Quote of the Day: “The earth laughs in flowers.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
Photo: Copyright 2019, GWC
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“We cannot cure the world of sorrows, but we can choose to live in joy.” – Joseph Campbell
Quote of the Day: “We cannot cure the world of sorrows, but we can choose to live in joy.” – Joseph Campbell
Photo: by SJKen, CC license via Flickr
With a new inspirational quote every day, atop the perfect photo—collected and archived on our Quotes page—why not bookmark GNN.org for a daily uplift?
Google Creates New AI That Can Outperform Doctors in Diagnosing Most Commonly Lethal Form of Cancer
Part of the reason why lung cancer is so deadly is because it’s difficult to diagnose – but this new artificial intelligence program from Google has proven to be a potential lifesaver.
According to a new study from Google and Northwestern Medicine, their newly-developed deep learning system was able to outperform radiologists in detecting malignant lung nodules.
If the system becomes more widely available in a clinical setting, it could enhance the accuracy of early lung cancer diagnosis, which could lead to earlier treatment and thousands of lives saved.
The deep-learning system was compared against radiologists evaluating low-dose chest computed tomography (LDCT) scans for patients, some of whom had biopsy confirmed cancer within a year.
In most comparisons, the model performed as good as – and in some cases, even better – than radiologists.
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The system also produced fewer false positives and fewer false negatives, which could lead to fewer unnecessary follow-up procedures and fewer missed tumors.
The paper was published in Nature Medicine earlier this week.
Lung cancer is the most common cause of cancer-related death in the United States, resulting in an estimated 160,000 deaths in 2018. Large clinical trials across the United States and Europe have shown that chest screening can identify the cancer and reduce death rates. However, high error rates and the limited access to these screenings mean that many lung cancers are usually detected at advanced stages when they are hard to treat.
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Deep learning is a technique that teaches computers to learn by example. The deep-learning system utilizes both the primary CT scan and, whenever available, a prior CT scan from the patient as input. Prior CT scans are useful in predicting lung cancer malignancy risk because the growth rate of suspicious lung nodules can be indicative of malignancy. The computer was trained using fully de-identified, biopsy-confirmed low-dose chest CT scans.
“Radiologists generally examine hundreds of two-dimensional images or ‘slices’ in a single CT scan, but this new machine learning system views the lungs in a huge, single three-dimensional image,” said study co-author Dr. Mozziyar Etemadi, a research assistant professor of anesthesiology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and of engineering at McCormick School of Engineering.
“AI in 3D can be much more sensitive in its ability to detect early lung cancer than the human eye looking at 2D images,” he added. “This is technically ‘4D’ because it is not only looking at one CT scan, but two (the current and prior scan) over time.
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“In order to build the AI to view the CTs in this way, you require an enormous computer system of Google-scale. The concept is novel but the actual engineering of it is also novel because of the scale.”
The novel system identifies both a region of interest and whether the region has a high likelihood of lung cancer.
The model outperformed six radiologists when previous CT imaging was not available and performed as well as the radiologists when there was prior imaging.
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“The system can categorize a lesion with more specificity. Not only can we better diagnose someone with cancer, we can also say if someone doesn’t have cancer, potentially saving them from an invasive, costly and risky lung biopsy,” Etemadi said.
Google scientists developed the deep-learning model and applied it to 6,716 de-identified CT scan sets provided by Northwestern Medicine to validate the accuracy of its new system. The scientists found the artificial-intelligence-powered system was able to spot sometimes-minuscule malignant lung nodules with a model AUC of 0.94 test cases.
Shravya Shetty, technical lead at Google, said: “This area of research is incredibly important, as lung cancer has the highest rate of mortality among all cancers, and there are many challenges in the way of broad adoption of lung cancer screening.
“Our work examines ways AI can be used to improve the accuracy and optimize the screening process, in ways that could help with the implementation of screening programs,” added Shetty. “The results are promising, and we look forward to continuing our work with partners and peers.”
The authors caution that these findings need to be clinically validated in large patient populations, but they say this model may assist in improving the management and outcome of patients with lung cancer.
“Most of the software we use as clinicians is designed for patient care, not for research,” Etemadi said. “It took over a year of dedicated effort by my entire team to extract and prepare data to help with this exciting project.
