All News - Page 12 of 1624 - Good News Network
Home Blog Page 12

Humpback Whales Are Singing More: Number of Songs Has Doubled as Food Sources Became More Abundant

By
Good News Network
-
Humpback whale tail (via SWNS)
Humpback whale tail (via SWNS)

Eavesdropping on whale songs over the last six years is providing new information vital to answering questions about these giants of the ocean.

The number of whale songs detected is associated with shifting food sources, according to the California scientists—and the number of days humpbacks have been singing has nearly doubled.

When monitoring baleen whale songs in the Pacific Ocean, researchers found year-to-year variations corollated with changes in the availability of the species they forage on.

In vast oceans, monitoring populations of large marine animals can be a “major challenge” for ecologists, explained Dr. John Ryan, a biological oceanographer at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute in California (MBARI).

Their team deployed underwater microphones called hydrophones to study and track baleen whales, which communicate over long distances through sound.

“Surprisingly, the acoustic behavior of baleen whales provides insights about which species can better adapt to changing ocean conditions,” said Dr. Ryan, a lead author of the study.

They also monitored songs from blue, fin, and humpback whales off the West Coast of the U.S. to see what the song data could reveal about the health of their ecosystem.

The findings, published in the journal PLOS One, showed “large” year-to-year variations in whale song detection.

“The amount of humpback whale song continually increased, with their songs being detected on 34% of days at the beginning of the study and rising to 76% of days after six years,” said Dr. Ryan.

“These increases consistently tracked improved foraging conditions for humpback whales across all study years—large increases in krill abundance, followed by large increases in anchovy abundance.

CHECK OUT: In World First, Scientists Share What Was Almost Certainly a Conversation with a Humpback Whale

“In contrast, blue and fin whale song rose primarily during the years of increasing krill abundance.

“This distinction of humpback whales is consistent with their ability to switch between dominant prey. An analysis of skin biopsy samples confirmed that changes had occurred in the whales’ diets.”

He explained that other factors, including the local abundance of whales, may have contributed to patterns in song detections observed in some years, but changes in foraging conditions were the most consistent factor.

“Overall, the study indicates that seasonal and annual changes in the amount of baleen whale song detected may mirror shifts in the local food web.”

WHALES ON THE COMEBACK TRAIL:
• Gray Whale, Extinct for Centuries in Atlantic, Is Spotted in Cape Cod
• Sighting of Many Blue Whales Around Seychelles is First in Decades – ‘Phenomenal’
• Majestic Sei Whales Reappear in Argentine Waters After Nearly a Century

“The results suggest that an understanding of the relationship between whale song detection and food availability may help researchers to interpret future hydrophone data, both for scientific research and whale management efforts”, which could better protect endangered species.

LISTEN to the enchanting whale songs in winter…

SHARE THIS WHALE OF A GOOD NEWS STORY On Social Media…

Party-Loving Senior Celebrates 105th Birthday with a DJ and a Rave (LOOK)

By
Good News Network
-
Hilda Jackson celebrates birthday dancing to a DJ –Credit: SWNS
Hilda Jackson celebrates birthday dancing to a DJ –Credit: SWNS

A sprightly senior who says she loves to “dance and party” told her care-givers that she wanted to hold a rave to celebrate her 105th birthday.

So last Tuesday, Hilda Jackson swapped her walker for glowsticks and UV paint as a DJ descended on the Holbrook Hall Care Home in Derbyshire, England.

Staff helped organize the bash with fellow residents, who enjoyed the ‘open bar’ and lively dance classics spun from a booth set up in the lounge.

Hilda rolled back the years by swaying to disco tunes with friends and family—and tipping a gin and tonic.

Young-at-heart Hilda who received over 250 cards from well-wishers including King Charles, said, “I love a party so I’m going to be raving.

“I’ve enjoyed every minute of my life, which I intend to keep on doing while I can.”

Hilda Jackson celebrates 105th birthday with a drink – Credit: SWNS

“I never thought I’d get to this age but fortunately I’m here, and I’m grateful.”

Nottingham rapper Bru-C also entertained the 70 guests with a specially-written rap for Hilda and her major milestone birthday.

Jagermeister provided drinks for the guests—although many only opted for soft drinks.

SWNS

Hilda, who was born when George V was on the throne, is the senior home’s oldest resident.

As to her secret for a long and healthy life, Hilda said, “I couldn’t get enough tennis.”

WATCH: Grandma Dances All Night at Granddaughter’s Wedding After Being Told She Wouldn’t Live to See it

She loved playing and watching tennis—especially Wimbledon—and was an avid traveller in her younger days.

“I just keep on and on, while I can, and take the day today as it comes.”

SWNS

Following her husband’s death, her sister Vera also became a widow, so the two lived together for 63 years until Vera died.

The pair would often travel around the UK on dancing holidays and also abroad on dancing cruises.

She has lived through 22 different Prime Ministers and carried on driving until the age of 100.

Care home manager Rebecca Wass said she thinks Hilda picked up the idea of a rave from a TV show.

“She’s always been a big fan of dancing and living life to the fullest and said she wanted to do something to represent that. A few were up dancing away—and even Hilda gives it a go.”

AGE IS JUST A NUMBER: Man, 87, Goes Viral for Delivering Party Invitations Door-to-Door: 4 PM until the cops arrive

Described as a very cheeky lady who is constantly on the go, Hilda has some advice for fellow oldsters.

