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Pollen Replacement Food for Honey Bees Brings New Hope for Struggling Colonies and the Crops They Support

Beekeeper inspects hive with new bee food – Photo credit: College of Agricultural, Human, and Natural Resource Sciences, WSU
Beekeeper inspects hive with new bee food – Photo credit: College of Agricultural, Human, and Natural Resource Sciences, WSU

Scientists have unveiled a new food source designed to sustain honey bee colonies indefinitely without natural pollen.

The research from Washington State University and APIX Biosciences in Belgium details successful trials where nutritionally stressed colonies, deployed for commercial crop pollination in Washington state, thrived on the new food source.

The innovation resembles human “Power Bars” and contains all the nutrients honey bees need. It’s expected to become a potent strategy for combating the rate of colony collapse and safeguarding global farm crops that depend on bee pollination.

Placed directly into honey bee colonies where young bees process and distribute the essential nutrients to the larvae and adult bees, the breakthrough addresses the growing challenge of lack of adequate nutrition in their environment.

“Changes in land use, urban expansion, and extreme weather all negatively impact nutrition for honey bees and other pollinators,” Brandon Hopkins, WSU Professor of Pollinator Ecology, explained in a media release.

“Honey bees are generalists and do not get all their nutrition from a single source. They need variety in their diet to survive but find it increasingly difficult to find the continuous supply of pollen they need to sustain the colony.”

“Until this study, honey bees were the only livestock that could not be maintained on a man-made feed,” said Dr. Patrick Pilkington, CEO of APIX Biosciences US.

“The reported scientific work shows in commercial field conditions that providing nutritionally stressed colonies with our pollen-replacing feed results in a major measurable step change in colony health compared to current best practices. Our product has the potential to change the way honey bees are managed.”

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

‘Herculean’ effort by 3 teams

WSU Professor Brandon Hopkins places the newly developed bee food into a hive – Credit: College of Agricultural, Human, and Natural Resource Sciences, WSU

The research, published this month in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, is a culmination of over a decade of work involving extensive collaboration.

“The newly published work is the result of a herculean scientific effort of three teams,” said Thierry Bogaert, lead author and chairman of APIX Biosciences.

“First, the founders and scientists of APIX Biosciences who tested thousands of combinations of ingredients on honey bees over more than 10 years to create this feed. Second, the WSU team with leading honey bee and field expertise, and, third, leading beekeepers in California together with extension teams. They made large scale and science-based field testing of feeds possible.” (Paper co-author Anne Marie Fauvel managed that third aspect.)

A critical discovery within the research is the role of isofucosterol, a molecule found naturally in pollen that acts as a vital nutrient for honey bees. Colonies fed with the isofucosterol-enriched food survived an entire season without pollen access, while those without it experienced severe declines, including reduced larval production, adult paralysis, and colony collapse. The new feed also contains a comprehensive blend of the other nutrients honey bees require.

To validate the efficacy of the new food source under real-world conditions, WSU conducted field trials with nutritionally stressed colonies in blueberry and sunflower fields, both known for poor pollen quality for bees. Compared to colonies receiving standard commercial feed or no supplementation, those fed the new food source thrived, demonstrating increased survival and colony growth.

MORE GOOD NEWS FOR BEES:
Bumblebees Increase by More than 100x in ‘Remarkable’ Scotland Rewilding Project–From 35 Bees to over 4,000
Beekeeper Finds Grandfather’s Long-Lost Hives Thriving in Quarry–and Turns Them into a Colony of Millions
California Governor Signs Law to Help Protect Pollinators From Toxic Pesticides
World’s First Vaccine for Declining Honeybees Approved By the US for Conditional Use

“Some beekeepers don’t pollinate blueberries anymore because colonies suffer or die and the pollination fees don’t cover the losses,” said WSU Prof. Hopkins, a co-author of the paper.

“Blueberry pollen isn’t very nutritious for honey bees, and they aren’t adapted well to pollinating that crop. But if they have this supplemental food source, beekeepers may return to pollinating those fields since they know their bees are more likely to survive.”

Pilkington summarized the team’s optimism saying they are working with the beekeeping community across the U.S. to develop the best way to make use of this new tool in agricultural settings.

“We are confident that the product will positively impact beekeepers and growers once it’s available to purchase in the U.S., which is targeted for mid-2026.”

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Woman Hires Private Detective and Finds 2 Long-Lost Sisters After 44 Years and the Death of Adoptive Parents

Magda Berg with her two sisters Beata and Daria -via SWNS
Magda Berg with her two sisters Beata and Daria -via SWNS

An adopted woman met her two sisters for the first time in 44 years—after hiring a private detective to track down her birth family.

Magda Berg hired the detective after her own 20-year search hit a dead end. She paid $1,300 and had the names and addresses of her family members four months later.

The 44-year old and mother-of-one was able to meet her birth mother and discovered she had three half siblings, including two sisters. Now she feels a “real sense of family”.

“My sisters and I connected straight away, it was amazing,” said the receptionist from Buckinghamshire, England, who now has regular contact with Beata and Daria, both in their early 40s. “I am very, very happy.

“We have a lot in common. We all talk about life in the same way, like we were raised together, and we’re able to finish each others’ sentences.

“I now have that real sense of family that I had been missing.

Magda grew up in Poland and was told that she was adopted as a baby. She moved to the UK in 2005 but all she knew about her birth mom was her name, the village where she gave birth, and the location of the convent where she had been left.

Magda Berg as a child – via SWNS

She started to feel curious about her birth family at age 18 after her adoptive parents were killed in a car crash. However, the convent where she’d been left as an infant had closed and she couldn’t find out any more information about her origins.

