The M/F Vargsund - credit, Finnmark county administration
The M/F Vargsund – credit, Finnmark county administration
An all-electric passenger/car ferry in northern Norway has proven that brain-disabling cold can’t affect its service, despite running entirely on batteries.
Whatever technology was encased within the batteries of our parents’ cars that would see them suffer in the cold is not what powers the M/F Vargsund, which links the two islands of Kvaløya and Seiland in Norway’s Finnmark county.
It couldn’t have been a better acid test as the ferry shot off from the quay at Klokkarøy town on January 1st with its first ever passengers aboard—temperatures had fallen to -13°F, which for our Norwegian readers is -25°C.
While some car ferries operate as far north as M/F Vargsund, none do so powered by electricity.
“This is not just about new ferries. It’s about the future. About showing that green technology works – even in the far north, even in tough conditions,” operator Torghatten said in a statement on Friday after the ferry sailed in regular traffic for two weeks.
Stretching 50 meters prow to stern, she can hold 28 cars and 100 passengers. Torghatten is the country’s largest ferry operator, and as well as helping to reduce the company’s own carbon emissions, executives hope that it will set a standard of ambition and belief in the industry at large.
The firm’s most frequently-used ferry, connecting another pair of towns—Bognes and Lødingen—along the northern reaches of Norway, is also fully electric.
A total of 95.9% of all new cars registered in Norway in 2025 were electric vehicles, a result of the the calendar edging closer and closer to long-anticipated government edicts on internal-combustion engines.
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Sunset over Austrian hills in Neukirchen – Credit: Simon Berger
Quote of the Day: “The most authentic thing about us is our capacity to create, to overcome, to endure, to transform, to love, and to be greater than our suffering.” – Ben Okri
Image by: Simon Berger
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?
Sunset over Austrian hills in Neukirchen – Credit: Simon Berger
58 years ago today, the Phoenix Suns and the Milwaukee Bucks were awarded franchise licenses by the National Basketball Association, creating teams for the two cities and their millions of fans. The Suns are the NBA’s ultimate nearly men, having the second-highest franchise win percentage of any team never to win the championship, while the Bucks also had a contest among fans to choose a name; the Bucks were chosen over the much more popular ‘Robins’. READ some highlights of the two teams’ franchise history… (1968)
Cyrus the lion in preparation for transport - credit, Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge
Cyrus the lion in preparation for transport – credit, Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge
For the first time in Honduras’ history, eight large felines were relocated from the country to accredited wildlife sanctuaries in the United States.
As part of this historic operation, 5 tigers were transferred to Carolina Tiger Rescue, while 3 lions were entrusted to an Arkansas wildlife refuge, where they will begin the next chapter of their lives in permanent sanctuary.
Spanning multiple countries and modes of transport, the trio of lions were carried by ship, then by air, and finally across American highways, all under careful oversight and in full compliance with international and US regulations.
They had for years been cared for by a well-trained team at Little French Key Island in the Honduran Caribbean, and arrived at Turpentine Creek Wildlife Sanctuary (TCWS) on January 15th.
The lions, named Cyrus, Zephora, and Juancito, were transitioned into spacious, species-appropriate habitats designed specifically to meet their physical, behavioral, and psychological needs. These custom environments reflect TCWR’s long-standing commitment to providing rescued big cats with dignity, expert care, and lifelong protection, a spokesman for the refuge said.
“This mission represents everything sanctuary work stands for: international cooperation, compassion, and a future where rescued animals are given the lives they deserve,” said Scott Smith, TCWR vice-president who participated in the rescue. “After an unbelievable journey, these lions are finally home.”
This historic rescue was made possible through the leadership and long-term commitment of Leo Lahijani of Little French Key Resort, whose dedication to securing a better future for the animals in his care has been instrumental in moving the initiative forward.
“This rescue has been years in the making, driven by a deep responsibility to secure the best possible future for these animals,” said Mr. Lahijani.