“Just keep on—keep batting.” (Watch the video from SWNS news agency…)

PASS ON THE TIMELESS INSPIRATION By Sharing With Friends On Social Media…

Your Weekly Horoscope from ‘Free Will Astrology’ by Rob Brezsny

By
Good News Network
-

Our partner Rob Brezsny, who has a new book out, Astrology Is Real: Revelations from My Life as an Oracle, provides his weekly wisdom to enlighten our thinking and motivate our mood. Rob’s Free Will Astrology, is a syndicated weekly column appearing in over a hundred publications. He is also the author of Pronoia Is the Antidote for Paranoia: How All of Creation Is Conspiring To Shower You with Blessings. (A free preview of the book is available here.)

Here is your weekly horoscope…

FREE WILL ASTROLOGY – Week of March 1, 2025
Copyright by Rob Brezsny, FreeWillAstrology.com

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20):
Octopuses have three hearts, each with a different function. Every one of their eight limbs contains a mini-brain, giving them nine in total. Is there any doubt, then, that they are the patron creature for you Pisceans? No other zodiac sign is more multifaceted than you. No other can operate with grace on so many different levels. I celebrate your complexity, dear Pisces, which enables you to draw such rich experiences into your life and manage such diverse challenges. These qualities will be working at a peak in the coming weeks. For inspiration, consider putting an image of an octopus in your environment.

ARIES (March 21-April 19):
Aries author Anne Lamott articulated a thought that’s perfect for you to hear right now: “Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes, including you.” I might amend her wisdom a bit to say “for a few hours” or “a couple of days.” Now is a rare time when a purposeful disconnection can lead you to deeper synchronization. A project or relationship will improve after a gentle reset. Your power mantra: “Renew yourself with quiet inaction.”

TAURUS (April 20-May 20):
Beavers are the engineers of the natural world. The dams they fabricate not only create shelters for them, but also benefit their entire ecosystem. The ponds and marshes they help shape provide rich habitats for many other species. Boosting biodiversity is their specialty. Their constructions also serve as natural filters, enhancing water quality downstream. Let’s make beavers your inspirational symbol for the coming weeks, Taurus. In their spirit, build what’s good for you with the intention of making it good for everyone whose life you touch. Ensure that your efforts will generate ripples that nourish your tribe and community.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20):
I predict that you will soon have reason to celebrate a resounding success. You will claim a well-deserved reward. You may even shiver with amazement and gratification as you marvel at how many challenges you overcame to emerge triumphant. In my view, you will have every right to exude extra pride and radiance. I won’t complain if you flirt with a burst of egotism. In accordance with my spirituality, I will tell you, “Remember that this wonder you have spawned will live for a very long time.”

CANCER (June 21-July 22):
When you see the stars in the night sky, you’re looking at the ancient past. Light from those heavenly bodies may have taken as long as 4,000 years to reach us. So we are beholding them as they used to be, not as they are now. With that as your inspiration, I invite you to spend quality time gazing into your own personal past. Meditate on how your history is alive in you today, making its imprint on all you do and say. Say prayers and write messages to yourself in which you express your awe and appreciation for the epic myth that is your destiny.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22):
On one hand, I mourn that climate change is heating up our beloved planet. Among many other distortions, it has triggered yellow forsythias and blue gentians to blossom during winters in the Austrian Alps—an unprecedented event. At the same time, I am also able to marvel at the strange beauty of gorgeous flowers growing on the winter hills of ski resorts. So my feelings are mixed—paradoxical and confusing—and that’s fine with me. I regard it as a sign of soulfulness. May you be so blessed, Leo: full of appreciation for your capacity to hold conflicting ideas, perspectives, and feelings.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22):
The quietest place on earth is a room at Microsoft’s headquarters near Seattle. It’s made of six layers of steel and concrete, and its foundation includes vibration-dampening springs. Within it, you can hear your heartbeat, the swishing of your clothes, and the hum of air molecules colliding. The silence is so eerily profound that many people become flummoxed while visiting. Here’s the moral of the story: While you Virgos are naturally inclined to favor order and precision, a modicum of noise and commotion in your life is often beneficial. Like background sounds that keep you oriented, minor wriggles and perturbations ensure you remain grounded. This will be extra important for you to acknowledge in the coming weeks.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22):
To make a Mobius strip, you give a half twist to a strip of paper and attach the ends. You have then created a surface with just one side and one edge. It’s a fun curiosity, but it also has practical applications. Using Mobius strips, engineers can design more efficient gears. Machinists make mechanical belts that are Mobius strips because they wear out less quickly. There are at least eight other concrete functions, as well. Let’s extrapolate from this to suggest that a similar theme might be arising in your life. What may seem like an interesting but impractical element could reveal its real-world value. You may find unexpected uses for playful features. One of your capacities has dimensions you have not yet explored, but are ready to.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21):
Sandra Cisneros is a visionary writer with Sun and Mercury in Sagittarius. She is always in quest of the next big lesson and the next exciting adventure. But she also has the Moon, Venus, and Saturn in Scorpio. Her sensitive attunement to the hidden and secret aspects of reality is substantial. She thrives on cultivating a profound understanding of her inner world. It took her years to master the art of fully expressing both these sides of her character. I bring this to your attention, Scorpio, because you’re primed to go in quest for experiences that will open your heart to novel amazements—even as you connect with previously unknown aspects of your deep self that resonate with those experiences.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21):
The Moeraki Boulders are spread along a beach in New Zealand. Many of the 50 big rocks are nearly perfect spheres and up to six feet in diameter, so they provide a stunning visual feast. Scientists know that they have steadily grown for the last 4 million years, accumulating ever-new layers of minerals. I propose we make them your symbols of power until July 1. In my astrological estimation, you are in a phase of laying long-term groundwork. What may seem to be a tedious accumulation of small, gradual victories is part of a grander undertaking. Like the Moeraki Boulders, your efforts will crystallize into an enduring foundation.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19):
A Japanese proverb says, “The bamboo that bends with the wind is stronger and more resilient than the oak tree that resists.” That’s true. When storms bluster, oak branches may get broken and blown away. Bamboo looks delicate, but is actually strong and capable of withstanding high winds. It flourishes by being flexible instead of rigid. That’s the approach I recommend for you in the coming weeks, Capricorn. Challenges may emerge that inspire you to stay grounded by adapting. Your plans will probably become better once you adjust them. By trusting your natural resilience, you could find unexpected inspiration and help. Your strength will emerge from your ability to bend without breaking.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18):
Seattle’s Space Needle serves as an observation tower. It’s 605 feet high. For years, there was a restaurant with a rotating floor at the top. In its early days, the movement was so brisk that some visitors got dizzy and nauseous. Engineers had to recalibrate the equipment so it was sufficiently leisurely to keep everyone comfortable. Your current situation resembles this story. The right elements are in place, but you need to adjust the timing and rhythm. If there are frustrating glitches, they are clues to the fine-tuning that needs to be done.

