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Britain’s Wildlife Baby Boom Continues: There Were No Seals And ‘The next day there were 200’

By
Andy Corbley
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Photo by Kevin Mueller on Unsplash
A grey seal in Scotland – Photo by Kevin Mueller on Unsplash

Grey seal colonies are flourishing along England’s east coast after being absent or scarce for years.

Thousands of pups are born every year along breaches that are closed to the public in winter, something which one ‘seal warden’ described as Britain’s greatest “wildlife safari.”

Even though lower England is one of the most densely populated regions on the planet, there are places one can see megafauna gather in numbers one would expect to see in Africa.

The 10-mile beach at Orford Ness in Suffolk, and Horsey beach 50 miles north in Norfolk teem with these big grey and white lumps during the November-January breeding season. By Christmas day, 1,200 seal pups had been born at Horsey, a number expected to grow by 2,500 before the breeding season ends.

At Orford Ness, their return came out of nowhere. Back in 2021, along a beach that belongs to England’s National Heritage Trust and where Cold War-era weapons were tested, the norm was to see zero seals. Then, one day, everything changed.

“One day, there were none, and the next day there were 200,” says Matt Wilson, a countryside manager for the trust. “Since then, they’ve come back each year, and the juveniles have stayed.”

This year, 600 pups were born on the beach, and according to seal conservationists, the current pup mortality rate is lower than the birth rate.

SEAL STORIES: From 150,000 Pups to None At All, Fur Seals Return to California Islands After 150 Years

Storms are significant mortality events as they blow pups out to sea, and part of a grey seal’s normal behavior is to waddle up beaches to shelter behind vegetated dunes. To that end, Friends of Horsey Seals, a local volunteer wildlife charity, has fenced off a section where the colony can escape to in the event of bad weather.

MORE MARINE COMEBACKS: Out-of-Control Invasive Crab Species Has Met its Match: Cute and Hungry Otters

According to Wilson and others speaking with the Guardian, the rapid increase in the grey seal population may be down to the presence of offshore wind farms. These structures offer ample space for mollusks and bivalves to glom on, more strongly anchoring the marine food web.

Another cause might be cleaner water resulting from reductions in pollution along non-tourist beaches observed in the last 10 years.

SHARE This Amazing Wildlife Viewing Opportunity With Your Friends… 

‘Exciting’ New CAR T-cell Treatment for Lupus Could End the Need for Lifelong Medication

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Andy Corbley
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Lupus effects on the skin - credit Nephron, CC BY-SA 3.0
Lupus effects on the skin – credit Nephron, CC BY-SA 3.0

Using a cancer treatment method, a small study has seen sufferers of Lupus go into remission such that they were able to halt their regular medication within just three months.

The results were hailed as a groundbreaking achievement in the treatment of Lupus, a debilitating life-long disease experienced by 5 million people around the world, and the results even bear the hallmarks of a potential cure.

Two studies, the first published in Germany, and the second in the UK with patients of the most severe form of the disease, refractory systemic lupus erythematosus, (SLE) saw patients receive CAR T-cell therapy, which genetically modifies a patient’s own immune cells ex vivo.

They are then injected back into the patient carrying an important mission in their genetic code. In almost all use cases of CAR T-cell therapy, this has been the targeting of cancer cells that use signaling molecules to evade detection by the immune system. But in this case, it was used to target the faulty biological equipment that causes the disease.

Lupus is an autoimmune disorder, meaning that defects in a patient’s genetics lead to their immune system targeting normal, healthy cells. Lupus is driven by a particular kind of immune cell called a B cell, and the treatment addressed T cells with orders to attack B cells carrying the defect.

In the German study, which was conducted in 2022, all five patients experienced a depletion of B cells, which eventually came back through normal cellular replenishment in the bloodstream, but without a return of Lupus symptoms.

MORE GENETIC TREATMENTS: Scientists Rewind the Age of Skin Cells by 30 Years – And Others Nearby Become More Youthful Too

“We’ve always known that in principle, CAR T therapies could have broad applications, and it’s very encouraging to see early evidence that this promise is now being realized,” said Dr. Carl June at the time; a professor at Penn State University Medicine and Director of the Center for Cellular Immunotherapies at Penn’s Abramson Cancer Center, who wasn’t involved with the study.

Recently, the same trial was replicated with three patients in the UK, including a 32-year-old and a 50-year-old who had been living with Lupus for 30 years.

The patients will be monitored for 15 years as a follow-up to examine the long-term effects. As it stands, the short-term effects relate to a significant weakening of the immune system, and or a hyperactivity of the immune system.

