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Real-Life Willy Wonka Gives Away Candy Factory In Giant Treasure Hunt

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Good News Network
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David Klein

This is not a drill: Golden Tickets really are being hidden for you to find.

The founder of Jelly Belly is getting ready to retire, and he’s decided to leave the candy industry with a bang (and a fizz and a pop) by placing Willy Wonka-style golden tickets out into the world for people to hunt for.

David Klein—aka The Candy Man—has started going across the USA hiding golden tickets attached to necklace chains in places where he comes across an interesting story. Described as a “boots on the ground treasure hunt”, they plan to release a riddle to help you find these golden tickets in each of the 50 states.

“With The Gold Ticket Treasure hunt, our goal is to get people out and about with their families. Grandma and Grandpa can even join with the kids and grandkids,” said David.

You can sign up for one of their treasure hunts at thegoldticket.com website, and each of the 50 golden tickets is redeemable for $5,000 cash. Some of the states have already sold out.

There is a cost of $49.99 to enter, but all it takes is one entry to be included in the grandest hunt of all—and this is where it gets very Wonka-licious.

Anyone who joins at least one treasure hunt will be eligible to search for The Ultimate Treasure—the ownership deed to a candy factory in Florida and an all-expenses paid trip to be educated in candy-making at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

RELATED: Artist Creates Amazing Portrait Using Thousands Of Jelly Beans

The big event begins after all the states have had a chance to play. UPDATE – 9/14/20: Get more info from this ABC news interview.

We are wondering if there are any Oompa Loompas waiting at the end of this contest.

MORE: $1 Million in Gold Coins Rain Down on Workers From French Rafters

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Sudan Separates Church And State After 30 Years Of Religious Rule

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Good News Network
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The Sudanese government has made formal agreements to separate religion from the state, ending three decades of Islamic rule in the North African nation.

Sudan’s Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, and Abdel-Aziz al-Hilu, a leader of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North rebel group, signed a declaration on September 3 in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa that adopts the principle of secularism.

The document states that, “For Sudan to become a democratic country where the rights of all citizens are enshrined, the constitution should be based on the principle of ‘separation of religion and state,’ in the absence of which the right to self-determination must be respected.”

In the accord, it is also expressed that, “Sudan is a multi-racial, multi-ethnic, multi-religious and multi-cultural society. Full recognition and accommodation of these diversities must be affirmed.”

MORE: Hundreds of Volunteers Have Prevented Violence By Helping 350,000 People in Sudan and Congo Make Personal Peace

This declaration ends the strict Islamic law that began in the country in 1989, and comes in the same week that the transitional government began a peace deal with rebel forces—a development that has raised hopes for an end to the fighting in the Sudanese capital of Khartoum and elsewhere.

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Solar-Powered Panels Pull Water Out of the Air For Navajo Families Who Have None

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Good News Network
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Credit: Navajo Power

What if there was a way of pulling vapor from the atmosphere and bringing it through faucets as clean, drinkable water?

Harnessing the power of the sun, Zero Mass Water’s Source hydropanels do just that.

Navajo Power

Through a grant provided by the Unreasonable Group and Barclays Bank, an initial demonstration project is bringing this pioneering air-to-water technology to 15 Navajo households.

This project is being managed by Navajo Power, Public Benefit Corporation, and Arizona-based Zero Mass Water.

Already, the demonstration project is proving to be a hit. “We are so happy to see these systems come to our communities who have not had basic access to water for all of these years,” said Mae Franklin of the Cameron and Coalmine communities.

RELATED: First Hybrid Floating Ocean Platform Can Generate Power From Waves, Wind, And Solar

But how exactly does this unique technology work?

While some of that answer is shrouded by proprietary trade secrecy and multiple patented inventions, we do know the hydropanels—powered by off-grid solar energy—have fans that draw air in the atmosphere and push it through what’s called a hygroscopic. From there, the trapped water vapor is extracted and gets condensed into liquid that’s collected in the reservoir of the hydropanel.

So that it has the ideal taste and composition, that collected water is then mineralized. Now it can be run through the faucet and is ready to drink.

The state-of-the-art technology doesn’t end there. Each Hydropanel connects to a cloud-based network and is monitored for performance and quality that way.

Source hydropanels are already well-established globally, with the technology currently supplying clean drinking water to tens of thousands of people in 45 countries through partnerships with governments, corporations, and development organizations.

