Researchers have just made a breakthrough discovery in how we can possibly treat stroke patients in the future.
A team of scientists at the University of California Los Angeles successfully regrew brain tissue that was previously damaged by a stroke.
“We tested this in laboratory mice to determine if it would repair the brain and lead to recovery in a model of stroke,” said Dr. S. Thomas Carmichael, professor of neurology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. “The study indicated that new brain tissue can be regenerated in what was previously just an inactive brain scar after stroke.”
The brain has a limited capacity for recovery after stroke. Unlike the liver, skin and some other organs, the brain does not regenerate new connections, blood vessels or tissue structures after it is damaged. Instead, dead brain tissue is absorbed, which leaves a cavity devoid of blood vessels, neurons or axons — the thin nerve fibers that project from neurons.
As a means of filling these stroke-induced cavities in the brains of mice, the researchers applied a gel-like biomaterial that formed a kind of scaffolding into which new neurons and blood vessels could grow.
The gel is also infused with medications that stimulate blood vessel growth and suppress inflammation, since inflammation results in scars and impedes functional tissue from regrowing.
After 16 weeks, the stroke cavities contained regenerated brain tissue, including new neuronal connections — a result that had not been seen before. The gel was eventually absorbed into the body, leaving only healthy tissue behind; and the mice’s ability to reach for food improved, a sign of improved motor behavior, although the exact mechanism for the improvement wasn’t clear.
“The new axons could actually be working. Or the new tissue could be improving the performance of the surrounding, unharmed brain tissue,” said Tatiana Segura, a former professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering at UCLA who collaborated on the research.
Regardless, the gel is being hailed as a revolutionary discovery for future stroke treatment. The researchers now plan on studying the gel’s efficacy for regrowing brain tissue long after the stroke has occurred.
Share The Exciting Breakthrough With Your Friends – Photo by UCLA Health
Fleet of autonomous boats could service some cities, reducing road traffic Researchers design 3-D-printed, driverless boats that can provide transport and self-assemble into other floating structures.
Written by Rob Matheson MIT News
The future of transportation in waterway-rich cities such as Amsterdam, Bangkok, and Venice — where canals run alongside and under bustling streets and bridges — may include autonomous boats that ferry goods and people, helping clear up road congestion.
Researchers from MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) and the Senseable City Lab in the Department of Urban Studies and Planning (DUSP), have taken a step toward that future by designing a fleet of autonomous boats that offer high maneuverability and precise control. The boats can also be rapidly 3D-printed using a low-cost printer, making mass manufacturing more feasible.
The boats could be used to taxi people around and to deliver goods, easing street traffic. In the future, the researchers also envision the driverless boats being adapted to perform city services overnight, instead of during busy daylight hours, further reducing congestion on both roads and canals.
“Imagine shifting some of infrastructure services that usually take place during the day on the road — deliveries, garbage management, waste management — to the middle of the night, on the water, using a fleet of autonomous boats,” says CSAIL Director Daniela Rus, co-author on a paper describing the technology.
Moreover, the boats — rectangular 4-by-2-meter hulls equipped with sensors, microcontrollers, GPS modules, and other hardware — could be programmed to self-assemble into floating bridges, concert stages, platforms for food markets, and other structures in a matter of hours. “Again, some of the activities that are usually taking place on land, and that cause disturbance in how the city moves, can be done on a temporary basis on the water,” says Rus, who is the Andrew and Erna Viterbi Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.
The boats could also be equipped with environmental sensors to monitor a city’s waters and gain insight into urban and human health.
Better design and control
The work was conducted as part of the “Roboat” project, a collaboration between the MIT Senseable City Lab and the Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Metropolitan Solutions (AMS). In 2016, as part of the project, the researchers tested a prototype that cruised around the city’s canals, moving forward, backward, and laterally along a preprogrammed path.
The ICRA paper details several important new innovations: a rapid fabrication technique, a more efficient and agile design, and advanced trajectory-tracking algorithms that improve control, precision docking and latching, and other tasks.
To make the boats, the researchers 3D-printed a rectangular hull with a commercial printer, producing 16 separate sections that were spliced together. Printing took around 60 hours. The completed hull was then sealed by adhering several layers of fiberglass.