MORE LUPUS STORIES: Scientists Discover Genetic Cause of Lupus, a Chronic Autoimmune Disease

Lupus, particularly SLE, involves inflammation of internal organs, joint pain, acute swelling, and other effects that many patients would consider far worse than even the long-term side effects of the treatment.

“Lupus is a disease that requires lifelong medication, but this therapy has the potential to change that, which is incredibly exciting. This groundbreaking new therapy marks a significant milestone in our research into lupus,” said Professor Ben Parker, a consultant rheumatologist at Manchester Royal Infirmary, where the procedure was in part conducted.

SHARE This Amazing Advance With Those You Whose Loved Ones Have Lupus…

“Great minds have purposes; others have wishes.” – Washington Irving

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Good News Network
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Quote of the Day: “Great minds have purposes; others have wishes.” – Washington Irving

Photo by: Dim Hou

With a new inspirational quote every day, atop the perfect photo—collected and archived on our Quote of the Day page—why not bookmark GNN.org for a daily uplift?

Good News in History, January 2

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Good News Network
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Wikimedia Commons

Today is also National Science Fiction Day, a date that honors the birth, 105 years ago, of literary sci-fi genius Isaac Asimov. A Russian immigrant in Brooklyn, he taught himself to read at age 5, skipped several grades, and got his high school diploma at 15. He sold his first short story at the age of 19, and became famous for his I, Robot and Foundation series books. READ more about the great man… (1920)

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Malibu Resident Runs Toward Blaze to Wake Family in Unheralded Hero Story

By
Andy Corbley
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Flames from the Franklin Fire threaten to burn this Malibu home - credit: courtesy of Jonny Constantine
Flames from the Franklin Fire threaten to burn this Malibu home – credit: courtesy of Jonny Constantine

From California comes a story of heroism buried in the ashes of a recent wildfire.

As reported by the American Red Cross, Malibu resident Johnny Constantine might have saved himself first, but instead raced towards the fire as it approached his friend’s house, determined to ensure they escaped as well.

Smoke and embers from the recent Franklin Fire filled the air as the red glow illuminated his friends’ backyard.

“I saw the lights were out, but the bell worked. I kept hitting the button and yelling from their gate to wake up,” Constantine recounted. “The fire was so close—the smoke, red glow, and embers looked like it was going to come over the hill onto their property at any moment.”

After 15-20 tense minutes of honking, shouting, and ringing the bell, his friends finally woke up and escaped just as the fire neared their home. “I didn’t leave until they were safe,” Constantine said.

Thanks to a mixture of rain, low temperatures, and a lack of wind, the Franklin Fire stalled on its path across the Malibu hills. Shortly after Constantine’s evacuation, the fire was around 30% contained.

AFTER THE BLAZE: After Mojave Fires, Camels Help Restore Iconic Joshua Tree Groves in the Cherished California Desert

State officials said fire activity was minimal and there was no significant fire growth by mid-December. The last update placed the number of structures destroyed at 13, compared to the over 1,200 destroyed in the Dixie Fire.

GNN recently reported on the partnership between CAL Fire and Univ. of California San Diego that aims to monitor over 1,000 cameras for forest fire activity with AI. The use of these cameras alerted firefighters to the beginnings of 77 forest fires before a 911 call had been made about any of them.

MORE FIRE RESCUES: 18-Year-old Uses Her Tracking Skills to Guide Hikers on Wildfire Evacuation Route

Constantine was able to visit an American Red Cross evacuation shelter at Palisades, just one that the organization maintains for sheltering those fleeing these fires.

SHARE The Story Of This Man Refusing To Leave His Friend Behind… 

Global Project of the Year Turns 1-Hour Car Ride into 5-Minute Journey Along the Seafloor

By
Andy Corbley
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-credit: CCCC First Harbor Engineering Co. Ltd. courtesy
The dry dock where the tubes were assembled – credit: CCCC First Harbor Engineering Co. Ltd. courtesy

The frigid waters of a bay in northeastern China are the site of a remarkable feat of engineering that’s won global recognition for its accomplishments.

Bolted to the seafloor in six individual segments, the Dalian Bay Undersea Tunnel spans over 2 miles of water and connects the peninsula-bound city of the same name with the mainland.

It was announced as Best Project of the Year by the decades-old American Engineering review, ENR, for its mixture of first-of-its-kind technologies and methodologies used in the construction.

Allowing motorists to avoid the lengthy C-shaped stretch of road around the bay, the trip has been shrunk from one hour to just 5 minutes.