MORE: This New German Car is Covered With Solar Panels and Charges As It Drives

There’s potential for this technology to go bigger still: Similar to cellular telephones and renewable energy technologies, the scalability of Source enables hydropanels to be deployed at small residential homes, roof-mounted on schools or community halls, and even in “water farms” adjacent to entire communities.

“A standard, two-panel array, produces 4-10 liters of water each day, and has 60 liters of storage capacity,” said Cody Frisen, CEO of Zero Mass Water. In addition, each panel ”lasts for 15 years and utilizes solar power and a small battery to enable water production.”

As for the quality of the water? It ”exceeds the standards of every country where the systems have been deployed.”

“We are excited to help shine a light on the potential of Hydropanels to help solve the clean water access challenge our communities have been facing for decades,” said Clara Pratte, President of Navajo Power.

CHECK OUT: Used Electric Car Batteries Could Be Recycled into New Life as Energy Storage for Solar Farms, Says New Study

“There are thousands of homes without water and this is a more cost-effective approach to getting clean water to these families. While our focus as a company is the development of large clean energy projects, our commitment to the well-being of Navajo communities is our north star, and we want to do everything we can to help the Nation mitigate the threats brought by the pandemic.”

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Inside every atom of our bodies is 99.9% empty space. “If the nucleus was the size of a football, the nearest electron would be half a mile (0.8km) away.” That’s how much space there is. – Paul Sen

By
Good News Network
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By Raphaël Biscaldi

Quote of the Day: Inside every atom of our bodies is 99.9% empty space. “If the nucleus was the size of a football, the nearest electron would be half a mile (0.8km) away.” That’s how much space there is. – Paul Sen

Photo: Raphaël Biscaldi

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?

 

He Designed a Mountain Bike to Bring Adventure Back to People With Disabilities – Like Himself

By
Judy Cole
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When a snowboarding accident resulting in a spinal injury sidelined him from his beloved outdoor pursuits, Christian Bagg was determined to climb back up the mountain.

“I just wanted to go outside with my friends and not have them worry or wait for me,” Bagg says. “I just wanted to have fun with them, I just wanted to blend [in].”

Bagg started out by designing wheelchairs that offered greater versatility than traditional models. He then turned his attentions to creating a line of purpose-built bikes for people with physical limitations.

RELATED: After Being Told He Would Never Recover From Injury, Man is Now Traveling 2,300 Miles in a Wheelchair

The learning curve eventually brought him to the bike’s current incarnation, the Bowhead Reach. With its main wheel located in the rear, heavy-tread tires, and a powerful electric motor, the souped-up reverse tricycle can go pretty much anywhere.

The all-terrain recumbent bike comes in three models: a recreational model for everyday adventuring; a performance model for true adrenaline junkies, and the explorer mode, a push variation that allows for partnered assistance as needed.

MORE: Cyclists Volunteer to Give Nature Rides to Wheelchair-Bound

There’s even a special package to adapt the bikes for use by quadriplegics.

One of Bagg’s first customers was J.P. Middleton, a volunteer firefighter and primary care paramedic who, like Bagg, had suffered a life-altering spinal cord injury while skiing in 2018. 
 

One day, as he was visiting with his dad outside the rehab hospital, someone on an outlandish bike shot by them. “It was this Mad Max looking vehicle,” Middleton said to Global News. “When I saw this bike, I was like, ‘I gotta get myself one of these things…’ It was a ray of hope for me.”

Middleton credits the bike with giving him a big chunk of his life back. He also gets a kick out of the awestruck looks he gets from passersby. “This [bike] will turn more heads than a Lamborghini,” he joked.

Middleton isn’t the only more-than-satisfied customer to make great strides on a Bowhead. In 2019, Janne Kouri, also paralyzed after suffering a spinal cord injury, set out on his bike for a 2,900-mile cross-country trek that took him from Los Angeles to Washington D.C. raising money and awareness for paralyzed U.S. veterans.

Bagg and his team initially built 50 bikes in his basement workshop, but business was so brisk, Bowhead—named for the site at the headwaters of the Bow River where his crash happened—has relocated to a large retail space across from Canada Olympic Park.

With 200 orders in the coming year, he envisions a bright future and continued expansion. Channeling his passion has also let him reap the rewards of making a real difference for others who’ve been where he’s been. “That’s what’s fun to watch the work you do impact people’s lives.”

(WATCH the bikes in action, and get to know more of Christian’s story, below on PBS.)