Integrated onto the hull are a power supply, Wi-Fi antenna, GPS, and a minicomputer and microcontroller. For precise positioning, the researchers incorporated an indoor ultrasound beacon system and outdoor real-time kinematic GPS modules, which allow for centimeter-level localization, as well as an inertial measurement unit (IMU) module that monitors the boat’s yaw and angular velocity, among other metrics.
The boat is a rectangular shape, instead of the traditional kayak or catamaran shapes, to allow the vessel to move sideways and to attach itself to other boats when assembling other structures. Another simple yet effective design element was thruster placement. Four thrusters are positioned in the center of each side, instead of at the four corners, generating forward and backward forces. This makes the boat more agile and efficient, the researchers say.
The team also developed a method that enables the boat to track its position and orientation more quickly and accurately. To do so, they developed an efficient version of a nonlinear model predictive control (NMPC) algorithm, generally used to control and navigate robots within various constraints.
The NMPC and similar algorithms have been used to control autonomous boats before. But typically those algorithms are tested only in simulation or don’t account for the dynamics of the boat. The researchers instead incorporated in the algorithm simplified nonlinear mathematical models that account for a few known parameters, such as drag of the boat, centrifugal and Coriolis forces, and added mass due to accelerating or decelerating in water. The researchers also used an identification algorithm that then identifies any unknown parameters as the boat is trained on a path.
Finally, the researchers used an efficient predictive-control platform to run their algorithm, which can rapidly determine upcoming actions and increases the algorithm’s speed by two orders of magnitude over similar systems. While other algorithms execute in about 100 milliseconds, the researchers’ algorithm takes less than 1 millisecond.
Testing the waters
To demonstrate the control algorithm’s efficacy, the researchers deployed a smaller prototype of the boat along preplanned paths in a swimming pool and in the Charles River. Over the course of 10 test runs, the researchers observed average tracking errors — in positioning and orientation — smaller than tracking errors of traditional control algorithms.
That accuracy is thanks, in part, to the boat’s onboard GPS and IMU modules, which determine position and direction, respectively, down to the centimeter. The NMPC algorithm crunches the data from those modules and weighs various metrics to steer the boat true. The algorithm is implemented in a controller computer and regulates each thruster individually, updating every 0.2 seconds.
“The controller considers the boat dynamics, current state of the boat, thrust constraints, and reference position for the coming several seconds, to optimize how the boat drives on the path,” Wang says. “We can then find optimal force for the thrusters that can take the boat back to the path and minimize errors.”
The innovations in design and fabrication, as well as faster and more precise control algorithms, point toward feasible driverless boats used for transportation, docking, and self-assembling into platforms, the researchers say.
A next step for the work is developing adaptive controllers to account for changes in mass and drag of the boat when transporting people and goods. The researchers are also refining the controller to account for wave disturbances and stronger currents.
“We actually found that the Charles River has much more current than in the canals in Amsterdam,” Wang says. “But there will be a lot of boats moving around, and big boats will bring big currents, so we still have to consider this.”
The work was supported by a grant from AMS. Co-authors on the paper are: first author Wei Wang, a joint postdoc in CSAIL and the Senseable City Lab; Luis A. Mateos and Shinkyu Park, both DUSP postdocs; Pietro Leoni, a research fellow, and Fábio Duarte, a research scientist, both in DUSP and the Senseable City Lab; Banti Gheneti, a graduate student in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science; and Carlo Ratti, a principal investigator and professor of the practice in the DUSP and director of the MIT Senseable City Lab.
People are obsessing over this video of a dentist and his young patient – and it’s for very good reason.
Dr. Eyal Simchi from Riverfront Pediatric Dentistry in New Jersey recently uploaded a video of himself enchanting a toddler with a “magic” ball of light.
The technique is just one of Simchi’s many methods to make children feel less scared of the dentist’s office. From blowing bubbles to magic tricks and stuffed animals; it’s pretty clear to see that his “no-tear” techniques work pretty well.
Since he uploaded the video to Facebook last week, it has been viewed over 17 million times. Not only is the youngster delighted by the trick, but hundreds of other adults watching the clip are puzzled by the illusion.
We don’t want to spoil the secret, so we’ll keep the answer to ourselves. But just because it isn’t real magic, it doesn’t make the video any less adorable.
(WATCH the adorable video below)
Share The Sweet Video With Your Friends – Photo by Dr. Eyal Simchi
It has been one year since Jake the dog first went missing from his home in Arizona, and his owners had assumed the worst.