“From the beginning, our focus was on improving outcomes and finding partners with the experience and integrity to provide lifelong care. Working alongside Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge and Carolina Tiger Rescue made it possible to move forward with confidence, knowing the lions and tigers would be placed in sanctuaries where their well-being, dignity, and long-term care come first.”
The relocation was carried out in collaboration with Honduran environmental authorities and international partners, including the Honduran Institute of Forest Conservation (ICF), CITES, veterinary professionals, and logistics teams who ensured the animals’ safety every step of the way.
Environmental officials in Honduras have described the operation as a national milestone, setting a precedent for responsible wildlife management and reinforcing the country’s commitment to conservation and the fight against illegal wildlife trade.
For Cyrus, Zephora, and Juancito, the result is simple and profound: safety, space, and a lifetime of care.
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Veronika using a stick - credit - Antonio J. Osuna Mascaró / SWNS
Veronika using her brush tool – credit – Antonio J. Osuna Mascaró SWNS
A clever cow called Veronika is the first ever to be recorded using tools—a brush or stick to scratch her back.
The old Swiss Brown cow has astonished scientists in Austria with her broom, which she uses as a multi-purpose tool, an “extraordinarily” rare ability that outside of humans has only previously been documented convincingly in chimpanzees.
Veronika is not farmed for meat or milk but has been kept as a companion by organic farmer and baker Witgar Wiegele, who regards her as part of the family. He noticed over a decade ago that Veronika would occasionally pick up sticks and use them to scratch herself.
The behavior first came to scientific attention when it was recorded on video and shared with cognitive biologist Professor Alice Auersperg.
Dr. Auersperg has now conducted a study, published in the journal Current Biology, which is the first to describe tool-use in a cow.
“The findings highlight how assumptions about livestock intelligence may reflect gaps in observation rather than genuine cognitive limits.”
“When I saw the footage, it was immediately clear that this was not accidental. This was a meaningful example of tool use in a species that is rarely considered from a cognitive perspective,” she said.
Auersperg and her colleague Dr. Antonio Osuna-Mascaró went to meet Veronika and conduct systematic 70 tests. In a series of controlled trials, they presented a deck brush on the ground in a random orientation.
The researchers recorded which end Veronika selected and which body region she targeted. Across repeated sessions, they found that her choices were “consistent and functionally appropriate” for the body regions she targeted.
– credit Antonio J. Osuna Mascaró / SWNS
“Veronika uses each part of the broom in a different way,” said Dr. Osuna-Mascaró, “and she applies different techniques depending on the function of the tool and the body region.”
The researchers found that Veronika usually prefers the bristled end of a deck brush when scratching broad, firm areas such as her back. But when targeting softer and more sensitive regions of her lower body, she switches to the smooth stick end.
Further still, Veronika also adjusts how she handles the tool, and will change her method of use, not just the end of the brush, depending on her aim. Upper-body scratching involves wide, forceful movements, while her lower-body scratching is slower, more careful, and highly controlled, with occasionally precise whacks.
Tool-use is defined as the manipulation of an external object to achieve a goal through mechanical means. The Austrian research team found that Veronika’s behavior meets the definition and goes a step further, describing it as flexible, multi-purpose tool use, meaning that different features of the same object are used to achieve distinct functional outcomes.
“Because she is using the tool on her own body, this represents an egocentric form of tool use, which is generally considered less complex than tool use directed at external objects,” said Dr. Osuna-Mascaró, getting into the nitty-gritty. “At the same time, she faces clear physical constraints, as she must manipulate tools with her mouth.”
“What is striking is how she compensates for these limitations, anticipating the outcome of her actions and adjusting her grip and movements accordingly.”
He said the findings represent the first documented case of tool use in cattle and the first evidence of flexible, multi-purpose tool use in the species, something that expands the taxonomic range of animals known to possess this capacity.
The researchers note that Veronika’s life circumstances may have played an important role in the emergence of her behavior. Most cows do not reach her age, do not live in open and complex environments, and are rarely given the opportunity to interact with a variety of manipulable objects.
Her long lifespan, daily contact with humans, and access to a rich physical landscape likely created favorable conditions for “exploratory and innovative” behavior, according to the researchers.
