70 years ago today, Rocky Marciano retired as an undefeated boxing champ at age 32, becoming the only person to hold the heavyweight title without a tie or defeat during his entire career. Born to Italian immigrants in Brockton, Massachusetts, he worked out as a youth on homemade weightlifting equipment at home and dropped out of school in the tenth grade. His knockout percentage of 87.75 is one of the highest in heavyweight history. READ more about the famous boxing figure… (1956)
Scientists Discover How the Iconic ‘Twelve Apostles’ Rock Formations Were Created in Australia
Research from the University of Melbourne for the first time has confirmed the ancient impetus that formed the iconic Twelve Apostles, 25 miles of rock formations along Australia’s southern coast.
The evidence is in: tectonic plate movements over millions of years lifted the giant limestone landmass out of the sea.
“Until now, the evolution of the Twelve Apostles had not been well known,” said the lead researcher, Associate Professor Stephen Gallagher from the School of Geography, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences.
The “landmark” study, published this week in the Australian Journal of Earth Sciences, revealed that while the Twelve Apostles were pushed out of the sea over millions of years by shifting tectonic plates.
The tectonic event, followed by 20,000 years of erosion from wind and waves, helped shape the Twelve Apostles into one of the world’s best-preserved and accessible records of ancient climates and sea levels.
“Much like an environmental time capsule, each layer of these giant structures preserved information about the Earth’s climate, tectonic activity, plants and animals over millions of years, including a key time about 13.8 million years ago when the climate was much warmer than what it is today,” Associate Professor Gallagher explained in a media release.
He continued, “We are using this ‘window back in time’ to understand where temperatures and sea levels may be heading on our current path of climate change.”
Like tree rings, the layers have provided scientists with a clearer idea of the Apostle’s age than ever before. The researchers say they are actually younger than previously understood.
“Early preliminary research indicated the ancient limestone layers ranged between seven to fifteen million years old, but we discovered microscopic fossils that more accurately dated the layers as 8.6 to 14 million years old,” said Gallagher.
“We also uncovered that the tectonic movements didn’t push up the Apostles perfectly straight. Instead, they forced layers to tilt and break along the way.
“If you look closely at the cliffs around the Twelve Apostles today, you can see the limestone layers are not flat but are, in fact, tilted by a few degrees. Small fault lines can also be seen, which are records of ancient earthquakes.”
Although the limestone sea stacks 120 miles southwest of Melbourne were named ‘the Twelve Apostles’, there may have only been nine. Only seven remain today, after the collapse of one that was 50-meters-tall (160 ft) in 2005, and another in 2009, leaving only stumps in the protected area within Port Campbell National Park.
The new research along this 40 kilometers (25mi) of continuous sea cliffs, employed photographic and digital imagery, with field mapping, and stratigraphic and microfossil analyses, to reveal that their geology spans 15 million years of Earth history.
GEOLOGY GEMS!
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• Geologists Found a Mega-Structure Built by Ice Age Hunters Submerged in the Baltic Sea
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Flooding since the Last Glacial Period 23,000–20,000 years ago created the sea stacks, cliffs, and estuaries, as extreme weather conditions from the Southern Ocean gradually eroded the soft limestone, weakening cracks in the cliffs, causing them to form caves in the cliffs, which then become arches that eventually collapsed, forming free-standing stacks.
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$20M Awarded to Louisiana Idea For Ensuring Health Clinics Stay Open During Hurricanes Across 4 States
An innovative solution that would guard against natural disasters facing the Gulf Coast region has won a $20 million infusion to make its vision a reality.
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s Gulf Futures Challenge has awarded $20 million to the Louisiana Public Health Institute for its ‘Gulf Hub initiative’.
The initiative brings together a powerful, multi-state partnership between Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida to transform community health centers into energy-independent, climate-adaptive health care facilities that remain operational before, during, and after disruptions and disasters.
These hubs will deliver uninterrupted care to more than a half million residents across the four Gulf states, which are increasingly under siege from hurricanes.
“We asked the people of the Gulf for their visions for a brighter future, and they responded with a flood of exciting proposals,” said Lauren Alexander Augustine, executive director of the Gulf Research Program.
“The Louisiana Public Health Institute’s project is exemplary in combining fresh ideas with innovative partnerships.”
Some of the partners on board include: Primary Care Associations, the Louisiana State University School of Public Health, the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Southern University’s School of Social Work, Crescent Care, the Mississippi Public Health Institute, Collective Energy, and 504HealthNet.
“Community health centers are deeply trusted local health care anchors that communities across the Gulf Coast rely on, especially in times of disruption and disaster,” said Shelina Davis, CEO of the Louisiana Public Health Institute.
“Through Gulf Hub, we have the opportunity to equip these centers to remain open, connected, and responsive when care is needed most, while generating and sharing data that strengthens coordination, continuity, and long-term resilience across the region.”
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Through an open competition launched in June 2024, the Gulf Futures Challenge aimed to leverage the inherent talent and knowledge of the people of the Gulf region by supporting ideas and solutions from those who understand it best.
The challenge received 164 proposals from innovators in the four Gulf Coast states mentioned above, plus Texas — and more than 100 reviewers directly evaluated science‑driven ideas that addressed real problems facing their communities.
“The caliber of the proposals we received demonstrates how rigorous science can be translated into practical solutions and real-world resilience,” said Kristen J. Molyneaux, president and co-founder of Lever for Change, which managed the Challenge and is helping all 10 finalists raise their visibility, and increase their potential to secure funding.
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“Donors interested in supporting these projects with additional funding can contact Lever for Change to continue advancing this work.”
The Gulf Hub health initiative—along with another project dealing with offshore oil rigs—both received $20 million each. Additionally, all 10 finalist teams received an initial project development grant of $300,000 and received technical assistance to strengthen their proposals.