They were stunned, however, to find out that not only was the 7-year-old Coonhound alive and well, but he had somehow turned up almost 2,000 miles from home.
Adam Herbaugh of Roaring Spring, Pennsylvania had been out walking his own dogs back in April when he saw Jake wandering the streets. Herbaugh took Jake into his care and brought the adventurous pup to the animal hospital. Veterinarians scanned him for a microchip and called the owners to ask if their dog had gone missing.
Shocked and delighted, they said that Jake had indeed gone missing, but no one had any idea how he got so far away from his home in Phoenix – and unfortunately, the owners had no way of making the cross-country road trip to get Jake.
The nonprofit put out a call for volunteer drivers who would be willing to drive Jake home. 20 different volunteers across the nation eagerly joined the effort, and last week, they launched the 3-day trip.
The trip worked similarly to a relay race – each volunteer would drive Jake 100 miles before passing him onto the next volunteer, who would drive another 100 miles.
20 volunteers made 30 stops across 9 states, and it took 3 volunteers to keep Jake overnight during the trip – but when his owners were finally reunited with their beloved pup, they could hardly contain their excitement.
(WATCH the video below)
Pass On The Pawesome Story To Your Friends – Photo by A Darrah Bull Bully Rescue
Quote of the Day: “We will discover the nature of our particular genius when we stop trying to conform to our own or other people’s models.” – Shakti Gawain
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?
An apple a day keeps the doctor away, but this community adores their local physician because he uses Charlie Chaplin as a means of treating his patients.
Dr. Ashok Sukhumal Aswani first fell in love with the comedic film actor after watching “The Gold Rush” 40 years ago. During the film, the Indian doctor says that he laughed so hard, he fell off his chair – and after seeing the movie 200 more times, Chaplin’s theatrics can still make Aswani laugh.
Aswani loves Chaplin so much, he started The Charlie Circle Foundation fan club in his town of Adipur.
The fan club, which has 375 members, hosts a yearly parade in Chaplin’s honor. The town members celebrate by dancing, eating cake, watching movies, and – of course – donning bowler hats and slacks.
Aswani, who practices herbal medicine, even gives Charlie Chaplin DVDs to his patients alongside his usual prescriptions – because laughter, he says, is absolutely the best medicine.
While there have not been any official studies conducted on the efficacy of the doctor’s methods, there is certainly a lot of science to back it up. Just to name a few, this 2005 study from the University of Maryland School of Medicine shows that laughter is linked to a decreased risk of cardiovascular disease; this doctor claims to have cured his own cancer by smiling and watching funny movies; and this survey of American centenarians shows that the majority of the participants credit a positive attitude for their longevity.
So maybe the next time you’re feeling under the weather, you could put a comedy on TV and get a few chuckles in before you call your doctor.
(WATCH the video below)
Pass On The Delightful Tale To Your Friends And Share To Social Media – Photo by Great Big Story
This electric plane startup has just received its first order from a California-based jet charter company – and critics believe that it may usher in a whole new era of sustainable air travel in the United States.
Zunum Aero has just received its launch order of 100 hybrid-electric airplanes from JetSuite. The 12-seat passenger jets are set to be delivered by 2022.
“We are thrilled to announce that JetSuite is going to be our launch customer,” Zunum Aero CEO Ashish Kumar told Business Insider.
The order is slated towards the lucrative regional airport industry, which Forbes describes as being served by “roughly $1 trillion worth of aging, noisy aircraft.”
Zunum, which is backed by Boeing HorizonX, JetBlue Technology Ventures and the State of Washington Clean Energy Fund, says that their planes will offer cheaper, faster, and more convenient eco-friendly air travel to rural American communities without the stress of having to access major airports or TSA lines.
Though the jets are currently being designed as hybrids, Zunum says that they plan on making the planes fully electric once the necessary technology is developed. In the mean time, the planes have a 1,000-mile range and are capable of taking off with just 5,500 feet of runway. The hybrid planes also boast up to 80% less noise than conventional aircrafts, as well as between 80 to 100% less carbon emissions.
And the inexpensive cost of such aircrafts? Just 8 measly cents per mile, or roughly $250 per hour of air travel.
“We see electric as a way to level the playing field,” Kumar told BI. “By having smaller aircraft fly economically against airliners, we can really blow open the air system to every community.
“We can offer higher frequency of flights to airfields closer to your home or to your final destination without having to deal with baggage belts and TSA lines,” the Zunum CEO added.
