, not only those in Europe and America.
“[The parties,] conscious of the intrinsic value of biological diversity and of the ecological, genetic, social, economic, scientific, educational, cultural, recreational and aesthetic values of biological diversity and its components,” starts the lofty language of the treaty, “[resolve to pursue] the conservation of biological diversity, the sustainable use of its components and the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising out of the utilization of genetic resources.”
The CBD’s 2010 Aichi Conservation Targets were set for review in 2020, and include such ambitious goals as preventing the extinction of known threatened species, while simultaneously improving their conservation status.
“The loss of entire species can be stopped if there is sufficient will to do so,” said the study’s co-author Phil McGowan. “This is a call to action: showing the scale of the issue and what we can achieve if we act now to support conservation and prevent extinction.”
Quote of the Day: “Be fearless in the pursuit of what sets your soul on fire.” – Jennifer Lee
Photo: by chelsea ferenando
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When 94-year-old Suttie Economy is packed off for the sweet hereafter, his exit strategy is going to be a little sweeter than most. That’s because Economy plans to be buried in a casket decked out like a pack of Juicy Fruit gum.
The Roanoke, Virginia Navy veteran’s love affair with Juicy Fruit goes back to his days in the service, when as part of the Second World War effort, chewing gum manufacturer Wrigley suspended stateside distribution and sent bulk of its products to troops overseas.
Since then, Economy has become something of a self-appointed goodwill ambassador for the brand.
Sammy Oakey, president of Oakey’s Funeral Service and Economy have a friendship that goes back 45 years. “Suttie would come in here for visitation or just come in to visit and he would always bring a bunch of packs of Juicy Fruit… and put it out for the employees to enjoy,” Oakey told CNN.
After Economy recently suffered heart complications, he approached his longtime pal with a request: When his time came, he wanted to be buried in a coffin painted to resemble his trademark gum—and therein lay the problem.
Mars Wrigley, current owners of the Juicy Fruit trademark, gave Oakey’s plea a thumbs down. “I told him I’d do everything I could to make that happen,” Oakey said in an interview with WLS 10 News. “I immediately called Wrigley’s and they… said no.”
Unusual burial requests are nothing new. When 37-year-old oil heiress Sandra West passed away, her will stipulated she be dressed in a nightgown, placed in the front seat of her 1964 Ferrari 250GT (“with the seat slanted comfortably”) and planted in the ground—car and all.
Organic chemist Fredric Baur, designer of the Pringles potato chip container had some of his ashes buried in some of his iconic cylindrical creations. Comic book author Mark Gruenwald’s ashes were mixed with ink that was used into a first-edition printing of Squadron Supreme. Gonzo journalist Hunter S.Thompson’s ashes were shot out of a cannon, while James Doohan, known to a galaxy of adoring fans as Star Trek’s “Scotty,” fittingly had his cremated remains launched into space.
Knowing how important the chewing-gum-themed casket was to Economy, Oakey didn’t give up the fight. The viral social media campaign he launched garnered contact information for Mars Wrigley’s top brass.
Happily for all concerned, Oakey’s renewed his request to the powers that be met with success. In an email from the company president, he was told the company would go along with whatever the family wanted to do.
Not only did the gum giant grant their biggest fan’s final boon, they also sent Economy’s family 250 packs of Juicy Fruit as a thank you for his lifelong brand loyalty.
Economy, who is currently being treated at Virginia Veterans Care Clinic, has actually taken a turn for the better. Whether his improved prognosis can be attributed to the “Juicy Fruit” effect is anyone’s call, but if there’s one thing we’ve learned from this story it’s if you think outside the box—and ask nicely—sometimes you can take it with you.
And how sweet is that?
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In what is only the third-such discovery in science, an ultra-rare manta ray nursery was found right under scientists’ noses off the busy coast of South Florida.
Adam Human
It was discovered after scientists observed a large concentration of juveniles off a 58-mile stretch of coast from the St. Lucie Inlet to Boynton Beach.
Most of the juveniles were seen many times over in the same area across a period of years.
Experts know of only two other nurseries, one in the Gulf of Mexico and the other in Indonesia, and the discovery of a third unlocks various new avenues of study: The graceful glider’s breeding habits are almost entirely a mystery, so an opportunity to study them close to home for U.S. scientists is good news.