“The ability to collaborate with world-class scientists at Google, using their unprecedented computing capabilities to create something with the potential to save tens of thousands of lives a year is truly a privilege.”
Reprinted from Northwestern Now
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Police Officers Return to Elderly Couple’s Home So They Could Fix Wheelchair Ramp in Dire Need of Repair
A team of compassionate police officers went above and beyond the call of duty last week when they met an elderly couple who could not afford to fit their wheelchair ramp.
According to a Facebook post from the Sunnydale Department of Public Safety in California, the officers were called to the couple’s home in response to a medical emergency.
Once the patient was treated, the cops couldn’t help but notice that the couple’s wheelchair ramp was in dire need of repair.
Since the couple was physically and financially unable to fix the ramp themselves, the officers left the residence to gather some supplies before returning to the home and fixing the ramp.
The city’s public safety Facebook page later posted a video of the civil servants hard at work in order to praise them for their compassion – and it has already been viewed thousands of times since it was uploaded last week.
“Although these officers believe they do not need any special recognition for doing this, we wanted to share this story to show you the often unseen kindness that our officers spread throughout our communities,” reads the video caption. “This story wouldn’t have been shared had Captain Anderson not been there to record these scenes and these officers wouldn’t have told anyone about their act of kindness.
“Everyday officers from across our nation impact the lives of others in ways unnoticed. To all who go above and beyond, thank you.”
(WATCH the video below)
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Sesame Street Debuts New Muppet Character Who Lives in a Foster Home
As a means of offering comfort to kids from every walk of life, Sesame Street is debuting a new Muppet character who lives in a foster home.
Karli the foster Muppet and her “for-now” parents, Dalia and Clem, are all being featured in a range of Sesame Street videos, storybooks, and interactive activities as a part of its new initiative to offer support to children, foster parents, and foster care providers.
Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit educational organization behind the show, says that they are launching the initiative as part of their Sesame Street in Communities program, which provides free, easy-to-use resources for community providers and caregivers on a range of topics, including tough issues like family homelessness and traumatic experiences.
The free, bilingual new resources help caregivers and providers support children as they navigate the world of foster care, and they provide simple, approachable tools to help reassure children and help them feel safer.
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The number of children in foster care in the US has grown for five consecutive years. Over 40 percent of all children in foster care in 2016 were under age 6. In response to the growing need for resources to serve children in foster care, Sesame Workshop partnered with national experts on foster care and tested materials with both foster parents and providers.The resources include proven strategies to bolster relationships between caring adults and children and mitigate the effects of traumatic experiences.
“Fostering a child takes patience, resilience, and sacrifice, and we know that caring adults hold the power to buffer the effects of traumatic experiences on young children,” said Dr. Jeanette Betancourt, Senior Vice President of US Social Impact at Sesame Workshop.
“We want foster parents and providers to hear that what they do matters—they have the enormous job of building and rebuilding family structures and children’s sense of safety. By giving the adults in children’s lives the tools they need—with help from the Sesame Street Muppets—we can help both grownups and children feel seen and heard and give them a sense of hope for the future.”
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Despite Being Homeless, High School Valedictorian Graduates With Over $3 Million in College Scholarships
A 17-year-old high school valedictorian has become a prime example of how anything is possible – now matter what your circumstances are.
After his father passed away earlier this year, Tupac Mosby and his family fell behind on their bills and were evicted from their home in Memphis, Tennessee in February.
Despite dealing with the death of his father and being homeless for much of his senior year, Tupac graduated from Raleigh Egypt High School this week with a 4.3 GPA.
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Not only did Tupac graduate as his school valedictorian, he also received over $3 million in scholarships and was accepted into 40 different colleges.
The teen will reportedly be studying electrical engineering at Tennessee State University in Nashville starting in the fall. He was recently moved into permanent housing, but he says that he hopes his experience will inspire other people to persevere in the face of adversity.
“Never let your current situation, whatever circumstances you’re going through, be a mountain that you can’t climb,” he told reporters.
(WATCH the interview below) – Photo by Shelby County Schools
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CBD Reduces Cravings and Anxiety in People With Heroin Use Disorder, Says New Study
An exciting new study shows that cannabidiol (CBD) successfully reduced cue-induced craving and anxiety in individuals with a history of heroin abuse, suggesting a potential role for it in helping to break the cycle of addiction.