A change in Polish law meant she could request her original birth certificate in January 2018, so she was able to discover her birth mother’s maiden name and the town she had lived in.

AMAZING: Two Sisters Put Up for Adoption at End of WWII Finally Reunite After 75 Years Apart

After struggling to get any further, Magda decided to hire a private detective who discovered the name and address for her mum and revealed she had three half siblings: two sisters and a brother.

The detective sent two letters of introduction to her birth mother on Magda’s behalf but got no answer. Then, Magda’s half sister Beata found one of the letters and contacted the detective and arranged to meet Magda.

They met up in a restaurant when Magda was on holiday in Warsaw just after Christmas.

“It was like meeting my other half,” Magda told SWNS news agency. “We talked like we’d known each other our whole lives.”

A year later Magda’s mother finally agreed to meet her in a café, and revealed that she was 20-years-old and unmarried when she became pregnant with Magda. She later married a different man, with whom she had the other three children.

A WILD DISCOVERY: Bakery Owner Discovers Her Longtime Customer Is Her Biological Son

Magda now also has a young niece who calls her ‘my auntie in the UK’.

Magda Berg with her sister – via SWNS

The three sisters get together twice a year and send long messages every month.

“It’s so lovely to have Daria and Beata. We look quite alike, and we all like reading, sight seeing, and going to the forest. I share interests with them that I did not share with my adoptive parents.

SWEET SOCIAL MEDIA SURPRISE: Woman Looking for Birth Parents Learns That Dad Was a ‘Friend’ on Facebook

“I have a whole new sense of belonging. We really love each other. I’ve never had such a great relationship.”

“It’s funny because I now talk about ‘my sisters,’ and when I hear myself say it I’m still really surprised.”

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Revolutionary Antidote Neutralizes Venom of 19 of World’s Deadliest Snakes–Thanks to Man Who Immunized Himself

Credit - Glanville et al via Cell Press-CC BY-SA
Credit – Glanville et al via Cell Press-CC BY-SA

A revolutionary new antidote neutralizes the venom of 19 of the world’s deadliest snakes, including the black mamba, king cobra, and tiger snakes.

Researchers used antibodies from a human donor with a “hyper-immunity” to snake venom to develop the most broadly effective antivenom to date.

It combines protective antibodies and a small molecule inhibitor and opens a path toward a universal antiserum, according to new research.

How antivenom is made has not changed much over the previous 100 years. It usually involves immunizing horses or sheep with venom from single snake species and collecting the antibodies produced.

While effective, scientists say the process can result in adverse reactions to the non-human antibodies, and treatments tend to be region-specific and only for one species.

While exploring ways to improve the process, American researchers came across someone named Tim Friede who had self-induced a hyper-immunity in himself to the effects of snake neurotoxins.

“The donor, for a period of nearly 18 years, had undertaken hundreds of bites and self-immunizations with escalating doses from 16 species of very lethal snakes that would normally kill a horse,” said study first author Dr. Jacob Glanville, CEO of Centivax Inc, based in California.

After Friede agreed to participate in the study, researchers found that by exposing himself to the venom of various snakes over several years, he had generated antibodies that were effective against several snake neurotoxins at once.

“What was exciting about the donor was his once-in-a-lifetime unique immune history,” said Dr. Glanville in a media release.

“Not only did he potentially create these broadly neutralizing antibodies, it could give rise to a broad-spectrum or universal antivenom.”

LOOK: Animal New to Science is Named After Indiana Jones, ‘Why Did it Have to be Snakes!’ – Tachymenoides Harrisonfordi

To build the antivenom, the research team first created a testing panel with 19 of the World Health Organization’s category 1 and 2 deadliest snakes, a group which contains roughly half of all venomous species, including coral snakes, mambas, cobras, taipans, and kraits.

Western green mamba (Dendroaspis viridis) by Jon Sullivan, Phototeria Free photos – CC license

The researchers then isolated target antibodies from the donor’s blood that reacted with neurotoxins found within the snake species tested.

One by one, the antibodies were tested in mice envenomed from each species included in the panel.

Using that method, scientists could systematically build a “cocktail” comprising a minimum but sufficient number of components to render all the venoms ineffective.

The research team formulated a mixture comprising three major components: two antibodies isolated from the donor and a small molecule.

WOW, LOOK: ‘Fantastic Grandmas’ Have Been Spending Retirement Photographing Venomous Sea Snakes for Science

The first donor antibody, called LNX-D09, protected mice from a lethal dose of whole venom from six of the snake species. To strengthen the antiserum further, the researchers added the small molecule varespladib, a known toxin inhibitor, which granted protection against an additional three species.

Finally, they added a second antibody isolated from the donor, called SNX-B03, which extended protection across the full panel.

“By the time we reached three components, we had a dramatically unparalleled breadth of full protection for 13 of the 19 species and then partial protection for the remaining that we looked at,” explained Glanville. “We were looking down at our list and thought, ‘what’s that fourth agent?’ And if we could neutralize that, do we get further protection?”

SOCIAL MEDIA SCIENCE: Snake Photo Posted on Instagram Leads to Discovery of New Species From the Himalayas

Even without a fourth agent, he says the results suggest that the three-part cocktail could be effective against many other, if not most, snakes not tested in the study.

Since the antivenom cocktail proved effective in mouse models, the team is now looking to test its efficacy out in the field, beginning by providing the antivenom to dogs brought into veterinary clinics for snake bites in Australia.

The researchers also want to develop an antivenom targeting the other major snake family, vipers, to fully cover the more than a million snake bites annually worldwide.