“The team conducted an investigation on offshore concrete structures ranging from 15 to 86 years naturally exposed in the cold sea areas of China,” Sun Zhu, deputy chief engineer with CCCC First Harbor Engineering Co., the lead contractor on the project, told ENR. “Based on this research, a theoretical model was established to predict the 100-year service life of concrete structures in the marine environment of Dalian’s cold region.”

18 tubes of continuously poured concrete make up the undersea structure, each consisting of 7 segments containing 6 lanes for traffic. The tubes, some of which curve to form the tunnel’s path, were assembled 6 at a time along the edge of the bay in the highest capacity dry dock in all of Asia, which was built just for the project.

The total length of the curve adds up to around 1,050 meters, or around 3,200 feet; making it the tightest curve in an undersea tunnel in China. The segments were bolted onto rocks 32 meters below the sea.

– credit: CCCC First Harbor Engineering Co. Ltd. courtesy
– credit: CCCC First Harbor Engineering Co. Ltd. courtesy

Because no such tunnel had ever been built in such cold temperatures, an on-site laboratory was established by First Harbor and its partners that ended up conducting 20 large-scale engineering and physics experiments.

MORE INCREDIBLE ENGINEERING: Sicily Will be Reachable Via World’s Longest Suspension Bridge That Italians Have Wanted for Centuries

Before each of the 60,000-ton tubes was sunk into their positions, they were pre-stressed with cables that would eventually be cut, rending the tubes of concrete flexible.

“The technological research and development, as well as the preparatory work undertaken in the early stages, played a pivotal role” in the project, Zhu says. “It underscores the importance of advanced planning and prioritizing technology in engineering projects, particularly for large-scale undertakings.”

ALSO CHECK OUT: Awesome Bridge Swings Back and Forth to Allow Boats to Pass Over Long-Divided Scottish River (LOOK)

All 18 tubes were laid in just 20 months, and after assembly wrapped up in April 2023, the tunnel was opened in 2024.

SHARE This Incredible Accomplishment With Your Friends On Facebook… 

Minnesota Summer Camp for HIV-Positive Kids Closes Down–Because There Aren’t Any More

By
Andy Corbley
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Campers paddle on a Willow River lake at One Heartland - credit One Heartland, submitted
Campers paddle on a Willow River lake at One Heartland – credit One Heartland, submitted

For those in the market, an 80-acre campground complete with river, lake, boat ramps, docks, and cabins in northern Minnesota is available after the previous owners were forced to close.

That’s because thanks to rock-bottom rates of HIV infection among babies in the state, One Heartland, one of the nation’s largest summer campgrounds for HIV-positive kids, is no longer needed.

Perinatal transmission of HIV, occurring when children contract the virus while in the womb or breastfeeding, has fallen to below 1% in HIV-positive mothers in the United States thanks to antiretroviral medications.

Globally, new HIV infections among children up to age 14 have declined by 38% since 2015.

One Heartland was founded in 1993 after Neil Willenson, a college student who wanted to be an actor, read about a 5-year-old HIV-positive child in Milwaukee facing isolation and stigma at school.

He created One Heartland as a short project, but ended up running it for the next 30 years.

“The impact was so transformative the first summer in 1993 that during the week the children were already saying ‘When can we come back?’” Willenson told Minnesota Star Tribune.

ALSO CHECK OUT: Botswana Cuts HIV Transmission Rates to Children from 40% to 1% in ‘Groundbreaking Achievement’

Willenson used to rent space in camps every summer, but he soon grew tired of being rejected for health concerns. Raising money, including from former Minnesota Twins player and manager Paul Molitor, he went and bought the Willow River property to turn it into One Heartland.

“We wanted to create a safe haven where children affected by the disease, perhaps for the first time in their young lives, could speak openly about it and be in an environment of unconditional love and acceptance,” added Willenson.

ON THE SUBJECT OF HIV: Fourth Patient Seemingly Cured of HIV Through Wild Coincidence

Children arrived at Willow River from all over the country, courtesy of a referral from the NIH, and donations from generous benefactors.

“That there’s no longer a need for the camp’s original purpose ‘is the greatest story that I ever could have imagined, it’s something I never could have predicted,'” Minnesota Star Tribune’s Jana Hollingsworth writes.

SHARE This Bittersweet Ending To A Man’s Heartwarming Work…

Virginia Sets Date for Nuclear Fusion Electricity as Ground Is Broken on New Plant

By
Andy Corbley
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A rendering of the ARC plant - credit: CFS, released
A rendering of the ARC plant – credit: CFS, released

In a bold step towards the future of energy, a location and date have been decided for the first commercial nuclear fusion power plant in America.