According to research conducted at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and published today in the American Journal of Psychiatry, CBD reduced physiological measures of stress reactivity, such as increased heart rate and cortisol levels, that are induced by drug cues. Patients using CBD can choose different ways to consume it, according to their preferences. Try these CBD gummies if you want to try candy-based medication. Many patients have reacted very positively to being given these choices, stating that pills and injections can get quite stale.
The wide availability and use of heroin and prescription opioid medications in the United States during the past decade has resulted in an unprecedented epidemic. Two of the current options for non-opioid medication options, methadone and buprenorphine, are opioid substitution therapies which work on the same opioid receptors (mu receptors) as heroin and other potent opioid agonists.
These medications, however, carry a stigma as well as their own addiction risk, are mired in tight governmental regulation, and therefore are underutilized by the millions of people diagnosed with opioid use disorder. Such a treatment gap highlights the urgent need to develop novel therapeutic strategies that do not target the mu opioid receptor.
“To address the critical need for new treatment options for the millions of people and families who are being devastated by this epidemic, we initiated a study to assess the potential of a non-intoxicating cannabinoid on craving and anxiety in heroin-addicted individuals,” says Yasmin Hurd, Director of the Addiction Institute at Mount Sinai and first author of the study.
“The specific effects of commercial CBD—available in places like Blessed CBD—on cue-induced drug craving and anxiety are particularly important in the development of addiction therapeutics because environmental cues are one of the strongest triggers for relapse and continued drug use,” she added.
Previous preclinical work conducted by Dr. Hurd and her lab team at Weed News, in animals with a history of heroin self-administration, demonstrated that CBD reduced the animals’ tendency to use heroin in response to a drug-associated cue. To determine whether the preclinical work could be translated to humans, her lab then conducted a series of clinical studies that demonstrated CBD was safe and tolerable in humans.
The current study used a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled design to explore the acute (one hour, two hours, and 24 hours), short-term (three consecutive days), and protracted (seven days after the last of three consecutive daily administrations) effects of CBD administration on drug cue-induced craving and anxiety in drug-abstinent individuals with heroin use disorder. Secondary measures assessed participants’ positive and negative affect, cognition, and physiological status.
Through the study, 42 drug-abstinent men and women were randomly assigned to receive either 400 mg or 800 mg of an oral CBD solution or a matching placebo. Participants were then exposed to neutral and drug-related cues during the course of three sessions: immediately following administration, 24 hours after CBD or placebo administration, and seven days after the third and final daily CBD or placebo administration. Neutral cues consisted of a three-minute video showing relaxing scenarios, such as scenes of nature, while drug-related cues included a three-minute video showing intravenous or intranasal drug use and exposure to heroin-related paraphernalia like syringes, rubber ties, and packets of powder resembling heroin. Measures of opioid craving, anxiety, positive and negative affect, and vital signs (skin temperature, blood pressure, heart rate, respiratory rate, and oxygen saturation) were obtained at different times during the sessions.
The study team found that CBD, in contrast to placebo, significantly reduced both the craving and anxiety induced by drug cues compared with neutral cues in the acute term. CBD also showed significant protracted effects on these measures seven days after the final short-term exposure.
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Additionally, CBD reduced the drug cue-induced physiological measures of heart rate and salivary cortisol levels. There were no significant effects on cognition, and there were no serious adverse events. The capacity of CBD to reduce craving and anxiety one week after the final administration mirrors the results of the original preclinical animal study, suggesting that the effects of CBD are long-lasting, even when the cannabinoid would not be expected to be present in the body.
“Our findings indicate that CBD holds significant promise for treating individuals with heroin use disorder,” says Dr. Hurd. “A successful non-opioid medication would add significantly to the existing addiction medication toolbox to help reduce the growing death toll, enormous health care costs, and treatment limitations imposed by stringent government regulations amid this persistent opioid epidemic.”
Dr. Hurd’s research team is working on two follow-up studies: one delves into understanding the mechanisms of CBD’s effects on the brain; the second paves the way for the development of unique CBD medicinal formulations that are likely to become a significant part of the medical arsenal available to address the opioid epidemic.
