Quote of the Day: “After the rain, the sun will reappear. After the pain, the joy will still be here.” – Walt Disney
Photo: by alfarman, CC license, via Flickr
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It’s not just birds of a feather that flock together.
Scientists in Australia were delighted to discover that fish also sing together at dusk and dawn—just like the birds do.
Actually, singing might be pushing it a bit. They make intentional sounds by using parts of their anatomy, like using their teeth to make clicking sounds, while some use their swim bladder to push air out through their mouth to create an identifiable audio pattern.
The fish that make these distinct patterns of communication are called “soloist fish.” When these noisier specimens come together in the same location, their sounds overlap to create a chorus.
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Robert McCauley and his colleagues at Curtin University in Perth discovered the sounds after they began studying the underwater acoustics off the Port Hedland shore by placing two sea-noise trackers 22 kilometers apart off the coast for 18 months.
“I’ve been listening to fish squawks, burble and pops for nearly 30 years now, and they still amaze me with their variety,” says McCauley, who led the research.
The team already knew that sound played an important role in certain fish behaviors such as reproduction, feeding, and territorial disputes; some fish use sounds to stay together, and others use their unique pattern to defend their turf.
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However, they found that there were diurnal cycles to some of the soloists coming together—specifically at dusk and dawn.
“You get the dusk and dawn choruses like you would with the birds in the forest,” says Steve Simpson, a marine biologist at the University of Exeter, UK.
And while choruses were also recorded on different days, there were 80 days when more than one chorus was recorded at the same site.
In addition to the choral songs, the scientists also picked up the sounds of passing ships and boats and humpback whale songs. The team’s long 18-month monitoring period allowed them to recognize patterns not only to monitor the fish, but their entire ecosystems.
They now have a better understanding of the underwater habitat and its rhythms, although McCauley admits, “We are only just beginning to appreciate the complexity involved and still have only a crude idea of what is going on in the undersea acoustic environment.”
While the “foghorn” call of the blackspotted croaker overlapping the grunt of a species of Terapontid probably isn’t the lyrical song we’re accustomed to in the gentle light of dawn, the musical blurps of our fishy friends are probably a lovely way to start a new day under the sea.
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Recent surgical trials have bestowed new life on quadriplegics who can now return to activities they never thought they’d be able to do again, thanks to an innovative surgery that relocates nerves.
A dirt bike accident in 2015 left Australian Paul Robinson, now in his 30s, paralyzed from the chest down. Robinson landed on his head and broke one of the vertebrae in his neck, leaving him confined to a wheelchair and rarely able to leave his home. He was one of 16 people participating in a medical trial at Austin Health in Melbourne that used nerve transfers to re-enervate paralyzed muscles in quadriplegic patients.
Another young man recruited for the study had been the CEO of three different companies before being hurt in a tragic boating accident. “He had decided that he would try this surgery, but if it didn’t work he was going to exit—he didn’t want to live any more,” said Dr. Natasha van Zyl, the lead reconstructive surgeon.
After the combination of tendon and nerve transfers, he started to work again from home and was able to take his family to the movies independently—handling the money, getting the tickets, and buying the popcorn.
Tendon transfers have long been used to restore function to paralyzed upper limbs by strategically transplanting working muscles to take over the mechanical function that was lost due to the paralyzed tissue, that never actually restored function to the paralyzed muscle. The new technique of nerve transfer re-routes a functioning nerve and implants it into a paralyzed muscle, essentially ‘plugging in’ its signals to another functioning part of the spinal cord.
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Nerve transfers to improve upper limb functioning were performed as early as 1962, but the technique never received much attention until recently. Van Zyl concedes that her team didn’t invent the procedure, but explains that no one had yet used the technique as extensively, or for quadriplegic patients.
In 2014, her team designed a triple nerve transfer procedure that was completely successful—and in their long-term study, published last month in The Lancet medical journal, it showed amazing results.
Attempting to restore elbow extension, hand extension and grip, the surgical team completed a total of 59 nerve transfers on the 16 patients, with each participant receiving either a single or multiple nerve transfer in one or both upper limbs, along with post-surgical physical therapy.