Secured by Virginia Governor Glen Youngkin with help from eastern seaboard utility company Dominion Energy, Chesterfield County, Virginia will welcome Commonwealth Fusion Systems experimental ARC plant on the site of a decommissioned coal power plant.

Founded on the campus of MIT in Boston, Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS) is one of the world’s leaders in advancing the quest for commercial nuclear fusion energy—the ultimate energy source for humanity which replicates the process that forged our Sun to create emission-free, pollution-free energy.

Work will begin on the ARC plant next year, even before a smaller, prototype reactor is finished in Fort Devons Massachusetts.

“Dominion will provide us with development and technical expertise while we’ll provide them with knowledge about how to build and operate fusion power plants,” said CFS chief executive officer Bob Mumgaard.

Governor Youngkin said Virginia managed to attract CFS over 100 other global locations. CFS, which has received $2 billion in funding from an estimated 60 private investors that include Google and Eni, the Italian oil and gas giant, hasn’t suggested a price for the ARC plant, but Engineering News Record quoted outlets putting the figure around $3 billion; significantly less than the ITER fusion reactor in Europe.

CFS said the development of northern Virginia as an artificial intelligence and data center hub of the East Coast attracted them to the Chesterfield site. The first component of the ARC plant will be the fusion complex, and is slated to be finished in 2026.

WHERE FUSION IS HEADING:

The ARC plant will use a tokamak: a doughnut-shaped chamber enclosed by superconducting magnets that will heat hydrogen isotopes to 180 million degrees Fahrenheit, causing them to form a plasma, fuse, and release energy as a result. No nuclear waste is produced through the method, and the hydrogen isotopes are either isolated from seawater or produced as a byproduct of the fusion process.

One single plant is claimed by CFS to be capable of generating 400 megawatts of electricity, and Youngkin says it will bring billions of economic development.

The ‘early 2030s’ is predicted to see the whole of the plant operational and selling clean electricity to local partners.

SHARE This Latest Advance In The Pursuit Of Clean Energy… 

“And now we welcome the new year. Full of things that have never been.” – Rainer Maria Rilke

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Good News Network
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Getty Images for Unsplash+

Quote of the Day: “And now we welcome the new year. Full of things that have never been.” – Rainer Maria Rilke

Photo 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?

Getty Images for Unsplash+

Good News in History, January 1

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Good News Network
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UPMC Mercy Hospital - Crazypaco CC 4.0. BY SA

175 years ago today, the world’s first “Mercy” Hospital was founded in Pittsburgh, United States, by a group of Sisters of Mercy from Ireland. Mercy Hospital served the Pittsburgh region through World War I, the worldwide epidemic of Spanish influenza, the Great Depression, and World War II. One of the most compelling examples of the hospital’s service to the community occurred in 1931 when Mercy Hospital donated more than $11,545,733 worth of healthcare services in today’s money. READ about how it’s grown… (1847)

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Youngest Cancer Patient Treated with ‘Nano-knife’ Is Now Cancer-Free

By
Andy Corbley
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George, his parents, and his treatment team - credit: Press handout
George, his parents, and his treatment team – credit: Press handout

Following three rounds of chemotherapy, a 2-year-old Englishman has become the youngest patient ever treated with ‘nanoknife’ technology.

This still-experimental cancer treatment helps to neutralize tumor sections via electrical currents.

George, from Camden, was diagnosed with rhabdomyosarcoma—a cancer of the liver and bile duct last year.

Dr. Sam Godfrey, science engagement lead at Cancer Research UK spoke to the BBC about the treatment, calling it cutting-edge, and explaining how it uses electrical currents to ensure surgeons get a better margin of clearance around a tumor.

This “cutting-edge surgical treatment will inform the treatment of children around the world,” he said.

“The surgeons managed to remove all the tumor and had clear margins all the way around the removed section of his liver,” said George’s father, Johnathan. “This was the news we’d been hoping and praying for.

CONTINUE READING: Belgian Boy is the First Child in the World to Have Been Cured of Brain Stem Glioma, a Brutal Cancer

After 18 months, George was declared cancer-free. Johnathan said that the family was proud their son’s treatment plan was able to advance medical science in the country, potentially helping to better the chances of other children like George.

CELEBRATE George’s Recovery And The Success Of This Unique Technology…

Firefighters Surprise Boy with Brand New Bicycle After Cutting Spokes to Free His Foot

By
Andy Corbley
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- credit: Fernandina Beach Fire Department
– credit: Fernandina Beach Fire Department

On December 18th, Fernandina Beach Fire Department rushed to the scene of a bicycle collision where a young man was trapped under his bike wheel.