Fly This Story Over To Your Friends: Share To Social Media – Photo by Zunum Aero
Since the moment I stepped onto the trading floor, the @NYSE has always held a special place in my heart. I am humbled and honored to have the opportunity to lead this organization. pic.twitter.com/600GP34hZe
— Stacey Cunningham (@stacey_cunning) May 22, 2018
Stacey Cunningham has just been named the president of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), making her the first woman to run the company in its entire 226-year history.
Cunningham started out as a summer intern at the NYSE in 1994. Two years later, she became one of three dozen women who were working as floor clerks amongst 1,300 men.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Cunningham says that when she first joined the staff, the women’s restroom was inside of an old phone booth, while the men’s restrooms were described as “palatial.”
The women’s restrooms were only redone to match the elegance of the men’s at the insistence of Muriel Siebert, who was the first woman on the NYSE staff in 1967, and the first woman to own a seat on the company board, which she only achieved after her application’s sponsorship was turned down by nine men.
The determined and persistent Siebert was cited as an inspiration for Cunningham’s career.
Now that Cunningham has been appointed as the 67th president of the NYSE, two of the world’s most well-known stock exchange operators are run by women – the other being Adena Friedman, who became chief executive of Nasdaq Inc. in January 2017.
43-year-old Cunningham has already expressed her excitement in taking over the company.
“Since the moment I stepped onto the trading floor, the NYSE has always held a special place in my heart,” she wrote of her new position on Twitter. “I am humbled and honored to have the opportunity to lead this organization.”
Share The Inspirational News With Your Friends – Photo by Stacey Cunningham
“Nunca pensé que era una idea loca porque sé que la música, desde siempre, es terapia. Creo que puede curar, es algo básico, muy profundo; el ritmo de la Tierra también es música" - @Sharon_Corr, sobre los beneficios de la música en @LaVanguardia: https://t.co/dOsWNr0RFDpic.twitter.com/ut1R90Qs1I
Two musicians are being hailed for an unusual performance earlier this week that was not only a positive step forward for science, but also an emotional contribution towards the next generation.
Sharon Corr, the violinist for Irish pop rock band The Corrs, was recently asked to perform for “hundreds of embryos growing in incubators” at the Institut Marques fertility center in Barcelona.
Her performance was part of the facility’s initiative to expose all of their embryonic residents to micro musical vibrations for 24 hours a day. The institute is building on past research which claims that embryos who are exposed to music are more developed than those who aren’t. Additionally, in vitro fertilization is shown to be 5% more successful with musically-exposed embryos.
Corrs was joined by Spanish musician Alex Ubago, and their performance was live streamed for embryos at the Institut Marques clinics in Clane, Ireland and Villa Salaria in Rome as well.
“It was a very emotional experience,” she told the Independent of her performance. “It is great to think that possibly we can be part of the future, that we can make it change.
“I am so amazed about the whole process and how it works and yet, in a way, I am not surprised that music really helps the embryos to form; this does not surprise me because music is the greatest therapy in the world so I feel very honored to be asked to do this.”
Dogs may be man’s best friend, but these two pups are clearly going to be close companions after this ordeal.
Smokey and Remus were playing in the backyard of their owner’s home in Mesa, Arizona last month when their shenanigans got a little too “rambunctious” and Smokey fell into the pool.
The security camera footage that captured the incident shows Smokey attempting to crawl back up from the pool onto dry land. When he can’t seem to get out of the water, he starts to get visibly more distressed.
Eager to help his friend, Remus tries to direct his friend towards the pool steps. After a few unsuccessful attempts, he simply decides to take the plunge and jump into the pool so he can give Smokey the boost that he needs to get a grip on the pool ledge and pull himself out.
Once they both crawl out of the pool and back to safety, Remus’s owner Laurie Becerra says that she found the dogs and was curious as to why they were wet. She then reviewed security footage and was moved by her pup’s valiant rescue of Smokey, who is her daughter’s pet dog.
Becerra posted the video to social media, saying “Remus may be a crazy pup but he’s got a heart of gold!!”
She also added that her husband had only stepped inside for a few minutes when Smokey fell into the pool. Not only that, the dogs have played in the backyard dozens of times without any incident.