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Hungarian Scientist Wins €1 Million Prize For Groundbreaking Research That Could Eventually Restore Sight in Blindness

By
Andy Corbley
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This year’s Körber Prize for European Science has gone to a Hungarian scientist whose revolutionary gene-editing treatment could cure a type of blindness that affects around one in 4,000 children.

Cell biologist Botond Roska’s work against a kind of degenerative eye disease is currently going through clinical trials.

Roska received the prestigious award of €1 million last week for his pioneering work on the human retina that has placed him among the world leaders in the study of ophthalmology—work that included the presumably painstaking effort of identifying over 100 different retina cell types and their complex interrelations.

To that end, he has discovered a possible cure for retinitis pigmentosa, a group of rare genetic disorders that causes mutations in the genes that code for proteins needed to make human photoreceptors—the cell which identifies light and allows us to see.

Unlike other forms of visual degenerations that correlate with age, retinitis pigmentosa often starts in childhood, and can lead to blindness.

RELATED: First-of-Its-Kind Study Finds Shining a Red Light Through the Eyelid for 3 Minutes Per Day Can Boost Failing Eyesight

While rare, it is one of the most common causes of degenerative blindness.

Roska’s work on novel gene therapies, which he carries out in the University of Basel, Switzerland, involves the reprogramming of retina cells into photoreceptors, thereby taking over from the damaged ones and restoring light and color in blind retinas.

MORE: Scientists Use Electrode Implants to Help Blind People ‘See’ Shapes and Letters—All Without Using Their Eyes

The Körber Prize is given every year to a single European in the disciplines of life sciences and physical sciences.

This is the fifth major recognition the scientist from Budapest has won since he abandoned the cello and started studying medicine: Under his belt already is the Louis-Jeantet Prize for Medicine for his discoveries about visual information processing, and the Hungarian Saint Stephen Order from President János Áder, among other awards.

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With a Simple Piece of Paper, Engineers Create Self-Powered, Wireless Keyboard

By
Good News Network
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Credit: Purdue University

Innovators at an Indiana university hope their new technology can help transform paper sheets from a notebook into a music player interface and make food packaging interactive.

Credit: Purdue University

Purdue engineers developed a simple printing process that renders any paper or cardboard packaging into a keyboard, keypad, or other easy-to-use human-machine interfaces.  

“This is the first time a self-powered paper-based electronic device is demonstrated,” said Ramses Martinez, an assistant professor in Purdue’s School of Industrial Engineering and in the Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering in Purdue’s College of Engineering. 

“We developed a method to render paper repellent to water, oil, and dust by coating it with highly fluorinated molecules.

This omniphobic coating allows us to print multiple layers of circuits onto paper without getting the ink to smear from one layer to the next one.”

RELATED: Scientists Design Tiny First-of-its-Kind Video Camera Backpack to Film ‘Ant-Man’ Perspective From Insect’s Back

Martinez said this innovation facilitates the fabrication of vertical pressure sensors that do not require any external battery, since they harvest the energy from their contact with the user.

This technology is compatible with conventional large-scale printing processes and could easily be implemented to rapidly convert conventional cardboard packaging or paper into smart packaging or a smart human-machine interface.

“I envision this technology to facilitate the user interaction with food packaging, to verify if the food is safe to be consumed, or enabling users to sign the package that arrives at home by dragging their finger over the box to properly identify themselves as the owner of the package,” Martinez said.

MORE: The Search Engine That Plants Trees With Every Search Has Just Planted its 100-Millionth Tree

“Additionally, our group demonstrated that simple paper sheets from a notebook can be transformed into music player interfaces for users to choose songs, play them and change their volume.”

(WATCH the technology in action below…)

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It’s a Google Maps Street View of New York City, But Using Photos From the 1940s Taken By the WPA

By
Andy Corbley
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If you live in New York City and wonder what your address or neighborhood looked like eight decades ago, a new interactive map lets you see a Google Street View-style version of the city streets, buildings, and monuments around you from between 1939 and 1941.

WPA image via NYC Municipal Archives

The views are based on exquisite black and white images from the period taken by photographers working for the WPA.

One of President Franklin Roosevelt’s jobs programs was the Works Progress Administration. It collaborated with the New York City Tax Department on one project to collect photographs of every building in the five boroughs of the Big Apple.

In 2018, the New York City Municipal Archives completed the digitization and tagging of these photos, allowing users to visit any spot in the city as it was at the dawning of the Second World War.

Now software engineer Julian Boilen has created the website 1940s NYC so you can roam those vintage images easily on your laptop or phone.