Before the firefighters could free the boy, named KJ, they had to cut his foot loose from where it was trapped among the spokes of the wheel, ultimately ruining the bike.

KJ was then brought to the hospital to be treated for injuries including a nasty ankle sprain, but seeing how it was the holidays, the firemen felt they had to do something to cheer the lad up.

They came to the hospital and surprised him with a brand-new bike and helmet.

The following day, they shared a photograph on the Fernandina Fire Department Facebook page of them surprising KJ, who appears to be asleep, with his new gift.

ANOTHER STORY LIKE THIS: When Boy Asks Strangers for Yard Work to Save up for New Game Console, Cops Are Called–And They Buy Him a New PS5 (WATCH)

His mother Joanna, smiling on his behalf in the photo, said that the injury left no serious damage but that KJ was still in shock.

“This reminds us of what the holidays are truly about. Merry Christmas and happy holidays from our fire family to yours. Stay safe, Fernandina,” the fire department said in the post.

SHARE This Brilliant Surprise From Generous Firefighters…

Stranger Who Gave $125,000 Inheritance to Neighbors, Left Impact That Is ‘Out of this world’

By
Andy Corbley
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Gemma O’Brien’s children in Blackpool - credit: family photo
Gemma O’Brien’s children in Blackpool – credit: family photo

From Liverpool comes the story of a son who decided to donate the inheritance of his mother to make his city a better place.

When David Clarke lost his mother in a cycling accident, he was devastated. He inherited roughly $125,000 from her, but she transferred something else to him as well: a sense of civic responsibility.

“She had a huge social conscience and was interested in the world and how it worked—a lot of my moral framework comes from her,” Clarke told the Guardian.

Feeling like he should do something that reflected the woman’s values, he wrote to 600 neighbors in his postcode of L8 and asked their opinion: what should he do with this windfall?

Only 38 people wrote back, and of these, Clarke formed a committee that nominated 4 different Liverpool charities who would each receive a quarter of the inheritance (£25,000).

Team Oasis and Liverpool Kids Plant to Plate are two of the charities that received money from Clarke.

The former is based in one of Liverpool’s poorest areas and provides free meals to families and organizes workshops for dance, football, photography, or other rewarding activities. Half of the children that depend on Team Oasis are considered physically disabled, or living with special needs and/or mental health challenges.

The charity’s director Paul Nilson called the donation “such a blessing.” Some of the money was used to fund RV holidays in sea towns like Blackpool, a traditional English family getaway that these families might never otherwise experience.

“I could never get to places like that on my own with my kids,” Gemma O’Brien, who along with her three kids, frequent Team Oasis; particularly for her eldest son, who had a severe brain injury when he was young and is also autistic.

“They’ve made adjustments for him from day one. He found his passion for music there: he’s self-taught on guitar and piano now. It’s one of the only places where I feel safe and not judged.”

ALSO CHECK OUT: 

Liverpool Kids Plant to Plate organizes lessons on growing and preparing one’s own food for kids in the urban areas of the city.

“To the guy who’s donated the money, the impact it’s had is out of this world,” O’Brien said.

MORE SMALL TIME PHILANTHROPY: 

The story is reminiscent of the ‘democratized philanthropy’ of the Austrian Heiress Marlene Engelhorn, when she nominated 50 Salzburg citizens to give away her $25 million inheritance.

Designated the Good Council for Redistribution, the members, selected at random from a pool of 10,000 people, were offered “a series of lectures including from philosophers and economics professors to inspire their choices,” Euro News reports.

SHARE This Liverpudlian’s Choice Of Generosity Rather Than Enrichment…

Study Finds First Evidence That Heart Muscles Can Regenerate

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Andy Corbley
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A left ventricular assist device - credit: HeartWare Inc. / Framingham via AHA open access.
A left ventricular assist device – credit: HeartWare Inc. / Framingham via AHA open access.

A study looking at the bearers of artificial hearts found that a subset of them can regenerate heart muscle tissue—the first time such an observation has ever been made.

It may open the door to new ways to treat and perhaps someday cure heart failure, the deadliest non-communicable disease on Earth. The results were published in the journal Circulation.

A team of physician-scientists at the University of Arizona’s Heart Center in Tucson led a collaboration of international experts to investigate whether heart muscles can regenerate.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, heart failure affects nearly 7 million US adults and is responsible for 14% of deaths per year. There is no cure for heart failure, though medications can slow its progression. The only treatment for advanced heart failure, other than a transplant, is a pump replacement through an artificial heart, called a left ventricular assist device, which can help the heart pump blood.