The remaining eight finalists will each receive up to $875,000 in additional project development support. To learn more about the Gulf Futures Challenge and the awarded projects, visit Lever for Change.
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Once Extinct in the Wild, Bandicoot Marsupial to be Released Across Australia After Being Bred For Survival (LOOK)
In Australia, the eastern barred bandicoot was declared extinct in the wild in 1991, after the population dwindled to just 60 living at a landfill site in Victoria.
But now, the marsupial has been “bred for survival” and will be released into a half dozen reintroduction sites across the country after previous attempts to reintroduce it failed because of inbreeding.
In the world-first gene-mixing approach, mainland Australian bandicoots have been bred with those from Tasmania—two genetically distinct populations isolated from each other for more than 10,000 years.
The small, native marsupials became extinct after the ecosystem was devastated by invasive species like rabbits, along with feral cats and foxes that became predators across the huge island.
The genetic rescue program was led by the Odonata Foundation, Cesar Australia, and the Eastern Barred Bandicoot Recovery Team.
Animal survival isn’t the only benefit—the land will improve too. Burrowing by the chipmunk-sized bandicoots improves soil health and strengthens landscapes against flood and drought.
The latest plan to reintroduction aims to build a population of at least 500 animals across a minimum of five different locations. (Watch the excellent video at the bottom…)
It ensures animals are geographically dispersed and less likely to be wiped out by natural disaster.
That goal of climate resilience resonates with Amazon.com’s Right Now Climate Fund, which donated $2.5 million to help restore endangered species in Australia
“Thirty years ago, these bandicoots were gone from mainland Australia,” said Michael Miller, an Amazon VP for the fund, which was established in 2019 with $100 million to help communities in Europe become more climate resilient, using nature-based solutions to enhance biodiversity, along with their key partner The Nature Conservancy.
“What makes their recovery incredible is the science behind it—a genetic rescue program which is science-backed, scalable, and transformative for conservation.”
“The same methodology could help save endangered animals all over the world.”
The three-year project will help save the eastern barred bandicoot and other species including the eastern quoll and southern brush-tailed rock-wallaby.
Dr. Andrew Weeks, director of Cesar Australia and science advisor to Odonata perfectly summed it up.
“We’ve built a fit, feisty bandicoot population with far greater genetic health and a much better chance of survival than their inbred predecessors.”
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“In every man’s heart there is a secret nerve that answers to the vibrations of beauty.” – Christopher Morley
Quote of the Day: “In every man’s heart there is a secret nerve that answers to the vibrations of beauty.” – Christopher Morley
Photo by: Katarina Branovacki
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Good News in History, April 26
106 years ago today, the Smithsonian Museums in the nation’s capital held the first of its Great Debate series, with the topic being whether spiral galaxies and nebulae were relatively small and part of the Milky Way. Arguing in the affirmative was Harlow Shapely, head of the Harvard College Observatory. Arguing in the negative was astronomer Heber Curtis. A year later the two sides of the debate were presented and expanded on in independent technical papers under the title “The Scale of the Universe.” READ more about the Great Debate… (1920)
Researchers Develop Way to Get Natural Gas That’s Renewable Directly From Sewage
A pilot study employing a new method for treating sewage sludge efficiently created renewable natural gas while slashing in half the cost of the treatment.
The Washington State University team described the process this week in Chemical Engineering Journal, touting it as a way to help communities sustainably clean up their waste while providing renewable natural gas for their energy needs.
When the researchers pretreated sludge collected from a nearby wastewater facility, they produced 200% more renewable natural gas compared to current practices—and cut the cost of disposal by nearly 50%.
“This technology basically converts up to 80% of the sewage sludge into something valuable,” said Professor Birgitte Ahring of WSU’s School of Chemical Engineering and Bioengineering, and one of the authors of the paper.
The renewable gas can be used in the same way as fossil-fuel based natural gas—for electricity generation, home heating, or transportation—all without the heavy climate imprint left by fossil fuels.
Addressing the giant energy drain from current methods of processing waste
Wastewater treatment facilities use large amounts of electricity to clean up municipal wastewater, making up between 3% and 4% of the total electricity demand in the U.S.
They are often the largest user of electricity in a small community. Their treatment processes also contribute to global warming, adding about 21 million metric tons of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere annually.
About half of the approximately 15,000 wastewater treatment plants in the U.S. use anaerobic digestion to reduce sewage waste and make biogas, but the process, in which microbes break down the waste, is inefficient and struggles to break down all the complex molecules in the sludge.
Additionally, the biogas composed of carbon dioxide and methane has limited use—while the leftover sludge, called biosolids, most often ends up in landfills.
For their study (funded by the U.S. Department of Energy Bioenergy Technologies Office), the WSU team added a pretreatment step, treating the sludge at high temperature and pressure with oxygen added before the anaerobic digestion process. The small amount of oxygen under high-pressure conditions acts as a catalyst to break down the long polymer chains in the material.
The researchers showed that their pretreatment resulted in reduced cost to treat the sewage from $494 to $253 per ton of dry solids.
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The team then used a novel bacterial strain that they discovered and isolated to upgrade the biogas, converting carbon dioxide with hydrogen into methane or renewable natural gas. The researchers analyzed and verified the renewable gas, showing that it was 99% pure methane.
“This (bacterial strain) bug doesn’t need anything—it is a workhorse,” said Ahring in a news release. “It doesn’t need organic additives or a lot of nursing. It does well with water and a vitamin pill.”
With help from WSU’s Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship the researchers have patented the bacterial strain, and are now working with an industrial partner to develop a larger scale project.
“This approach not only enhances carbon conversion efficiency and methane yield but also enables direct production of pipeline-quality renewable natural gas with minimal CO2 content — addressing two major limitations of existing sludge-to-energy systems into a single, scalable methodology,” said Ahring.