SEE: Illuminated Drones Create Beating Heart to Honor Healthcare Workers in Rotterdam Sky

The map you’re seeing here is riddled with black dots—each of which represents a photograph that will appear on your screen following a click.

WPA image via NYC Municipal Archives

We all have one of those friends who is enchanted by New York City—who just can’t get enough of its culture, flavor, and history.

CHECK OUT: This Breathtaking Café Made Entirely Out of Cardboard Shows Just How Eco-Friendly Architecture Can Be

Now they can revel in the old architecture, automobiles, and fashion of their favorite place with the particularly-intimate feeling of Google Street View.

1940s NYC

And if they get lost in the Outtakes section pictured above? They won’t be the only ones.

SHARE This Fun New Map With The New York Fans in Your Life…

Adorable Pictures Show A Critically Endangered Female Chimpanzee Cradling Her Newborn Baby

By
Good News Network
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Credit: SWNS

These adorable photos show a critically endangered female chimpanzee lovingly cradling her newborn after giving birth at a British zoo.

Credit: SWNS

Mandy is a Western chimpanzee who, at the impressive age of 43, gave birth at Chester Zoo at the end of August after an eight-and-a-half-month pregnancy.

RELATED: ‘World’s Loneliest Elephant’ Finally Headed For Sanctuary After Pakistan Ordered Him Released From Zoo

Primate experts at the zoo are yet to determine the sex of the new arrival, but they’ve declared the birth as “hugely significant” for the species.

New estimates suggest that as few as 18,000 Western chimpanzees remain in Africa, and it’s the first subspecies of chimpanzee to be added to the list of critically
endangered apes.

Credit: SWNS

So how is Mom and her new family member getting on? Andy Lenihan, Team Manager of the Primates section at Chester Zoo, said, “She’s bonded instantly with her new baby and can be seen protectively cradling it in her left arm at all times.

“It’s a little too soon to tell if her new arrival is male or female as a newborn chimpanzee will remain in the arms of mom for several months until they develop the confidence to start exploring independently.

Credit: SWNS

“Most importantly though, it’s bright eyed, alert and getting stronger by the day.”

Lenihan went on to explain that Mom hasn’t been left to do all the childcare alone, saying, “A new arrival always creates a lot of excitement—it’s a real extended-family affair as many of the females in the group often want to help to take care of the newcomer while, for some of the juvenilles, seeing a mom with a new baby is a completely new experience.

“It’s great to see the other youngsters watching Mandy closely and learning from such a natural mother.”

Credit: SWNS

MORE: See The World’s Youngest Gorilla Being Hugged By Mom Hours After Being Born

Cheers to Mom, and her new baby, for helping the global effort to ensure there’s a viable safety-net population of these amazing chimps.

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“That old September feeling, left over from school days… There was something of jubilee in that annual autumnal beginning, as if last year’s mistakes had been wiped clean by summer.” – Wallace Stegner

By
Good News Network
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Quote of the Day: “That old September feeling, left over from school days… There was something of jubilee in that annual autumnal beginning, as if last year’s mistakes had been wiped clean by summer.” – Wallace Stegner (Angel of Repose)

Photo: by Autumn Mott Rodeheaver

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?

 

World’s Biggest Rooftop Greenhouse in Montreal is as Big as 3 Football Fields – Now Can Feed 2% of the City

By
Andy Corbley
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Lufa Farms, CC license

A rooftop greenhouse in Montreal has become the largest of its kind, and can now produce enough food to feed nearly 2% of the city’s population even in winter.

Lufa Farms, CC license

Rooftop gardening is becoming very popular as a means of getting high-quality produce into the hearts of the world’s great cities, a method that has the double-advantage of cutting back on tailpipe emissions and spoilage from the otherwise necessary transportation of food.

RELATED: Scientists Hack Photosynthesis to Make Crops Produce More, But With Less Water

Launched in 2009, Lufa Farms now has four such rooftop gardens. The latest addition, built atop their own distribution center of 160,000 square feet (15,000 square meters), is about the size of three football fields, and cultivates 100 different varieties of fruits and vegetables using hydroponics.

Looking like something out of a Star Trek episode, hydroponic gardens utilize pipes in which the roots of the plant can dangle freely, and where a steam bathes them in essential nutrients and water—eliminating the need for soil entirely.

While headquartered in Canada, Lufa Farms was founded in 2009 by Lebanese-born Mohamed Hage and his American wife Lauren Rathmell from Vermont.