“Skeletal muscle has a significant ability to regenerate after injury. If you’re playing soccer and you tear a muscle, you need to rest it, and it heals,” said Hesham Sadek, director of the University’s Sarver Heart Center.

It was previously thought that when a heart muscle is injured, it could never grow back.

“Irrefutable evidence of heart muscle regeneration has never been shown before in humans,” he said. “This study provided direct evidence.”

The project began with tissue from artificial heart patients provided by colleagues at the University of Utah Health and School of Medicine led by Stavros Drakos, MD, PhD, and a pioneer in left ventricular assist device-mediated recovery.

Teams in Sweden and Germany used their innovative method of carbon dating human heart tissue to track whether these samples contained newly generated cells. The investigators found that patients with artificial hearts regenerated muscle cells at more than six times the rate of healthy hearts.

“This is the strongest evidence we have, so far, that human heart muscle cells can actually regenerate, which really is exciting, because it solidifies the notion that there is an intrinsic capacity of the human heart to regenerate,” Sadek said.

“It also strongly supports the hypothesis that the inability of the heart muscle to ‘rest’ is a major driver of the heart’s lost ability to regenerate shortly after birth. It may be possible to target the molecular pathways involved in cell division to enhance the heart’s ability to regenerate.”

In 2011, Sadek published a paper in Science showing that while heart muscle cells actively divide in utero, they stop dividing shortly after birth to devote their energy to pumping blood through the body nonstop, with no time for breaks.

In 2014, he published evidence of cell division in patients with artificial hearts, hinting that their heart muscle cells might have been regenerating because they were able to rest.

These findings, combined with other research teams’ observations that some artificial heart patients could have their devices removed after experiencing a reversal of symptoms, led him to wonder if the artificial heart provides cardiac muscles the equivalent of bed rest like a person needs when recovering from injury.

ALSO CHECK OUT: Exercise Cuts Heart Disease Risk by 23% With Benefits Doubling for Those With Depression

“The pump pushes blood into the aorta, bypassing the heart,” he said. “The heart is essentially resting.”

Sadek’s previous studies indicated that this rest might be beneficial for the heart muscle cells, but he needed to design an experiment to determine whether patients with artificial hearts were actually regenerating muscles.

Next, Sadek wants to figure out why only about 25% of patients are “responders” to artificial hearts, meaning that their cardiac muscle regenerates.

MORE BREAKTHROUGHS FOR HEART DISEASE: Titanium Maglev Heart Implanted Successfully in a Patient for First Time May Help Others Waiting for a Transplant

“It’s not clear why some patients respond and some don’t, but it’s very clear that the ones who respond have the ability to regenerate heart muscle,” he said. “The exciting part now is to determine how we can make everyone a responder, because if you can, you can essentially cure heart failure.

“The beauty of this is that a mechanical heart is not a therapy we hope to deliver to our patients in the future—these devices are tried and true, and we’ve been using them for years.”

SHARE This First-Ever Demonstration Of Heart Muscle Regeneration With Your Friends… 

“’Tis not enough to help the feeble up, but to support them after.” – William Shakespeare

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Good News Network
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Quote of the Day: “’Tis not enough to help the feeble up, but to support them after.” – William Shakespeare

Photo by: Sebastián León Prado

With a new inspirational quote every day, atop the perfect photo—collected and archived on our Quote of the Day page—why not bookmark GNN.org for a daily uplift?

Good News in History, December 31

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Good News Network
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2014 photo by Gage Skidmore, CC license

Happy 81st Birthday to Sir Ben Kingsley, the English actor who has won an Oscar, Grammy, BAFTA, two Golden Globes, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. He is best known for his starring role as Mohandas Gandhi in the acclaimed 1982 film Gandhi, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor. You may also love his work in Schindler’s List, Hugo, and Iron Man 3, among other films. Watch a Top 10 video showcasing his best roles… (1943)

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Out-of-Control Invasive Crab Species Has Met its Match: Cute and Hungry Otters

By
Andy Corbley
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An invasive green crab - credit: NOAA Alaska Fisheries
An invasive green crab – credit: NOAA Alaska Fisheries

From California comes the story of native species defending our shores from pillaging green crabs introduced from Europe.

Destroying native crab hatcheries, hunting juvenile salmon, and leveling eelgrass beds, this clawed cancer has met its match in the southern sea otter.

At Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve, a newly invigorated population of otters has shocked scientists by sparing this sensitive ecosystem almost entirely from the crabs’ destruction.

The green crab is one of the most destructive invasive species in US marine territory. They were first introduced to North America in the 1800s, likely hitching a ride in the ballast water of merchant ships from Europe.