The research team is now interested in understanding which environmental and social conditions allow such behaviors to emerge in livestock species, and how many similar cases may have gone unnoticed simply because no one was looking for them.
“Because we suspect this ability may be more widespread than currently documented, we invite readers who have observed cows or bulls using sticks or other handheld objects for purposeful actions to contact us,” said the authors.
WATCH the story below, well narrated by Dr. Osuna-Mascaró…
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Whether you’re a student, an administrator, a farmer—or the journalists getting their teeth into the story of Kentucky schools’ movement to buy and serve local produce, the consensus is clear: the fajitas are great.
At Boyle County High School, locally-raised beef marinated in cumin is heaped onto corn tortillas with queso, guacamole, sharp red tomatoes, and vibrant lettuce.
It’s just one of many meals the teens at Boyle get to enjoy, and a far cry from the days of fruit cups, pan pizza, and skim milk, days which everyone involved are happy to see gone.
According to Lex 18 News, some 150 Kentucky farms sell their produce to around 90 state school districts thanks to a pandemic-era grant that supplied the state with $3.2 million for the purpose.
It’s clear from the attitude of Boyle County School District Food Service Director Cheyenne Barsotti that the move-to-local has affected far more than just the hungry teens’ excitement for lunch hour: it’s changed the whole way the school approaches food.
Barsotti’s cafeteria staff may just cook from scratch at times depending on what produce is available. As the kids devour and delight, trust in the kitchen increases, and the cooks feel safe trying out new recipes.
Several students told the NBC-affiliate that the fajitas were a 9.5 out of 10.
“I love it because I know that means they’re enjoying it,” Barsotti said. “We do prioritize those center-of-the-plate items, so items like beef that are going to feature as an entree, as a director, I prioritize that because I know the quality is noticeable when you buy the local product, and I think our kids notice that as well.”
Under the new direction of American health policy, the USDA Dietary Guidelines have featured, for the first time in their history, a focus on protein over carbs—and real food, that is to say, food which spoils and doesn’t come out of a box, over all others.
That in turn is reflected not only in the food purchased at schools like Boyle, but in the farmers who are signing up to supply them.
Circle G Farms, a diversified agricultural operation just 7 miles from Boyle, pasture raises cattle on feed grown on the farm, the manure from which fertilizes the entire operation.
“That’s the origin of Circle G Farms,” explained co-owner and operator Carly Guinn. “We try to utilize every division of our farm to its highest potential and keep it sustainable.”
Circle G has now been selling to schools like Boyle for several years, and even though that grant money has been halted, the program has enlivened so many that school districts are trying to maintain the new direction, the new attitudes, and the new menus, as much as possible.
WATCH the story below from LEX 18’s ‘Field Notes’ segment…
SHARE This Story With Those You Know Who Rage Against School Meals…
A plant-lover who snapped a photo of an interesting shrub he found on a trip to the Outback inadvertently proved that it wasn’t, in fact, extinct, something which scientists had presumed.
With 60 years having passed without a confirmed sighting of the plant, it was chalked up as a casualty.
It’s becoming more and more clear within university ecology departments that the citizen science platform iNaturalist can act as a catalyst for major new discoveries, and that it, and other platforms like it, are actually becoming crucial to the work of scientists.
To people like Thomas Mesaglio, a botanist at the Queensland Herbarium, who, constrained by the vastness and diversity of a place as big as Australia, can’t be everywhere at once, the platform allows diligent hikers and nature lovers to act as his eyes and ears.
Aaron Bean was just such a nature lover: banding birds on a sprawling outback station in a remote corner of northern Queensland. In the course of his work, he spotted a plant that looked interesting.
A professional horticulturalist, Aaron snapped a couple of photos and, when he got back phone reception, uploaded his finding to the vast citizen scientist database, iNaturalist.
Four million people across the globe have logged almost 300 million observations of more than five hundred thousand species to iNaturalist, making it one of the largest citizen science platforms in the world.