MORE: Nigerian Entrepreneur Invents Giant Solar-Powered Refrigerators That Cut Spoilage to Help Farmers Earn 25% More

Lufa Farms spokesperson Thibault Sorret explains to Phys.org that they produce food next to where most people live, and in a sustainable way, which some experts believe is the future of agriculture.

“We are now able to feed almost two percent of Montreal with our greenhouses and our partner farms,” says Sorret.

“The advantage of being on a roof is that you recover a lot of energy from the bottom of the building,” he adds, noting that they can save a significant amount on heating during the notoriously cold Quebec winters.

Savings can also be found in the water-use department where Lufa Farms has a rainwater collection system that reduces time spent running taps by 90%, while ladybugs, wasps, and bumblebees work in tandem as both pollinators and pest control.

These energy-efficient and environmentally friendly practices are on top of a year-on-year profitable business that employs 500 people and sells $30 produce baskets for 20,000 families a week—all while running a distribution service under the greenhouse that connects local artisan food makers that produce things like fresh pasta to Montreal houses with home delivery.

CHECK OUT: Topping Soil With Rock Dust Could Suck Billions of Tons of CO2 From the Air and Increase Crop Nutrients – Study

It’s the kind of service that’s exploding in popularity in both the restaurant and grocery industry around the world, and Lufa is now capitalizing on that to export its model to cities across the U.S. and Canada. That’s good food news for everyone.

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Woman Who Lost Wedding Ring Shortly After Getting Married Rediscovers It Days Before 40th Anniversary

By
Good News Network
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Paula Walter and Joe on their wedding day.

An English woman who lost her wedding ring in the garden almost four decades ago has just found it buried in the soil—just days before her 40th anniversary.

65-year-old Paula Walter lost the precious wedding band back in 1983 when she was playing catch with her son outside their home in Plymouth, Devon.

The ring flew off her finger as they were frolicking in the garden, and despite conducting a lengthy search of the grounds with a metal detector, it was never found.

Paula, who tied the knot with her now 73-year-old husband Joe on August 28th, 1980, was heartbroken by the disappearance of her cherished 18 carat gold band.

RELATED: In Twist of Fate, Hotline Volunteer Learns She Has Been Working With Man Who Saved Her 7 Years Ago

“My house backs onto woodland and I thought possibly that the ring flew in there. I thought it was gone forever,” recalled Paula. “Over the years—whenever we’ve been in the garden or out there—I’ve always said ‘have a look for the ring,’ but we never found it.”

To her delight, however, the missing ring was finally rediscovered last month.

Paula’s lucky break came when she hired local landscaping company Man for All Seasons to clean up her garden a few days before her wedding anniversary.

“We had a gardening company come in and landscape our garden and I told them about the ring and the whole story,” says Paula.

MORE: Blind, Deaf Senior Dog Found in Good Health Just 28 Hours After Being Carried Off By a Hawk

Although the yard had been dug up multiple times in the past, the gardeners struck gold.

“They called me out into the garden a while later saying they had a surprise for me and then handed me my wedding ring,” she exclaimed. “It was in the garden where I was standing and where I had been playing ball with my son all those years ago.

“I was so shocked, but incredibly grateful. It’s wonderful to have it back.”

Paula Walter and her dog Kira. SWNS.

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Millennials Are Getting Handier Around the Home Since Lockdown Measures Began

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Good News Network
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Millennials are getting handier around the home since COVID-19 lockdown measures began, according to this new survey.

In fact, the poll of 2,000 homeowners found that compared to other generations, millennials have been the busiest, with 81% having tackled a home improvement project since March.

Conducted by OnePoll in conjunction with blow torch manufacturer Bernzomatic, the survey examined the various home improvement projects that American homeowners have completed while stay-at-home orders have been in effect—and why they chose to take them on in the first place.

Two-thirds of the respondents say they tackled their project to save money while 49% simply needed something to keep themselves busy during lockdown.

RELATED: Survey Finds Working From Home Has So Many Benefits, 48% of Workers Would Take Pay Cut to Continue

Overall, the average homeowner has attempted four different home improvement projects since March and saved an estimated $160 simply by attempting to complete a project themselves.

From painting the house (32%) and working on landscaping projects outside (29%) to re-caulking (27%) and re-tiling kitchens and bathrooms (24%), homeowners have kept themselves busy these past six months.