WANT MORE? Listen to Rob’s EXPANDED AUDIO HOROSCOPES, 4-5 minute meditations on the current state of your destiny — or subscribe to his unique daily text message service at: RealAstrology.com

(Zodiac images by Numerologysign.com, CC license)

SHARE The Wisdom With Friends Who Are Stars in Your Life on Social Media…

“Love is a continuous act of forgiveness.” – Maya Angelou

By
Good News Network
-

Quote of the Day: “Love is a continuous act of forgiveness.” – Maya Angelou

Photo by: Alok Verma

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, March 1

By
Good News Network
-
Page one of Articles of Confederation - public domain

244 years ago today, the Articles of Confederation were officially adopted by the Continental Congress after ratification by all 13 states as the supreme law of the land in post-Revolutionary America. Calling into existence the most limited and constrained form of government ever achieved by modern man, affording it only those powers the former colonies had recognized as belonging to the King of England. There was no president, no executive agencies, no judiciary, and no tax base. READ More… (1781)

Continue

All 50 States Have Now Introduced Right to Repair Legislation

By
Andy Corbley
-
Getty Images for Unsplash +
Getty Images for Unsplash +

Legislation under the moniker “right to repair” has now been introduced in all 50 states, marking a major milestone in this grassroots consumer movement.

GNN has reported on the march of right to repair laws across the US, but also the kind of entrepreneurialism they engender: like an aftermarket auto parts company that makes replacements for well-known faulty components in automobiles.

Passed in New York, Minnesota, Colorado, California, and Oregon, Wisconsin just became the final US state to introduce some sort of right to repair laws.

In broad terms, all of these bills would generally guarantee a consumer’s right to access replacement parts for devices and machines, repair manuals or other relevant documents for expensive products, diagnostics data from original manufacturers, and even in some cases, such as automobiles, appropriate tools necessary for maintenance.

They may also ban the use of technological protection measures, sometimes called “software locks” that are designed to restrict repair only to authorized repair technicians.

“Americans are fed up with all the ways in which manufacturers of everything from toasters to tractors frustrate or block repairs, and lawmakers are hearing that frustration and taking action,” Nathan Proctor, right to repair director for consumer rights group PIRG, told 404 Media’s Jason Koebler, who has been tracking right to repair legislation for 10 years.

OF A SIMILAR SPIRIT: 580 Repair Shops Form a Flourishing Subculture Fixing Toasters, Electronics, Coffee Makers and Lamps

He details that at first, big tech and big engineering, such as Apple, John Deere, and others, ardently lobbied against these bills, saying that trade secrets protections would be violated if they were forced to turn over diagnostics, telemetry, or other insider data to non-company actors.

The progressive difficulty with which modern products, particularly electronics, are designed prevents most amateurs from being able to repair them if they break.

MORE RIGHT TO REPAIR NEWS: EU Approves Groundbreaking New ‘Right to Repair’ Laws Requiring Appliances to Be Easier to Fix

Screws are forsaken in favor of plastic locking toggles which break if removed, fuse or wire cover panels are replaced with jointless polymer molded covers, both of which and many more examples besides are designed to deter the fix-it-minded folks enough so that they will just throw the product away and buy a new one.

Electronic waste is one of the largest sources of non-recyclable landfill waste, and hopefully enough of these right to repair bills pass that some of these millions of powerstrips, lamps, phones, computers, and televisions can be kept out of the ground.

SHARE This Critical Grassroots Movement To Reclaim The Freedom To Repair…

Sidelined for Gambling Problem, Soccer Star Spends Probation Helping Fans Kick Theirs

By
Andy Corbley
-
Getty Images for Unsplash +
Getty Images for Unsplash +

An Italian soccer star suspended for ten months after violating sports betting regulations spent that time helping natives to his new English city kick their gambling addictions.

The supporters of Newcastle United were buzzing with excitement when in the summer of 2023, the club signed Italian midfielder Sandro Tonali. The highly-rated midfield general was seen as another vital brick in a team structure that was fast becoming one of the most formidable in the English Premier League.

But just a few months after arriving in Newcastle, Tonali was found guilty by authorities in Italy and England of violating European rules against players engaging in sports betting. Having cost the club over $70 million, its star player was suddenly sidelined.