Once online, Aaron’s pictures found their way to a different Bean, Anthony Bean, an expert botanist from the Queensland Herbarium who immediately recognized the plant as something very special indeed: a presumed extinct plant not seen since the 1960s that he had described himself ten years earlier.
“It was very serendipitous,” says Mesaglio from the UNSW School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, who has written about the rediscovery for the Australian Journal of Botany.
“Aaron Bean is an avid iNaturalist user who opportunistically took some photos of a few plants that were interesting on the property.”
Ptilotus senarius is a small, slender shrub with pleasing purple-pink flowers that look a bit like an exploding firework with feathers.
It’s found only in a band of rough country near the Gulf of Carpentaria, and hadn’t been collected since 1967—presumed to be one of the 900 or so plant species that have gone extinct in the wild internationally since the 1750s.
But with Anthony and Aaron Beans’s keen eyes, and a land-owner willing to gather a specimen, Ptilotus senarius is now confirmed to still be hanging on, and actually recently moved onto the critically endangered species list where scientists and conservationists can help it.
“It’s one of these situations where everything had to fall into place and there was a bit of good fortune involved,” says Mesaglio.
It’s just the latest example of an emerging trend: citizen scientists taking pictures of plants and animals they come across, uploading them to databases like iNaturalist, only to learn they’ve stumbled upon something we thought was lost, or else is completely new to science.
Freehold land covers around a third of the Australian continent, and requires permission to legally cross.
“If you are the property owner or you’re someone who has permission from the owner to be there then suddenly it opens up this whole new world,” Mesaglio, who said he thinks it would be a good idea for these platforms to include professional instructions on how make a proper science-based observation.
For example, in New South Wales, the Land Libraries project run by the state government’s Biodiversity Conservation Trust provides equipment and training to landowners in how to document the biodiversity on their properties and upload it to citizen science platforms.
Mesaglio is supportive of these program and wants to see them expanded not just because it gives him digital access behind the fences of private properties, but because more people using these tools has a conservation benefit in and of itself.
“Engaging landholders themselves with science and the natural world and getting them more passionate about diversity makes them far more likely to be interested and invested in protecting that diversity,” Mesaglio says.
Even attributes like plant smell can give scientists vital clues about a plant’s identity, Mesaglio says.
“The more information you can provide and the more context you can provide, the more potential uses that that record will have in the future.”
In separate research, Mesaglio found iNaturalist had been cited in papers covering 128 countries and thousands of species, underscoring how important the resource has become.
With more finds uploaded every day, and the quality of the data improving, Mesaglio knows there are even more discoveries waiting to be found.
SHARE This Story Of A Committed Naturalist Helping Science Without Knowing It..
And Happy Birthday to the smart, and sporty actress Geena Davis, who turns 70 today. The actress, most known for her role in Thelma and Louise and A League of Their Own, won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for The Accidental Tourist in 1988. The Mensa member who has campaigned for more and better women’s roles in children’s programming also fronts the Women’s Sports Foundation. Davis was one of 300 women who vied for a semifinals berth in the US Olympic archery team and placed 24th just two years after being introduced to the sport. In 2007 she was honored for much of this work in the media, receiving the Hollywood Hero award – WATCH that video, here. (1956)
Quote of the Day: “Things are not quite so simple always as black and white.” – Doris Lessing
Image by: Getty Images 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?
4 years after losing a beloved cat named Tinsel, a stroke of fortune found her reunited with owner Maggie DeGreenia whose cousin saw her on a local shelter’s website.
Tinsel disappeared in December, 2021, leading to weeks of searching, posting on Facebook groups, contacting shelters, and putting up missing posters.
But despite all her efforts, DeGreenia eventually had to accept her beloved pet was gone.
The 27-year-old Vermonter had lived with Tinsel since 2017, when she adopted her at a Lunenburg shelter. 4 years later, Tinsel accidentally got let out of DeGreenia’s house and vanished.
“We called local shelters for weeks, searched for her by car and by foot,” said DeGreenia, who admitted she eventually gave up, and merely hoped her baby would find a new, loving home.