How they manage to survive and stay relaxed while swimming through the waters in front of beach resorts like Margaritaville and Mar-a-Lago, however, is something that creates far more questions than answers.
Rays, an ancient animal species that evolved alongside plants, are not well understood.
The two-ton manta ray, with its black and white skin colors and 30-foot wingspan, is almost universally identifiable. But the gentle giant must be among the least understood animals when you consider its fame.
Manta Mysteries
Ismail Niyax
“There’s so little we know about mantas,” Marine Biologist Jessica Pate tells National Geographic.
Pate is the author of a new paper regarding her discovery of the Florida manta ray nursery, and reminds the magazine that their preferred birthing grounds, lifespan, mating selection criteria, and how they give birth are all completely unknown.
Pate would further detail in her paper that the genetics of the Florida mantas were unique enough to possibly be considered a third, distinct species—serving again to reiterate the lack of knowledge about the animals.
Manta rays can’t breed until 8-10 years old, so nurseries tend to have abundant food supplies and no predators. Once they’re old enough to breed, when they have around 1-2 pups every few years, they’re also too big for most predators and can drift further afield free of fear.
Learning how mantas breed and travel can help science form guidelines about how to protect them from overfishing and being wounded in contact with fishing equipment, as 46% of the Florida juveniles had been. This is extra important given that both recognized species are listed as vulnerable by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.
In 2018, mantas were listed under the U.S. Endangered Species Act, an action which requires critical habitat conservation designations to follow. Until Pate’s discovery, no such habitat could be identified, and she recommends immediate consideration of the surveyed area for protection.
“These mantas are living in South Florida with millions of people, so protecting them won’t be easy,” Pate said. “But as manta rays around the world are declining, this could be a really important population to safeguard the species.”
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The roads of New Zealand will soon be worked over by long-distance trucks powered entirely by ultra-sustainable hydrogen-powered electric fuel cells.
Hiringa Truck/Water drop Credit: Hiringa/Amadej Tauses
Capable of traveling 310 miles (500 kilometers) on one tank, these special fuel cells use hydrogen stored on board and oxygen from the atmosphere to generate electricity and power the car. Since H + O = H2O, the only emission of any kind coming out of the tailpipe is water.
The news comes as Kiwi company Hiringa and Hyzon Motors—a U.S. manufacturer of hydrogen fuel cells—signed a “heads of agreement” that would allow Hiringa’s hydrogen-powered electric vehicles (HPEVs) to start hauling freight as early as 2022, positioning New Zealand as a world leader in hydrogen vehicle infrastructure.
Between late 2020 and 2026, Hiringa expects to roll out 1,500 different HPEVs varying in size from van-shaped to 18-wheelers to road-train models for the Australian market.
The company also expects to outfit the North and South Islands of the Pacific nation with the world’s most sophisticated hydrogen refueling network, slated to come online in 2021.
HPEVs have been around for years, but are often overlooked as a font of carbon reduction assets in the transportation sector in favor of battery-powered electric vehicles. However, unlike the latter, they don’t require massive increases in battery technology to become viable. Instead they suffer, like battery EVs, from a lack of refueling stations.
Zero-emissions supply chain
Hiringa
Working with regional, national, and native Māori governments, Hiringa is poised to service 82% of trucking routes on the South Island, and 100% on the North Island, with a true zero-emissions supply chain.
Currently around 60% of New Zealand’s power needs are met with fossil fuels, but the island is a wonderland of geological, hydrological, and meteorological forces. Hiringa—who take their name from a Māori word meaning perseverance, adaptability, and vitality—feel that number is far too high.
“New Zealand is set to be one of the first countries in the world to be able to offer a zero-emission national supply chain,” said Hiringa CEO Andrew Clennett in a statement. “To be developing this fully integrated solution in New Zealand is an excellent example of the joint leadership being shown by the transport and hydrogen industries in this country.”
“The Hiringa hydrogen infrastructure deployment will position New Zealand to become a global leader in the adoption of zero-emission heavy vehicle technology, and we are pleased to be playing a major part in this transition,’’ said Craig Knight, co-founder of Hyzon Motors, in a release.
New York’s Hyzon Motors have forged their own path through the HPEV market, and along with working with Hiringa, have this year signed an agreement to provide Australian ore miners Fortescue Metals Group, the world’s fourth largest exporter of iron, with a fleet of HPEVs for operations in Western Australia that will save 400-450 million liters of diesel a year.