Reprinted from The Mount Sinai Hospital / Mount Sinai School of Medicine
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Determined Teen Siblings Who’ve Turned 15,000 Pounds of Food Waste into Compost Awarded Thousands to Continue
Two teenage siblings are responsible for saving thousands of pounds of food waste from ending up in landfills – and now, they are being rewarded with the tools to save even more.
Emma and Ugo Angeletti are the masterminds behind back2earth, a nonprofit organization dedicated to collecting food waste around Miami, Florida.
Since its inception in June 2018, the 18- and 19-year-old siblings have collected more than 15,000 pounds of food waste and produced more than 4,000 pounds of compost to nourish hyperlocal gardens by installing food waste drop-off stations and compost stations around the Miami area.
Collectively, their recycling efforts have also saved an estimated 25,000 gallons of water and prevented 130,000 pounds of CO2 from entering the atmosphere.
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The siblings were recently nominated as the winners of General Mills’s Feeding Better Futures program which supports the efforts of youngsters doing great things to improve global food issues, such as fighting hunger, reducing food waste and advancing sustainable agriculture in their communities.
“We’re inspired by how driven today’s youth is to champion a happier, healthier world,” said General Mills CEO Jeff Harmening in a statement. “We’re proud to combine the ideas and passion of these young leaders with General Mills’ ability to scale. Together, we can turn small steps into big impact.”
With the mentorship and $50,000 grant money awarded to them through the program, the Angelettis plan to further their initiative by developing even more drop-off stations and gardens outside of Florida, as well as distributing more compost kits for residents to use in their own homes.
(WATCH the announcement video below)
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Woman Finally Gets to Repay Firefighter After She Sees Him Wearing T-Shirt With Plea for Help
Becca Bundy has always been grateful for the firefighter who came to her daughter’s rescue in 2016 – and after experiencing a serendipitous encounter in a bar, she finally got to repay the favor.
66-year-old Bill Cox was the emergency responder who first arrived on the scene when Bundy’s daughter was having a seizure three years ago.
Cox, who has now volunteered with the Bearville Volunteer Fire Department in northern Minnesota for six years, was able to get control of the situation before the ambulance arrived – and Bundy has always been appreciative for his hand in the incident.
Two years after her daughter’s seizure, Bundy ran into Cox at a charity event that he was bartending for a neighbor in October 2018.
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Though she was happy to be reunited with Cox, she was particularly struck by what he was wearing.
The 66-year-old bartender was wearing a tee shirt that read: “My Name is Bill. I’m in end stage KIDNEY FAILURE and in need of a KIDNEY.”
According to CNN, Cox was born with only one kidney. When it eventually went into failure, he was added to the transplant list in 2017. In January, he was forced to go onto dialysis.
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In a desperate bid to find himself a kidney donor, he made two tee shirts emblazoned with his plea for help. Every day he went to work at the Viking Bar, he would wear one of the tee shirts.
Even though the shirts spurred several of his patrons to offer up their kidneys, none of them were a match – until Bundy walked in.
As Bundy talked to Cox about the shirt, she discovered that they had the same blood type and she immediately promised to get tested.
Sure enough, Bundy was a match.
Since they underwent a successful transplant in February, Cox has been enjoying a renewed sense of strength and energy. He also maintains a close friendship with Bundy to this day.
Prior to the surgery, he aptly expressed his gratitude to the Minnesota mom by carving a statue of an angel out of wood and painting it her favorite color.
“She’s my angel,” he told CNN. “She saved my life and I thought that would be an appropriate little gift for them.”
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Managing Your Gut Bacteria Shown to Alleviate Anxiety, Says New Research
People who experience anxiety symptoms might be helped by taking steps to regulate the microorganisms in their gut using probiotic and non-probiotic food and supplements, suggests a new review of studies
Anxiety symptoms are common in people with mental diseases and a variety of physical disorders, especially in disorders that are related to stress.
Previous studies have shown that as many as a third of people will be affected by anxiety symptoms during their lifetime.
Increasingly, research has indicated that gut microbiota – the trillions of microorganisms in the gut which perform important functions in the immune system and metabolism by providing essential inflammatory mediators, nutrients and vitamins – can help regulate brain function through something called the “gut-brain axis.”
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Recent research also suggests that mental disorders could be treated by regulating the intestinal microbiota – but there is no specific evidence to support this.