Then one day, DeGreenia received a text from her cousin saying that she had seen Tinsel with her instantly-recognizable ‘moustache’ on a local shelter page.
– credit Maggie DeGreenia SWNS
“She texted me ‘Hey important, I think I found Tinsel,” she told SWNS. “I was in disbelief when I saw the photo and immediately broke down in tears. I called the shelter, Riverside Rescue, as fast as I could, still in tears as I told them our story.”
Tinsel immediately recognized her owner during the shelter reunion, pressing her forehead against Maggie’s in a touching display of affection that she said “was the most incredible feeling.”
According to the shelter, Tinsel had been picked up by people who looked after her until December, then surrendered her.
SHARE This Woman’s Tear-Jerking Reunion And Tinsel’s Funny Moustache…
The “Nairobi Birdman” is filling gaps in Kenyan bird conservation on the streets of the country’s biggest city.
Seen around town with an injured kite perched on his head, it’s just one of dozens that Rodgers Oloo Magutha has nursed back to health.
These have included pigeons, storks, owls, and other wild birds that fall a-fowl of Nairobi’s powerlines, cars, windows, or other hazards that industrialized areas pose to winged wildlife.
Magutha himself is not from Nairobi, but grew up in poverty next to Kenya’s Lake Nakuru National Park. A haven for bird life, Magutha used to sneak into the park to watch birds, birthing a love of nature and wildlife in the young man that lasts to this day.
These quiet moments were rare in his difficult, homeless existence. He grew up without a family home, but as often as it was possible, he’d take care of birds he found that were hurt, hungry, or diseased.
“We used to stay with the birds on the streets,” Magutha told Africa News. “You see, I cannot put more than ten different species of birds in one place, so if I can find a place, where I can open a shelter, it can be very good because I will end up rescuing more birds and my dream and my passion will grow.”
Today, Magutha has reliable lodgings, and he’s used them to house birds which have in turn made him a local social media figure, known as the Nairobi Birdman. His Instagram account has a distinctly African flavor, such as when he’s dancing with a marabou stork, but he also drops educational bombs for young fans, such as how flamingos get their pink coloration.
His dream is to eventually open a proper avian rescue center; one that’s legal, safe, and equipped with the facilities needed to care for them.
Until then, he carries on with the help of donations, feeding the birds he saves as much as he is able to, and releasing them when or if they’re able to return to the wild.
WATCH the story below from Africa News…
SHARE This Man’s Passion For Birds With Your Friends On Social Media…
Iraqi Boys – Credit: Christian Briggs (CC license)
Iraqi Boys – Credit: Christian Briggs (CC license)
Iraq is steaming forward with its development after years of strife and war.
Just recently, the long-running UN Assistance Mission for Iraq ended its mandate after 22 years, and the UN’s humanitarian coordinator for the country told journalists that the country has transformed itself.
“For those who lived through the troubled early years of the transition, today Iraq is unrecognizable and remarkable,” the coordinator, Ghulam Isaczai, said in New York City.
Even before the American invasion and occupation, the subsequent chaos of the insurgent resistance, and the pillaging of ISIS, the Iraqi people had suffered a decade of crippling sanctions. Before that, Saddam Hussein’s decision to invade neighboring Kuwait over a slant-drilling violation saw the country endure wartime conditions again, having then only lately ended them after the debilitating 8 years of the Iran-Iraq War, which started a decade before the sanctions.
It’s fair enough to say that few alive today will remember a time when Iraq was prosperous and at peace.
Now, the nation’s poverty rate has fallen around 3% in the last 7 years, while more than 5 million internal refugees have returned to their homes now that security in most of the country has stabilized.
Iraq has enjoyed an upward trajectory on the UN’s Human Development Index, and in 2023 had a score of 6.95 out of 10, with a 72-year life expectancy at birth, and 12 expected years of schooling per child.
Recent elections saw voter turnout reach 56% and one-third of the parliamentary candidates were women.
Perhaps the most symbolically impressive of all these improvements is the sheer fact that as the UN Assistance Mission evolves into a 5-year UN Development Project partnership, Iraq will be the donor, rather than the aid recipient.