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“By successfully bridging advanced pretreatment with biological biogas upgrading, this work provides a new, integrated paradigm for sustainable sludge treatment maximizing energy recovery while contributing to the circular bio-economy.”
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#1 in NFL Draft – And in Charity: Fernando Mendoza Just Pledged Half Million to Fight MS, Honoring Mom
The newest Heisman Trophy winner was chosen as the #1 pick in the NFL draft Thursday, but the young quarterback is also a #1 charitable giver.
Fernando Mendoza announced this week a commitment of $500,000 to the National MS Society to accelerate progress toward a world free of multiple sclerosis.
The new Mendoza Family Fund builds on years of creative fundraising for MS undertaken by Fernando and his brother Alberto, who’s continuing his collegiate football career at Georgia Tech, while his sibling moves on to the pros.
For years, in honor of their mother, Elsa, who lives with MS, the brothers have spearheaded grassroots fundraising that has already tallied more than $360,000.
When he was still a little known quarterback locked in a battle for the starting job at University of California, he launched the ‘Mendoza Burrito’ partnering with Berkeley’s La Burrita, with all proceeds going to the National MS Society.
After moving to Indiana and becoming a Midwest football hero, he partnered with Buffalouie’s and Gables Bagels to create another Cuban-themed dish to honor his heritage—the “Mendoza Burger”—donating a percentage from each sandwich sold.
The delicious result was over $150,000 going to the MS Society in 2025, says Sports Business Journal.
Inspired by Elsa’s strength and resilience, Fernando and Alberto have used their platforms to raise awareness, mobilize communities, and support others affected by the disease.
In a touching example, at Christmastime he gave four families affected by MS $10,000 each to go on a shopping spree at the Adidas store.
His personal donation this week of $500,000 to the National MS Society will fund MS research at the University of Miami Health System and Miller School of Medicine.
“This fund is about my mom and the millions of people living with MS,” said Fernando.
“My mom has taught our family strength, resilience, and positivity. My brothers Alberto and Max, my dad, and I – we’ve all learned from her example.”
“She’s the reason we fight, and the reason we believe we can do something bigger than ourselves. Together, we can bring us closer to a cure and a future free of MS.”
As the No. 1 pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, Fernando Mendoza is projected to earn roughly $9.9 million in his first season. This is part of a fully guaranteed four-year, $54.56 million contract with the Las Vegas Raiders.
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“The Mendoza Family Fund gives us the opportunity to turn that inspiration into real impact by advancing groundbreaking research and helping families like mine navigate this disease,” he added.
“The Mendoza family has built more than a fundraiser – they’ve built a movement rooted in love and purpose,” said Dr. Tim Coetzee, President of the National MS Society.
Together with their brother Max and parents Fernando and Elsa, the family aims to expand their impact and inspire even greater participation in the movement to end MS.
Supporters can contribute to the Mendoza Family Fund, here.
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Mystery of the ‘Golden Orb’ Found Two Miles Deep on Ocean Floor is Finally Resolved
The mystery of the ‘golden orb’ found at the bottom of the ocean has been solved by scientists after two-and-a-half years.
U.S. researchers from NOAA—the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration—were left confused and excited by the sighting in 2023 made during their Ocean Exploration program.
During live video footage of the deep sea floor, a member of the Seascape Alaska 5 expedition crew is heard muttering, “It’s like the beginning of a horror movie”. Another commented, “I’m pretty sure this is how the first episode of the X-Files started.”
“It’s common for scientists to find organisms they don’t immediately recognize,” said a NOAA spokesperson in a media statement this week about the discovery made by their Okeanos Explorer ship.
“Most of the time, these mysteries are solved quickly as members of the scientific community chat and pool their knowledge. However, some discoveries turn into real puzzles—like in the case of the ‘golden orb’.”
(Watch the video below with puzzled researchers speculating in real time…)
Finally, however, scientists have determined that the confusing golden mass, discovered over 2 miles deep in the Gulf of Alaska (3,250 meters), is a remnant of the dead cells that formed at the base of a giant deep-sea anemone, Relicanthus daphneae.
“Mystery solved: The ‘golden orb’ is not an egg, a sponge, or remnants of a space alien, but a relic of a deep-sea anemone.”
A piece of a previously unknown specimen
They believe the bright leftovers were the part of the anemone that attached to the rock substrate.
Because the enigmatic discovery had attracted a lot of speculation and public interest, the team collected the orb using a suction sampler and sent it to the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History for further examination and study.
“Identifying the ‘golden orb’ was a multi-year, complex effort.
“In a world accustomed to instant gratification, waiting for scientific research to provide answers can be frustrating. But science takes time.”
“I suspected that our routine processes would clarify the mystery,” explained Allen Collins, Ph.D, zoologist and director of NOAA Fisheries’ National Systematics Laboratory, which is physically located within the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.
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“But this turned into a special case that required focused efforts and expertise of several different individuals. This was a complex mystery that required morphological, genetic, deep-sea and bioinformatics expertise to solve.”
Initial DNA barcoding was inconclusive, likely due to picking up DNA from other microscopic life on the specimen. Moving deeper, whole-genome sequencing confirmed animal DNA and contained a large amount of genetic material from the giant deep-sea anemone, according to the paper published this week. Sequencing the mitochondrial genomes of both specimens confirmed they were genetically almost identical to a known Relicanthus daphneae reference genome.
“While this discovery confirms the identity of the previously unknown specimen, the Earth’s deep ocean still holds many secrets.”
“So often in deep ocean exploration, we find these captivating mysteries, like the ‘golden orb’.
WOW, LOOK:
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“With advanced techniques like DNA sequencing, we are able to solve more and more of them,” said CAPT William Mowitt, acting director of NOAA Ocean Exploration.
“This is why we keep exploring—to unlock the secrets of the deep and better understand how the ocean and its resources can drive economic growth, strengthen our national security, and sustain our planet.”