Of the 13 that completed the study, all experienced improvement in their elbow extension and hand function.
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While such interventions don’t restore full functionality to the paralyzed limbs, the improved mobility made all the difference in the world to these people who had lost it all—and it gives immense hope to those who await their turn for a chance at restored muscle function.
“Prior to surgery, none of the participants were able to perform the grasp or pinch strength tests, but two years later, their pinch and grasp strength was sufficient to allow them to do most activities of daily living,” according to an article from Pursuit, at the University of Melbourne.
Robinson, who previously had no hand function at all, is now able to use his hands and arms to propel his own wheelchair, pick up items from the ground, and with one hand use a television remote control and hold a glass.
“Before, I was confined to a wheelchair but I couldn’t push it unless I wore special gloves. If I dropped something on the ground, I had to ask someone to pick it up. I couldn’t drive. To pick up a drink, I’d have to use two hands and squeeze them up,” said Robinson in a CNN article.
“It’s made a massive difference to my life.”
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This exciting new data says that Europe has the capacity to produce more than 100 times the amount of energy it currently produces through onshore windfarms.
In an analysis of all suitable sites for onshore wind farms, the new study from the University of Sussex and Aarhus University reveals that Europe has the potential to supply enough energy for the whole world until 2050.
The study reveals that if all of Europe’s capacity for onshore wind farms was realized, the installed nameplate capacity would 52.5 TW—equivalent to 1 MW for every 16 European citizens.
“The study is not a blueprint for development, but a guide for policymakers indicating the potential of how much more can be done and where the prime opportunities exist,” said co-author Benjamin Sovacool, Professor of Energy Policy at the University of Sussex.
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“Our study suggests that the horizon is bright for the onshore wind sector and that European aspirations for a 100% renewable energy grid are within our collective grasp technologically.
“Obviously, we are not saying that we should install turbines in all the identified sites but the study does show the huge wind power potential right across Europe which needs to be harnessed if we’re to avert a climate catastrophe.”
Spatial analysis of Geographical Information System (GIS)-based wind atlases allowed the research team to identify around 46% of Europe’s territory which would be suitable for onshore wind farms siting.
The advanced GIS data at sub-national levels provided a far more detailed insight and allowed the team to factor in a far greater range of exclusionary factors including houses, roads, restricted areas due to military or political reasons as well as terrains not suitable for wind power generation.
The greater detail in this approach allowed the research team to identify more than three times the onshore wind potential in Europe than previous studies.
Peter Enevoldsen, assistant professor in the Center for Energy Technologies at Aarhus University, said: “Critics will no doubt argue that the naturally intermittent supply of wind makes onshore wind energy unsuitable to meet the global demand.
“But even without accounting for developments in wind turbine technology in the upcoming decades, onshore wind power is the cheapest mature source of renewable energy, and utilizing the different wind regions in Europe is the key to meet the demand for a 100% renewable and fully decarbonized energy system.”
The study estimates that more than 11 million additional wind turbines could be theoretically installed over almost 5 million square kilometers (1.9 million square miles) of suitable terrain generating 497 EJ of power which would adequately meet the expected global energy demand in 2050 of 430 EJ.
The authors identified Turkey, Russia, and Norway as having the greatest potential for future wind power density, although large parts of Western Europe were also considered ripe for further onshore farms because of favorable wind speeds and flat areas.
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Mark Jacobson, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Stanford University, said: “One of the most important findings of this study, aside from the fact that it concludes that the European onshore wind potential is larger than previously estimated, is that it facilitates the ability of countries to plan their onshore wind resource development more efficiently, thereby easing the way for commitments by these countries to move entirely to clean, renewable energy for all purposes.”
Reprinted from the University of Sussex
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This South Carolina man started filming himself with his farm animals with the hopes of making a funny video—but thanks to one of his four-legged friends, the video turned out far better than he ever would have expected.
31-year-old Travis Kinley and his pet donkey Nathan are going viral after they were filmed singing the iconic “Circle of Life” song from The Lion King back in July.