“That shows increasing partnership and ownership by the Government of Iraq to become a donor after being a recipient for many years of humanitarian and development aid,” said Mr. Isaczai.
Langton Hughes, whose book Not Without Laughter, entered the public domain on Jan 1st 2026
Langton Hughes, whose book Not Without Laughter, entered the public domain on Jan 1st 2026
January 1st isn’t just New Years Day; there’s another little holiday wrapped up inside.
It’s Public Domain Day: the moment when a year’s worth of literature, music, film, television, pop culture, poetry, and science enters the public domain and becomes free to use, reprint, and alter.
According to Standard eBooks, the public domain concept stretches back to the founding of our country, with the Framers desiring a loose and restricted intellectual property law in order to promote the advance of sciences and the arts.
As the United States began its march through the centuries, the period of intellectual copyright was elongated continuously through lobbying of businesses looking use the levers of power to stifle competition and thus innovation.
This process continued until it took 95 years for material to enter the public domain.
“2019 was the year in which new works were finally scheduled to enter the public domain,” Standard eBooks wrote. “And as that year drew closer, it became clear that these corporations wouldn’t try to extend copyright yet again—making it the first year in almost a hundred years in which a significant amount of art and literature once again entered the US public domain.”
This year it means anything published in 1930 will enter the public domain, which includes books by Franz Kafka, Langston Hughes, Jim Corbett, and Agatha Christie. It includes works like As I Lay Dying, How to Make Friends and Influence People, Vile Bodies, Ash Wednesday, and 4 Nancy Drew entries. They are available for free on Standard eBooks.
Beyond literature, according Public Domain Review, the papers of Albert Einstein, the 1930 film All Quiet on the Western Front, the discography of Charlie Parker, images and reproductions of works by the artist Barbara Hepworth, and the photographs of journalist Walker Evans, will all enter the public domain.
This is because the US, and many, many other countries including Russia and the UK, have a “life plus 70 years rule” which allows for copyright to last the duration of the holder’s life, plus 70 years beyond.
That means anyone who died in 1955 will see their copyright expire and their works enter the public domain.
CELEBRATE Public Domain Day By Picking Up A Free eBook Of These Authors…
Quote of the Day: “We must risk delight. We can do without pleasure but not delight.” – Jack Gilbert, poet
Image by: Alexander Dummer
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?
The American hostages return home from Iran on a 3-137 - public domain
45 years ago today, the newly-formed revolutionary government of Iran released all 52 American hostages to US personnel, just minutes after Ronald Reagan was sworn in as president. They were flown by an Algerian airliner to Algiers where they were formally transferred to Warren M. Christopher, the representative of the United States, as a symbolic gesture of appreciation for the Algerian government’s help in resolving the crisis. READ more about the crisis’ resolution… (1981)
In Toronto, one man and his glasses are making the city a friendlier place by wishing people a great week, or even just outrightly declaring to whoever he sees that they make the world a better place.
Minjae Cho is once just like thousands of other Torontonians: he took the bus and the subway, went to work, and was lonely.
Now, he’s one-in-a-million: a full-time influencer who’s received praise from the mayor, the head of the Toronto Transport Corp. (TTC), and has 36k Instagram followers. His methods are simple: being courageous in his kindness, wishing people well, spreading amiability, and brightening up Toronto one bus ride at a time.
“It started at a time when I was in a lonely disconnected part of my life where I wasn’t seeing that many people. I wanted to push myself to show up more openly in everyday life with social interactions, and to rebuild my social confidence,” Cho told CTV News Toronto.
“What I’m doing is harmless… I’m just saying, ‘Have a nice day.’ I’m not pranking people. Most people see my effort and my courage and respond positively.”
He captures all his interactions with Meta glasses—less intrusive than a phone camera—which often end in smiles, laughs, even hugs; even tears. He’s been told his outreach has helped people get through tough times, or even avoid making life-changing decisions for the worse.
The TTC drivers recognize him and are happy to have him on board.