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This week, if you looked up the dictionary definition for the word ‘sportsmanship,’ there’s a good chance you might have seen a picture of Ireland’s national lacrosse team there.
Iroquois National/Twitter
That’s because rather than looking to their own interests, they ceded their spot at the World Lacrosse Games 2022 to a Native American Iroquois squad who’d been shut out of the international competition on a technicality.
The eight teams slotted to play in the tournament were selected on the basis of where their team ranked at the end of the 2018 Federation of International Lacrosse World Championship. The Iroquois Nationals came in third. Ireland finished 12th.
Since the Iroquois are not recognized as a sovereign nation nor do they have an Olympic Committee, the International World Games Association (IWGA) initially disqualified them from championship play.
In August, the IWGA reversed its decision, but with the roster already set, the point seemed moot—until team Ireland changed the game.
In a statement, Michael Kennedy, chief executive officer of Ireland Lacrosse said, “It’s simply the right thing to do… As much as our players would have been honored to compete, we know the right thing is for the Iroquois Nationals to represent our sport on this international stage.”
“You have gone above and beyond not only for us, but for what you believe is right,” the Iroquois Nationals tweeted in response. “Your actions have spoken louder than words showing everyone the true power of sport, and the spirit of lacrosse. We will never forget that.”
You have gone above and beyond not only for us, but for what you believe is right. Your actions have spoken louder than words showing everyone the true power of sport, and the spirit of lacrosse.
In an interview with USLacrosse Magazine, World Lacrosse Chief Executive Officer Jim Scherr said, “Some of the most inspiring gestures in international sport are when athletes from one team reach across and lend their support to athletes from another. That’s exactly what…the membership of Ireland Lacrosse have done, and we should all be inspired by their example.”
While it might seem unusual for athletes from such far-flung locales to make this kind of sacrifice for another team, it’s far from the first time Native Americans and the Irish have reached out to help one another in troubled times.
During the Irish Potato Famine, even though impoverished themselves, the Choctaw tribe sent a monetary donation to help alleviate suffering across the ocean.
The Irish recently returned the gesture, donating generously to a GoFundMe campaign that benefits Native American tribes particularly hard-hit by the coronavirus pandemic.
We heartily applaud Ireland’s national lacrosse team for reminding us by example that true sportsmanship is built on a foundation of fairness and courtesy. Sometimes, walking the walk means giving up glory in the name of a greater good—and that is what being a winner is all about.
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The US Central Command has recently announced they will be withdrawing roughly half of their troops from their current deployment in Iraq.
The U.S. Army
According to a statement that was issued by Central Command’s General Frank McKenzie last week, the US plans to reduce its military presence from 5,200 to 3,000 troops during the month of September.
“Moving forward, we must continue our D-ISIS [defeat ISIS] work together with our partners in Iraq and Syria,” said McKenzie, who commands the US military presence in the Middle East. “We are continuing to expand on our partner capacity programs that enable Iraqi forces and allow us to reduce our footprint in Iraq.
“This reduced footprint allows us to continue advising and assisting our Iraqi partners in rooting out the final remnants of ISIS in Iraq and ensuring its enduring defeat. This decision is due to our confidence in the Iraqi Security Forces’ increased ability to operate independently.”
It has been 13 years since the US military reached its peak number of active troops in Iraq with 170,000 deployed service members in 2007.
According to NPR, American military presence in Iraq has remained largely steady for the last four years, although the US reportedly began withdrawing troops from Iraqi bases in January.
The news outlet goes on to report that Central Command is also planning to reduce its military presence in Afghanistan from 6,500 troops to 4,000.
This reduced footprint allows us to continue advising and assisting our Iraqi partners in rooting out the final remnants of ISIS in Iraq and ensuring its enduring defeat. #CENTCOMCDR@SOJTFOIR@CJTFOIR#DefeatDaesh
Scientists at Northwestern University and Holland’s Delft University of Technology are giving the classic 8-bit Nintendo Game Boy a green makeover by powering the console with the energy of button pressing and a solar-panel in the display screen.
Northwestern University
Looking and feeling like the original, the scientists preserved the old processor, allowing anyone who kept their antique cartridges around to immediately access them again.
Released in 1989, the Game Boy, which was originally powered by AA batteries, eventually moved in its later incarnations to a rechargeable device battery like the ones in our cellphones.