Therefore, a team of researchers from the Shanghai Mental Health Center at Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, set out to investigate if there was evidence to support improvement of anxiety symptoms by regulating intestinal microbiota.
They reviewed 21 studies that had looked at 1,503 people collectively and published their results today in the journal General Psychiatry.
Of the 21 studies, 14 had chosen probiotics as interventions to regulate intestinal microbiota (IRIFs), and seven chose non-probiotic ways, such as adjusting daily diets.
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Probiotics are living organisms found naturally in some foods that are also known as “good” or “friendly” bacteria because they fight against harmful bacteria and prevent them from settling in the gut.
The researchers found that probiotic supplements in seven studies within their analysis contained only one kind of probiotic, two studies used a product that contained two kinds of probiotics, and the supplements used in the other five studies included at least three kinds.
Overall, 11 of the 21 studies showed a positive effect on anxiety symptoms by regulating intestinal microbiota, meaning that more than half (52%) of the studies showed this approach to be effective, although some studies that had used this approach did not find it worked.
Of the 14 studies that had used probiotics as the intervention, more than a third (36%) found them to be effective in reducing anxiety symptoms, while six of the remaining seven studies that had used non-probiotics as interventions found those to be effective – an 86% rate of effectiveness.
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Some studies had used both the IRIF (interventions to regulate intestinal microbiota) approach and treatment as usual.
In the five studies that used treatment as usual and IRIF as interventions, only studies that had conducted non-probiotic ways got positive results, that showed a reduction in anxiety symptoms.
Non-probiotic interventions were also more effective in the studies that used IRIF alone. In those studies only using IRIF, 80% were effective when using non-probiotic interventions, while only 45% were found to be effective when using probiotic ways.
The authors say one reason that non-probiotic interventions were significantly more effective than probiotic interventions was possible due to the fact that changing diet (a diverse energy source) could have more of an impact on gut bacteria growth than introducing specific types of bacteria in a probiotic supplement.
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Also, because some studies had involved introducing different types of probiotics, these could have fought against each other to work effectively, and many of the intervention times used might have been too short to significantly increase the abundance of the imported bacteria.
Most of the studies did not report serious adverse events, and only four studies reported mild adverse effects such as dry mouth and diarrhea.
This is an observational study, and as such, cannot establish cause. Indeed, the authors acknowledge some limitations, such as differences in study design, subjects, interventions and measurements, making the data unsuitable for further analysis.
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Nevertheless, they say the overall quality of the 21 studies included was high.
The researchers conclude: “We find that more than half of the studies included showed it was positive to treat anxiety symptoms by regulation of intestinal microbiota.
“There are two kinds of interventions (probiotic and non-probiotic interventions) to regulate intestinal microbiota, and it should be highlighted that the non-probiotic interventions were more effective than the probiotic interventions. More studies are needed to clarify this conclusion since we still cannot run meta-analysis so far.”
They also suggest that, in addition to the use of psychiatric drugs for treatment, “we can also consider regulating intestinal flora to alleviate anxiety symptoms.”
Reprinted from BMJ Publishing Group
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Passengers Surprised With Train Full of Flowers – and Their Reactions Are Bloomin’ Beautiful
Passengers boarding their train in London today were greeted with a stunning flower display representing the fuchsia of travel.
The cascade of purple and pink hydrangea, wisteria, and fresh sea lavender lined the walls of the carriage and filled the air with the aroma of fresh spring blossom.
More than 3,000 flowers in total were installed on the 43 seat, 23-meter long carriage.
Heathrow Express commissioned the on-board flower show to celebrate the 2019 RHS Chelsea Flower Show, which begins today on May 21st.
A spokesperson for Heathrow Express said: “The duration of our transfer service is just 15 minutes, so we wanted to make an instant impression on customers departing from and arriving in the UK.
“The Chelsea Flower Show is one of the biggest events of the year but not everyone gets the chance to experience it, so we wanted to give travelers a little taster – and we’re delighted to say the reaction of customers has been blooming marvelous.”
The “flower express” display, which was created by London-based florist Jamie Aston Flowers, featured 1,850 hydrangeas, 220 wisterias and 1,000 stems of fresh sea lavender.
The mix of real and artificial flowers were attached to the ceiling and walls using suction grips and hooks while the plants in the luggage racks were held in place by foam.