At the request of his friends, Kinley had been preparing to take a video of himself singing the song to his horses.
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After he started singing, however, he was stunned when Nathan started braying along to the tune.
“I got in the pasture, I gather all horses…. I start singing and Nathan starts to bray behind me, and I’m kind of blown away because we never do this together; we never sing together,” Kinley told WTLX. “He keeps going, so I keep going, and all of a sudden I just kind of break down laughing at the end.”
Since uploading the video to social media, it has been viewed millions of times—and it’s not hard to see why.
(WATCH the video below)
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Quote of the Day: “Ask not what your teammates can do for you. Ask what you can do for your teammates.” – Magic Johnson (turns 60 today)
Photo: by Jim Larrison, CC license, via Flickr
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When the Israeli women’s lacrosse team noticed that their opponents on the Kenyan team were playing at a disadvantage, they resolved to fix it.
The Israeli team beat Kenya 13-4 during their match in the Women’s Lacrosse World Championships in Ontario, Canada last week.
Though the victors were happy to have won, they noticed that the Kenyan team was playing without cleats.
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Since the two teams also happened to form solid friendships with each other during their time on and off the field, a few of the Israeli players asked their parents for help buying proper footwear for their new international friends.
With the help of tournament officials, the Israeli girls met up with the Kenyan team the day after their match and gifted them all brand new cleats.
Needless to say, the resulting joy between the two teams was particularly contagious.
Yesterday we played @Israel_Lacrosse and had no cleats ...: after supporting their game today, Israel surprised the whole Team on the sideline with brand new cleats!! 🇮🇱❤️ pic.twitter.com/5ikvEmAihm
— Kenya Lacrosse (@KenyaLacrosse) August 7, 2019
— Kenya Lacrosse (@KenyaLacrosse) August 8, 2019
After finally being given the tools to play on an even footing, the Kenyan Lacrosse Team went on to beat Belgium 16-9 for their second win in the tournament the very next day—and they were quick to thank their Israeli friends for the leg up.
“A brilliant win today on the slippery surface thanks to [Israel Lacrosse] and our cleats!” wrote the Kenyan team’s Twitter page.
“The support from all around the world for our African Queens is priceless and hugely humbling,” they added. “The attention on and off the pitch for these players is more than all the nations competing combined… and rightly so.”
Thank YOU for your humbling and selfless donations... a few Team KEnya awards for tomrorow! Speak soon re KENYA trips etc xx https://t.co/S4fjQrh5uB
— Kenya Lacrosse (@KenyaLacrosse) August 10, 2019
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An online travel company is searching for the perfect globe-trotting pup to review their hotels for a living.
The new position of “canine critic” at Hotels.com will give one lucky hound the chance to try out 10 of the world’s most dog-friendly hotels.
There are just two requirements for the position: they must be a bone-a-fide dog and they must have a taste for international travel.
The top dog will be required to offer their four-legged insights on walkies, comfy bedding, pampering services, and top-quality doggie treats.
Together with their owner, the pup will post their hotel reviews on Hotels.com.
In exchange for their yelping reviews, the human companion will be offered ten travel vouchers for their various hotel accommodations.
The hotel provider recently published a recruitment video for the position featuring their professional doggie influencer, Dolly Pawton, reviewing The Curtain Hotel in London.
According to their research, the company says that reviews of pet-friendly hotels have increased by 62% over the past two years.
Following the surge, Hotels.com launched a new “Best for Pets” category in its annual Loved by Guests awards.
Liz Oakman, senior director and general manager EMEA from Hotels.com brand said: “We love our pets more than we love our other half at times, so it’s no surprise that we’ve seen a huge increase in travelers wanting to take their furry plus one on holiday with them.
“At Hotels.com, we want to make sure you find the paw-fect place to check into, so we’re excited to add a Best for Pets category to our Loved by Guests awards – but it doesn’t stop there.
“Our hunt for a Canine Critic is our way of ensuring our pet friendly hotels really are up to ‘scratch’ with a four-legged expert’s ‘paw of approval.”