Watch the NOAA explainer video below…
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Your Weekly Horoscope – ‘Free Will Astrology’ by Rob Brezsny
Our partner Rob Brezsny, whose latest book is Astrology Is Real: Revelations from My Life as an Oracle, provides his weekly wisdom to enlighten our thinking and motivate our mood. Rob’s Free Will Astrology, is a syndicated weekly column appearing in over a hundred publications. He is also the author of Pronoia Is the Antidote for Paranoia: How All of Creation Is Conspiring To Shower You with Blessings. (A free preview of the book is available here.)
Here is your weekly horoscope…
FREE WILL ASTROLOGY – Week of April 25, 2026
Copyright by Rob Brezsny, FreeWillAstrology.com
TAURUS (April 20-May 20):
You’re finished with energy-draining indulgences. No more seductive perils or cute ailments, either. Once you wriggle free from the tangles that have been hobbling your style, I suspect you will also renounce anything that resembles joyless restraint, naive certainties, pointless cravings, numbing comforts, or misplaced bravery. May it be so! Abracadabra! The emancipations that materialize after these escapes will likely stoke your holy appetite to shine more fiercely than it has in ages.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20):
In music theory, the tritone is an interval exactly halfway between octaves. In old church music, it was considered diabolical because of its unstable, unresolved quality. But this “devil interval” is now essential to blues, jazz, and rock. The precariousness that once made it seem outrageous became the source of its potency. What was taboo became foundational. I believe you’re entering into a metaphorical tritone phase, Gemini. Lots of interesting and valuable stuff may be a bit wobbly, irregular, hectic, or ruffled.
CANCER (June 21-July 22):
A treasure you have long yearned for has morphed since the day you first set out to claim it. Either it has genuinely altered its shape and flavor, or it has remained exactly what it always was while you have changed. In either case, the relationship between you and this prize is no longer the same. Its meaning and value have shifted. The strategies you’ve been using to pursue it aren’t entirely relevant. So I suggest you pause and reconsider. Decide whether you need to formulate a revised approach or identify a different version of the treasure altogether.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22):
My radical predictions: You will soon discern truths that have been hidden and unravel mysteries that have resisted your understanding. A limiting belief that has dulled your mind will fade away, and a so-called ally who has confused your sense of self will drift out of your orbit. And that’s just part of the renewal ahead. I foresee that you will emerge from a weird emotional haze, regaining access to feelings you’ve needed to highlight. And with that awakening, you will be blessed with beautiful realizations that until now have lingered just beyond definition.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22):
In theater, “blocking” refers to the carefully choreographed movement of actors on stage. Every step is intentional, designed to create meaning and flow. But if an actor forgets the blocking and moves spontaneously in response to what’s happening, sometimes the scene becomes more alive. Let’s apply this idea to your life, Virgo. It may be that you have been following the blocking carefully. You know your role well. But now you’ve been authorized to forget the blocking. You can respond to what’s really happening instead of what’s scripted. I invite you to speak from your heart rather than parroting what’s expected of you. Yes, you might mess up the scene. But on the other hand, you might make it extra real and vibrant.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22):
In the future I envision for us all, the prizes that truly matter won’t be the wealth we’ve gathered or the impressive names on our contact list. They won’t be the clever deals we’ve made or the attractiveness of those who walk beside us. What will count most is our ability to transform the messy, selfish, frightened parts of ourselves into strengths. That’s hard to do! Each of us carries a share of that leaden dross, of course, but some of us are more tirelessly ingenious in our efforts to transmute it into gold. And the coming weeks will be prime time for you, Libra, to make dynamic progress in harnessing this magic.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21):
Is it possible there’s something you really need but you don’t know what it is? Sometimes the soul sends up subtle hints long before it sends clear demands: a vague restlessness, a mysterious sadness, or a boredom that doesn’t match your circumstances. These are often clues that an unnamed or unacknowledged need is summoning your attention. My advice to you: PAY ATTENTION! Ask your deep, sweet, sensitive self to provide unambiguous clues. To expedite the process, say the following sentence out loud, filling in the blank at the end: “I suspect I might be starving for ________.”
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21):
You have arrived at the Glorious Grunting Season, my dear Sagittarius. I hope you’re poised to sweat freely and trust the intelligence of strenuous physical effort. Your wise body, more than your fine mind, can best align you with cosmic rhythms. Whenever you throw yourself into work or play that makes you grunt—hauling, scrubbing, digging, lifting, dancing, running, making love—you will harmonize with the deeper pulse of life. I predict that you will invigorate your instinctual vitality as you clear emotional sediment and ground your energy in the earth’s rich rhythms. You will metabolize frustration into focus, inertia into momentum, and abstraction into embodiment.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19):
What might motivate you to become an extraordinary lover? I’m not suggesting that your romantic and erotic talents are lacking, only that there is delightful room to grow. And the coming weeks will be prime time for you to have fun with this noble experiment. I suggest you follow the clues that life and intuition will drop in your path. Keep this in mind, too: What makes a person a superb lover has a little to do with sheer technique, but is mostly due to emotional intelligence, imaginative responsiveness, and tender ingenuity.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18):
This horoscope isn’t composed by me. It’s coming from you. I’m channeling it straight out of your own deep mind. Why now? Because your conscious ego has been so swept up in the constant swirl of tasks and distractions that it has been tuning out crucial communications from your still, small voice. And now that precious Spirit Whisperer has conscripted me as its messenger. Here’s what it wants to say: “Hey you! Remember me? Your inner guide? Also known as your higher self and the voice of your soul? You urgently need to turn your attention back in my direction. I have a backlog of messages for you, starting with how we can and should intensify our devotion to creative self-care.”