Over 1 million green crabs have been caught by Washington wildlife managers following a 2022 emergency order by the state Governor, costing the state $12 million. In California, researchers from the University of California Davis spent years trying to remove them from Stinson Beach’s Seadrift Lagoon, only to see them return. In Oregon, crabbers are encouraged to try and catch at least 35 per trip.

Elkhorn Slough has been occupied by green crabs since the year 2000, but over time, managers noticed something extraordinary. Their numbers were diminishing without any human influence.

Southern sea otters were nearly hunted to extinction in the 19th century for their furs, only gaining a measure of protection in 1913 before an eventual 1977 entry on the Endangered Species List. Lacking the blubber layer of other marine mammals, sea otters need to eat tremendous amounts of calories to stay warm, a voracious appetite which, as it turned out, they trained on the green crabs.

Elkhorn Slough estuary is the only one of its kind in the Southern United States to have been repopulated by otters. 120 can be found there.

DEFEATING INVADERS: Invasive ‘Murder Hornets’ Are Wiped Out in the US, Using Transmitters That Led Back to the Nests

“The otters eating the crabs benefited the eelgrass, which contributed to better water quality” which helped the otters, said Rikke Jeppesen, an estuarine ecologist with the Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve who was the lead author of a paper published December 10th about the otters and their effects on the ecosystem.

“When the otter population was the lowest back in 2003-2004, we thought the green crabs were going to take over Elkhorn Slough,” she told USA Today. “And then they didn’t. And for that we thank the otters.”

ANOTHER WAY OF DEALING WITH INVASIVES: The Perfect Answer for Berlin’s Invasive Species Problem – Make Them Into Delicious Cuisine

Jeppesen said that she and her colleagues used to be able to catch 100 green crabs in a single trap, whereas today they may not even get 5.

Repopulation of the southern sea otter has been gradual, and despite Elkhorn Slough being the only estuary where they live at maximum capacity, around 3,000 inhabit United States waters. Their recovery should hopefully reverse the decades of destruction wrought by the crabs, and prevent them from recolonizing areas they once conquered.

CELEBRATE These Otters’ Successful Campaign Against The Green Crabs…

‘Milking’ the Air for Water: Zero-Energy Technique Doubles Survival Rate for Young Trees to Reforest After Fires

By
Andy Corbley
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The fog catcher's artificial pine needles - credit: LIFE Nieblas
The fog catcher’s artificial pine needles – credit: LIFE Nieblas

In the Canary Islands, in Barcelona, and in Chile, a unique fog catcher design is sustaining dry forests with water without emissions, or even infrastructure.

Replicating how pine needles catch water, the structure need only be brought on-site and set up, without roads, powerlines, or irrigation channels.

Fog catching is an ancient practice—renamed “cloud milking” by an EU-funded ecology project on the Canary Islands known as LIFE Nieblas (nieblas means fog).

“In recent years, the Canaries have undergone a severe process of desertification and we’ve lost a lot of forest through agriculture. And then in 2007 and 2009, as a result of climate change, there were major fires in forested areas that are normally wet,” said Gustavo Viera, the technical director of the publicly-funded project in the Canaries.

The Canaries routinely experience blankets of fog that cloak the islands’ slopes and forests, but strong winds made fog-catching nets an unfeasible solution. In regions such as the Atacama Desert in Chile or the Atlas Mountains of North Africa, erecting nets that capture moisture particles out of passing currents of fog is a traditional practice.

LIFE Nieblas needed a solution that could resist powerful winds, and to that end designed wind chime-like rows of artificial pine needles, which are also great at plucking moisture from the air. However, unlike nets or palms, they efficiently let the wind pass through them.

The water is discharged without any electricity. There are no irrigation channels, and no machinery is needed to transport the structures. The natural course of streams and creeks need not be altered, nor is there a need to drill down to create wells. The solution is completely carbon-free.

WATER IN THE DESERTS: 

In the ravine of Andén in Gran Canaria, a 35.8-hectare (96 acres) mixture of native laurel trees irrigated by the fog catchers enjoys a survival rate of 86%, double the figure of traditional reforestation.

“The Canaries are the perfect laboratory to develop these techniques,” said Vicenç Carabassa, the project’s head scientist, who works for the Center for Ecological Research and Forestry Applications at the University of Barcelona. “But there are other areas where the conditions are optimal and where there is a tradition of water capture from fog, such as Chile and Morocco.”

In Chile’s Coquimbo province, the town of Chungungo is collecting around 250 gallons a day from a combination of locally-made fog catchers at LIFE Nieblas’ pine needle design, the Guardian reports. 