It took the 8-person team several months to plan and 4 hours to install.
Around 18,000 passengers are expected to use the transfer service today across its 150 journeys.
Train representatives are also handing out free flowers for the passengers to take home.
Jamie Aston said: “We’ve created all manner of flower displays but have never had the chance to create one on board a train.
“We wanted to create something which would bring a smile to passengers’ faces and help them to unwind ahead or following their flight.”
For a chance to win two tickets to the RHS Chelsea Flower Show on Saturday May 25th, share your snaps of the flower carriage on Twitter or Instagram, tag the @HeathrowExpress account and use the hashtag #FlowerExpress.
The competition closes at midnight on Wednesday May 22nd.
Heathrow Express customers will also have until Wednesday to experience the flower express installation.
(WATCH the video below)
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“The average estimate themselves by what they do, the above average by what they are.” – Johann Friedrich von Schiller
Quote of the Day: “The average estimate themselves by what they do, the above average by what they are.” – Johann Friedrich von Schiller (1759-1805) German poet, philosopher, historian, playwright
Photo: by SJKen, CC license via Flickr
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After Years of Writing Mystery Books, Listen to Lawyer’s Hilarious ‘Aha!’ Moment in Court (MOTH Monday)
Today is MOTH Monday on Good News Network: In partnership with The Moth, a nonprofit dedicated to the art of storytelling, we bring you the most uplifting speakers from live stages across the world.
Before Alan Gordon became a criminal defense lawyer, he spent years reading mystery novels – primarily the “Encyclopedia Brown” children’s book series.
Even after he became a lawyer, Gordon’s love of mystery compelled him to write mystery novels of his own – but as he took on more and more cases, he was disappointed to realize that his job didn’t involve the same kind of satisfying “eureka!” moments that he read about in his books.
But Gordon finally got to experience his own “Encyclopedia Brown” moment in court when he managed to crack the case of a man who was being charged with throwing a paint can through a window – and even though Gordon says that it was the “least significant case of his career,” he could not contain his delight over his clever discovery.
Listen to his inspiring story below…
The Moth gives people an opportunity to tell a true story in front of a live audience, and sometimes their stories are chosen to air on the radio show, now celebrating its tenth year, and broadcasting on 485+ public radio stations—and on The Moth podcast, which is downloaded over 52 million times a year.
The Moth’s third book, Occasional Magic: True Stories About Defying the Impossible is now available for purchase through your favorite booksellers.
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Just Add Water: New Salt Battery Could Help Spell the End of Fossil Fuels
This groundbreaking new project in Germany is testing the use of salt as an ingredient for a fossil fuel-free future.
The Reuter power plant in Berlin recently launched a new system of technology that is using calcium oxide, also known as quicklime, to store heat for long periods of time.
Germany already has the renewable energy capacity to power more than half of the country, but since many green energy sources are dependent on consistent weather conditions, the nation is forced to continue using fossil fuels as backup energy sources.
Quicklime, on the other hand, generates large amounts of heat when it is simply exposed to water.
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The salt technology, which was developed by Swedish startup SaltX, works similarly to a battery except that it stores heat instead of electricity. Since more than half of Germany’s energy consumption is used on heating, the salt can be used to generate, store, and convert heat whenever the nation’s renewable energy sources fall short of the grid’s demands.
The technology is also far more efficient at storing heat compared to water storage systems that are notorious for gradually losing their heat over time.
The salt storage system is now being piloted by Vattenfall, the energy company managing the Berlin power plant. According to The Associated Press, the system is currently supplying heat to about 100 households, but if it proves to be successful, SaltX plans on scaling up the technology so that it can be used for thousands more German households – and eventually the world.
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“In the next few months, we will collect important data to get answers to the question of whether and how this type of plant can be used in our business,” said Markus Witt, the manager of the new power plant project.
“Some questions are how large amounts of salt can be used, how quickly the storage medium reacts and how the process can be controlled.”
SaltX CEO Harald Bauer said: “We see a shift in the energy sector and an immense need for energy storage worldwide. We are eager to put SaltX Energy Storage solution on the market as soon as possible.”
(WATCH the video below)
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Six Years After Fateful Encounter at Local Landfill, Man Has Rescued Hundreds of Abandoned Dogs
A casual trip to the local landfill has forever changed the life of a Greek man after he stumbled upon an injured dog hiding amongst the trash.