(WATCH the video below)
Share The Pawesome Rescue Story With Your Friends – Photo by Viral Hog
Quote of the Day: “The art of being wise is the art of knowing what to overlook.” – William James
Photo: by Ed, on Flickr, CC
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: You may have been hearing some buzz lately about the “stunning” health benefits of drinking beverages that are made from mushrooms – but how much of those rave reviews is actually accurate? This nutritionist tackles the subject head-on and explains the possible myths, pros, and cons of buying into the mushroom coffee craze.
Notable Excerpt: “Most of these studies [on mushroom coffee] have not been replicated or confirmed by subsequent trials. So, the science is still somewhat unsettled. That leaves us with anecdotal evidence, and we are certainly not lacking in that. Many people say that after drinking these beverages, they feel remarkably energized, focused, or calm. They sleep better, they work better, they feel better. How much of that is due to good old-fashioned placebo effect?”
The Speaker: Monica Reinagel, MS, LD/N, CNS also known as The Nutrition Diva, is an expert on making healthy living as simple to understand as possible. The Baltimore-based nutritionist is the host of the fabulous fitness-centered podcast The Nutrition Diva’s Quick and Dirty Tips for Eating Well and Feeling Fabulous. Additionally, she is the bestselling author of several health books, such as “The Inflammation-Free Diet Plan” and “The Nutrition Diva’s Secrets For a Healthy Diet”.
Republished with permission from Peace News Network
Written by Kate Roff
May 18th, 2018
A tech project is being hailed for its unique ability to connect ordinary citizens with other people from around the world – including former US President Barack Obama.
Shared_Studios is an organization that builds ‘portals’ in different countries so that video cameras can join people together, even if they’re from remote or conflict-related regions.
In these unassuming gold-colored shipping containers, international visitors get to meet each other, share meals together, contribute to entrepreneurial collaborations, and even compete in dance-offs – all from the comfort of their own countries.
Shared_Studios founder Amar Bakshi said the project is about celebrating cultural connections, and “curating the diversity of the world.”
“We have 30 portals around the world,” Bakshi said. “Every portal connects to every other portal in the network. When you enter one you come face-to-face with someone in an identical portal somewhere else on earth and can converse live, full body, as if in the same room.”
“When people come in they describe feeling as if they are breathing the same air. Kids think that they can walk up through the wall and hug people of the other side.”
Over 75,000 people have experienced the portals, which are run by local curators in locations such as Erbil, Iraq; Gaza City, Palestine; Kigali, Rwanda; and Mexico City. With eight sites in the US already, the initiative is set to launch in Australia, India, Lebanon, Yemen, and Colombia this year.
When Obama experienced the initiative firsthand, he was impressed. “It’s an amazing technology, making it seem like you’re standing right in front of me,” President Obama said, speaking to participants appearing on a life-size virtual screen.
Co-founder Michelle Moghtader says: “We want this to happen all over the world, for everybody. Any location can really be a portal, as long as it has internet and a source of electricity.”
This story was submitted as a nomination to the Reader’s Digest “Top 10 Nicest Places in America” contest: a crowd-sourced effort to uncover nooks where people are still kind and respectful in an era of cultural and political divides. If you know of a community, business, or nonprofit where kindness prevails, then be sure to submit a testimony or anecdote here before the June 5th deadline.
We’ve lived in 15 different cities across the country in our 53 years together, and finally found our home in Buda, a small town on the outskirts of Austin.
The water tower in the town square is emblazoned with the motto, “Breathe Easy Here.” They weren’t kidding. I suffer from a lung condition which has greatly improved since settling in Buda.
This town has managed to maintain it’s small town charm and friendliness, despite the madness that surrounds us. Here, neighbors reach out to help neighbors and anyone else who is in need.
Stories About Buda
A while back, I learned of a young man who had come here looking for work to support his family. He was living in his car, and when his employer (a local company) learned of his situation, he reached out to our community to help. So many people chipped in. This young family was then given a place to live, furnishings, clothing, and just about anything else they could possible need — including toys for the children.
Then, when my elderly father was here for a visit before he passed away, folks went out of their way to shake his hand and thank him for his service. The local VFW chapter invited him to breakfast, and arranged for him to ride in their 4th of July parade. That meant so much to my Dad, and that is exactly representative of the kind of folks who call Buda home.
Of all of the many places we have lived, none compare to the kindness and caring that we have encountered here. It’s truly a wonderful place to live. And if that isn’t enough, it’s the weiner dog capital of the world. We just had a wonderful Spring festival with Weiner dog races and fun and games for all!