The lead author of the study published in the journal Cell, Professor Peter Kwong of Columbia University, said: “We’re turning the crank now, setting up reagents to go through this iterative process of saying what’s the minimum sufficient cocktail to provide broad protection against venom from the viperids.”

“The final contemplated product would be a single, pan-antivenom cocktail or we potentially would make two: one that is for the elapids and another that is for the viperids because some areas of the world only have one or the other.”

ANOTHER NEW CURE: 13-year-old Successfully Undergoes World-First Treatment to Cure Rarer-Than-Rare Wild Syndrome

The other major goal of the team—which was funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases of the National Institutes of Health, the National Institutes of Health Small Business Innovation Research program, and the US Department of Energy—is to approach foundations, governments, and pharmaceutical firms to support the manufacturing and clinical development of the broad-spectrum antivenom.

SLITHER THIS GOOD NEWS To Adventure-Seeking Friends On Social Media…

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

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 May 3, 2025
Copyright by Rob Brezsny, FreeWillAstrology.com

TAURUS (April 20-May 20):
Taurus author Nellie Bly (1864–1922) was a daring trailblazer. It was almost impossible for a woman to be a journalist in the 19th century, but she did it anyway. One of her sensational groundbreaking stories came when she did an undercover assignment in New York’s Women’s Lunatic Asylum. Her reporting on the neglect and brutality there prompted major reforms. I nominate Bly as your role model for the foreseeable future. You are, I believe, poised for epic, even heroic adventures, in service to a greater good. (PS: Bly also made a solo trip around the world and wrote 15 books.)

GEMINI (May 21-June 20):
Gemini painter Henri Rousseau (1844–1910) never saw a jungle in person. In fact, he never left his native country of France. But he painted some of modern art’s most vivid jungle scenes. How did that happen? Well, he visited zoos and botanical gardens, perused images of tropical forests in books, and heard stories from soldiers who had visited jungles abroad. But mostly, he had a flourishing imagination that he treated with reverent respect. I urge you to follow his lead, Gemini. Through the joyful, extravagant power of your imagination, get the inspiration and education you need. The next three weeks will be prime time to do so.

CANCER (June 21-July 22):
No, ruby-throated hummingbirds don’t hitch rides on airplanes or the backs of geese. They make their epic migrations completely under their own power. To get to their wintering grounds, many fly alone from the southern United States to the Yucatan Peninsula, crossing the 500-mile expanse of the Gulf of Mexico in 20 hours. I don’t recommend you attempt heroic feats like theirs in the coming weeks, Cancerian. More than usual, you need and deserve to call on support and help. Don’t be shy about getting the exact boosts you require. It’s time to harvest the favors you are owed and to be specific in articulating your wishes.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22):
The golden pheasant is dazzling. Among the bright colors that appear in its plumage are gold, red, orange, yellow, blue, black, green, cinnamon, and chestnut. In accordance with astrological omens, I name this charismatic bird to be your spirit creature for the coming weeks. Feel free to embrace your inner golden pheasant and express it vividly wherever you go. This is a perfect time to boldly showcase your beauty and magnificence, even as you fully display your talents and assets. I brazenly predict that your enthusiastic expression of self-love will be a good influence on almost everyone you encounter.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22):
Virgo poet and visual artist Dorothea Tanning (1910–2012) had a few mottoes that endlessly nurtured her abundant creative output. Here’s one: “Keep your eye on your inner world and keep away from ads, idiots, and movie stars.” As excellent as that advice is, it’s a challenge to follow it all the time. If we want to function effectively, we can’t always be focused on our inner worlds. However, I do believe you are now in a phase when you’re wise to heed her counsel more than usual. Your soul’s depths have a lot to teach you. Your deep intuition is full of useful revelations. Don’t get distracted from them by listening too much to ads, idiots, and celebrities.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22):
Ribonucleic acid (RNA) is essential for the functioning of your body and every other animal’s. It carries instructions about how to build proteins, and your cells are full of it. We humans can’t edit this magic substance, but octopuses can. They do it on the fly, enabling them to adapt quickly to changing environmental conditions. Even though you Libras can’t match their amazing power with RNA, you do have a substantial capacity to rewrite your plans and adjust your mindset. And this talent of yours will be especially available to you in the coming weeks. Your flexibility and adaptability will not only help you navigate surprises but may also open up exciting new opportunities.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21):
Is there a sanctuary you can retreat to? A relaxing oasis where you can slip away from the world’s colorful madness? I would love for you to be bold enough to seek the precise healing you need. You have every right to escape the rotting status quo and give yourself full permission to hide from pressure, demands, and expectations. Is there music that brings you deep consolation? Are there books and teachers that activate your profound soul wisdom? Keep that good stuff nearby. It’s time for focused relief and regeneration.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21):
The chemical element known as arsenic is notoriously toxic for humans, but has long been useful in small amounts. Ancient Chinese metallurgists discovered that blending it with copper and tin made the finest, strongest bronze. In modern times, arsenic fortifies the lead in car batteries. People in the 19th century sometimes ingested tiny doses as a stimulant. In this spirit, Sagittarius, I invite you to transform potentially challenging elements in your life into sources of strength. Can you find ways to incorporate iffy factors instead of eliminating them? I assure you that you have the power to recognize value in things others may neglect or reject.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19):
Renowned Capricorn author Henry Miller (1891–1980) had to wait far too long before getting readers in his home country, the United States. American censors regarded his explosive texts as too racy and sexy. They forbade the publication of his books until he was 69 years old! His spirit was forever resolute and uncrushable, though. In accordance with astrological omens, Capricorn, I recommend you adopt his counsel on the subject of wonders and marvels. Miller wrote, “The miracle is that the honey is always there, right under your nose, only you were too busy searching elsewhere to realize it.” Here’s another gem from Miller: He advised us “to make the miracle more and more miraculous, to swear allegiance to nothing, but live only miraculously, think only miraculously, die miraculously.”