Not only have these projects kept homeowners busy, they have also led to new hobbies; 73% of those who tackled a home improvement project on their own revealed that afterward, they felt resilient enough to keep taking on more projects and 67% of homeowners look forward to tackling more projects in the future.

MORE: Man Who Grew Up Without a Dad Supports Youth With ‘Dad, How Do I?’ YouTube Channel

And there’s more to be done, as 71% of homeowners still said their home is a “work in progress.”

It’s no wonder that half of the homeowners surveyed (50%) plan on doing a DIY home improvement project before the end of this year.

Twenty-nine percent plan to work on landscaping projects outside, while 57% plan on taking on projects ahead of the holiday season.

Holiday-prep projects include bathroom and kitchen renovation, filling driveway cracks, fixing the patio landscape and replacing countertops and kitchen floors.

10 HOME IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS AMERICANS LOOK FORWARD TO CREATING FOR THE HOLIDAYS
1. New lighting system
2. Bathroom renovation
3. Kitchen renovation
4. Fill a driveway crack
5. Create handmade gifts
6. Improving patio landscape
7. Complete woodworking projects
8. Replacing flooring
9. Replace the windows
10. Replacing countertops

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Chrissy Teigen Asked Teachers on Twitter to Send Their Wish Lists—And Then Fulfilled Them by the Dozens

By
Judy Cole
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Credit: David Shankbone

Chrissy Teigen has some impressive credits: Sports Illustrated swimsuit model, cookbook author, television personality, Internet sensation.

Now, thanks to a recent Twitter gift-giving bonanza, she can add fairy godmother and education warrior to the list.

Credit: David Shankbone

Teigen, who will be homeschooling her daughter Luna this year, posted a photo of their home classroom to Twitter, then generously invited teachers to send her their Amazon wish lists. “If you are a teacher in need of supplies for the upcoming school year, please drop your amazon wish list here, I will do as many as I can!” she tweeted.

The response was overwhelming. Teachers, as well as their friends and family, all reached out to take Teigen up on her generous offer.

While teachers have traditionally purchased classroom supplies that school budgets don’t cover, COVID-19 has totally changed the landscape of education.

Virtual classrooms or hybrid learning that combines at-home and onsite classes have become the new normal.

Although the fundamental educational supplies and equipment needed to meet these changes continue to evolve as we feel our way through the pandemic by trial and error, teachers are still the ones who must often pick up the slack.

RELATED: Free Internet Coming For 35,000 Low-Income Philly Families in Public-Private Partnership As Classrooms Stay Closed

After making her announcement, Teigen spent the rest of the day fulfilling requests, only taking time for a much-needed snack break, tweeting: “ok I’m gonna take a little break to eat my 12-inch subway meatball sub (you cannot tell me this is gross, I know, I don’t care!) but I’ll be back at it.”

MORE: MacKenzie Scott Has Given $1.7 Billion Dollars To Non-Profits Since Her Divorce

By day’s end, she’d chalked up 50 wish lists fulfilled plus a few added extras for teachers in need.

For that, we give this generous mom an A-Plus.

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Biggest Bang Since ‘The Big Bang’ Creates a Black Hole Science Says Should Not Exist

By
Andy Corbley
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The subject of this NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image is known as NGC 3597. It is the product of a collision between two good-sized galaxies - credit NASA.

Shockwaves through spacetime from the largest intergalactic explosion ever recorded since the Big Bang recently passed our solar system.

The subject of this NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image is known as NGC 3597, and is the product of a collision between two galaxies.

In a fraction of a second, an amount of energy equal to one quadrillion atomic bombs was released into the universe in the form of gravitational waves. Traveling at the speed of light, they only reached Earth seven billion years after the detonation.

The shockwaves were discovered by the gravitational wave detectors LIGO in the U.S., and VIRGO in Italy. Researchers concluded that the cataclysm was the result of a galactic merger, perhaps the most dramatic event in space, when two black holes find themselves caught in each other’s orbit before spiraling into one another.

RELATED: Star-Gazer Reveals Stunning Pictures of Space He Takes From His Back Garden

Speculating for National Geographic, Caltech astronomer Matthew Graham described it as “probably the largest explosion we’ve ever known in the universe,” while his university colleague Alan Weinstein remarked to the Guardian that the 0.10 second event just “sounds like a thud,” and that “it really doesn’t sound like much on a speaker.”

Not too hot, not too cold, but just right

Galactic mergers are known and recorded events, but scientists’ models suggest this one created a previously unknown interstellar object: a black hole 142 times the mass of our sun. It is previously unknown because black holes are recorded as either a few times bigger than our sun, or millions and perhaps even billions of times bigger than our sun, around which entire galaxies revolve.