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20):
In 1967, Piscean biologist Lynn Margulis proposed a revolutionary idea about life’s evolution: that many of its great leaps occurred through symbiosis. She theorized that distinct organisms have sometimes merged their identities to form entirely new beings. One example is the mitochondrion, the powerhouse within our cells. It began its existence as a free-living bacterium that later entered into partnership with the ancestral cell. Margulis’ formerly controversial idea is now mainstream science. (She was called “science’s unruly earth mother.”) With this as our guide, Pisces, let’s contemplate what separate elements of your life might merge into unprecedented blends. I invite you to consider bold experiments in merging and mixing. Hybrids might be more beautiful and valuable than the sum of their parts.
ARIES (March 21-April 19):
The visible lightning bolt we see is actually the return stroke. It’s electricity racing back up from the ground to the cloud after an invisible leader stroke has created a path. So the spectacular display is actually the earth talking back to the sky. I’d love to see you adopt this phenomenon as your power symbol, Aries. In every way you can imagine, be like the earth conversing with the sky. When a hopeful sign crackles overhead, send out a bold message that you’re ready to act on it. If your ideals are vague and wispy, flying high above you, take a brave practical step to anchor them in reality. Proclaim your bright intentions to the clouds and the stars.
WANT MORE? Listen to Rob’s EXPANDED AUDIO HOROSCOPES, 4-5 minute meditations on the current state of your destiny — or subscribe to his unique daily text message service at: RealAstrology.com
(Zodiac images by Numerologysign.com, CC license)
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“Great dancers are not great because of their technique, they are great because of their passion.” – Martha Graham
Quote of the Day: “Great dancers are not great because of their technique, they are great because of their passion.” – Martha Graham
Photo by: Anton Titov
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?
Good News in History, April 25
72 years ago today, Bell Labs finished the first functional solar cell, allowing for a panel of metal and glass to refract light and heat from the Sun into it and generate a current of electricity. The inventors were Calvin Souther Fuller, Daryl Chapin, and Gerald Pearson, and their intention was to power a satellite in space where it could not have its batteries changed. Today, the photovoltaic cell is revolutionizing energy provision for humanity, with a large chunk of scientists and industrialists believing they are a key part of trying to maintain the Earth’s climate as we experience it today. READ more… (1954)
Eradication of Invasive Ferrets Within N. Ireland’s Largest Seabird Colony Is a World First
In a world-first conservation achievement, Northern Ireland has successfully eradicated an invasive population of ferrets on Rathlin Island, host of the commonwealth nation’s largest seabird colony.
One of the most effective conservation strategies currently employed on a wide scale, invasive animal elimination has allowed hundreds of islands worldwide to recover their native wildlife populations.
Typical invasive targets are rats or rabbits, but in the case of Rathlin, it’s the first time anywhere in the world that a population of feral ferrets was eradicated from an island they’d overtaken.
The LIFE Raft (Rathlin Acting for Tomorrow) project, which was established in 2021 and led by the Northern Ireland chapter of the UK’s Royal Society for the Protection of Birds along with local and government partners, aimed to remove these predators and give the seabird population a chance to recover.
Rathlin Island, located off the north coast of County Antrim, is home to over 250,000 seabirds including puffins, razorbills, guillemots, and Manx shearwaters. For decades, these internationally important seabird populations have faced severe threats from invasive ferrets, which preyed on eggs, chicks, and adult birds, with one ferret shown to kill 27 adult birds in just two days on Rathlin.
LIFE Raft at times involved undertaking work on soaring cliffs and during horrendous weather events, using the water as well as the land to help make the island safe for conservation.
The ferret eradication is the culmination of years of meticulous planning, cutting-edge techniques such as thermal drones, and less cutting-edge (but no less important) methods like the detection dog, named Woody, as well as unwavering support from the Rathlin community.
“This is an extraordinary moment for Rathlin, for Northern Ireland, and for conservation globally,” said Joanne Sherwood, RSPB NI Director in a statement.
“The successful, world first eradication of ferrets means that puffins and other seabirds can now nest and raise their young more safely on Rathlin for the first time in generations. We are already seeing encouraging signs of recovery, and we expect to see populations rebound in the coming years.
With local people employed throughout the LIFE Raft project and residents playing an active role in the ferret eradication, community involvement was central to the project’s success. Its success demonstrates what can be achieved when all partners work together with a shared vision.
“This has been a massive project, a long time in the making, and a huge undertaking all across the island,” said Marina McMullan, Chair of Rathlin Development & Community Association. “As a result, Islanders can raise domestic poultry again, with greater security, and the positive impact on nesting seabirds, and other ground-nesting birds, is expected to be regionally significant.”
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“It will be a delight to see some of those once-familiar birds able to flourish in the fields and cliffs of our island again.”
Socially and economically, it has been of huge benefit to this small island community. The large budget, amassed with the help of various trusts including the UK National Lottery, has provided local employment and brought new skills for a number of islanders and made a great contribution to local trade.
The eradication work was carried out using internationally proven techniques adapted to accommodate and embrace Rathlin’s unique circumstances and setting. Technical expertise was provided by specialist advisors from Wildlife International Management Limited, who are experts in island restoration.
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To ensure Rathlin remains ferret free robust biosecurity measures are now in place. Early signs are encouraging. Seabird monitoring has already recorded increases in breeding success and in 2025, LIFE Raft confirmed the first breeding Manx shearwater on Rathlin Island in over two decades. The removal of invasive predators will also benefit other island wildlife including corncrakes, chough and ground-nesting birds.
Since the news in late May of the success, a new ferry has opened a regular service to bring visitors to Rathlin should anyone in the area wish to see the newly freed seabirds.
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Bald Ibis ‘the Herald of Spring’ Saved from Extinction in Turkey Thanks to Semi-Wild Breeding
Towering above the crystal clear waters of the Euphrates River, sandstone cliffs have for thousands of years played host to the bald ibis, returning from Ethiopia during the spring migration.