In a recent tell-all style interview with Italy’s La Republica Tonali opened up about his gambling addiction, and how it was assisting others with similar problems that helped lead him to kick his own.

Tonali, described as “a young man who smiles, who never lowers his gaze, who jokes freely, and who has been relieved of an enormous weight,” said he doesn’t remember when he made his first bet, but that it had become a habit even at the tender age of 17.

“The fact that it was online hid me from everyone,” the self-described introvert admitted. “When a person finds themself in a situation of this kind, it’s difficult to look inside and ask if it’s a sickness.”

That sickness followed him throughout his yet-brief life as a soccer player that saw him succeed enormously with the Italian teams Brescia and AC Milan. He had played just 12 games for Newcastle when it was discovered he was betting on the results of his former team, Milan.

His suspension included time with a psychologist and a strict no-smartphone policy. In the interview, Tonali praised the UK, and particularly Newcastle, as being a place that was supportive of him and non-judgemental, and it was in the city he was able to use his time outside the game to change lives.

POSITIVE NEWS IN DIFFICULT TIMES: More Teens Than You Think Understand the Positive and Negative Aspects of Smartphones–Survey

“In Newcastle, at a factory that produces covers for undersea gas pipelines, there were several men who said to me in different months, ‘I stopped betting on sports because of what happened to you,'” Tonali remembered. “They had been compulsive gamblers for years.”

Tonali explained that one of the reasons he visited the factory was because sports betting is extremely common in England. A worker told him about one of his colleagues who made about £2,000 per month, but said he occasionally needed to take extraordinary measures to provide for his family because he threw away too much gambling on sports.

KICKING OUT ADDICTION: Retired Colonel Heals Thousands of Addicts with Empathy, Yoga, and Service

Sports betting companies make up more than half of the main jersey sponsorships for teams in the English Premier League, and the nation has a major problem with gambling addiction.

“Talking is the most difficult part,” Tonali said adamantly, “but it’s the only true help—to open up.”

SHARE This Inspiring Story Of Overcoming Addiction Together… 

‘Superpod’ of More Than 2,000 Dolphins Frolic off California Coast – (WATCH)

By
Andy Corbley
-
- credit: Monterey Bay Whale Watch, screengrab
– credit: Monterey Bay Whale Watch, screengrab

A popular whale watching service recently spotted a superpod of perhaps more than 2,000 dolphins in the water beyond Monterey Bay.

Consisting of Northern right whale dolphins and Pacific white-sided dolphins, as well as a large number of calves, the sight left the boat’s crew entranced, and they quickly sent up a drone to capture the phenomenon from the sky.

“Superpods like this are rare, especially of Northern right whale dolphins,” Monterey Bay Whale Watch, the tour operator that recorded the superpod, wrote on Facebook.

Along with taking people out to spot whales, Evan Brodsky, the boat’s captain, will also go on marine research trips. It was on one such trip in 2023 that Brodsky recorded another superpod of long-beaked common dolphins, though he referred to it as a megapod at the time.

“When they jump, they look like flying eyebrows,” Brodsky told AP, referring to the Northern right whale dolphin’s lack of a dorsal fin. “We were so excited, it was hard to hold in our emotions. We had the biggest grins from ear to ear.”

MORE AMAZING DRONE FOOTAGE: Drone Captures Mesmerizing School of Rays that Appear Like Confetti in the Water

“In pods, dolphins play, babysit, alert each other to danger like predators, practice courtship, and hunt together,” according to the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation. Superpods tend to be collections of pods rather than thousands of individual dolphins.

Scientists have few sophisticated answers as to why pods come together to form these superpods. Dolphins are very social animals, and in the same way that human behavior tends to change amid a crowd, perhaps dolphins experience the same psycho-phenomenon when clustered in groups.

WATCH the video below… 

Make A Splash On The Airwaves By Sharing This Story On Social Media…

A Country of 2 Million is the World Leader in Beekeeping and Protecting Pollinators

By
Andy Corbley
-
credit - Slovenian Beekeepers Association archives
Painting bee hives is a traditional artform in Slovenia – credit: Slovenian Beekeepers Association archives

Slovenia is home to the highest per capita number of beekeepers in Europe. Out of a population of 2 million, 11,000 keep bees.

This small Eastern European country leads the EU in good pollinator policy, conducting research through the vast beekeeping network, creating legislation or best practices, and watching them spread from country to country like a bumblebee flitting between flowers.

Explained by Kaja Šeruga, a Slovenian writer published at Reasons to be Cheerful, the success of the country’s beekeeping exploits is down to there being only one national beekeepers union.

This monopoly remains in constant contact with the Ministry of Agriculture and allows bees and wild pollinators alike to receive protections fast if threats are identified.

Šeruga details how it was the Slovenian Beekeepers Association that first linked the pesticidal compounds neonicotinoids to pollinator die-offs in 2011. It didn’t even take a year for the Association’s recommendations to be adopted by the Ministry, and for a state-wide ban on this neurotoxic pesticide to come into effect—before being adopted by the whole of the EU seven years later.

Šeruga further explains how the national pastime and enterprise of beekeeping makes it easy to change people’s attitudes around how pollinators are treated. Slovenia’s capital of Ljubljana was the founding city in the EU’s Bee Path Cities Network, which now contains cities in Portugal, Poland, Romania, Greece, and Italy.

Key to this initiative that seeks to make room in urban areas for pollinator species including but not limited to bees is the city-wide practice of “delayed mowing.” With 350 beekeepers within the city limits, in 2020, the city authorities responsible for public grassy areas decided they would not conduct any mowing until June as a way of ensuring that bees and other pollinators coming out of winter inactivity can gorge on the nectar of wild flowers like dandelion.