MORE: ‘Unprecedented’ New Photos of the Sun’s Surface Are Being Hailed as Landmark Achievement for Science

The recent explosion figure sits in a place where traditional astrophysics state it shouldn’t be, based on the understood mechanisms by which a star becomes either a black hole or a supernova.

As gravity compresses the mass of a star inward, the light it generates pushes it outward, creating a delicate balancing act.

Changes in the amounts of positrons and electrons can result in a drop in pressure within the star, causing it to compress further and heat up. As this result replicates over time, a pair-instability supernova will blast the star’s matter outward, preventing a collapse into a black hole.

Continuing the coverage of the monumental event within the astrophysics community, Nat Geo interviewed LIGO team member Christopher Berry who noted how the recent explosion and subsequent black hole merger is impossible within current models.

“This is shocking, because it’s where we expect black holes not to exist,” he says. “[it’s] smack-bang in the range you’d expect pair instability.”

CHECK OUT: Teen Discovered New Planet 6.9 Times Bigger Than Earth Just Days into NASA Internship

Along with setting the record for biggest bang since ‘Big,’ the recent merger-explosion has opened up an entirely new avenue of research for the infinitely dense and infinitely curious objects.

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“It’s so easy to look at all the problems and let them dominate you… but there’s so many reasons to be positive.” – Sylvia Earle

By
Good News Network
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Quote of the Day: “It’s so easy to look at all the problems and let them dominate you… but there’s so many reasons to be positive.” – Sylvia Earle

Photo: by Tj Holowaychuk

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?

 

Adorable Boy With a Cleft Lip Finds His Perfect Match–A Puppy With The Same Condition

By
Good News Network
-

When a young father went to the local animal shelter to look at chickens, the last thing he was expecting to come home with was a puppy.

But when he saw a black-and-white pup with a cleft lip just like his son’s, he knew the sweet dog would make a perfect addition to the family.

As you can see from the photos, Little Bentley, who’s now aged two, was so delighted to meet his new best friend.

Bentley’s mom, Ashley Boyers, is excited about the budding friendship between the pair too.

She explained to ClickOnDetroit that seeing her toddler son ”have something in common with a puppy means a lot because he can grow up and understand that he and his puppy both have something that they can share in common.”

As for the team at Michigan’s Jackson County Animal Shelter? They’re equally happy to see the “instant love” between the two-month-old pup and Bentley.

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Writing on Facebook, they said, “It’s so hard to put into words how meaningful this adoption is to all of us… We wish many years of joy as this special pair grow up together!”

(WATCH the pawsome video of Bentley and his new friend below.)

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This Musician is Playing His Funkiest Beats Yet – On Some Watermelon and Kiwi Fruit

By
Andy Corbley
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Credit: MEZERG/YouTube

Instruments come in all shapes and sizes, but a company called Playtron has created a MIDI device that allows you to play fruits and vegetables.

Credit: MEZERG/YouTube

While this seems ridiculous, a YouTuber called MEZERG created a viral electronica song and corresponding music video called “Watermelon,” in which, you guessed it, he plays slices of watermelon like Stevie Wonder played his synthesizer on “Superstitious.”

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The device, called a Playtronica, works on smartphones and tablets provided you have the correct adaptor and a music application such as GarageBand.

It’s compatible with most synths and musical gadgets with a USB MIDI input.

Simply connect cables to your fruits and veggies, and complete the circuit by touching the ground wire with one hand and note wire with another.

(WATCH the “Watermelon” video below to see MEZERG taking playing with one’s food to a whole new level.)

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New York Turned the World’s Largest Garbage Dump into a Green Oasis of Native Grasses That Also Powers Homes

By
Andy Corbley
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After the world’s largest landfill closed down, New York State officials and nonprofits facilitated a decades-long transition from dump to green outdoors space.

Creating a park three times the size of Central Park? That’s not so easy. The conversion has involved goats, using landfill fumes to methane-power homes, and plenty of manpower as buried trash gets turned into rolling hills of native grass.

Fresh Kills Landfill in 2001/A depiction of the future Fresh Kills Park. Credit: US FBI/Theo’s Little Bot

Fresh Kills landfill, once the dumping site for all of New York City’s garbage, was a place that once terrorized Staten Islanders with odors and the sight of trash mounds said to have reached 20 stories high.