It has been six years since Theoklitos “Takis” Proestakis first felt spurred to visit the nearby garbage dump on the island of Crete.
As he was wandering through the piles of garbage, he found an injured, malnourished stray dog. He knew that he had to help the pup, so he brought it to a local veterinarian for medical attention.
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Once the dog was treated, Takis realized that he did not have room for the pup at his own home – so he brought the dog back to the dump and continued to bring it food every day.
During his regular visits to the dump, Takis came upon more and more injured and abandoned dogs. Luckily for them, Takis was more than happy to take the dogs under his wing and provide them with food and veterinary treatment.
After a year of regular visits to the dump, Takis was collectively taking care of about 70 dogs. Despite his fondness for the stray canines, however the locals did not share his affection, and they eventually threatened to poison the dogs if they were not removed from the dump.
Thankfully, Takis convinced them to give him 30 days to find the pups a new home. He then bought a 55-square-meter (592 square feet) patch of land near the dump to house the dogs and named it “Takis Shelter”.
Takis says that after spending 20 years of his life working in the nightclub industry, he has collectively poured over $185,000 of his own money into his new career of saving abandoned dogs.
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Since creating a Facebook page for the nonprofit shelter, it has garnered hundreds of thousands of enthusiastic followers. The sanctuary has become so popular on social media, Takis says that it is now almost entirely run on donations from animal enthusiasts around the world.
Six years after his fateful encounter with the injured dog at the dump, Takis told CBS News that he has rescued over 1,000 dogs and he is now caring for 342 dogs – and he hopes to find loving homes for every single one of them.
(WATCH the video below or our international viewers can check out the footage on the CBS website)
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Massive New Arbor Day Campaign Will Plant 100 Million Trees Around the World
This groundbreaking new initiative seeks to plant 100 million new trees around the world by 2022.
The Time for Trees campaign was recently launched by The Arbor Day Foundation, which is the largest US-based nonprofit dedicated towards planting trees.
“It can be easy to take trees for granted, but they are absolutely critical to maintaining balance on our planet—supporting clean air and water, healthy food and a livable climate,” Arbor Day Foundation President Dan Lambe said in a press release.
Once completed, the Time for Trees initiative – which is the foundation’s largest tree-planting undertaking yet – would have a multitude of benefits on the planet’s health and sustainability.
Collectively, 100 million trees would annually absorb 8 million tons of carbon – the equivalent of taking 6.2 million cars off the road for one year. The trees would also filter 15,850 tons of microscopic airborne particulate matter out of the air, which is enough to fill nine Olympic-sized swimming pools.
Additionally, the trees could intercept and filter 7.1 billion cubic meters of water runoff and remove 578,000 tons of chemical air pollution from our atmosphere.
The Arbor Day Foundation hopes to plant the trees in a wide range of ecosystems, particularly tropical rainforests, but they will also focus on towns and cities that have lost trees due to extreme weather disasters, diseases, and over-development.
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Though 100 million trees is an ambitious goal, the charity is now recruiting new Arbor Day Foundation members to receive 10 free trees to plant in their yards. The foundation hopes that this community-driven branch of the project will help to restore the earth’s forests and inspire people to make meaningful change in the world.
“By restoring tree loss around the world, we’re making a significant investment in our collective future—paving the way for the health and well-being of people in this and future generations,” said Arbor Day Foundation President Dan Lambe. “We cannot wait another day to take action—the time for trees is now.”
Plant Some Positivity By Sharing The Good News With Your Friends On Social Media – Photo by Time for Trees
Watch Billionaire Tell College Grads He Will Pay Off All $40 Million of Their Collective Student Loan Debt
Almost 400 college seniors were given the surprise of a lifetime during their commencement ceremony earlier this week thanks to a massive donation from their keynote speaker.
Billionaire investor and philanthropist Robert F. Smith was just wrapping up his commencement speech to the graduating class of Morehouse College when he announced that he would be paying off the student debt of all 396 college seniors.
Morehouse is an all-men’s, historically black private college in Atlanta, Georgia with the average student debt ranging in the multi-thousand dollar range. A spokesperson for the school told 11Alive News that Smith’s donation would likely pay off about $40 million worth of debt between the graduating students.