Jet-setting hounds (and their humans) can apply for the role by following the company’s Instagram channel, posting a picture of themselves and their pup, tagging @hotelsdotcom, and using the hashtag #CanineCritic.
Pet owners have until midnight on August 25th to apply for the job. If you would like to learn more about the contest, you can visit the Hotels.com website.
(WATCH the video below)
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Rather than pocketing his first ever $10,000 bonus, this public school system superintendent is using the money to cover the college application fees of his high school students.
44-year-old Grant Rivera, who has been the superintendent of the Marietta School District in Georgia since 2016, says that he is eligible for the bonus every three years if he receives a satisfactory performance review.
Rivera is donating the bonus to the Marietta Schools Foundation so that it can help students who apply to colleges ahead of regular application deadlines.
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“I don’t believe that a bonus provided by the board should be earned on the backs of the teachers,” Rivera told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “My hope is that it’s an incentive for kids to do the right thing.”
Of the 500 high schoolers in the graduating class, Rivera estimates that 150 to 200 students will apply to college.
If the application fees of his students exceed the amount of his $10,000 donation, he plans on paying out of pocket in order to cover the additional expenses—if there is any money leftover after his students have finished with their applications, then the funds will be used to finance college bus tours in Georgia.
(WATCH the news coverage below) – Photo by Marietta City Schools
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Reprinted with permission from World At Large, a news website of nature, science, politics, health, and travel.
Researchers have precisely calculated and compared the environmental impacts of a nutritionally-sound plant-based diet with those of meat-inclusive diets
Their goals were to see that if nutrition RDAs were met, how much smaller an impact on the environment could food systems produce if removing livestock from the equation.
In the words of Dr. Allen Williams of Soil Health Consultants, a regenerative farming specialist whom World at Large reported on last week, when was the last time you sat down to a bowl of field corn or field soybeans for dinner?
Much of the arable land in America is used for corn and soya production. These crops are either processed into compounds used in packaged foods as a commodity to be exported (usually to China), or as feed for animals.
The researchers at Brad’s college found that replacing meat with plant alternatives was estimated to save approximately 72 million acres of cropland, 6.6 billion pounds of nitrogen fertilizer, and 308,000 tons of carbon dioxide per year—however, food-related water use was projected to rise by 15%.
The researchers calculated the plant-based diet to match the nutrient contents of meat-inclusive diets, while also covering 43 other important nutrients, such as vitamins, minerals, and fatty acids. The diets consisted predominantly of asparagus, buckwheat, tofu, green pepper and squash.
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Diets were modeled to precisely match the protein content of the meat they replaced: 13 grams of protein per day for those who ate primarily beef, or 30 grams of protein per day for a diet consisting of chicken and pork as well.
World at Large asked for comment on typical and well-known concerns regarding vegetarian diets such as whether all 9 essential amino acids were accounted for, whether the bioavailability of overall calculated plant protein was considered, and where vitamin B-12, the deficiency of which is most commonly found in vegan and vegetarian individuals, was coming from.
Gidon Eshel, the author of the paper which was published in Nature earlier this week, responded by saying that “no B-12 is supplied by the plant-based diets,” although he added that “a simple B-12 supplement will do [for consumers], or a tablespoon of brewer’s yeast.”
He added that his team is planning to build on their success to further expand the hypothesized diet to ensure the adequate inclusion of all 9 essential amino acids. These are contained within the broad nutritional designation of proteins, and represent 9 compounds humans must have in order to survive, but that cannot be synthesized by our own bodies, i.e. we must get them through dietary means. These are things like leucine, lysine, and tryptophan.
While it will be a tremendously difficult task to convince Americans to stop eating meat, the aforementioned Dr. Allen Williams has an idea to create a more natural, robust, and carbon-friendly food system through his practices of regenerative agriculture.
In his mind, the farms of America are covered in crops year round, not only at harvest time. The bare brown earth which covers the nation’s farmland during two thirds of the year is baked by the sun during the day. This draws carbon out of the soil and into the atmosphere much faster than if the soil was covered by plants.