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18):
For now, everything depends on your foundation, your roots, and your support system. If I were you, I would devote myself to nurturing them. Please note that you’re not in any jeopardy. I don’t foresee strains or tremors. But your graduation to your next set of interesting challenges will require you to be snugly stable, secure, and steady. This is one time when being thoroughly ensconced in your comfort zone is a beautiful asset, not a detriment to be transcended.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20):
The coming weeks are a favorable time for you to build symbolic bridges. I hope you will link resources that aren’t yet linked. I hope you will work to connect people whose merger would help you, and I hope you will begin planning to move from where you are now to the next chapter of your life. I advise you to not model your metaphorical bridges after modern steel suspension bridges, though. Instead, be inspired by the flexible, natural, and intimate bridges made by the ancient Incas. Woven from ichu grass via community efforts, they were strong enough to span rivers and canyons in the Andes mountains.

ARIES (March 21-April 19):
To create microgardens, you plant vegetables and herbs in small containers placed on your porch, balcony, window sills, and kitchen counter. Lettuce, peas, spinach, and basil might be among your small bounties. I encourage you to use this practice as a main metaphor in the coming weeks. In other words, gravitate away from huge, expansive visions, and instead work creatively within existing constraints. For now, at least, “less is more” should be your operative motto. Meditate on how apparent limitations might lead to inviting innovations. Seek out abundance in unlikely places.

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)

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“A baby is born with a need to be loved… and never outgrows it.” – Frank Clark

By leg Sergeichik @kpebedko_o

Quote of the Day: “A baby is born with a need to be loved… and never outgrows it.” – Frank A. Clark

Photo by: By Oleg Sergeichik @kpebedko_o

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?

By leg Sergeichik @kpebedko_o

Good News in History, May 3

Rescue on the Pit River Bridge, Virginia Schau, public domain

72 years ago today, two men were rescued from a semitrailer that crashed over the side of the Pit River Bridge before it fell into the Sacramento River. At the same time, amateur photographer Virginia Schau photographed the effort and won the Pulitzer Prize for Photography as a result. She became the first woman to win the award. She captured the photo with a Kodak brownie. READ more… (1953)

$16 Million Investment Will Expand Production of Superior Trash Sorting Robots for Recycling Facilities – (WATCH)

- credit, Glacier Robots
– credit, Glacier Robots

From Tech Crunch comes the story of a trash-sorting robot that just got massive financial backing to improve America’s recycling infrastructure.

Recycling is a difficult industry, as consumers pay little attention to things they throw out, and recycling labor is an unwanted job, even among manual labor positions.

In response, Glacier, a 6-year-old startup hoping to tackle the problems with robotic arms and machine learning, has deployed its products to San Diego, Seattle, Chicago, Detroit, and Los Angeles. But more needs to be done, as well over 1 billion tons of trash is created around the world annually.

Hoping that robotics can make up for human failings at both ends of the recycling process, a variety of venture capital and climate philanthropy funds have chucked $16 million at Glacier and its robots.

Capable of identifying 30 different types of material waste from trash speeding down a conveyor belt, the robots can due what humans just can’t, or wont’

“Every time we send people to audit our AI systems, the people just do so much worse,” Areeb Malik, Glacier’s CTO and second co-founder, told Tech Crunch. “AI is getting really powerful, being able to distinguish beyond what people can even notice.”

Additionally, Tech Crunch reports that materials recovery facilities (MRF) the official name of a recycling plant, have incredibly high turnover rates of employees compared to similar types of work.

ALSO CHECK TO: This Robot Expertly Takes Apart E-Waste So Their Components Can Be Reused

A typical MRF might hire five times a year for the same sorting position, and as Malik points out, all in the name of staffing an inferior set of eyes and hands.

Believing the cause is worth the cost, Glacier offers the sorting robots for outright purchase, or through a lease-to-own program. The firm offers an accompanied maintenance package, but will also allow companies to access the diagnostics data and repair manuals for fixing the bots themselves.

MORE TRASH SORTING ROBOTS: Robot Named Sorty McSortface Uses Mechanical Claws and AI to Sort Tons of Recyclables in Minutes

The robots collect data on recycling waste streams they are tackling, which the company then packages and offers as a research product to municipalities and businesses interested in understanding how much waste of any given type is being collected, how the material streams vary throughout the year, and other statistical data.

The Ecosystem Integrity Fund led the Series A financing round, and was backed by the Amazon Climate Pledge Fund and 10 other funds and intiatives.

WATCH the robot system in action…

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Turning a Landfill into a Solar Powerhouse, Pittsburgh Airport is Now Totally Energy-Independent

Representatives from PIT at its partners in front of the solar array at Pittsburgh International Airport - credit, BlueSky News / PIT, via Flickr.
Representatives from PIT at its partners in front of the solar array at Pittsburgh International Airport – credit, BlueSky News / PIT, via Flickr.

Already partially-solar powered, the Pittsburgh International Airport (PIT) is doubling its solar panel count by utilizing an adjacent property that used to be a landfill.

Now filled in, the 12 acres of terrain will be covered in 4.7 megawatts of solar energy, capable of canceling out 5 million pounds of CO2 emissions that would otherwise be generated from burning fossil fuels.

PIT already boasts its own 23-megawatt solar and natural gas microgrid, an installation which uses solar power to cover PIT’s demands, natural gas to make up the difference during peak hours or if the sun isn’t shining, and which transfers unutilized solar power to local homes and businesses.