But when modern dangers upset this delicate age-old balance, a coalition of local wildlife enthusiasts and international conservation efforts rescued this majestic bird from the very brink.
A story almost 50 years in the making, it was an early sign that conservation of migratory birds could be achieved long term, even if dangers persisted along an animal’s migratory route.
“Juvenile, 1 year old, brown with feathers on head,” says Mustafa Çulcuoğlu as he points out where I should point my camera lens. “Adult, bald head, green and red feathers in Sun, do you see?”
A local wildlife guide and third-generation bald ibis lover, Mustafa has seen attitudes about wildlife change in his native Turkey.
He was born and fledged in Birecik, a historic town on the Euphrates that spills up and over the sandstone cliffs where the bald ibis has long been a cultural icon.
“Every year, February 14th, bald ibis is coming back from Africa. It was a sign to the people that springtime is here.”
Mustafa recalls his grandmother warning him not to climb up into the cliffs. “‘There are sweet little birds there, you’ll scare them,'” he said.
The caves, holes, and niches in the cliffs make for the perfect habitat to shield their eggs from the sun, as it passes southwest-west over the horizon, lighting the cliffs up with fiery brilliance.
The ibis has been observed and appreciated for literally tens of thousands of years. About 100 kilometers east of Birecik is the world-renowned archaeological site of Gobeklitepe, a megalithic center of worship dating back 11,600 years ago that has totally upended what we know about our own past.
Carved into several large, T-shaped pillars within the site’s stone enclosures are birds that have long sloping bills which seem to be the bald ibis.
Religious traditions helped this species to survive in Birecik long after the species had disappeared from Europe, since it was believed that the ibis migrated each year to guide Hajj pilgrims to Mecca.
Surrounding Birecik are pistachio orchards and olive groves: the perfect haunt for the bald ibis’ prey: small mice and large insects, a meal which almost proved a fatal one after the introduction of modern pesticides.
“After World War II, there was the Marshall Plan. This brought DDT to the orchards, and so bald ibis: dead, dead, dead, until we brought 10 here,” he said.
There is another migratory population which travels from Morocco to Austria, but along the Euphrates, the people were at risk of losing one of their most treasured creatures.
In 1977, BirdLife International with the help of the Turkish government, established the Birecik Bald Ibis Breeding Center, the first of its kind anywhere in the animal’s range. It protected a section of cliff face and built nest boxes for the animals, which while increasing the captive population, couldn’t stop the animal’s eventual extinction in the wild.
The breeding center, however, proved a success in saving the population which is recognized as the Northern bald ibis (Geronticus eremita), with several hundred birds currently living a semi-wild existence.
Mustafa told GNN that threats still exist along the migration route, and until such a time that they believe the birds can travel to Ethiopia and back without persecution, the animals, which live freely during the nesting season, are brought inside an amphitheater-sized aviary to prevent them from migrating.
He says Bedouins in Jordan and Saudi Arabia hunt the bald ibis, while land-use changes, war and strife, and other impacts make it impossible for the animal to migrate safely.
Until such a time as they can, Mustafa continues to take groups of visitors out birdwatching. He says he’s witnessed a profound shift in his country’s interest in its wild animals. The countryside surrounding Birecik is also home to the pallid scops owl, a critically endangered species in Turkey, the Euphrates softshell tortoise, and the striped hyena, both of which are also endangered.
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“20 years ago, it was only Netherlands, Germany—who came for birdwatching. Now, many young people are coming; they can afford binoculars, telescopic lenses, and they are interested in these animals like the bald ibis,” he told GNN.
It’s not the happiest of endings: the birds cannot migrate like their ancestors, that were the models for the stone carvers of Gobeklitepe or the pilgrims on the Hajj, once did. But that’s an awful lot better than being gone entirely.
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Millions of Americans May Now Also Be Considered Canadians Under a New Law
Millions of Americans who have a Canadian parent, grandparent, or even a great-grandparent, will be eligible to apply for citizenship under a new law.
Second citizenship is an excellent asset for anyone to have, as it gives access to additional options for financial planning, real estate, education, and consular support abroad with potentially extra visa-free travel.
Back dated to December 15th, Canada’s new citizenship law puts it in line with several European countries that allow one to use family records or genealogical charts to prove familial ties to a country.
Filing the new form costs less than $100, but experts suggest that for people seeking to prove a connection to a distant ancestor, an attorney specializing in such applications may be recommended.
Reporting on the citizenship change, which will render millions of Americans potential Canadians-in-waiting, AP spoke with Maureen Sullivan, of Naples, Florida, who had a Canadian grandfather.
“When I first heard about the bill, I couldn’t believe it. It was like this little gift that fell in my lap,” Sullivan said.
“There was kind of this collective excitement amongst the (family) who just felt like, we wanted to feel like we were doing something to take care of our security in the future if needed.”
The website for the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship office has seen a flood of requests already, with 56,000 total cases outstanding. This backlog means any request can take up to 10 months to fulfill. The agency says that from December 15th to January 31st, it confirmed citizenship by descent for 1,480 people, not all of whom were American.
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“My wife and I were already talking about potentially looking at jobs outside the country, but citizenship pushed Canada way up on our list,” Zack Loud, of Farmington, Minnesota, told AP.
Over a dozen European countries will grant citizenship according to descent, though more than one will require the grandparent in question to have maintained their citizenship at the time of the applicant’s birth. In other words, arriving on Ellis Island is often not an acceptable standard.
In some cases like Hungary, language proficiency is required.
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Fossil From 289M Years Ago Reveals ‘Mummified’ Skin, Scales, Proteins–And Earliest Known Lung Function
Every breath you take is part of a very ancient story, a remarkably preserved reptile that died in an Oklahoma cave about 289 million years ago has revealed.