The squash, asparagus, and green peppers of Dr. Eshel’s protein-modeled diets would sit in rows alongside all manner of other plant species such as those necessary for the wellbeing of pollinators, or other cover crops used in medicines and as foodstuffs.
The diversity of the crops increases the diversity of soil microbes which creates a healthier, more nutritionally-dense soil media—one that Dr. Allen says doesn’t need synthetic fertilizer of any kind.
Finally, introducing cattle or other ruminants onto the paddock in a rotational grazing pattern will increase the soil diversity further, and raise strong, healthy, and happy livestock. In a recent radio appearance on the Sustainable Dish Podcast, Dr. Allen stated that this method could finish 50 million head of beef cattle if done at a nationwide-scale, enough to satisfy the beef needs of ravenous Americans, and create a more complete picture of a farmer’s paddock; a regenerative partnership with nature, rather than the diminishing exploitative picture we have today.
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This is the extraordinary moment that a lightning bolt struck the center of a volcano just as it was erupting, shooting luminous hot lava from the surface.
55-year-old German photographer Martin Reitze captured these rare images of the volcanic ash escaping from the Ebeko volcano in Russia
Reitze, who is from Munich, was standing about a kilometer away from the northern crater of the volcano when it erupted.
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The volcano expert said: “The strong lightning which shows in the image is a very rare exception, as it was much stronger than usual. It was strong enough to illuminate the whole sky with its bluish lighting.”
Reitze had spent about seven hours patiently waiting for an eruption to happen—and he felt “extremely lucky” that he managed to get the perfect shot.
“In a whole event when you are an avid volcano observer, it can take a decade to witness such a lightning event,” said Reitze.
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Quote of the Day: “Be as a bird perched on a frail branch that she feels bending beneath her, still she sings away all the same, knowing she has wings.” – Victor Hugo
Photo: by a.koto, CC license, via Flickr
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Lucy Huber shares a sweet story of serendipity in this week’s edition of MOTH Monday, a Good News Network partnership that features videos from the nonprofit group, The MOTH, showcasing the art of storytelling.
David Kendall grew up in a tiny Tennessee town that was made up of only 110 people—all of whom were fairly religious.
Some people may have never been able to leave such an insulated community, but Kendall’s father gave him a gift that would transcend time and generations—and that gift would be the exact inspiration for Kendall leaving Tennessee 20 years later.
So what was the gift that would help Kendall to follow his passion and aspire for bigger and better things later in life? It was rock and roll.
(LISTEN to the 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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Lady Gaga has just announced that she will be funding dozens of classroom projects in US cities that have recently fallen victim to mass shootings.
The pop star and Oscar award-winning actress made a Facebook post earlier this week stating that she and her Born This Way Foundation would be partnering with Donors Choose to fund the educational needs of students in El Paso, Texas; Dayton, Ohio; and Gilroy, California.
In total, Gaga is funding the projects and resources of 162 classrooms in these cities.
The musician also used her Facebook post as a means of encouraging the victims of the shootings and expressing her condolences for those affected.
“My heart goes out to those who were taken from us too soon and to their families, loved ones, and communities who are left to grieve,” wrote Gaga. “Everyone has the right to laws that make them feel safe in their communities. In this moment, I want to channel my confusion, frustration, and fury into hope. Hope that we are there for each other and for ourselves.
“Surviving and recovering from these tragedies also means prioritizing your mental health and checking in on your loved ones,” she continued. “If you’re struggling, please be brave and tell a trusted someone. Don’t be scared to ask for help, I beg you. If you see a loved one struggling, please be brave and reach out, remind them it’s ok to not be ok, and listen to them.”
If you would like to join Lady Gaga and Donors Choose in financing the educational needs of the communities affected by the mass shootings, you can visit the nonprofit’s online fundraising campaign.
Multiply The Good By Sharing The Compassionate Gesture With Your Friends On Social Media – Photo courtesy of the Lady Gaga Facebook page
Delaware has officially become the first and only no-kill US state for shelter pets.