Even still, any battery is environmentally costly to manufacture and difficult to recycle.
Gaming-specific computers and laptops are often the most powerful, robust, and high-tech computers available, but also put the biggest number on an electric bill.
A powerful proof-of-concept project designed to help move toward the ultimate goal of battery-free computing, the “green Game Boy” demonstrates the effectiveness of several kinds of battery-alternatives and perhaps opens the doors to harvesting energy from our interactions with the system, like the keyboard strokes made on our laptops for example.
“It’s the first battery-free interactive device that harvests energy from user actions,” said Northwestern’s Josiah Hester, who co-led the research. “When you press a button, the device converts that energy into something that powers your gaming.”
For gamers who are familiar with these themes, they will understand that one second of interruption for every 10 seconds of gameplay, as the green Game Boy is currently vulnerable to as a result of the infancy of Hester’s team’s technology, is fine for things like chess and Tetris, but intolerable for something like Super Mario Bros.
To address this, the scientists developed a new technique of storing the system state in non-volatile memory, minimizing overhead and allowing quick restoration when power returns.
In effect this means there’s no save button, but that the console returns you to exactly where you were when the device lost power.
There is still a long way to go before state-of-the-art 21st-century handheld game consoles will become battery-free, but it’s a start, and an example of how looking to the future often means starting in the past.
(WATCH the video of the green Game Boy in action below.)
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Quote of the Day: “After the game, the king and the pawn go into the same box.” – Italian proverb
Photo: by Randy Fath
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?
With faces straight out of Dr. Seuss, the cheeky beaks of Burmese roofed turtle hatchlings are characterized by what’s been described as a nonstop grin. These days, the turtles have plenty of reasons to be cheerful.
Tulika Agrawal
Not long ago, however, the existence of species, native to Myanmar’s Irrawaddy river region, was in serious doubt.
Over-hunting for food, medicinal use, and the pet trade, as well as reckless egg harvesting, improper electro-fishing techniques, and destruction of natural turtle habitat had all but wiped the once-flourishing reptiles from the face of the planet.
In fact, by the 1990s, the species was thought to be extinct. It wasn’t until 2001, when a likely smuggled specimen turned up in a Hong Kong pet shop, that conservationists began to hope at least some small portion of their population had survived.
Heartened by the news, biologist Gerald Kuchling, who’s now with the University of Western Australia, along with the Myanmar Forest Department launched a joint survey expedition of the upper Chindwin River, a site Burmese roofed turtles were once known to inhabit.
Sadly, the project was sidelined by a summer monsoon.
On one of his days off, Dr. Kuchling happened to visit a turtle pond at a Buddhist temple in Mandalay. To his infinite surprise, he found three of the elusive critters smiling up at him from the murky water. “I was very excited and definitely flabbergasted,” he said.
With the blessing of the temple board, Dr. Kuchling and his Burmese colleagues moved one male and two female turtles to the Mandalay Zoo.
Later, while exploring the Dokhtawady, a tributary of the Irrawaddy, Dr. Kuchling discovered even more specimens which were also transported to the zoo. This was in the nick of time too, as a damnable damming project destroyed their habitat soon after.
While there were thought to be less than 10 Burmese roofed turtles—five or six adult females and perhaps two adult males—living in the wild, not all of them made the trip.
When fishermen on the upper Chindwin River reported a handful of females still nested there during the dry season, Dr. Kuchling, along with the Forest Department and the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), organized and implemented a conservation stewardship program for the site.
Each year since, the beach has been fenced off by seasonally hired villagers who then track nesting females and carefully harvest their eggs. “We came so close to losing them,” WCS herpetologist Steven G. Platt, told The New York Times. “If we didn’t intervene when we did, this turtle would have just been gone.”
Thanks to subsequent WCS efforts and the Turtle Survival Alliance, approximately 1,000 of the turtles have been successfully raised in captivity and are soon to be released into the wild. The WCS reports the species faces “little danger of biological extinction” at this point.
On hearing rumors of his alleged demise, humorist Mark Twain famously quipped, “The report of my death was an exaggeration.” No doubt his public was tickled at the time, but we think bringing these cheerful turtles back from the brink of extinction will give everyone a reason to smile—including the turtles.
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Some may not know that Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge, is a talented photographer.