“Everyone could use a little more joy in their life, including on their commute, and these posts certainly convey that sentiment,” TTC CEO Mandeep Lali said in a statement.
The videos on his Instagram account, under the handle Magnetic MJ, are introspectively interesting. You can so clearly taste the tension at times in the air when Cho is wishing someone a good day who seems reluctant to look up from their phone and acknowledge his existence. You almost feel relieved when they do look up, shake his hand and smile, and you get the feeling that if that very person were watching a video of Cho talking to someone else, they’d get the same feeling.
Mayor Olivia Chow felt that Cho is doing the work of thousands, saying when asked about his videos that if everyone did what he does to just one person, on one bus ride, once a week, the city would feel a lot more like a neighborhood.
The Changzhou Mummy in situ, provided as a courtesy of Wen Shaoqing to the Global Times
The Changzhou Mummy in situ, provided as a courtesy of Wen Shaoqing to the Global Times
A team of Chinese scientists recently conducted a DNA analysis and autopsy of a 13th century Song Dynasty nobleman who was embalmed not unlike an ancient Egyptian.
The quality of the preservation was such that, if the reader can bear the thought, his mortal remains emitted a pleasant fragrance 800 years after his entombment.
But getting up close and personal with the BO of a medieval Chinese nobleman was hardly the aim of the research team from Fudan University’s Human Phenome Institute. Rather the “paleo-radiological, paleo-pathological, paleo-genetic, and paleo-nutritional analysis” was done to get a clear picture of this man’s genetic profile, as well as his diet, cause of death, and more.
The other, anthropological work, was examining the mummification methods used to preserve the man, as he is known as the Changzhou Mummy, and is one of the most famous ever found in the country.
Whether in neolithic Peru, ancient Egypt, classical Greece, medieval Europe, or China at any point in history, those whose wealth afforded them the opportunity were often embalmed or mummified at passing.
From the bitumen-soaked linen wraps and canopic jars of Egyptian pharaohs, to Alexander of Macedon’s supposed suspension in honey, methods have varied over the years.
Born in the Song Dynasty, a shorter, yet ostensibly prosperous period in Chinese history, the Changzhou Mummy’s organs were left in situ, but were filled with mercury and cinnabar, as well as fragrant oils derived from frankincense, ambergris, and agarwood.
Even 800 years after his death, these were still the defining scents of his remains.
“We have found that mercury and cinnabar were directly introduced into the intestinal cavity of the corpse through an enema,” said Wang Bangyan, a postdoctoral researcher at the Human Phenome Institute.
This was, according to Wang, a distinctly Asian take on embalming methods. By the time of the Song Dynasty (CE 960 to 1279) the overland trade routes known as the Silk Roads had become the lesser of the two major Old World trade arteries. The Maritime Silk Road, which attached the Indo-Pacific and Australasia to the Arab-dominated west, allowed for much larger cargoes, faster transit, and greater profits.
It also introduced much of the world to the spices native to countries like Sri Lanka and Indonesia, including those which were used in the embalming of the Changzhou Mummy.
Further analysis into the man found that he carried much of the dietary and hereditary risk factors for modern-day atherosclerosis, and in the paper published in the aftermath of the mummy’s examination, the authors explained that this runs contrary to the idea of atherosclerosis as an Industrial-era disease.
“Uncovering unrecognized genetic polymorphisms of [atherosclerosis] among ancient individuals, improves our understanding of the role of genetic factors in the development and evolution of atherosclerosis,” the authors write.
Along with this, the examination provided some of the best information about how mummification was done in China. Many previous mummies have been found, but mostly in the soil of the North China Plain, the humidity within which has a disagreeable affect on the medieval Chinese embalmer’s’ good work.
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You won’t find a more literate bunch of 4th graders anywhere in the nation than if you go and stand in a Mississippi elementary school.
Over the last few years, the Magnolia state has risen from 49th in the country for 4th grade reading level to number 1 in both reading and math at the 4th grade level after adjusting for poverty and other socio-economic factors.