(WATCH the video below)
Reprinted with permission from Reader’s Digest. To learn more about GNN’s part in searching for the Top 10 Nicest Places, click here.
Share The Sweet Story Of Compassion With Your Friends – Photo by Buda Lions Club Annual Wiener Dog Races Preview 2018
A sandwich restaurant chain that hires homeless people has gone one step further for their rough sleeping employees by building them their own tiny house eco-village.
Starting next month, the village’s 11 portable, eco-friendly houses will host up to 20 homeless people for 12 to 16 months. During their stay in the village, the residents will be given essential training, education, job resources, and transitional support until they can finally be helped into permanent housing at the end of their stay. Then, another 20 residents can move in for their own transition.
The village was built by Social Bite: a Scottish café and charity that has been training and hiring the homeless to work in their 6 locations across Edinburgh. In addition to 100% of their restaurant proceeds going to charity, Social Bite also provided over 100,000 items of free food to the homeless last year.
“Something special has been created,” said Angela Constance, the Scottish communities minister at the village’s launch on Thursday, according to This Is Place.
“Not just building houses, but building homes, building community – a community that will provide support and enable folk to rebuild their lives.”
Cyrenians, the nonprofit that has been assessing village housing applications in partnership with Social Bite, says that one of the only conditions for admission is that residents much not have any ongoing substance abuse or addiction at the time of their application.
“The mark of any society is how you look after those who are most excluded. This village says an extraordinary thing about how we all want the world to be,” said Cyrenians chief executive Euan Aitken in a speech marking the opening of the village.
This American soldier was so excited to be reunited with the dog she rescued, it took her a minute to actually greet her patiently waiting husband.
To be fair, however, it has been seven months since U.S. Army Reserve Sgt. Tracy McKithern last saw Erby the dog.
McKithern says that she first met Erby when she was deployed in Iraq back in 2017. The puppy and her mother, both of which were clearly hungry and abused, had been wandering the streets looking for food when they arrived at McKithern’s military base.
“She loved everyone,” said McKithern. “She is the sweetest little soul. She came up to me immediately, probably hungry, but gentle. I think she was looking for love more than anything else.”
The sergeant named her “Erby” after Erbil, the Iraqi city in which they were stationed. McKithern, along with soldiers from the Italian and German military units, fed the homeless dogs and looked after them until they finally put on some weight. Whenever the soldiers went out on missions, Erby would be waiting for them at the base upon their return.
Then, when McKithern’s 1-year deployment was coming to an end, she couldn’t bear to part with the dog. She posted a photo of Erby to social media with a caption saying: “I wish I could take her home.”
Friends and family rose to the occasion and sent her links to rescue organizations that could help bring Erby to America. One such nonprofit, Puppy Rescue Mission, immediately offered to help. After encouraging strangers to donate over $3,500 for the vaccinations and travel expenses, Erby was finally ready to join McKithern at her home in St. Petersburg, Florida.
McKithern was initially worried that she would be sent home before she could complete all the paperwork, but her German and Italian friends in Iraq vowed to finish the process so Erby could be sent to America.
Erby technically arrived in America two months ago, but she arrived at JFK airport the very same day that McKithern was sent on another deployment for two months in Wisconsin.
Finally, the pup and her owner were reunited at Tampa Bay International Airport last week – and the meeting was a sweet one.
“I can’t believe it,” said McKithern. “It feels like a miracle is happening.”
Erby’s mom is still being taken care of by the soldiers in Iraq, but McKithern is optimistic about the canine soon being adopted and brought to America.
(WATCH the sweet video below)
Be Sure To Share The Pawesome Story With Your Friends
Days after the Royal Wedding between the new Duke and Duchess of Sussex at Windsor Castle, Kensington Palace released the official photos of their wedding – and they’re truly lovely.
The photos were taken by celebrity photographer Alexi Lubomirski, who was also the mastermind behind the couple’s engagement photos in December.
The first of the photos features the Duke and Duchess alongside their bridesmaids and page boys, many of whom are related to the happy nuptials as godchildren.
News outlets were quick to note that the couch on which Prince Harry is seated is the same emerald green couch used by his late mother, Princess Diana, during his christening in 1984. Additionally, the flower bouquet in the Duchess’s hands is made up of forget-me-nots, which were one of Princess Diana’s favorite flowers.