The steady movement of your chest, the muscles between your ribs pulling outward, and the air filling your lungs may feel completely routine, yet this familiar process traces back hundreds of millions of years.
In a study published in Nature, scientists describe the exceptional preservation of a small, lizard-like reptile called Captorhinus aguti from the early Permian period. Although only a few inches long, this fossil contains far more than bones.
It preserves three dimensional skin, calcified cartilage, and even traces of proteins. These protein remnants are nearly 100 million years older than any previously identified in fossils—which in and of itself makes the find remarkably special.
“Captorhinus is an interesting lizard-looking critter that is critical to understanding early amniote evolution,” said Ethan Mooney, who co-led the study while a student at the University of Toronto in co-author Professor Robert R. Reisz’s.
The fossil was discovered in cave systems near Richards Spur, Oklahoma, a site known for its extraordinary record of late Paleozoic life. This location contains the most diverse collection of terrestrial vertebrates from that period, which was already rich in species. Unique environmental conditions helped preserve the remains. Oil seep hydrocarbons and oxygen-free mud protected not only bones but also delicate tissues such as skin and cartilage.
As a result, the specimen appears as a three dimensional mummified fossil, frozen in its final position with one arm tucked beneath its body. This level of preservation is extremely rare and offers an unusually detailed view of ancient anatomy.
Harvard University details that Mooney and his colleagues used neutron computed tomography (nCT) at a specialized facility in Australia to examine the fossil without damaging it. The scans allowed them to see beneath the rock and uncover fine details hidden inside.
“I started to see all these structures wrapped around the bones,” he said, “they were very thin and textured. And lo and behold, there was a nice wrapping of skin around the torso of this animal. The scaly skin has this wonderful accordion-like texture, with these concentric bands covering much of the body from the torso and up to the neck.”
The pattern closely resembles the scales seen in modern worm lizards, which are small burrowing reptiles still alive today, but the preserved skin was only one part of the discovery.
By studying three Captorhinus specimens from Richards Spur, researchers were able to piece together how this animal breathed. One fossil revealed a segmented cartilaginous sternum, along with sternal ribs, intermediate ribs, and connections linking the ribcage to the shoulder girdle.
For the first time, scientists could see these structures clearly in an early reptile and reconstruct a complete breathing system in an early amniote. This provided direct evidence of costal aspiration breathing, where muscles between the ribs expand and compress the chest cavity to pull air into the lungs.
Before this system evolved, amphibians relied on a different method. They breathed through their skin and pushed air into their lungs using movements of the mouth and throat. While this approach still works for many amphibians today, it limits activity levels. Rib-based breathing allows for deeper, more efficient airflow, bringing in more oxygen and removing carbon dioxide more effectively.
“We propose that the system found in Captorhinus represents the ancestral condition for the kind of rib assisted respiration present in living reptiles, birds, and mammals” said Professor Reisz.
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The use of ribcage muscles for breathing was a major evolutionary step. It gave early amniotes the ability to sustain more active lifestyles, which likely helped them spread and diversify across land environments.
“It was a game changer that allowed these animals to adopt a much more active lifestyle,” said Mooney.
This innovation may have played a major role in the success of reptiles and their descendants, setting the foundation for their dominance in terrestrial ecosystems.
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The discovery also included a surprising finding. Using synchrotron infrared spectroscopy, researchers detected traces of original proteins preserved within the fossil’s bone, cartilage, and skin. These molecules are the oldest of their kind ever identified, dating back nearly 100 million years earlier than previous examples found in dinosaur fossils.
“The protein remnant finding is exceptional,” Mooney said, “it dramatically pushes our understanding of what is possible in terms of soft tissue preservation in the fossil record.”
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The fossils are now housed at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, where they will remain available for further study. Mooney has since continued his research at Harvard, focusing on early reptiles and their evolutionary history.
Findings like this provide a clearer picture of how early vertebrates adapted to life on land and how key innovations such as efficient breathing helped shape the course of evolution.
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“Take advantage of every opportunity. If you don’t give up, you’ll find a way.” – Jane Goodall
Quote of the Day: “Take advantage of every opportunity. If you don’t give up, you’ll find a way.” – Jane Goodall
Photo by: Yunus Tuğ For Unsplash+
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?
Good News in History, April 24
On this day 37 years ago, the famed Hubble Space Telescope was launched into low Earth orbit by the Space Shuttle Discovery. Built by NASA with help from the European Space Agency, Hubble is still in operation today, as one of the largest and most versatile of its kind. WATCH an anniversary video… (1990)
Girl Spots Endangered Axolotl Under a Bridge in Wales and Family Mounts Extraordinary Rescue
A mom was left stunned when her 10-year-old daughter spotted a critically-endangered axolotl under a bridge in Wales—an exciting moment that made the family cut their vacation short to rescue and research the rare salamander.
Melanie Hill and her family were traveling around South Wales in their camper van when on April 10 her daughter Evie was playing down by the River Ogmore in Bridgend, and made the discovery.
The nature-loving youngster saw the nine inch (22cm) pale salamander nestled in the rocks after lifting up a discarded mat in the river. She immediately identified it from watching videos about them on Youtube.
She excitedly rushed to tell her mother, who would not believe her, and told her it was probably a newt or lizard.
“But she was about to make me eat my words—because now I have one in my kitchen,” she told SWNS news agency.
The clever girl knew what it was straight away after seeing its unique gills.
“I ran up to my mum shouting ‘I’ve found an axolotl, I’ve found an axolotl’—but she did not believe me at all.”
“She told me not to go back in the water, but then I went down to the bank and spotted it again. So I jumped in and caught it with my hands.”
The undaunted girl carried the amphibian back to the camper and said, “Sorry I broke the rules, but look, I’ve caught the axolotl’.”
“I really couldn’t believe it,” said her mom, who grabbed her sister-in-law’s gravy boat so Evie could put it down.