Now, spokesmen at the Department for Environmental Protection say they’re more likely to receive photos from concerned citizens if a park or median strip has been mowed prematurely, than if the grass has taken on a wild and unkempt appearance.

MORE NATIONAL SURPRISES: Spanish School Keeps Village Traditions Alive With Bell-Tolling Classes – WATCH

Slovenia has its own native honey bee species, called the Carniolan, and the nation supplied the Hapsburg monarchy with its first royal beekeeping coach. It holds multiple senior positions at the International Federation of Beekeepers, known also as Apimundia, and is generally considered a world leader in the field.

It should come as no surprise then that May 20th, World Bee Day, was first proposed by Slovenians.

MORE GOOD BEE POLICY: Farmers Use Bees to Deter Elephants from Romping Over Crops–a Win-Win for All

“Beekeepers have the problem that the environment is changing in ways that aren’t friendly to bees and other pollinators,” Peter Kozmus, vice-president of Apimundia, told Šeruga. “We can solve some of these problems ourselves, but for others we need help, and a World Bee Day seemed like the best opportunity and tool to get that.”

SHARE This Rich And Important Tradition Of Beekeeping with Your Friends…

“You rise to a higher level of consciousness by taking your attention away from your present limitations and placing it upon that which you desire to be.” – Neville Goddard

By
Good News Network
-

Quote of the Day: “You rise to a higher level of consciousness by taking your attention away from your present limitations and placing it upon that which you desire to be.” – Neville Goddard

Photo by: Abhijith P

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, February 28

By
Good News Network
-
Liu bang, Emperor Gaozu (205 -197 BCE)

2,227 years ago today, the Gaozu Emperor (given name Liu Bang) claimed the Mandate of Heaven and established the Han Dynasty—one of the three great dynasties of a unified Imperial China. Among the hundreds of Chinese emperors, Liu Bang was among the few born to a peasant family. Though he ruled briefly—just 7 years—it was enough to usher in the historical era known in the West as the first Pax Sinica, from as far south as the Pearl River to as far north as the Mongolian steps, and as far west as Xinjiang. In the last years of his reign, he instituted free-market reforms including privatized coinage and lower taxes. READ more about his life and the founding of the Han Dynasty… (202 BCE)

Continue

Maine Nonprofit Cancels $1.9 Million in Medical Debt for 1,500 People

By
Andy Corbley
-
The nonprofit's director, Evan LeBrun - credit: Mainers for Working Families
The nonprofit’s director, Evan LeBrun – credit: Mainers for Working Families

A pair of nonprofits have teamed up to help zero out medical debt balances for over 1,000 working families in Maine.

Mainers for Working Families (MFWF) and Undue Medical Debt partnered together in the effort to help families in the state breathe a little easier. Thanks to their advocacy, they were able to buy debts worth up to $1.8 million for pennies on the dollar.

The method, now becoming something of a mainstream charity movement, was explained in an earlier GNN story. 

Some hospital patients can’t or won’t pay their huge bills for years at a time—so, a hospital’s claim to $50,000, or even $100,000 suddenly begins to look quite worthless. They could take legal action, but there’s no guarantee they would collect, and it’s expensive to pay the legal fees resulting.

So, Undue Medical Debt, (once called RIP Medical Debt) comes into the picture and offers $5,000 in immediate payment to take that claim off their hands—essentially buying the debt for pennies on the dollar.

The organization was founded by Wall Street investors in the wake of the Occupy Wall Street Movement, and has since wiped out $14.8 billion in unpaid medical debt from thousands of Americans.

HELPING AMERICANS GET BY: Thank-You Cards Pile Up with Nowhere to Go After School District Receives Anonymous ‘Transformative’ Donation

In Maine, the action was taken on behalf of 1,508 low-income people who had taken on medical debt worth 5% or more of their annual income, or who sat at an income 4-times lower than the national poverty line.

MORE ON THIS TOPIC: Mom Channeled Her Terminal Cancer into Debt Relief Fundraiser–Wiping Out $65 Million in Medical Debt

Together, these 1,508 people held around $1.8 million in debt, which was bought via a donation from MFWF of just $12,740.

“We can’t turn back the clock for these people, but we had to do something,” Evan LeBrun, MFWF’s executive director, said in a statement.

SHARE This Story With Your Friends From Maine… 

Archaeologists Discover First Pharaoh’s Tomb in Egypt in More Than a Century

By
Andy Corbley
-
Relief of Thutmose II in the Karnak temple complex - credit Wmpearl, CC 0.0
Relief of Thutmose III in the Karnak temple complex – credit Wmpearl, CC 0.0

King Tutankhamon is famous for many things, but what most know about the discovery of his unlooted tomb is that it was the last time archaeologists found the tomb of a pharaoh.

Now, 103 years since Howard Carter cracked open King Tut’s final resting place, the tomb of Thutmose II has been identified near the Valley of the Kings and becomes the first opportunity in two generations to study a pharaoh’s burial chamber.

The rock-cut tomb of Thutmose III – credit Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities

This however proves to be a much more modest discovery, as the tomb was completely empty and has likely been so for 3,500 years, after retainers noticed their deceased lord was going to be swimming to the afterlife.

“In fact, the tomb turned out to be completely empty, not because it had been robbed, but because it had been deliberately emptied,” said archaeologist Piers Litherland, who had been excavating the area for a decade, but who assumed when he first found the tomb shaft that it belonged to a royal wife.