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Canadians Delighted by Visit from Giant Sea Eagle from the Other Side of the World

By
Andy Corbley
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Steller’s sea eagle – Courtesy of Sandra Moss (Instagram @YQXSandra)
Steller’s sea eagle – Courtesy of Sandra Moss (Instagram @YQXSandra)

Even in the frigid winter temperatures, a national park in Newfoundland was buzzing with visitors who flocked for a chance to see an extremely rare visitor.

Steller’s sea eagle is one of the largest birds of prey on Earth, but is native to Japan, Korea, and Russia. It must have flown thousands of miles to arrive in Newfoundland on its 7.8-foot wingspan.

Steller’s sea eagle – Courtesy of Sandra Moss (Instagram @YQXSandra)

In Terra Nova National Park, Sandra Moss, a photographer who had heard the bird was sighted in the area, brought her camera on a boat trip in Newman Sound. From the gunwales of the boat, she and her husband didn’t see anything, but returning in their car they came across the majestic animal atop a pine tree.

“I can’t explain how exciting it is,” she said in an interview with CBC on Monday. “It’s an incredible feeling to know that that bird has chosen us. That’s what it feels like.”

“I wouldn’t have liked to have a pet or anything in my arms when he was there, he’d probably take you and the pet.”

Despite the extreme vagrancy of this visitor, the eastern seaboard of Canada and even the US have at times seen these birds. On Facebook, members of the Newfoundland and Labrador Birdwatching Group reported last year in nearby Trinity Bay that a Steller’s sea eagle was in the area nesting.

HOW ABOUT THIS FOR A LIFE LIST ENTRY: Mega Rare Blue Rock Thrush Spotted on Oregon Beach Is First Sighting in US History

A year before that, GNN reported that a Steller’s sea eagle was attracting birdwatchers in Boothbay Harbor, Maine five days before Christmas, but that by January 16th it had flown all the way to Denali, Alaska.

NPR at the time reported that the same bird had been seen in various parts of Canada that summer.

MORE RARE SIGHTINGS: Stork That Went Extinct in the UK 600 Years Ago is Spotted in the English Skies: ‘It was a great sign’

Typically 25% larger than a bald eagle, subtlety is not this fish-eater’s specialty, and because their feather markings can be distinct between individuals, they are easy to track.

Terra Nova National Park’s Facebook post on the arrival of the vagrant was full of commenters referencing past sightings, suggesting this year’s visitor is one from previous years.

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Network of AI Monitors Detected 77 Wildfires in California This Year Before a 911 Call Had Been Made for Any

By
Andy Corbley
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Flames from the Bobcat Fire - credit: Eddiem360, CC license, via Wikimedia.
Flames from the Bobcat Fire – credit: Eddiem360, CC license, via Wikimedia.

2024 saw the unparalleled success of an artificial intelligence detection system in California that alerts authorities to the breakout of small wildfires in the state’s dry forests.

A partnership between the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) and the Univ. of California San Diego called AlertCalifornia has already detected 77 wildfires before a 911 call was made for any of them.

CAL FIRE’s Wildfire AI Detector works alongside UCSD’s AlertCalifornia program to monitor over 1,000 cameras throughout the state with AI to detect wildfires. Governor Newsom’s first budget in 2019 funded 100 of these cameras, and the program has grown ever since.

California has suffered the 8 largest wildfires in the state’s history in just the last 6 years. The interlinked network of cameras, AIs, satellites, and humans is an accommodation a decade in the making.

AlertCalifornia enjoys the support of CA utilities companies, the US Forest Service, the CA Governor’s Office of Emergency Services, and county and tribal governments as well. It’s designed to detect more than just fires, but all natural disasters.

Neal Driscoll, a professor at UCSD’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography, said that the AI system and its algorithms not only need to detect flames, but also smoke and how smoke is moving. It has to detect which direction the fire might move first, and where first responders would be most effective.

GREAT USES FOR AI TODAY: 

Many of the cameras that are now monitored with AI have actually been in place for many years. Governing Magazine reports that these cameras have collected petabytes of image and video data on fires, all of which have been used to train AlertCalifornia’s AI.

“We could go back and say, ‘this is what smoke looks like in this image,’” Driscoll told the Magazine. “We were constantly showing different attributes—smoke columns, smoke being bent over—so we could build up enough high-quality data that the AI could detect change or ignition.”

NASA too, has become involved through its network of satellites. The space agency is also contributing remote-operated drones that can fly at night and dump fire retardants on developing fires whilst first responders are on their way.

“We have to move together, leverage resources, and try to mitigate the impacts of these hazards,” Driscoll said, “because they are only going to get worse.”

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