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While the students and audience members cheered over Smith’s announcement, he expressed his hope that the graduates would find their own way to pay it forward in the future.
“Now, I know my class will make sure they pay this forward,” said Smith. “I want my class to look at these [alumni] – these beautiful Morehouse brothers – and let’s make sure every class has the same opportunity going forward because we are enough to take care of our own community. We are enough to ensure we have all the opportunities of the American dream.”
Smith is the founder of Vista Equity Partners, an international investment firm with over $46 billion in software management. He is also the first and only African-American business leader to sign “The Giving Pledge”, a campaign to recruit the world’s billionaires into giving away half of their fortune to charity.
(WATCH the awe-inspiring announcement below) – Photo by Morehouse College
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“Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore.” – André Gide
Quote of the Day: “Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore.” – André Gide
Photo: by Ilya Grigorik, CC license via Wikimedia Commons
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Broccoli Isn’t Just Good For You; Scientists Find It Holds Molecule That Could Be the ‘Achilles’s Heel’ of Cancer
If you didn’t already have enough reason to eat your vegetables, this new study says that broccoli contains an amazing ingredient which could be the “Achilles’ heel” of cancer.
Broccoli is part of the cruciferous vegetable family, which includes cauliflower, cabbage, kale and Brussels sprouts.
And though many people don’t like their taste—and they may not be good for nursing moms—these vegetables contain a tiny but powerful molecule that deactivates the gene responsible for cancerous tumor growth, known as WWP1.
Study lead author Dr. Pier Paolo Pandolfi, director of the Cancer Centre and Cancer Research Institute at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, said the discovery could pave the way for new cancer treatment.
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“The study’s really exciting,” Pandolfi told the Harvard Gazette. “I’ve been bombarded by journalists — because of the broccoli connection, let’s be honest. Forget what you think about the science, the fact that [we found] something that your grandma would say [is] good for you, it’s appealing.”
Pandolfi and his team suspected that a gene called PTEN could cause irregularities and defects in WWP1.
Upon testing their theory on cancer-prone mice and human cells, they discovered that WWP1 produces an enzyme that overpowers the tumor-suppressive activity of PTEN – but the scientists also found that there is a molecule found in cruciferous vegetables called indole-3-carbinol (I3C) that can reawaken the cancer-fighting properties of PTEN.
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That being said, fellow study author Dr. Yu-Ru Lee emphasized that a person would have to eat nearly 6 pounds (2.7 kilograms) of uncooked Brussel sprouts every day in order to reap their anti-cancer benefits.
Regardless, Pandolfi told the Gazette says the discovery could be the key to unlocking “one of the most important tumor suppressors in the history of cancer genetics.”
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“This pathway emerges not only as a regulator for tumor growth control, but also as an Achilles’ heel we can target with therapeutic options,” said Pandolfi. “These findings pave the way toward a long-sought tumor suppressor reactivation approach to cancer treatment.”
The team plans to continue their research to discover a more practical way to provide I3C to cancer patients and trigger tumor-suppressing properties in PTEN.
The study was published in the journal Science.
Serve Up The Fascinating Discovery To Your Friends By Sharing It To Social Media – File photo by Whologwhy, CC
Watch the Adorable Video of US Student Teaching Italian Kids to Play American Football
This blog was submitted to GNN by Joe O’Neil. If you have any positive stories of your own that you would like to share with our audience, check out our submission page to learn more.
Some college students studying abroad may prefer to spend their free time out on the town – but Marcus Witherspoon has been spending his evenings teaching children to play American football.
When Witherspoon first arrived in Bologna, Italy, he was connected with Ishan Debnath, a 9-year-old boy who had a hankering to learn English.
Witherspoon, who is a football player at Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, then decided to help the youngster with his English by teaching Ishan and his neighborhood friends how to play American football.
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“I’m really just there for him as a native English speaker,” said Witherspoon. “It reminds me of growing up and hanging out with my friends. It’s just having a good time with your friends.”
Through their conversations about school, sports and video games, Ishan and Witherspoon have formed a big-brother, little-brother bond – and for Ishan, it’s not only an opportunity to learn English, but to work on translation skills between Witherspoon and other neighborhood children.
“[Marcus] helps me a lot,” said Ishan. “It’s amazing.”
(WATCH the sweet video below)
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