According to the Best Friends Animal Society—which is the only national animal welfare organization dedicated to ending the euthanization of shelter animals—a state is considered to be “no-kill” if it is able to save at least 90% of the animals that enter its shelters.
The nonprofit helped Delaware to achieve the historic milestone by collaborating with state shelters and government officials to implement several animal control tactics that have been proven to improve adoption rates and curb shelter intakes.
With 59 different “no-kill” communities in the state, 11,900 animals were saved from being euthanized.
RELATED: Another US State Has Just Made Shelter Pets Their Official State Animal
Since Best Friends is aiming to make the United States a no-kill country by 2025, they hope that more state legislators and US communities will follow Delaware’s example.
“The beautiful thing about this movement is that it is such a nonpartisan issue. It doesn’t matter where you may fall in your political views — everybody loves animals and most everyone understands how valuable the human-animal bond is,” Holly Sizemore, chief mission officer for Best Friends Animal Society, told TODAY.
“So I do believe this movement is not only about saving animals’ lives, but it’s kind of redeeming us as people, and showing what kindness does to elevate us all and to just make a better world,” she added.
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Currently, the United States has a save rate of 76% with over 4,300 communities identified as “no-kill” regions.
The states with the highest rates of shelter deaths are Texas and California. If you would like to see where your state and community ranks on the Best Friends no-kill map, you can visit the organization’s website to learn more.
Be Sure And Share The Pawesome News With Your Friends On Social Media – File photo by Dave Parker, CC
Olympic trailblazer Simone Biles has just become the first gymnast in history to attempt—and successfully complete—a double twisting, double somersault dismount on the balance beam.
Despite having a shaky start during the first night of the women’s competition at the 2019 U.S. Gymnastics Championships, Biles ended her series of routines on the balance beam and stunned audiences by nailing the dismount with flourish.
“I’m really happy with the beam dismount and how it’s come along, because if you had asked me after [U.S. Classic] if I was going to compete it, I would’ve said no,” Biles admitted to Team USA.
WATCH: This Gymnast’s Performance Was So Flawless and Fun, She Scored a Perfect 10—and Millions of Views
“I feel like in those short two weeks we did a lot of work on a couple of the events, so I’m pretty excited with how it turned out,” she added.
The skill will reportedly be named after the 22-year-old gymnast once she performs the maneuver during an international competition.
According to Team USA, it will be the third skill named after Biles, who has also already been named a four-time Olympic and 14-time world champion.
(WATCH the video below)
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This is the moment traffic was brought to a standstill by thousands of ducks stampeding through the streets..
The astonishing video shows the “badling” of ducks crossing the road in the city of Alaphuzza in Kerala, Southern India.
Onlookers said the birds were being taken to a nearby field by a farmer, when they accidentally parted ways and blocked busy residents on their way to work.
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Normal business was resumed five minutes later—but only after all the birds had waddled off.
Some passerby were amused by the incident, with one eyewitness saying: “Look at the birds marching together; they know more decorum than us humans.”
The curious incident occurred on July 20th as they were moved to a paddy field during a hot Indian summer day.
(WATCH the video below)
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Quote of the Day: “Just when this world seems mean and cold, our love comes shining red and gold—and all the rest is by-the-way.” – Mark Knopfler, from the song Why Worry (turns 70 years-old today)
Photo: by [email protected], CC license, cropped
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?
The Lesson: Since I interviewed the author of Path to Wealth last year, I began to practice her morning routine, which takes 25 minutes, and within a couple months I experienced what I can only call a miracle. My company’s revenue more than quadrupled after I got an intuition to answer a routine sales email, which turned everything around. When I adopted my morning practice of focusing on that goal of receiving “thousands more in revenue”, it came to pass effortlessly. Now, I’m encouraging everyone to give it a try.
Notable Excerpt: “Success is a system—not a secret… When people practice the Path to Wealth, they manifest stuff like crazy—I mean, it’s kind of shocking. . . . But sometimes, they really struggle seeing those intuitive leads for the really giant goals that they don’t believe are possible. So, how do we shift beliefs? Using the daily practice on a repetitive basis, and by making what you want seem more familiar and welcome… (which) will shift your belief into one of possibility.”