The new solar farm on the old landfill will support this mission, leading to fewer cubic meters of gas being burned, and more solar power being sent out into the wider area.

“We’re maximizing the use of airport assets for the betterment of the region—from air service to real estate development to energy innovation,” said PIT CEO Christina Cassotis. “And there’s more to come.”

“More” in this case means the future site of a mini-refinery for sustainable aviation fuel, according to Elektrek, which claimed the landfill solar farm would be operational in 2027 for those looking out of their windows hoping for a glimpse.

OTHER AIRPORT INNOVATIONS:

A release from Blue Sky News references recent blackouts that shut down London Heathrow Airport and airports in Spain and Portugal as a flashpoint that captures the value of PIT’s microgrid, which, along with preventing such calamities, saves the airport $1 million in electricity costs per year.

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After 9 Months on the Run, Escaped English Tortoise Found 1 Mile from Home Having Hibernated Through Winter

Leonardo the tortoise - credit, Rachel Etches
Leonardo the tortoise – credit, Rachel Etches

In the ancient English region of Cumbria, a woman discovered to her great surprise that Leonardo, her pet tortoise, had fled her house in Ulverston.

Rachel Etches will occasionally allow Leonardo to wander around the garden lawn to his great enjoyment. Despite being far from a sprinter, it only took one lapse of concentration for one such play date to go terribly awry.

Escaping, Leonardo began a 9-month trip around town right as winter was approaching. Etches set up a social media campaign to try and recruit help in locating her reptile before the temperatures plummeted and the cold-blooded creature froze.

But after the spring thaw, a dog walker noticed him ambling down the street, proving him capable of facing the North English winter, of finding food, and avoiding predators like rowdy shepherd dogs.

MORE LOST TESTUDINES: Lacking Ninja Training, Trapped Turtle is Rescued from City Sewer by Police and Firefighters

“He’s gone on his travels around our little hamlet and he was found about a mile from our house. It was totally my fault, we were out in the garden, we’d just had our second child, I got a bit distracted and he just wandered off out of our sight,” Etches told the BBC.

“He’s led a very comfortable life for 13 years under a heat lamp in my house, so we didn’t think he was going to survive the winter being out for the first time.”

SHARE This Surprisingly Resilient Tortoise And His Winter Holiday Plans On Social Media… 

Traditional Maasai Warrior Transforms Training Camp to Prepare Young Men for 21st Century Leadership

Maasai men gathered in Kenya - credit Helga76, CC 3.0.
Maasai men gathered in Kenya – credit Helga76, CC 3.0.

In Kenya, a gathering of young Maasai tribesmen is taking place that wont happen again for a generation.

In the past, the gathering lasted all year, and required young warriors to sleep and survive in the rough, hunt lions, and learn to fight with spears. The goal was to form the leadership of the clans’ next generation.

Now however, the training camp, called the “Enkipaata,” is cultivating a different kind of clan leadership. The 900 or so young warriors attend for only one month—in line with the school holiday so as not to disrupt education. Spears are replaced with sticks, and while wilderness survival skills are still practiced, so are the skills needed for the tribes to survive the 21st century.

With shrinking grazing rights and climate change altering the patterns of rain and pastures, the Maasai need engineers and lawyers more than lion hunters.

The Enkipaata is formed by selecting the most promising youth from the clans of Maasai people across Kenya and Tanzania. Gathering in Narok County, Kenya, they learn essential Maasai values of respect, leadership, and cultural preservation.

Chief Ole Ngoshoshi of the Irkitoip age group stressed the importance of maintaining cultural practices to avoid losing respect within the community, urging the younger generation to safeguard their traditions.

NEWS FROM THE MARA: Transforming Lion Killers into ‘Lion Guardians’ in Africa

“If you lack respect, there will be disorder among the clans,” he said, according to Africa News. 

The Maasai have always lived close with the land, and the camp includes a training session on reforestation—seen as a necessary skill for the future generations.

MORE INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE: Bison Ranchers Return Thousands of Animals to Native Lands and Witness Total Rejuvenation of Ecosystem

At the conclusion of the Enkipaata, a feast was prepared for the attendant clans from the meat of a ceremonial and blessed bull. The graduating class was given the name “Iltaretu,” symbolizing unity and hope, and encouraged to preserve the traditions they just undertook, and pursue education.

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“Find something you’re passionate about and keep tremendously interested in it.” – Julia Child

Olivie Strauss for Unsplash+

Quote of the Day: “Find something you’re passionate about and keep tremendously interested in it.” – Julia Child

Photo by: Olivie Strauss 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?

Olivie Strauss for Unsplash+

Good News in History, May 2

Raising a flag over the Reichstag - credit, Public Domain

80 years ago today, the Third Reich surrendered Berlin, the Wehrmacht surrendered en masse, and World War II ended in the West as more than 1,000,000 German soldiers officially surrendered across their positions in Italy, Germany, and Austria. A Red Army soldier was famously photographed draping the flag of the Soviet Union down over the Reichstag. READ a bit more of what happened on May 1-2… (1945)

For 10 Years Running, West Virginia Boasts 5th-Lowest Recidivism Rate Among US States

- credit, Matthew Ansley, Unsplash
– credit, Matthew Ansley, Unsplash

Beyond the lyrics of a certain John Denver song, West Virginia tends to get a bad rap for being impoverished and backward, but this small mountainous state has a secret to success concealed beneath its wooded cloak.

A recent report by Suzuki Law found that West Virginia’s recidivism rate ranks among the lowest in the nation, meaning fewer criminals continue to perform criminal acts after leaving prison than almost anywhere else.