The state’s 4th graders “exceeded the national reading average” for the first time in 2024, according to the International Business Times, while its 8th graders are ranked in the top 10 for reading and math, and the total educational attainment averaged across all grades ranks 16th in the country, the highest rank Mississippi has ever achieved.
Proving that method can trump money, the southern state has achieved all this despite being one of the very poorest in the country with some of the lowest per-student education budgets.
In a review from The Week, the triumph seems to be rooted in two strong policy shifts: holding individual schools accountable for student performance, and changing how reading is taught in school.
Regarding the former, it’s something many more affluent states have shied away from: giving schools an A through F grade just like the school might give its students based on how well the students therein are performing.
Regarding the latter, the key shift is towards mandating a style of literacy education that reflects advancements in the understanding of childhood neurosciences, specifically regarding phonics.
The previous, and still largely popular literacy instruction method was called “balanced literacy” involves allowing the child the freedom to gravitate toward reading books they’re interested in. Mississippi’s “science of reading” method involves pairing reading time with precise and targeted instruction regarding the sounds that letter combinations make in the English language.
Science of reading proponents state that without these precise instructions, children may struggle to grasp certain phonics, which in turn slows their reading speed and frustrates them overall in trying to get through and finish books.
Additionally, Mississippi educational authorities have made science of reading-based instruction a non-negotiable aspect of curriculum planning, and appoint literacy and math coaches to help teachers hone their skills and address challenges related to specific circumstances.
These 3 changes have revolutionized Mississippi’s childhood education, even without more money being spent.
One of the many benefits of living in a federalized country is that, because each state has strong jurisdiction and legislative control over internal affairs, each state is free to try new ideas which will bring success, failure, or indifference that can help inform other states in deciding their own policies.
Mississippi’s educational transformation may come to prove just as valuable to the students in other states as it obviously has to the students within its own schools.
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Underwater photographers and free divers recently rescued a mobula ray tangled in a rope while being circled by sharks.
After swimming away, the injured ray unexpectedly returned, circling the divers in what they described as a “thank you” moment.
The mobula ray was trapped more than 30 feet below the surface, completely wrapped in rope from a shark fisherman’s buoy.
Mobulae, also known as flying rays, devil rays, or eagle rays, are smaller than their cousins the giant manta rays, and also far more diverse, with around 12 different extant species and several extinct ones.
Working in shifts, the team carefully cut away the line and freed the distressed animal while documenting the entire rescue off Baja California, Mexico.
Underwater photographer Andre Smits was part of the ocean safari group who spotted the ray and helped with the rescue.
“We went to one of the shark fishermen’s buoys because we didn’t find any wildlife to interact with that day,” Smits told England’s Southwest News Service. “Our guide jumped in to check the line, popped his head up right away, and said, ‘guys, I need your help. There’s something stuck in the line.'”
credit – Andre Smits, via SWNS
The rescue required careful coordination among seven divers, not helped by the three, 8-foot-long silky sharks circling the action not far from them.
A free-diving trainer that was part of the group descended to cut the rope below the ray, allowing the team to pull the animal closer to the surface.
“It was completely entangled. The rope was going around almost every part of the ray,” Smits, based in Eindhoven, Netherlands, said. “The animal was in freak mode, starting to swim around to try to get free, but then it understood that it was stuck.”
The team worked together to hold the distressed ray while carefully cutting away the entangling rope with knives, a key piece in every diver’s toolkit.
Smits explained that the buoy line, being artificial material, could be like a knife in its own right if one of their team was holding too tightly at the moment the animal tried to flee. With the sharks in their periphery, blood in the water was the last thing any of them wanted, which meant that their rescue efforts had to take place extremely carefully.
The ray was injured but survived.
credit – Andre Smits, via SWNS
“The beautiful thing was we cut her free, we released her, and she swam away about 30 meters and then it felt like she decided to come back,” Smits said.
“She really swam back to us and did a ‘thank you’ circle. She came right between us to our faces, almost giving us a grateful hug.”
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Quote of the Day: “He is richest who is content with the least (as nature is content with its wealth).” – Socrates
Image by: Gary Fultz
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