Now it’s just months away from reopening as one of the world’s great rewilding projects in the boundaries of one of the most densely populated areas in the Western Hemisphere.

Originally promised as a park by former mayor Michael Bloomberg during a dip in the polls, the dump closed in 2001, allowing sanitation department officials to begin work to control the pollution.

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The desire to turn it into a park led the Department of City Planning to host an international design competition—the project for creating New York City’s largest park construction in over a century eventually went to the Field Operations firm.

A seriously big clean-up

Trucks of iron-rich soil were brought in from New Jersey to cover plastic sheeting that “capped” the garbage mounds, staining local roads red, while methane extraction pipes channeled the fumes of the underground detritus into Staten Island homes to power heating and stoves.

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Next, concrete troughs were constructed to funnel rainwater quickly away from the trash hills, and a local park was restored, along with the baseball diamond, handball courts, and playgrounds. Goats were brought in for their ecological restoration abilities in 2012.

Centered around four capped garbage mounds, fields of native grass species sparkle and wave under the sun, and trails through sun-dappled groves give habitat to mid-Atlantic birds like the grasshopper sparrow.

The mounds are separated by tidal creeks and natural waterways which recapture the image of the Dutch word (kille) for tidal marsh and wetlands that gave the area its curious name “Freshkills” back in 1930.

Turning the world’s largest landfill, once home to 150 million tons of trash, into a 2,200 acre state park takes time. The plan is for Freshkills to open in stages, starting with the North Park Phase 1, in which 21 acres will open to the public next spring, and continuing incrementally for another decade and a half.

The Freshkills website features some 360­­­° pictures that allow you to understand not only the scope of the park, but a chance to imagine what was there before.

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The ultimate image of renewal, Freshkills social media pages take advantage of the triumph of all parties involved to educate people on the importance of wetlands, grasslands, animals, and outdoor recreation—all things which New Yorkers will be overjoyed to experience in earnest once the lockdowns lift.

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Woman Designs Sturdy Cardboard Beds For Overrun Hospitals in India – And Her Proud Family Sells Them At Cost

By
Judy Cole
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Credit: Aryan Paper Ltd

One unexpected upside to the coronavirus lockdown is that for many, it’s become a time of great creativity. When interdisciplinary designer Rhea Shah found herself stranded in her hometown of Vapi in India’s western state of Gujarat, and not attending her doctoral program in the Netherlands, she was frustrated.

“I was grappling with helplessness, thinking about what I could do with my talent and the resources available,” Shah told NPR.

The time Shah spent sequestered with her family led to a brilliant COVID-19-related brainstorm that was both organic to her family business and 100% recyclable to boot.

With the number of coronavirus cases in India escalating daily, hastily organized makeshift isolation wards were springing up across the country—which in turn, required an unprecedented need for hospital beds. Shah’s solution? A line of affordable, disposable cardboard versions.

Since Shah’s family owns and operates the Aryan Paper Group, an industrial paper manufacturing business, it didn’t take long for the Harvard-educated architect’s idea to make the leap from the drawing board to the production floor to the supply chain. In fact, the process took only about a week from concept to prototype.

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Shah’s user-friendly corrugated cardboard design requires no tools, fasteners, or glue to assemble and takes only a few minutes of setup time. The beds measure 6.5’ long by 3’ wide by 3’ tall. Weighing less than 25 pounds apiece, they can be stacked flat for shipping and moved easily when in use.

By Aryan Paper Ltd

In addition, the beds are water resistant, so they can be cleaned and disinfected as needed—and with a maximum weight-bearing load of 440 pounds, they’re pretty darn sturdy as well. If that weren’t enough, they’re also 100% recyclable, for which the environment says a big, “Thank you!”

It’s small wonder, then, that Aryan Paper Group has been included in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s list of the Top 21 Solutions/Innovations in the ongoing battle against COVID-19.

While, at around $13 each, the cardboard beds cost less than half the price of basic metal ones, the company’s concern isn’t about the bottom line: It’s about doing all they can to help out in these trying times. To that end, Aryan has donated more than 1,200 units and sold approximately another 10,000 at cost to those locations where they are most needed.

“We wanted to help in this crisis, and so we are not making any profit from the sale of beds,” Aryan Executive Director Param Gandhi told the Times of India. “The idea has also kept our company working which means we can continue to pay our staffers as well.”

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For her own part, Shah is just gratified her contribution has been so well received. As she told NPR, “It’s heartwarming to know that in spaces where it was most needed, it was useful.”

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