“The impact of recidivism on society is profound, with both economic costs and social implications that affect taxpayers, communities, and public safety,” the report’s introduction reads.

“According to recent studies, 600,000 prisoners are released annually, and 71% return to prison within five years.”

With a rate more than 40% lower than that, West Virginia enjoys the 4th lowest rate of recidivism in the nation, a position it has maintained for an entire decade.

On a separate note, the states which perform better than West Virginia are often equally criticized by coastal elites as being backwards, and include Oklahoma (22.6%) and South Carolina (21%). Virginia’s rate is also lower at 23.5%, and Florida’s is just higher than West Virginia (24.5%).

Similarly, the report found that Reentry Alabama, a post-incarceration preparatory program in the state, managed to drop the recidivism rate to 4% among the participants.

Perhaps these rates seem high—between 1 in 4 or 1 in 5 released prisoners end up re-imprisoned within 5 years. This doesn’t make for encouraging reading on the face of it, but compared to the worst states, it seems heaven sent.

Delaware suffers from a 65% recidivism rate—2 of every 3 released inmates will be back within five years. Wealthy Rhode Island and Colorado each witness a 50% recidivism rate, while 62% was recorded in Alaska by Suzuki, which specializes in criminal defense.

“Our correctional industry leaders and employees have recognized that operating a successful prison system includes preparing the incarcerated population for a productive life outside of the system,” Joe Thornton, former Secretary of the West Virginia Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety, was quoted as saying.

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“This effort involves parole and probation agencies, social service providers, work-release employers, and support from the community.”

According to West Virginia Watch, the foundations of this decade of success were laid by Democrat governor Earl Ray Tomblin, and a GOP-controlled legislature, which together made a very conscious decision to identify and employ “scientifically validated” best practices to reduce recidivism rates back in 2013.

MORE POSITIVE PRISON NEWS: Prisons Across the World Are Shaving Days Off Sentences for Every Book Read by Their Inmates

The Justice Reinvestment Initiative passed through Senate Bill 371, explored the best ways of tackling social challenges like “behavioral health and substance abuse” while also establishing “day report centers” that emphasized treatment and recovery rather than penalization and incarceration.

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Tiny New Species of Snail with Unusual ‘Cubist’ Shell Named After Pablo Picasso

Mandatory credit 'Gojšina et al.' via SWNS
Mandatory credit ‘Gojšina et al.’ via SWNS

A tiny new species of snail with an unusual shell was recently discovered in Southeast Asia by some very art-conscious biologists, who decided to name it after painter Pablo Picasso.

Measuring just 3 millimeters, the microsnail’s shell was nevertheless eye-catching, and they came up with the name because of the way its shell seemed to embody the principles of Cubism.

The international team of biologists was led by Serbian PhD student Vukašin Gojšina and his Hungarian supervisor, Dr. Barna Páll-Gergely. Together with local experts and scientists, they were studying snail diversity in Southeast Asia’s forests when the species, previously unknown to science, grabbed their attention.

They explained that, unlike most other snails, Anauchen picasso has rectangularly angled whorls that, according to the scientists, make it look “like a Cubist interpretation of other snails with ‘normal’ shell shapes.”

“Although the shell sizes of these snails are less than 5mm, they are real beauties!” said Dr. Páll-Gergely.

“Their shells exhibit extraordinarily complexity. For example, the aperture—the ‘opening’ of the shell—is armed with numerous tooth-like barriers, which are most probably useful against predators.”

“Furthermore, several of the new species have an aperture that turns upwards or downwards, which means that some species carry their shells upside-down.”

The research team’s findings were published in the journal ZooKeys in a 300-page article that included the descriptions of 46 new species of microsnails from Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam.

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The apertural barriers and the orientation of the last whorl on the shell were among the primary characters that helped the researchers tell different snails apart.

While many of the new species were collected recently, several, unknown to science until now, were found in the collection of the Florida Museum of Natural History, collected in the 1980s.

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“It is likely—and in some cases, certain—that the locations where these snails were found have already been destroyed by deforestation and limestone quarrying, which are the major threats to locally endemic land snails in Southeast Asia,” said Dr Páll-Gergely.

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No AC Needed in India’s Heat: Inside Gujarat’s Eco-Friendly ‘Cool House’

The Gujarat 'Cool House' - credit
The Gujarat ‘Cool House’ – credit SRDA

Western India is home to one of the hottest deserts on Earth, and the residents of the western states of Rajasthan and Gujarat have traditionally used architecture to keep cool.

Utilizing principles of thermodynamics, one house in the city of Bharuch, where temperatures can hover at 110°F for days during the summer, stays cool all day and all summer without ever needing the air conditioning switched on.

In fact, the building’s interior is a breezy, green, “introverted space” that passively cools the air inside by a whopping 18°F all using simple science.

“We used the direction of the winds, design, and cooling materials to lower the heat of the house,” Samira Rathod, the principal architect of the ‘Cool House’ and founder of Samira Rathod Design Atelier (SRDA), told The Better India reporting on the story.

“The plot had three buildings around it and a road on one side. The only view that the house would have was the neighbor’s building. An introverted house was a good choice in that sense. It is basically one where the house opens up when you go inside it. From the outside, it would look like a rather closed structure,” she explains.

Indeed, it might even be called depressing, as its front door is hidden between two giant, 18-inch thick facades of gray and black. But inside, a design reminiscent of a railroad track sees the rooms divided on either side of a giant split in the house that was built to align with the current of the wind off the ocean.

Bharuch is situated on the Indian Ocean, and despite the scorching temperatures, at various times during the day, a breeze is present throughout much of the city. The narrow slit in the house leverages the Venturi effect, which states that the narrower the space an element must pass through, the faster and colder it becomes.