Though the bouquet was sent to rest on the Grave of the Unknown Warrior at Westminster Abbey, the rest of the flowers used for the wedding ceremony were donated to hospice patients in London.
The second photo depicts just the happy couple sitting on the steps of the castle’s East Terrace.
“Their Royal Highnesses are delighted with these official portraits,” said a statement from the Palace.
Finally, Lubomirski shot a photo of the entire Royal Family, along with the Duchess’s mother, who was the only member of her family to attend the wedding.
According to the Windsor city council, over 110,000 well-wishers filled the streets to show their love to the noble family, 67,000 train trips were made in and out of the two city train stations, and over 11 million people tuned in to watch the wedding’s coverage.
Quote of the Day: “Commandment number one of any truly civilized society is this: Let people be different.” – David Grayson
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: Life and death are a package deal. They cannot be pulled apart and we cannot truly live unless we are aware of death – which is why Frank Ostaseski has distilled everything he has learned from dealing with over 1,000 dying people into five key lessons: don’t wait; welcome everything; bring your whole self into every experience; find a place of rest; and cultivate a ‘don’t know’ mindset.
Notable Excerpt: “Dying is inevitable and intimate. And … dying people, people like you and I, the people in these photos, they find a way to meet the unbearable, the unimaginable, in remarkable ways, actually. This isn’t a fairy tale or some happy ending story, you know? It’s a transformation of tragedy. This discovery happens regularly in people. They find something that allows them to be larger than the small separate self they’ve taken themselves to be. Now you might think, ‘too late’ and I would agree it’s too late; too late to do that work then. But here’s the thing: if that possibility for transformation exists at the time of dying, then it exists now. We don’t have to wait till the time of our dying to learn the lessons it has to teach.”
The Speaker: Frank Ostaseski is the co-founder of The Zen Hospice Project, which is the first Buddhist hospice in America. An expert on dealing with death and end-of-life issues, Ostaseski has taught dozens of workshops on how to deal with the challenges faced by the dying. Not only that, the Dalai Lama honored Ostaseski for the compassion that he has shown dying Americans. His book, “The Five Invitations: Discovering What Death Can Teach Us About Living Fully” has been published in different languages across five continents.
(LISTEN to the inspiring talk below) – Photo by Frank Ostaseski
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This story was submitted as a nomination to the Reader’s Digest “Top 10 Nicest Places in America” contest: a crowd-sourced effort to uncover nooks where people are still kind and respectful in an era of cultural and political divides. If you know of a community, business, or nonprofit where kindness prevails, then be sure to submit a testimony or anecdote here before the June 5th deadline.
There is no competition when it comes to the village of North Riverside.
Neighbors, strangers and village staff are more than fun and nice: They are genuinely caring, compassionate and concerned about those around them, 24/7. From sharing garden vegetables; shoveling snow; mowing lawns; driving to doctor appointments; donating unused items; paying utility bills; kids writing cards to the elderly; giving struggling, depressed residents a reason to smile; and hosting youth scholarships where no one is turned away – no place in the country comes close.
For more than 25 years, residents have made the Golden Rule the town mantra and it has changed lives, including my own — and I don’t live there. I wish I did. God bless 3,000 of the most caring people in the USA.
The town even has an active Neighborhood Services committee that helps all residents in need — they’ve even written a manual on how to do so!
Stories About North Riverside
One time, a captain chose to give a little live Christmas tree to a man who was very ill. The sick man was touched by the little tree since he had no decorations in his room and always remained in bed. The next day, we received a phone call from his niece. She said, “Thank you so much for what you have done. After the captain left, my uncle asked if we could drive him around town to see all the decorations. We had been asking him to do this, but he refused to try and now he wanted to go out.” She said she had tears in her eyes. A few months later, we learned he passed away, but we felt great joy that we had made his last Christmas on Earth a little happier.
Another time, there was a power outage on one side of a neighborhood block that lasted for over 30 hours. A neighbor ran borrowed extension cords to her neighbors on the other side of the street so they could get power to turn her oxygen on. The Public Works then employees stopped by to place two protective barriers to protect the cord that was running across the street. Other neighbors stored food in their refrigerators – and another neighbor started a generator for a family with frail individuals.
Finally, there was a block party get together and a couple on the block was invited for three years and had never come. But for the third year, they came out. All the neighbors gave them a round of applause. Even the mailman was invited and came to that party. No one is left out.