“We then worked out that the tomb had been flooded. It had been built underneath a waterfall, and it had filled with water at some stage within about six years of the burial.”

Thutmose II, who reigned from 1493 to 1479 BCE, was identified as the occupant via his name carved on shards of alabaster, while a decoration on the tomb’s ceiling indicated royalty.

Litherland reckoned the pieces had been broken during the move, “and thank goodness they did actually break one or two things, because that’s how we found out whose tomb it was.”

ALSO CHECK OUT: Cleaning a Millennium of Sand and Soot Egyptologists Reveal Ancient Creation Myth in Exquisite Artwork

To editorialize, that was Litherland’s academic side speaking, for it was when he saw the ceiling covered in a dark sky motif studded with golden stars and featuring visual depictions of the Amduat, a religious text reserved for kings, that he knew he had found what he had so long sought.

Thutmose II was the husband of Hatshepsut, a female pharaoh of renown who ruled without any stipulation regarding her gender. He was also her half-brother, and father of Thutmose III, a brilliant military commander who created the ancient world’s first professional navy and who raised the New Kingdom to its absolute zenith of territorial power.

MORE ROYAL TOMBS FOUND: 4,100-year-old ‘Stunning’ Tomb of a Conjurer-Dentist Who Treated Pharaohs Discovered in Egypt

Mohsen Kamel, assistant field director on the exacavation stated that “the possible existence of a second, and most likely intact, tomb of Thutmose II is an astonishing possibility.”

SHARE This Wonderful Milestone In Egyptology With Your Friends…

Family-Owned Vermont Ski Resort Offers the Common Man 1,200 Acres of Powder for $100

By
Andy Corbley
-
Top of the lift at Bolton - credit Bolton Valley Resort, via Facebook
Top of the lift at Bolton – credit Bolton Valley Resort, via Facebook

In Vermont, a family-owned skiing business is rising to prominence as a backcountry and downhill paradise in an area and age saturated with big corporate luxury ski resorts.

Just 30 minutes east of Burlington, Bolton Valley Resort trades luxury for comfort and status for friendly, powder-loving vibes.

Featured in a great travel piece in the New York Times, Bolton Valley has been run by the same family for decades, finding its feet between the corporate resorts of Stowe and Sugarbush by offering skiing to the common man at an affordable price.

Ralph DesLauriers, now 90 years old, opened Bolton Valley in 1966 with his father for that express purpose. Today, it’s run by his daughter Lindsay.

“Skiing was a luxury sport for out-of-staters,” she told the Times’ David Goodman. “He wanted it to be accessible to Vermonters.”

Along with offering cheaper passes, they installed flood light systems on the slopes to allow working Vermonters to ski after work. Every afternoon, yellow school buses disgorged students who swarmed over the 71 slopes while honing their skills, an idea of her father’s and grandfather’s that she says probably helped save the resort in the long run.

That’s because nearby areas became larger and more accommodating, with bigger hotels, slopeside lodging, and hundreds of ski trails all developed at the cost of tens of millions fronted by resort conglomerates marketing for a more luxurious clientele.


Bolton Valley had issues competing, and the ownership of the resort passed to the bank 31 years after its lifts first started lifting. After several new owners failed to make it profitable, locals moved in to save it—perhaps some of those who learned to ski under the floodlights.

Bolton Valley Resort’s crown jewel was a 1,200-acre network of backcountry skiing trails of rare continuity. In 2011, residents learned it was going to be sold, and in opposition to that notion, worked with the Vermont Land Trust to raise $1.8 million to buy and then donate the land to the state for inclusion into Mount Mansfield State Forest with the provision that it should be kept open to backcountry skiers.

MORE AMERICAN TRAVEL DESTINATIONS: Man is Creating 1,500-Mile Trail Across Texas for Hikers, Bikers and Horses, Investing $10,000 to Get it Done

In 2017, Mr. DesLauriers bought back the resort for less than what it cost him to build it half a century before.

Now run by Lindsay and her brothers Evan, Adam, Eric, and Rob, it’s become a profitable venture for the first time in decades in a classic case of large corporations leaving gaps in the market to be filled by charming, alternative options. A ski pass at Bolton costs $100, around half or even a third of other East Coast ski resorts like Stowe and Sugarbush.

IF YOU LIKE SKIING, WATCH THIS: Watch Breathtaking Alpine Ski Run Through Forest, Ice Cave, and Rooftops By Extreme Free-Skier

For that price, you get six ski lifts with wait times of around 4 minutes, 1,700 feet of slopes, and nighttime skiing. Bolton is also the only place in the region that offers backcountry skiing and snowboarding, lessons, guides, and rentals all out of the same establishment.

A 60-room hotel may not score big on luxury, but makes up for it with the lack of traffic jams, waiting times in restaurants and ski lifts, and parking space. Bolton Valley is included on the Indy Pass, a multi-mountain ski lift pass that includes smaller operations like Bolton.

SHARE This Charming Place For A Winter Vacation With Your Friends…

Man Saves Boatloads Of ‘Stunned’ Animals After He Spotted Shadows in the Waves

By
Andy Corbley
-
- credit Sea Tow Corpus Christi, via Facebook
Captain Brandon Upton rescuing turtles – credit Sea Tow Corpus Christi, via Facebook

From Corpus Christi comes the story of a commercial mariner who developed a passion for saving lives—cold, imperiled, and scaley lives.

It started back in 2018  when Captain Brandon Upton was out in the gulf waters during a particularly chilly afternoon, and he saw a dark shadow floating nearby.