The principle can be seen in human breath, which through an open mouth emerges hot, but through pursed lips emerges cool. The same effect can be seen in rivers, where narrow channels cause the water to speed up and form rapids, while wide, flat lands cause the water to slow down.

The wind from the sea enters the split and hits an interior courtyard where a pool of water cools it down further. Entering the 10,500 square foot home interior, a second courtyard aids in circling it around to each room, where the family lives with three generations.

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“The house looks inwards and we have created courtyards with trees so it feels like you are looking outside rather than inside,” said Rathod.

Mirai House of Arches in Bhilwara – credit Sanjay Puri Architects

GNN has previously reported on Indian architecture in this part of the country. Natural designs like envelopes, air channels, and even “wind towers” could, and probably should, become normal designs in parts of the world where temperatures are predicted to rise, such as the southwest United States or Southern Europe.

MORE CLEVER BUILDING DESIGNS: These Ancient Chinese ‘Skywells’ Are Keeping Homes Cool as Green Architects Learn from the Past

In Rajasthan’s city of Bhilwara, a “House of Arches” ensures that no part of the building is exposed to the sun thanks to a building envelope that provides shade and air circulation.

The science lies in the separation of the envelope from the house itself. Even as the rays of the sun heat the envelope, wind and moisture evaporation can make their way into the space between the house and the envelope to reduce the radiative heat that enters the living areas.

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Capable of Powering 1.1 Million Homes, the First of 64 Offshore Wind Turbines Rises Above the North Sea

The first of the He Dreiht wind turbines - credit EnBW, released
The first of the He Dreiht wind turbines – credit EnBW, released

The first of 64 gargantuan wind turbines is up and spinning under its own weight in the North Sea, promising the first 15 megawatts of what will become around 1,000 MW which could power a medium-sized city.

EnBW is one of Germany’s largest energy companies, and the He Dreiht offshore wind farm, translated as the “It Spins” wind farm, has been financed without any government subsidies.

“It will play a key role in helping us to significantly grow our renewable energy output from 6.6 GW to over 10 GW by 2030,” said Michael Class, who heads up EnBW’s generation portfolio development.

Believed to be capable of generating 980 megawatts of peak power, it will deliver enough energy to power 1.1 million homes, with each turbine being so large that a single spin of their giant blades could power a house for a whole day, according to Michelle Lewis at Eletrek. 

Depending on conditions, up to 500 workers across 60 vessels will be out building the wind turbines in their remote spot dozens of kilometers from land.

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Foundations for each turbine were already drilled and laid into the seabed last year, and each turbine will have to be lifted up vertically with large, ship-mounted cranes.

A partner consortium made up of Allianz Capital Partners, AIP, and Norges Bank Investment Management owns 49.9% of the shares in He Dreiht, with the rest owned by EnBW.

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“Tact is the ability to describe others as they see themselves.” – Abraham Lincoln

Quote of the Day: “Tact is the ability to describe others as they see themselves.” – Abraham Lincoln

Photo by: Marcos Assis

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, May 1

William Wilberforce, the leader of the British campaign to abolish the slave trade.

218 years ago today, the Slave Trade Act of 1807 entered into force in Great Britain, abolishing the British participation in the Transatlantic Slave Trade and pressed other nation states to abolish their own slave trades. Sometimes in history, the abandonment of a previous widespread practice occurs naturally after its practice diminishes, but the Slave Trade Act was passed at a time when slavery was still an incredibly lucrative business, demonstrating, at least partially, the resolve of the abolitionists in Britain who lobbied and campaigned for 18 years for a bill. READ more… (1807)

Surfer Conquers Biggest Waves in the World Despite Only Having One Leg

Pegleg Bennett during a surf session at Perranporth Beach - credit, William Dax, SWNS
Pegleg Bennett during a surf session at Perranporth Beach – credit, William Dax, SWNS

‘Pegleg’ Bennett was born with a birth defect that led to the amputation of his foot when he was a baby, but the 55-year-old never let it impede the pursuit of his passion: surfing.

The father of three has traveled the world surfing, making it to some of the most famous big wave surfing spots in places like Indonesia, Hawaii, Australia, and Portugal. He’s also represented his country in a para-surfing championship, and pioneered some best practices in making prosthetic legs for surfers.

Bennett was born with the ankle of his left leg missing and his foot looking twisted and mangled.

At the hospital, his parents were given the choice of amputation—which the doctors said would actually ensure he had better quality of living.

“The ocean is my happy place,” said Bennett, who legally changed his name to Pegleg—a childhood nickname—in 2016. “When I’m riding a wave nothing else matters, nothing else is there—it is just me and that wave and feeling that glide and that ride.”

He told the British media outlet SWNS that he grew up a “water baby” and given that his father was a big swimmer, the progression to surfing came naturally, despite his missing foot.

He describes “harassing” the UK’s National Health Service for years, “and eventually they gave me what they call a ‘beach activities leg’ and then my surfing progressed at a phenomenal rate after that.”

Pegleg Bennett during a surf session at Perranporth Beach – credit, William Dax, SWNS

After learning to surf on it, Bennett drilled holes in that first prosthetic leg to improve its functionality, and this led to a phenomenal surfing career.

“There is a big wave spot in Portugal called Nazaré,” he said, at the start of listing every spot he’s enjoyed. “I have also done the entire European coast, I have driven the Moroccan coast right down into the occidental Sahara, Hawaii, all over the States, Indonesia, Japan. I have surfed on the Arctic circle.”

His new leg, made from carbon fiber and titanium, has taken his surfing to a “new level”, he said.