The Guest: Since 1982, May McCarthy has co-founded and grown 7 successful companies in a variety of industries to as large as 250 employees with over $100 million in annual revenues. She believes that her increasing success, fun, and growth are due to her partnership with her own source of intuition. She shares her experience with others as an author, professional speaker, and executive consultant and travels the world with the purpose of elevating prosperity and freedom for all.
The Book: McCarthy’s first book, The Path to Wealth: Seven Spiritual Steps to Financial Abundance, provides the daily road map to help you achieve your financial and happiness goals. Her second book, The Gratitude Formula: A 7-Step Success System to Create a Life that You Love expounds on her definable, practical system that can help you achieve success in your relationships, career, finances, health, personal pursuits, spiritual growth, and virtually any other aspect of your life.
The Podcast: The Good News Gurus podcast, produced by Good News Network, is available on iTunes (for Apple devices) and Podbean, for Android devices, as well as on their website’s Good Talks page.
(LISTEN to the inspiring interview below)
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Seventy-three percent of American kids would like more opportunities to bond with their families, according to a new poll. They also said they considered their family life to be very close—even much closer than relationships they had with friends.
But the survey of 2,000 school-aged children (aged 6 to 17) found that they are not alone: 70% of parents would also like more chances to spend quality time together.
Luckily, moms and dads searching for inspiration don’t have to look far, as the survey pinpointed the top activities children want to do more often with their folks.
Commissioned by Red Robin and conducted by OnePoll, the results revealed that spending a day at the beach, playing sports in the yard and taking a day trip to a museum or amusement park were the top desired activities.
Other simple pleasures listed were playing board games or card games together and going out to dinner or a movie.
WATCH: Dad ‘Chatting’ With Infant Son About TV May Be the Most Darling Thing on the Internet Today
For parents looking to make the most of the rest of their summer, other activities on the list were creating arts and crafts, hiking in the woods and cooking meals as a family.
TOP 20 ACTIVITIES KIDS MOST WANT TO DO WITH THEIR PARENTS
1. Go to the beach
2. Exercise
3. Play sports
4. Go to the pool
5. Go to the movies
6. Play at a park
7. Camp
8. Take a day trip (zoo, museum, amusement park, etc.)
9. Play video games
10. Go shopping
11. Go out to dinner together
12. Hike
13. Go to an event (sporting event, concert, etc.)
14. Spend time together in the car (driving to school, appointments, extracurriculars, etc.)
15. Watch movies at home
16. Make a meal together
17. Eat meals together at home
18. Play board games/card games
19. Create arts and crafts
20. Have them help with homework
When it comes to connecting around the dinner table, kids say they’d have more fun with their family if they were allowed to decide the order of the meal, i.e. dessert first (59%), could order for the entire family (52%) or if they were the only ones allowed to ask questions at the table (32%).
The majority of children surveyed consider their family to be close (90%), with more than half (56%) specifying a “very close” bond—and even though 34% of children don’t think their parents understand what it’s like to be a kid today, it doesn’t affect the strength of their family connections.
Surprisingly, even when asked about their friendships, children were more likely to feel connected to their family than their peers (49% vs. 14%).
WATCH: Proud Dad Mic’d His 4-Year-Old Playing Hockey and the Results Are Comedy GOAL!
Most of the activities on the parents’ wish-lists matched with what their kids wanted to do, so implementing more family time should be fairly easy.
TOP 10 ACTIVITIES PARENTS LIKE TO DO WITH THEIR CHILDREN
1. Eat meals together at home
2. Help their children with homework/schoolwork
3. Watch movies at home
4. Bath time/getting ready for bed
5. Make a meal together
6. Read bedtime stories
7. Go out to dinner together
8. Go shopping
9. Play video games
10. Driving their children around (to/from school, appointments, etc.)
While parents enjoy activities like hiking, helping with homework, and playing games, it all comes down to “anything where their children are enjoying themselves and laughing.”
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