The owner and operator of Sea Tow, a boating assistance company, Upton thought he had seen everything the Gulf of Mexico could conjure, but soon he saw more dark shapes, and then even more.

He realized to his shock that they were sea turtles.

“I didn’t touch it, because I know they are endangered and protected,” Upton told the Dodo. “On my way in, I saw more and more sea turtles and was very confused. In all my years on the water, I had never seen anything like it.”

Rather than take any actions himself, Upton did the right thing and contacted the relevant animal authorities—in this case, the ecologists at San Padre Island National Seashore, who explained the turtles had been cold-stunned.

Cold-stunning is a normal phenomenon in which the cold-blooded turtles fall into a comatose state if the seawater temperatures fall below 56°F. Their heart rate and metabolism plummets, and they float, incapable of moving. This puts them at risk for boat strikes, drowning, and even land predators if the tide and surf should take them onto the beach.

Every winter since then, Upton has remained vigilant for potential cold-stunning events. If the water temperatures start to fall too low, Upton will bring an airboat to tow alongside him, into which he will toss any sea turtles he finds.

ALSO CHECK OUT: Lacking Ninja Training, Trapped Turtle is Rescued from City Sewer by Police and Firefighters

“While sea turtle rescue typically requires special training, we started in an emergency situation,” Upton said. “We picked up two or three boatloads of floating turtles that very first day.”

San Padre Island workers receive these cold-stunned animals and place them in a rehabilitation center where their bodies are gradually warmed up to the temperatures needed to restart their systems. Then they’re released.

OTHER STORIES FROM THE GULF: Watch 2,200 Cold-Stunned Turtles Being Released by Volunteers Back Into the Gulf

Upton described his 7 years of pro bono help as “only natural” since he carries around a lot of specialized equipment that makes rescuing turtles easy and is a proud part of the close-knit boating community.

He’s an animal lover to boot, and whether it’s “taking a spider outside” or helping cold-stunned turtles, he considers them all like a second family.

SEE how many turtles he might rescue in a day…

SHARE This Dedicated Mariner’s Love For Turtles With Your Friends… 

“I attribute my success to this: I never gave any excuse.” – Florence Nightingale

By
Good News Network
-
Fellipe Ditadi for Unsplash+

Quote of the Day: “I attribute my success to this: I never gave any excuse.” – Florence Nightingale

Photo by: Fellipe Ditadi 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?

Fellipe Ditadi for Unsplash+

Good News in History, February 27

By
Good News Network
-

29 years ago today, the world of Pokémon went public, emerging from the mind of game designer Satoshi Tajiri onto Nintendo Gameboy systems. In the six years it took to create the game and its first three “pocket monsters” (Bulbasaur, Squirtle, and Charmander), Tajiri’s Game Freak studio nearly went out of business, but the little creatures—some disarmingly cute, like, Pikachu—would take the world by storm and handheld Gameboys would assume a second life. READ more about the franchise… (1996)

Continue

LiDAR Reveals Abandoned Fort Was Actually a Lost Zapotec City with Temples and Ball Courts

By
Andy Corbley
-
View of Guiengola’s North Plaza from above - credit - Pedro Guillermo Ramón Celis
View of Guiengola’s North Plaza from above – credit – Pedro Guillermo Ramón Celis

A recent LiDAR survey in southern Mexico has revealed that a known site of pre-Colombian fortifications was actually a thriving urban center of 5,000 people or more.

Despite being known to Spanish explorers, modern historians, and archaeologists, the site of Guiengola in the hills above the modern town of Santo Domingo Tehuantepec is now understood to contain ballcourts, roads, temples, and neighborhoods.

Guiengola was built as early as 1350 and abandoned as late as 1521. The architects and inhabitants were the Zapotecs, a pre-Colombian people who inhabited areas making up the modern Mexican state of Oaxaca as far back as the 6th century BCE.

An early Spanish chronicle testifies to the site’s use as a fortification by the Zapotecs in a conflict with the Mexica (Aztecs), but due to the site’s remote position at high elevation and shrouded by dense forest canopy, it was never properly studied writes Pedro Guillermo Ramón Celis, organizer of a LiDAR survey of the site.

According to Ramon Cellis’ paper on the survey, published in the journal Ancient Mesoamerica, the Spanish account “does not provide information about Guiengola beyond its significance as a fortification,” with there also being no “sufficient historical data on how non-elites were incorporated into the construction and everyday life of the site.”

“Although you could reach the site using a footpath, it was covered by a canopy of trees,” Ramón Celis said in a statement released by McGill University where he works as a post-doctoral researcher.

“Until very recently, there would have been no way for anyone to discover the full extent of the site without spending years on the ground walking and searching. We were able to do it within two hours by using remote-sensing equipment and scanning from a plane.”

“I would say that at least 5,000 people were living permanently on the site,” Ramon Cellis tells Live Science.

The LiDAR image of Guiengola’s central districts – credit Ancient Mesoamerica, CC 4.0. BY-SA

To explore how power was distributed in the city, Ramon Cellis has calculated how much building space was given over to elite areas such as the temples and ballcourts, for example, compared to what was built in the areas used by commoners.

MORE SOUTH AMERICAN CIVILIZATION: Ancient Mayan City Hidden for Over 1,000 Years Discovered by LiDAR

“Because the city is only between 500 and 600 years old, it is amazingly well preserved, so you can walk there in the jungle, and you find that houses are still standing… you can see the doors… the hallways… the fences that split it from other houses” he told his university press.

“So, it is easy to identify a residential lot. It’s like a city frozen in time, before any of the deep cultural transformations brought by the Spanish arrival had taken place.”