The next day they went to the nearest store to get a suitable container and contacted a local breeder, to get advice about the damage on the creature’s tail and stomach.
Although the discovery is being described as the first sighting of an axolotl “in the wild” in Britain, it was likely surviving in captivity as someone’s pet before ending up in the river.
The endemic species, Ambystoma mexicanum, thrived in Mexican lakes until the Aztecs began diverting their water, which dried up much of their habitat. Invasive species then ruined more of their wetland home located near Mexico City during the 20th century. Today only 50 to 1,000 adult individuals remain in the wild there.
Axolotls as pets, however, have seen an explosion in popularity in recent years, thanks to game like Minecraft and Roblox, with up to a million currently housed in captivity.
Specimens are used extensively in scientific research for their remarkable ability to regenerate parts of their bodies, including limbs, gills and parts of their eyes and brains.
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After getting advice on how to care for it, Evie’s mom said the axolotl is recovering well back at their home in Leicester, England.
“We spent hours doing our research on how best to keep it healthy and Evie has named him Dippy D—Dippy after the bridge where it was found and D for dragon, as it’s our Welsh Dragon.”
It is illegal to release or leave a non-native species in the wild, says Chris Newman, director of the National Centre for Reptile Welfare, who told the BBC that Evie probably saved Dippy’s life.
“It would not have lived very long if Evie hadn’t seen it,” he said. “Predatory animals would have had it for lunch, and it already had bite marks on its back.”
“I think she did a remarkable job to find him—and catching them is no mean feat,” he said. “They’re quite slippery, so I think she did really well.”
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Seeds Can ‘Hear’ the Rain–And the Sound Waves Make Them Grow Faster Shows MIT Study
Seeds may come alive to the soothing sound of rainfall, sensing the drops while they are still beneath the surface, suggests a new study.
A series of experiments at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology demonstrated that rice seeds sprouted faster to the sound of rainfall.
The sound of falling droplets effectively shook the seeds out of a dormant state, stimulating them to germinate at a faster rate compared with seeds that were not exposed to the same sound vibrations.
The findings, published yesterday in the journal Scientific Reports, are the first direct evidence that plant seeds and seedlings can sense sounds in nature.
Rice seeds can germinate in either soil or water, and these experiments involved seeds submerged in shallow water.
The researchers suspect that many similar seed types may also respond to the sound of rain.
The MIT team found that when a raindrop hits the surface of a puddle or the ground, it generates a sound wave that makes the surroundings vibrate, including any shallowly submerged seeds.
The vibrations can be strong enough to dislodge a seed’s “statoliths”, tiny gravity-sensing organelles within certain cells of a seed. When the statoliths are jostled, their movement is a signal for seeds and seedlings to grow and sprout.
“The energy of the rain sound is enough to accelerate a seed’s growth,” said study author Professor Nicholas Makris.
“What this study is saying is that seeds can sense sound in ways that can help them survive.”
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Plants have evolved to sense and respond to many stimuli in their surroundings to help them survive: some plants snap shut when touched, some curl inward when exposed to toxic smells, and most respond to light, reaching toward the sun to help them grow.
Prof. Makris says plants can also sense gravity. A plant’s roots grow down, while its shoots push up against gravity’s pull.
One way that plants sense and respond to gravity is through their statoliths, which are denser than a cell’s cytoplasm and can drift and sink through the cell, like sand in a jar of water.
When a statolith finally settles to the bottom, its resting place on the cell’s membrane is a reflection of gravity’s direction and a signal for where a seed’s root or shoot should grow.
Makris became curious when Cadine Navarro, an MIT graduate, asked him about seeds and sound. They wondered if sound could be enough to jostle the statoliths and stimulate a seed to grow.
“I went back to look at work done by colleagues in the 1980s, who measured the sound of rain underwater,” explained Makris. “If you check, you’ll see it’s much greater than in the air.
“It has to do with the fact that water is denser than air, so the same drop makes larger pressure waves underwater.
“So if you’re a seed that’s within a few centimeters of a raindrop’s impact, the kind of sound pressures that you would experience in water or in the ground are equivalent to what you’d be subject to within a few meters of a jet engine in the air.”
The researchers suspected that such rain-induced sound waves might be enough to jostle statoliths and subsequently stimulate a seed’s growth—and they were right.
Growing 30-40% faster
They submerged around 8,000 individual seeds of rice in shallow tubs of water and exposed sections of them to dripping water.
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The researchers varied the size and height of each water droplet to mimic raindrops during light, moderate, and heavy storms. They also used a hydrophone to measure the acoustic vibrations created underwater by the water droplets.
The team compared the measurements to recordings they took in the field, such as in puddles, ponds, wetlands, and soils during rainstorms. Comparisons confirmed that their water droplets in the lab were generating rain-induced acoustic vibrations like those found in nature.
The groups of seeds that were exposed to the sound of water drops were able to germinate 30% to 40% faster than the seed groups that were not exposed to rain sounds but were otherwise in identical conditions.
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The team also found that seeds that were closer to the surface could better sense the droplets’ sounds and grow faster, compared to more submerged or more distant seeds.
The researchers believe that there may be a biological advantage to seeds that can sense rain. If seeds are close enough to the surface to respond to the sound of rain, they are likely at an optimal depth to soak up moisture and safely grow to the surface.
The team then worked out calculations to see whether the physical vibrations of the droplets would be enough to jostle the seeds’ microscopic statoliths. They found that the experiments they performed on rice seeds were consistent with their calculations: the sound of rain can dislodge and jostle a seed’s statoliths.
“Brilliant research has been done around the world to reveal the mechanisms behind the ability of plants to sense gravity,” said Prof. Makris.
“It gives new meaning to the fourth Japanese micro-season, entitled ‘Falling rain awakens the soil.’”
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The team plan to investigate other natural vibrations and sounds, like wind, that plants may perceive.
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