AQUATIC AMPUTEES: This Cheap, Amphibious, 3D-Printed Prosthetic Means That Amputees Can Now Enjoy the Water Without Stress

“I have got a surf specific leg—it’s got a titanium ankle joint in it so I can stand on the board a lot better than I used to.”

For his whole adult life, Bennett has been at the crest of the wave of para-surfing, which has undergone a revolutionary transformation.

The turning point came in 2015 when the International Surfing Association (ISA) hosted the first Adaptive Surfing World Championships—bringing together surfers from all the nations.

Since then, the sport has exploded in popularity with the adaptive surfing, or para-surfing, community becoming the fastest-growing segment of the surfing world. Team England para-surfing team is now ranked seventh in the world, led by Bennett’s instruction and inspiration.

He explained that within the para-surfing community there are people with all kinds of disabilities.

“I coached someone with cerebral palsy, MS, I have got some blind guys that I coach, obviously some amputees,” he said. “If somebody has got a disability and they want to get in the ocean and catch waves, I can make it happen.”

OTHER SURFING STORIES: Olympic Kite Surfer Saves Drowning Woman in Dramatic Video – WATCH

“I don’t believe in barriers. I believe in we can do it.”

Although para-surfing narrowly missed out on the 2028 Los Angeles Games, there is strong hope for its inclusion in the Paralympics in Brisbane in 2032, and the opportunities that could bring for extra funding.

SHARE Pegleg’s Inspirational Story With Your Friends who Need A Pick-Me-Up…

Taylor Guitars Made From Condemned Urban Trees and Imperfect Ebony are Saving Money, Carbon and the Amazon

Photo: GWC for GNN
File Photo by GWC for GNN

Guitar manufacturers like Taylor and Gryphon are utilizing native California trees marked for removal in the state’s urban areas to birth a new generation of acoustic instruments.

The motive: helping musicians and consumers dodge the increasing prices for prized woods needed to make guitars, as well as helping memorialize condemned native trees in the state.

If you look at the product catalogue for any major guitar retailer, you see the same few words mentioned over and over: rosewood, ebony, mahogany.

These are also the words you may see while reading news reports about the ongoing deforestation in the Amazon.

The sound quality of the world’s instruments depend on these rainforest trees—and demand for guitars is expected to increase.

So, what about a guitar made from shamel ash, red ironbark, or black acacia?

These are three species now being used by Taylor Guitars and Gryphon Stringed Instruments, which are commonly found growing along sidewalks and median strips all over Central and Northern California.

Playing a lead role in this movement is West Coast Arborists (WCA), a family-run business of tree surgeons that manage urban trees for 320 towns and municipalities, public agencies, and private communities in 4 different states.

WCA believes that trees in cities do more than just offer shade and beauty, they are means of connecting to a fundamental Earth circuitry amidst areas covered in concrete. That’s why for every tree they’re instructed to remove, they plant two.

WCA also believes that a large urban tree deserves to have a second life, and that these species which shade us and our dogs offer quality, craft-ready lumber.

In fact, a quarter-century ago, reports CBS in San Francisco, WCA created an urban wood recycling program called Street Tree Revival.

Now, if a large tree is marked for felling, its dimensions and location will be uploaded to a central database that can be accessed by craftsmen in the area, who can then buy the wood from the tree.

Bob Taylor, who founded Taylor Guitars 50 years ago, has identified several species that possess the acoustic properties necessary for use in guitars.

“We developed a system where our IT department could use any time [sic] a list comes out with trees that are going to be removed. And they see a shamal ash is identified, it automatically sends a notification to me at area manager and to our Street Revival people that, ‘Hey, here’s a possible tree we can send to Taylor,'” said Tim Patterson, a manager with WCA.

Ebony and irony

That’s not all he identified, however. As good an idea as the use of native California trees in making instruments was, Taylor found that ebony, one of the woods traditionally used to make guitar bridges and fretboards is harvested with extremely wasteful practices; with about one tree used for every 6-10 cut down.

The reason? Not all ebony trees found in the Congo Basin contain the black wood that we associate with guitar woods. In Africa, where the trees are harvested, loggers don’t know which ones possess the jet black wood. If after felling, they find the interior is streaked with brown, they leave it to rot.

Taylor’s use of native California trees, such as red ironbark, are about providing alternatives to this kind of logging—as much as it is about saving consumers money.

During a visit to the jungle, Taylor told his Cameroonian contacts that he would buy the streaked wood.

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“But they said ‘Sir you can’t sell that wood!’ They’re used to decades—a century, of only black wood, and so are the consumers,” Taylor told CBS in a separate story.

“Now, if you buy a Taylor guitar, that’s the wood you’re going to get.”

Ironically, that streaked wood the Cameroonians said Taylor wouldn’t be able to sell is gorgeous, and very similar to natural wood grains which are sold by instrument manufacturers specifically for its aesthetic taste. Mechanically, it’s exactly the same as totally black ebony.

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE: Guitar Center is Replacing Instruments Lost in L.A. Wildfires With New Initiative

Back in California, CBS got to accompany WCA to the felling of one such tree—a 30-foot-tall shamal ash that was pruned, cut, and gently lowered to the ground via a crane. The tree had to be removed because it posed a risk to a pair of utility lines, and was then taken to WCA’s facilities to be milled and shipped off to Taylor or Gryphon.

“The topic does not even come up, you know ‘what this wood is and where did it come from.’ Instead, it’s like “Wow, this sounds great, and it looks beautiful,” said Richard Johnson, one of the founders of Gryphon.

WATCH the story of WCA and Taylor’s ebony inspiration below from CBS News… 

SHARE This Awesome Story Of Recycling And Sustainability In Music With Your Friends…