MORE LIDAR DISCOVERIES: Two Lost Cities Discovered Along the Silk Road–the Iconic Ancient Trade Route

Ramon Cellis plans to return to conduct more research at Guiengola later this year, saying that as a point of reference and pride for the Zapotec people, it could provide key insights into their ancestors’ ways of living, as well as an example of a civilization that resisted the Aztec’s conquering push southward, which has always been assumed to have gone on without encountering any major military setbacks.

SHARE This Incredible Ruin Left Bizarrely Unexplored For 500 Years…

Emotional Officials Watch 17 Endangered Mountain Bongos Arrive in Kenya for Reintroduction

By
Andy Corbley
-
Female Mountain Bongo (Tragelaphus eurycerus isaaci) photographed at Mount Kenya National Park - credit: released into the public domain by Chuck upd
Female mountain bongo (Tragelaphus eurycerus isaaci) photographed at Mount Kenya National Park – credit: released into the public domain by Chuck upd

The struggle to keep one of the world’s largest and rarest antelope species alive has taken a massive step forward in Kenya.

17 mountain bongos have been flown to Kenya from the Rare Species Conservation Center in Florida for eventual reintroduction into their natural habitat.

A subspecies of bongo, the largest of the forest-dwelling antelope, the eastern, or mountain bongo, numbers less than 100 individuals, and is listed by the IUCN as Critically-Endangered. More survive today in zoos than in the wild.

The history of the animal is an interesting one, as it’s believed to have become a forest species when climate change turned savannah areas into forests thousands of years ago. In the case of the mountain bongo, their home range is located in southern Kenya, on the slopes of Mount Kenya National Park and in the surrounding woodland.

They are the world’s third-largest antelope species behind the giant eland and common eland.

Tourism Minister Rebecca Miano described the arrival of the bongos at the country’s main airport on Sunday night as “emotional and so cool.”

The animals will first be kept in an acclimation center run by the Kenyan Wildlife Service (KWS) that will protect them while they re-hone their instincts for wild living.

ANTELOPES ENDANGERED NO MORE: Wild and Wonderful Saiga is No Longer Endangered with a Million Roaming Now in Central Asia

Within three months, the BBC reports, the KWS will be welcoming another shipment of these bongo from captive breeding programs across Europe.

The last time a large shipment of animals like this made it to Kenya was in 2004, when 18 animals arrived safely. They successfully integrated with the wild population, and though some died of tick-borne diseases, it demonstrated that captive animals can successfully make it in the wild if given time and training.

SHARE This Positive Development For This Charismatic Species…

Colorado Woman Donates Kidney to Save Pennsylvania Man 35 Years After They Went to Prom Together

By
Andy Corbley
-
Shawn Moyer and Elena Hershey prom photo
Shawn Moyer and Elena Hershey prom photo

Despite holding the presidency of the student council and being voted most likely to succeed, 16-year-old Shawn Moyer had his prom night invitation declined.

Moyer needed a backup, and though he didn’t know it at the time, the young lady with ringlet curls and an ear-to-ear smile he found would end up saving his life 35 years later with a kidney donation.

Key to this remarkable story is the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center’s (UPMC) innovative “paired exchange program.” Let’s say you want to donate a kidney to a friend, but the two of you don’t genetically match. The program will match your kidney with someone in need, and in return bump your friend up to the top of the waiting list.

Well, 35 years ago, Moyer invited Elena Hershey to the Dallastown Area High School senior prom, a decision that would change his life.

“He needed a backup,” recalled Hershey, a younger girl whom Moyer remembered as “smart,” “pretty,” and a “remarkably nice person.” “And, you know, of course, I would love an invite to a prom. What girl wouldn’t? So I was happy to go.”

As a junior, she was only able to attend prom if directly invited by a senior, which Moyer’s arm facilitated. Not even a full year had passed after the lovely night that the two, as is so often the case, drifted out of touch.

But they first met because of interlinked friends and siblings, which, 35 years later, intertwined their lives yet again.

Hershey’s friend Julie is married to one of Moyer’s friends, and word reached her that her prom date was stuck on dialysis waiting for a new kidney, something which he had already received twice in his life, once when he was 16, and again at 36.

As it happened, Hershey, a serious health and wellness disciple, was already considering a blind kidney donation and felt Moyer was as good a person as any to offer it to.

“A few weeks of having to rest and a few days of discomfort to extend someone’s life or save someone’s life?” Hershey told ABC News 27. “It really is kind of a no-brainer.”

OTHER SERENDIPITOUS STORIES: 30-Year-old Letterman Jacket Is Found By Brother in Serendipitous Twist of Fate

But while they made a clever match on prom night, they were not eligible to share organs, so Hershey and Moyer started the paired exchange process, wherein Hershey’s kidney would go to someone in need, and Moyer would receive another as soon as it was made available.

When a donor had been found, Moyer’s first response was to call Hershey.

MORE TRANSPLANT SUCCESSES: Woman Donates Kidney to Her Sorority Sister Despite Not Seeing Her for 10 Years

“He texted me [the news], and I saw it, and I caught my breath a little bit, and I started to cry a little bit,” said Hershey.

Having the opportunity to speak to the media about her decision, Hershey felt she had to emphasize how little the loss has affected her lifestyle. She was driving again in three days, and back on her stationary bike doing the intense cardio she diligently pursues within a month.

WATCH the story below from ABC… 

SHARE This Story Of Two Individuals That Fate Continues To Inmesh Together… 

1...111213...1,624Page 12 of 1,624
© Copyright 1997–2025 GNN, LLC